Bill Condon was born, which is always a good start. He became a children's writer after failing the entrance exam for bottlewashing...

Bill Condon was born in 1949 and was still alive when he wrote this. He lives with his wife Dianne (Di) Bates, in the seaside town of Woonona, on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia.

He left school at the first chance he got and worked in an assortment of jobs that did not require much in the way of qualifications.

He mowed lawns, cut down trees, delivered parcels, trained greyhounds, worked in a milk factory, drove a forklift truck, and briefly, before he went broke, was a professional punter.

All that time he longed to be a writer, the only vocation he felt an affinity for.

In 1982 he wrote a stage play which was produced by an amateur company. Another seven plays followed, including The Wearing of the Green, about the famous Irishman Michael O'Dwyer. O'Dwyer had been an early policeman in Liverpool, a town where Bill lived.

A chance meeting with Larry Rivera, the editor of a local weekly newspaper, led Bill into a career as a journalist. He was given a one-day trial at the paper, to fill in for someone who was sick, and stayed for ten years. (There is almost no truth to the rumour that he murdered the person who was sick.)

Throughout those years Bill was also writing for children, following the example of his wife Di, who is a well known children's author. About five years ago Bill left journalism to devote himself full-time to writing for children.

He has written 70 books, including several collections of plays and poetry, as well as short stories, novels and works of non-fiction. His work is mainly humorous.

Bill also tours schools, giving lively performances to children. When not writing or performing he plays tennis, Scrabble, watches lots of movies, and dreams of swimming in his own personal money bin, like his childhood hero Scrooge McDuck.

With fellow south coast author, and long-time friend, Robert Hood, Bill wrote the Creepers’ series of children's comic horror books. They lived about an hour away from each other at the time, so the books were written via fax, each writing a chapter, then sending it to the other.