Daniel Frederick Wallace (film-maker, comedian, writer, actor and presenter) was born 16th November 1976 in Dundee, Scotland, but moved to Loughborough, and in later years, Berlin and Bath with his parents. At the young age of 16, Danny began to work for Sega Power magazine as well as preparing for his GCSEs. What followed was years of writing for other games magazines, and then, when he was 18, for the comedy magazine Comedy Review.
Michelle Magorian was born 6th November 1947 in Southsea, Portsmouth. Always aspiring to be an actress, Michelle studied for three years at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama. Following this, she then spent a year at Marcel Marceau’s L’école Internationale de Mime in Paris. Her career as an actress saw her working in repertory theatre companies across the UK performing in plays from Goethe and Shakespeare to Noel Coward and Ayckbourn and in musicals from Cole Porter to Julian Slade.
Michael Morpurgo (OBE 2006, MBE, Children’s Laureate 2003-2005), was born 5th October 1943 in Hertfordshire. By the age of two Michael had been evacuated to Cumberland, only later moving back to London, and then to Essex. His book, The Butterfly Lion, suggests his unhappy experiences at one of the boarding schools he attended in these earlier years. At one stage Michael trained for the British Army at Sandhurst.
David James Pelzer was born 29th December 1960 in California. The second of five boys, Dave is the son of San Francisco fireman, Stephen Joseph Pelzer and Catherine Roerva Christen Pelzer. His origins and traumatic childhood can be followed through his first memoir A Child Called “It” (1995), which tells the story of his abusive childhood at the hands of his mother and brothers.
Crime writer Peter James was born 22nd August 1948 in Brighton (that’s near us!). The son of Cornelia Jones (the former glove-maker to Queen Elizabeth II no less!) During his childhood Peter attended Charterhouse School and then, in later years went on to study at Ravensbourne Film School. As a result of his training there, he travelled to North America, and spent several years as a screenwriter and film producer.