David Solomons
Writing Coach
David Solomons is the author of eight acclaimed middle-grade children’s novels and several screenplays. His debut title, My Brother is a Superhero, won the Waterstones Children’s Prize, the British Book Industry Awards Children’s Book of the Year, and was Branford Boase shortlisted. The sequel, My Gym Teacher is an Alien Overlord, won a Laugh Out Loud Award. As a screenwriter, his first script, The Fabulous Bagel Boys, was shortlisted for a BAFTA New Writer Award. David served as screenwriter for the 2004 feature adaptation of Five Children and It, starring Kenneth Branagh. He co-wrote the Pinocchio miniseries, starring Bob Hoskins (2008), and The Great Ghost Rescue, starring Jason Isaacs (2011). Not Another Happy Ending, written by David, was the closing film of the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2013. He studied English Literature at Glasgow University.
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David Solomons’s first novel for children, My Brother is a Superhero, won the Waterstones Children’s Prize 2016 and the British Book Industry Awards’s Children’s Book of the Year 2016. David also won the 2017 Laugh Out Loud Awards (Lollies) with the second book in this series, My Gym Teacher is an Alien Overlord. There are three more in the series: My Evil Twin is a Supervillain (2017), My Arch-Enemy is a Brain in a Jar (2018), and My Cousin is a Time Traveller (2019). (‘There would’ve been more, but those titles are really hard to come up with!’ says David.)
David is the author of two original novels set in the world of Doctor Who. Writing The Secret in Vault 13 (2018) and The Maze of Doom (2020) fulfilled his childhood dream.
In addition to his acclaimed children’s fiction, he has been writing screenplays for many years—his first feature film was an adaptation of Five Children and It, starring Kenneth Branagh and Eddie Izzard. His film about an unhappy novelist, Not Another Happy Ending, was honored as the closing film of the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
A Beginner’s Guide to Ruling the Galaxy is his sixth novel for children.
He was born in Glasgow and now lives in Dorset with his wife, the novelist Natasha Solomons, and their children.
David’s Genres
- Children’s Fiction
‘I knew I wanted to be some kind of writer from an early age. My approach was subtle. I snuck up on my career, lulling it into a false sense of security by writing nothing for years and then, when it least expected, I pounced, apologetically.’
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