If you're here, you probably already know I'm a writer. My specialities are children's fiction and information books.

I write

• mainly for 10+ to teenage and adult readers,
• on a whole range of different subjects (see the page on Published Books for a full and frank exposé),

I have recently finished a trio of historical novels for Bloomsbury about boy sailor Sam Witchall and early 19th century naval warfare. The first book is called Powder Monkey and it was published in October, 2005. You can find out more about this book on Bloomsbury’s splendid website  www.bloomsbury.com/powdermonkey.
The second book in the series, Prison Ship, takes Sam to Australia and was published in November, 2006. The final book, Battle Fleet, climaxes with the Battle of Trafalgar and was published in November 2007.

My next Bloomsbury book, Ausländer, about a boy living in Berlin during the war, will be published in 2009.

I've worked in publishing for over twenty years. I went freelance in 1999 after eight years with Usborne, where I was a senior editor. Before that I worked for Time-Life, BBC Books, the Science Museum and the National Sound Archive.

History is my specialist subject but I also enjoy writing about natural history, science, geography, in fact almost anything, apart from golf and mechanical engineering. I have a shamefully encyclopaedic knowledge of popular music, and have recently begun presenting occasional music programmes on local radio station WCR 101.8 FM.

I’ve written over 60 books for UK publishers. Most of them have been published in the United States, Commonwealth countries, Europe and elsewhere. If you’d like to follow up what I did before Powder Monkey I could recommend any of the books from Usborne’s Newspaper History series (such as the Egyptian Echo and Roman Record ). These mix historical fact with spoof adverts and rabid tabloid journalism and have been a success with both adults and younger readers. Usborne’s True Stories series are real-life-adventure page-turners and two of them have been shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award. A couple in the series cover the two world wars (True Stories of the First World War, True Stories of the Second World War,) as does the beautifully designed Usborne Introduction to the Second World War .

Away from Usborne you might enjoy Sutton Hoo, the Anglo-Saxon way of life and death (National Trust). The Russian Revolution, Chernobyl and Pearl Harbor books I did for Hodder-Wayland’s Days That Shook The World series, and The Vietnam War (Hodder’s Cold War series) are also worth a look.

I grew up in Chester and escaped to read History at London University (Goldsmiths' College 1975-1978). After 15 years in London, I moved to Wolverhampton, where I live with my wife and daughter.

I give illustrated talks for schools and book festivals about my powder monkey Sam Witchall and the terrifying life of a boy in Nelson’s navy. Following a five year stint teaching a course in writing children's books at the Midlands Arts Centre (mac) in Birmingham, I now take workshops for festivals or writers’ groups on both writing children’s books and historical fiction. Please contact me at paul@pauldowswell.co.uk if you would like to know more about school talks or workshops.

I also play guitar with a variety of bands in the pubs and clubs of the West Midlands. (Shameless evidence on you tube , if you have nothing better to do.)

Although writing books is my main area of expertise, I would welcome the opportunity to work in other fields, such as museum exhibitions, broadcasting, and adult non-fiction. I have recently put together a proposal for a TV documentary series on child soldiers.

I am represented by Literary Agent Charlie Viney of Mulcahy and Viney Ltd. Please contact Charlie at charlieviney@mvagency.com (or +44 (0)20 7938 3852) regarding any publishing projects outside the category of commissioned non-fiction.

[ About me ]   [ Awards and Reviews ]  [ Published Books ]
[ Contact me - paul@pauldowswell.co.uk]

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