For almost 20 years Gareth Baker has been a primary school teacher, educating and inspiring children across the UK, who have in turn have inspired him.

 

He has written or adapted numerous school plays as well as directing them.  He has also plotted the concept for a story told entirely through the medium of dance. This extensive experience and the excitement he feels when he writes for his children, and teaches them to write creatively, has led him publish his own series of action-packed, thought-provoking stories for 9+ year olds.

 

These Kinmaran Chronicles are the sum of his experiences and interests. He is currently working on a new project, which will introduce Greek myths to children in a new and exciting way. Gareth has been forever fascinated with heroes and their path of discovery and greatness thanks to films like Star Wars and The Three Musketeers, which he watched during his childhood.

 

For most of his youth Gareth grew up in the countryside on farms all over England because his father was a shepherd, and while he didn't always appreciate being "out in the sticks" as a child, he now realises that it was one of the best things that ever happened to him.

 

Living in the country allowed him to disappear for hours, re-enacting battles and heroic rescues as well as creating his own. It is this childhood, and his still child-like soul, that Gareth now uses to create Brackenbelly, and his other heroes, and their own journeys. As well as writing, Gareth has provided story-telling sessions for Nottingham City Council at the home of Lord Byron, Newstead Abbey, and at Wollaton Hall. Today, Gareth Baker lives in a world of his own (just ask anyone who knows him), along with his son, superhero comics, books, films and computer games.

 

He likes to deliberately say words wrong, plays the violin and the ukulele and plays Singstar. He wishes he could draw. He looks forward to sharing his next Kinmaran Chronicle with you soon.