Andy Marchant grew up believing that the best stories begin somewhere ordinary. A street you’ve walked down a hundred times. A door you’ve never thought to open. That feeling never quite left him, and eventually it became a boy named Ruben.

The Great Disguise Chronicles started with a question he couldn’t shake: what if the person who believed in you most wasn’t a teacher or a parent, but someone unexpected? Someone who saw something in you before you saw it yourself?

The answer became Ruben, Baba Jaan and an old costume shop tucked between two very ordinary things on a very ordinary street.

Andy writes for children who notice things. The ones who look twice. The ones who feel things deeply but don’t always say so. His stories live somewhere between wonder and honesty, with adventure that earns its moments and emotion that doesn’t ask for permission.

He lives in Somerset with his wife, daughter, and two dogs who are yet to appreciate the importance of quiet writing time. He works in technology by day, which has taught him that the most interesting problems are almost never the obvious ones.