AUTHOR

Tim J Francis

Hi, I’m Tim J Francis, a children's author and illustrator from Liverpool. I love adventures and a good story.

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I have an MA in screenwriting and work in the TV & film industry. This is my short picture story.

My mum is a Liverpool Author of over 41 books. She likes writing Liverpool Sagas and Historic Romance books. She has enjoyed riding around the country on a bike with my dad, and loves holidays in the Greek islands.

I grew up in Liverpool, going to church regularly. This is my dad, the church warden, in the vicarage garden, he’s the one in the middle. Next to him on the right with glasses is John Rantz, the organist, whose family came from Poland, and on the left is Jim Spedding who was a POW in World War 2.

The church was a bigger part of my life than school was, and this is what it looked like. As well as worship and singing there was fairs and knobbly-knees competitions, and parish holidays. I was surrounded by people who were all like my uncles and aunties. It was great.

I wasn’t a fan of school, probably because of my undiagnosed dyslexia. But I loved school trips. My favourite subjects were art, photography, PE, technical drawing, and drama. Chemistry was interesting too, who doesn’t like a Bunsen-burner with something bubbling above it.

I was brought up and encouraged to explore by my mum and dad, this is me with a Goby fish in my hands that I found in a rock pool.

I love all sports but when I was a kid, I was more interested in athletics and less popular sports like fencing and rowing, than football. Here I am rowing my brothers, Iain and Dan, out to sea on a holiday. I can still remember looking down through the clear water for fish as the water got deeper and deeper with every stroke.

I loved scrambling anything, which is doing whatever it takes to get over something, climbing-running-ducking-crawling-jumping-swimming, which included trees, mountains, buildings and walls and any body of water. Sometimes it got me in trouble, and I broke some bones, but I still wanted to scramble.

Fishing was my favourite hobby. This was a wrasse I’d caught.

And fishing is still a favourite hobby, thanks to growing up fishing with my dad.

When we were kids, my dad made my brothers and I sketch books from scrap paper to draw whatever we wanted from smart sketches to wacky doodles. I still enjoy doodling, but now I save on paper by doing it digitally. When I doodle I make as much of a mess as I want and bring out pictures from within the mess. Doodling can be anything you want, and it can make no sense. There is only one rule; no rules.

I also make movies. I love live action comedies, animations, and enjoy writing feature film scripts. My favourite film is Goonies.

But in my spare time I like gardening and growing things from seed, like this sunflower you see here.

I also enjoy doing carpentry, just like my dad and my grandad Nelson did. This is a summerhouse I’m building with all joints. The joints have fun names like, lap joints, bridal joints, and castle joints.

One of my favourite things is photography. I love trying to capture a mood, it’s like hunting for a rare creature in the jungle.

I also like keeping fish. Fran is the oldest at the bottom left. She’s only one year old in this picture, but now she is four and four times bigger and just had babbies.

I like walks in the park.

And walks along the beach.

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But most of all. I love a sea view. Where I can relax and maybe think of a story for you.

Happy reading! And if you’re dyslexic and struggling, take your time and keep trying, it’s worth the effort… because reading is a great adventure.

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