TOM PALMER. ESCRIBIENDO SOBRE FOOTBALL

About Tom

Tom is a football fan and an author. But he wasn't always good at writing. He did badly at school and hated reading, in particular, until he was seventeen. It was reading about football that changed his life. Because it was then he decided he wanted to become a football writer, so he could be paid for watching football and writing about it. It took a few years, but now he goes all over the world to watch football and sometimes he writes about it. Sometimes he just watches it. He likes writing stories like Foul Play and Football Academy as much as he likes writing about what happens in real games. Find out more about Tom by visiting his blog. Come and Meet Tom at one of his events. OrContact Tom with a question. You can also find out how to buy Tom's books at the Bookshop . Player Profile Born: Leeds, August 1967 Team: Leeds United Favourite stadium visited: Elland Road, Leeds (but also Real Madrid, Spain and Hearts of Oak, Ghana) Favourite player (ever): Gordon Strachan, Leeds Favourite player (now): Luciano Becchio, Leeds Favourite football magazine: World Soccer Favourite football book: Keeper by Mal Peet Food: chocolate Country: Italy Drink: tea Tom gets asked a lot of questions. These are the most popular ones: Why do you support Leeds? I was born there. And being a Leeds fan is a special destiny. Where do you get your ideas from? Newspapers. Football is full of crime. I read about it the newspapers. When a story grips me I know it’s one I can use in a book. How many books have you written? Eleven football books for Puffin. With three more on the way. And four others, some about football, some not. One is about F1. So fifteen or so. How long does it take to write a book? The Football Academy books take a month. But the Foul Play ones are more complicated and three times as long: they take four or five months. What research do you do for your books? If I write about a place I need to have been there. I went to Ghana to researchOff Side, the third Foul Play book. Part of it is based in Africa, so I though it was important. Do you get help writing the books? I do. First off my wife, then three other writers in my writing group, then my agent, then my editor at Puffin. They all make great contributions. The books are a lot better because I try to listen to what people say about them. I hope. Do you know any other writers? I do. Lots. I work a lot with Helena Pielichaty who writes the Girls FC books. And lots of others. I used to work for bookshops and libraries, so I met a few then. What other jobs have you had? Librarian. Bookseller. Milkman. Post office bag sorter. VDU operator. University lecturer. I liked them all, except the last two.  Do you come into schools? I do. I love it. I host a quiz and penalty shoot out. Ask your teacher if she or he would like me to come in. If you'd like to know more email Tom on info@tompalmer.co.uk