Tom is a football fan and a writer. 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 Football Detective as much as writing about what happens in real games.
Find out more about Tom by visiting his wesite at www.tompalmer.co.uk
Why did you want to become a writer?
I got into reading late. Age 17. When I became more confident at reading I wanted to see if I could make up and write stories too. I've always made up stories in my head, so I gave it a go.
What kind of books do you write?
Football stories at the moment. But I've done books about fatherhood, libraries, Leeds United and wool. But it's football now. And F1.
Where do you get your ideas from for your books?
Various places. Things that have happened to me. Things I see or overhear. Things I read in the sports pages. Talking to my readers. Other books I've read. It's a mixture of lots of things.
What is a typical day for you?
Woken by my daughter age 4, jumping on me. Kiss my wife. Get up slowly. Eat porridge. Write for a bit. Eat a sandwich. Go to a library and talk about my books OR do some paperwork. Take my daughter to a playground or up a hill (I live in the Pennines). Eat more food - and chocolate. Put daughter to bed by reading to her, if I'm there. Watch Spooks or the news or some football. Wash up. Mend something. Answer emails. Read a bit. Sleep. Wake in the middle of the night with an idea for the book I'm writing. Write it down. Listen to the owls and the night trains in our valley. Sleep.
Do you have a favourite place where you work on your books?
Yes - on trains. Or in hotel rooms. Or in cafes. Rarely at home, to be honest.
Which of your own books do you like best and why?
Foul Play. It was the first to be published by the uber-publisher, Puffin. It felt so good when they said they wanted to do my books.
Who was your favourite author when you were a child?
I didn't have one. I hated reading. Now, it's Melvin Burgess or Andy McNab or Anthony Horowitz or Charlie Higson.
Are you working on any new material now?
Yes. Book 4 of my new Football Academy series, due out in July 2009. It's a seires about an under twelve academy side at a premier league club. The boy in the book, Ben, is great at football, but poor at reading. It's about how he tries to overcome that. With the help of a former football star.
What advice would you give to would-be authors?
Never think someone-like-you can't be an author. You can. If you want to. Also, read lots of different authors. Keep a notebook with you and sit near people in cafes and on buses so you can hear about their lives. Ordinary lives beat fiction every day.