Son of a casino boss and a courtesan, Laurence Seidler grew up in Africa before studying History at Cambridge. He pursued numerous professions including TV ad director, journalist, architect, robotics developer, scrap metal dealer and sex worker. Laurence now lives as a recluse with his wife, son, and various reptiles in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Andalucía, where he writes full time. Busy Being Born is his first English novel.