Paul was born in the North East of England and educated at Woodham, Newton Aycliffe and Lancaster. He was a lecturer in Creative Writing at UEA for seven years, running their famous MA course, and then at MMU in Manchester for seven years. Now he writes full time, at home in Levenshulme, where he lives with his partner Jeremy Hoad. He's written many YA and younger children's titles, including Exchanges and Diary of a Doctor Who Addict.