Tim (T E) Taylor was born in 1960 in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, UK. He grew up just outside the city, near Leek. Tim went to Newcastle-under-Lyme High School, then studied Classics at Pembroke College, Oxford - pursuing a love of ancient Greece that was later to inspire his novel Zeus of Ithome, published by Crooked Cat in November 2013. After graduating Tim moved to London and spent a couple of years playing guitar in a rock band. Having decided that he was never going to be a rock star, he sadly knuckled down and joined the Civil Service. He did a wide range of jobs in MOD and the Treasury, including Chief Executive of the Veterans Agency. Tim married Rosa Vella in 1994 and their daughter Helen was born in 1997. In 2001 they moved to Meltham, near Huddersfield, to be nearer family, and have lived there ever since. While still in the Civil Service Tim studied part time for a PhD in Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London, achieving it in 2007. He took a career break in 2009 in order to spend more time writing, and subsequently left the Civil Service altogether in 2011. Tim now divides his time between creative writing, academic research and part-time teaching and other work for Leeds and Huddersfield Universities. He has published a book, Knowing What is Good for You (Palgrave Macmillan 2012) on the philosophy of well-being. Tim also writes poetry, which he often performs on local radio and at open mic nights where he also plays acoustic and occasionally electric guitar. He is involved with several local writing groups. He also likes walking up hills.