| Francis is from Cleator, West Cumbria, and is married with twin daughters and a son. He has taught at secondary schools in Britain, Zambia and Malawi, worked in local radio, and at national level in the Youth Services.
Francis now writes and works with young people at a retreat centre in Ilkley, West Yorkshire. He has written scripts for radio and television including a ten-part comedy-adventure serial for BBC Television’s Education Department. He has also written and presented educational videos. His published works include Love Matters and Faith Questions, Veritas, and fiction: The Boy and the Book, Beehive, 1989 – ‘delightful; captivating’ the Universe, and The Dead Are Listening, Spindlewood, pb 2001: ‘a stunner of a book... one of the most intelligent teenage stories to be published for some time’, Financial Times; ‘a powerful, passionate, deeply disturbing novel which deserves to find an audience among readers of all ages... not a book to be ignored’ Junior Bookshelf
His short story ‘Superdad’ is published as part of the anthology Like Father, Like Son? by Kingfisher Books.
Work is in progress on Whatever, a strong, contemporary story for young adults that centres on an abduction, and The Glass Chalice, a fast-moving adventure story with the unique setting of ninth- century Ireland and Egypt.
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