Donald Hounam

I studied Medieval History at the University of St Andrews; then went on to write a PhD thesis, Early Crusading Apocalyptic in the Context of the Western Apocalyptic Tradition, at the University of London. After studying painting at the Ruskin School of Drawing in Oxford, I lived in Dublin, where I worked as a professional artist and taught at Dun Laoghaire College of Art. I participated in various group exhibitions and had a one-man show, Obsessive Actions and Religious Practices, at the Temple Bar Gallery, Dublin, in 1985. I was also a film critic for In Dublin, a listings magazine.

After my flatmate set the place alight one Christmas, I returned to London and got suckered into screenwriting. My television adaptation of the celebrated Victorian sensational thriller, Lady Audley’s Secret, by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, was broadcast on ITV in spring 2000. Another adaptation, of a contemporary thriller, Pretend You Don’t See Her by Mary Higgins Clark, was broadcast in 2002. I generally refer to this as Pretend You Didn’t Write It… because although I was credited and (after some aggravation) paid, only one line of my script actually made it to the screen.

My first YA fantasy novel, Gifted, was published in the UK by Corgi in January 2015; and in the US as A Dangerous Magic in 2017. A sequel, Pariah, appeared in February 2016; and a third instalment, Mortal, in 2023.

Those Who Wait, a tale of rollerskating and the supernatural, is due out in the summer of 2024.