Andrew Cope

Andy is a grown up who still manages to think as a child. He always describes himself as an ‘accidental author’ who came late to writing (he wrote his first book in 2005 at the grand old age of 37)! The idea for ‘Spy Dog’ came to him after watching a James Bond film with his family and wondering out loud whether Lara, their pet mutt, could actually be a super-sophisticated secret agent who was just pretending to be ‘normal’. The kids laughed at him but he thought it was a really good idea. So he tapped the ideas out on his laptop and read them to his daughter. She really liked the story so he decided to try and get it published.

As well as writing he runs his own training company called ‘Art of Brilliance’ which teaches people how to be brilliant. He runs these courses for businesses and schools. He teaches anyone who is polite enough to listen and has recently taken his classes to South Africa.

He has written The Art of Being Brilliant (Capstone), and also a book aimed at teenagers called A Brilliant Life (Balloon View Ltd). The idea for the latter came from the Innocent Smoothie carton, which was so simple and uncluttered that it made him think about writing something dead simple to inspire youngsters to positive thinking.

Apart from writing Andy loves music (almost anything except German opera, soul and hip hop). He is a sporting nut, especially football. Most Saturdays are ruined because he is a lifelong supporter of the hapless Derby County! He also loves learning new things and can often be found with his head in a self help book

Andy is married to Louise. He lives in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by fields and silence although quite often the silence is broken by their 2 children, Sophie and Ollie. Apart from Lara they have the usual family pets – guinea pigs, hamsters, goldfish – and two pet piglets, called Hargreaves and Rooney (affectionately known as his “boyz”).