Young Simon was a geek back in the 90s and 00s, long before The Big Bang Theory made it cool. He often found himself on the wrong side of a bully’s sneakers, but it didn’t matter. He was surrounded by the best friends of all: books. 

Some of his fondest memories link back to those early discoveries, like Animorphs, Goosebumps, and a well-worn copy of War of the Worlds that still sits on his desk some twenty-odd years later. A Chernobyl baby and lifelong Doctor Who fan, Simon would take Lego over flowers any day.

Simon Taylor is a writer and creative consultant best known for his best-selling Audible Original podcast series Beyond Strange Lands. With a background in screen development and production, he was honoured to be part of the International Emmy Award-winning team behind Doodles: Season 3 (Ludo Studio).

After appearing on Season 6 of You Can’t Ask That, Simon became an advocate for mental illness and invisible disabilities. To help manage OCD, he adopted a plush toy T-Rex named Hans, who goes everywhere with him and has since become something of a cultural icon.

Simon’s mission is to create diverse characters and stories that make neurodiverse people feel seen and understood. Through his work, he hopes to foster empathy by giving readers a glimpse into the minds of people who think differently.

Whether it’s dinosaurs, monsters, or sentient Blu-Tack, Simon wants to transport audiences to other worlds, the kind that make you smile, cry, and maybe even shout in frustrated delight (like every Matthew Reilly fan after that Libby Gant scene).

His favourite authors include Naomi Novik (because Temeraire is everything), Rick Riordan, Brandon Sanderson, Derek Landy, Becky Chambers, and Greig Beck. Comfort viewing includes It’s Always Sunny, Scrubs, The Office (US), The X-Files, and anything with Stargate in the title.

For the record, Simon firmly believes Die Hard is a Christmas movie.