Hello and welcome to my site. I’m Scott Allen, freelance writer and author of the children’s fiction books Llama United, Llamas Go Large and Goal Squad: Win The Cup, as well as two versions of the non-fiction books ‘On Your Marks, Get Set…Gold.’
I’ve been writing professionally for over 20 years, but I’ve also immersed myself in lots of different aspects of the media spectrum including:
- Public speaking and university lecturing
- Writing and editing on a wide variety of topics including news, sports, entertainment, finance, gaming, motoring, betting and igaming.
- Script writing, editing and speech writing
- Marketing and communications
- SEO and GEO
- Website consultancy and site management
- Social media management
- Project, product and account management
- Live data management
- AI content management
- Video and audio production
You name it and I’ve probably had a go at it.
If you are interested in discussing a potential project with me then please get in touch directly via my contact page on this site or on Linkedin.
For book enquiries you can go through my literary agent Gemma Cooper at Gemma Cooper Literary
For school visits and speaking events you can come directly to me or Authors Aloud.
To buy my books you can get all the information and purchase links here.
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As a journalist for over 20 years, and to prove I’m not some tedious corporate AI robot, I thought I’d ask myself some questions which might help you to get to know me better.
Where are you from?
I was born and brought up in the horse racing town of Epsom, in Surrey, very close to London. Epsom is home to one of the most famous horse races in the world – The Derby, which started way back in 1780.
As a child, I used to spend a lot of time looking at a picture called The Derby Day by William Powell Frith, that was on the wall in my Gran’s house (we didn’t have the internet back then).
The picture sparked my interest in storytelling. Who were all these colourful characters and what were their hidden stories?
Apart from the clothing, and a few more grandstands, Derby Day is very similar today.
Where do you live now?
Not including living in Epsom until I was 18, I only seem to live in places beginning with an ‘L’. I moved to Luton, then London and finally up to Leeds, where I’ve been for over twenty years. I still sound like I’m from the south though, but luckily the friendly Yorkshire folk have made me very welcome. So I decided to stay, got married and had two children. Those three are all from Yorkshire.
Did you always want to be a writer?
No, when I was young I wanted to be a footballer, then a boxer, then a clown, then a cartoonist and finally a taxi driver. As I got older I started looking into the media, and at 17 I began writing for a football fanzine and presenting a weekly radio show on hospital radio. I also made three issues of an unofficial school newspaper that got me into a lot of trouble. It was called the ‘Huge Roast Potato’.
At university I did media production, this was before the internet and before it became the cool thing to do. I thought I was going to be a cameraman, but found myself writing scripts and doing bits of journalism. It was only after I left uni working for free on local papers, fanzines and an extra journalism course that I stumbled into my first proper writing job.
It would be another twenty years before I found the time to write a book.
Which football team do you support?
West Ham United. I started following them when I was five and it has been a rollercoaster ride ever since. I used to have a season ticket, but now I’m restricted to the occasional visit south and away games in the north.
When I’m not watching West Ham, I try and catch Sutton United when they are in Yorkshire, plus I do occasionally go to random non-league games. Sometimes going to grassroots football is much more fun than the top level stuff. It’s much easier to get a pie. So keep an eye out for me at lower league grounds on a Saturday afternoon or midweek evening.
Who are your favourite players?
So many, it’s hard to pick. This is in no order; Ludek Miklosko, Phil Parkes, Julian Dicks, Ray Stewart, Bobby Moore, Alvin Martin, Billy Bonds, Sir Trevor Brooking, Alan Devonshire, Paolo Di Canio. My current favourite West Ham player changes all the time depending on who is playing well.
What’s your favourite food?
Thai…and my mum’s cakes, but not on the same plate.
What’s your favourite film?
Escape to Victory. It’s a film about prisoners of war in World War 2, who play the Germans at football. It’s brilliant. It stars lots of famous footballers like Pele, Ossie Ardiles and lots of Ipswich Town players. Proper actors Michael Caine is the captain, and Sylvester Stallone is the American goalkeeper.
Actually, I love most sport films, even the really bad ones. I cry at most sports films that involve a horse, not sure why.
What’s your favourite book?
I have two. Hitch Hikers’ Guide to the Galaxy and Treasure Island. Hitch Hikers’ is very, very funny and silly, but it really makes you think too. Treasure Island is about pirates, what more could you want.
What’s your favourite bit of art?
It’s called Derby Day and it’s by… hang on I’ve mentioned that already.
What is your favourite type of bread?
A pretzel, the big doughy ones not snack type ones. Although I do like them too.
Quick fire favourite round? Drink – colour – animal – sport other than football – motorway service station – band – river – country – shoe.
Tea – claret n’ blue – llama – cricket – Leicester Forest East – Madness – Thames – Italy – trainer
If you had a choice between having the body of duck and the head of a man, or the body of a man and a head of a duck, which would you choose?
This is getting silly now, I think you’ve found out plenty about me by now, shall we stop….?
Yes
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Well done for reaching this far. As a terrible prize, here’s a picture of me, it’s not a pretty sight so I’ve hidden it at the bottom of this page where it can’t upset very small children or family pets.
