Background

Bill Condon was born on April 21, 1949, in Sydney, Australia.

Education

Bill Condon was not the most enthusiastic student. In his own words, he left school at the first chance he got.

Career

Before Bill settled into his long-standing profession as a writer, he tried an assortment of jobs. Lawn cosmetics expert, commonly known as mowing lawns, forklift and truck driver, professional punter. Condon also delivered parcels, trained greyhounds for the racetrack, worked in a milk factory. The latter of which proved unpopular with his bank manager.

A chance meeting with the editor of a local weekly newspaper, Larry Rivera, introduced Bill to the world of journalism. Bill standing in on a one day trial for a sick reporter turned into a ten-year career.

His journalism career gave him a taste of what his dream role as a children’s author could offer. Bill followed in the footsteps of his author wife, Dianne (Di) Bates, and continued to write for children during his journalism days. Condon's first books were published together with his wife, Madcap Café and Other Humorous Plays (1986), Operation Lily-Liver: A Shadow Play (1987), The Slacky Flat Gang (1988).

After ten years of chasing down front-page stories, Bill decided to throw caution to the wind and chuck it all in. That life-changing decision proved to be his best career move.

Most of Condon's books are designed to capture the interest of reluctant elementary school-aged readers, and his many fans can attest to his success. In addition, Condon's 2001 book Miss Wolf and the Porkers received a coveted Kids Own Australian Literature Award (KOALA).

Other books by Condon include a number of installments in the Creepers series, which includes titles such as Slime Zone, Ghoul Man, and Brain Sucker that provide school-aged readers a dollop of spine-tingling horror. The Creepers series was a collaboration between Condon and illustrator and friend Robert Hood. They passed chapters back and forth via fax during the writing process. Toddlers also become an enthusiastic audience for a selection of books by Condon featuring simple texts designed for the very young. Particularly attractive to reluctant readers, the author's Twisted Tales, series features titles based loosely on traditional fairy tales, but any moralizing in the original is replaced by a healthy dose of gross-out fun. Chunderella, for example, finds a hefty princess with a healthy appetite attracted to an equally rotund Prince Percival, and readers witness a match made in the kitchen as the portly pair fall in love over plates of Brussels sprouts doused with chocolate sauce. Jack and the Magic Baked Beans similarly sets the time-honored Jack and the Beanstalk on its edge as Condon adds a bald emu and a giant with a sore backside to the story's cast of characters.

Supplementing his collection of fiction for children, Condon has also authored several plays designed for young audiences, as well as volumes of children's poetry.

Achievements

• Bill Condon's No Worries was short-listed for the Ethel Turner Prize in the 2005 New South Wales (NSW) Premier's Literary Awards.
  
  A Straight Line To My Heart was short-listed in the 2012 Prime Minister's Literary Awards.
  
  Condon has written more than 80 books, many in collaboration with Robert Hood, including several collections of plays and poetry, as well as short stories, novels, and works of non-fiction. A large number of his published books were written for young readers in the genre of humour and horror fiction.

Works

More photos

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  • Pipeline News

    (Tune in to Pipeline News for the latest surf reports in H...)

    2013
  • Race to the Moon

    (When four friends are stuck inside on a rainy day, they t...)

    2013
  • Far out and Funny Plays

    (Both entertaining in performance and suitable for reading...)

    1997
  • The Simple Things

    (A heartfelt story told with affection and humor about a s...)

    2013
  • Freaky Fact or Fiction Dinosaurs

    (They say truth is stranger than fiction, but can you tell...)

    2011
  • Pocket Worlds Easy Buy Pack

    (Part of the Pocket Reads collection, a superb range of 12...)

    2008
  • Give Me Truth

    (When families break down, it’s a moment of truth, in this...)

    2008
  • Gods and Monsters: The Shooting Script

    (In 1957, a handsome gardener named Clayton Boone is hired...)

    2005
  • Riley and the Treasure

    (Riley's on the lookout for treasure - pirate treasure! He...)

    2013
  • A Straight Line to My Heart

    (A funny, poignant, realistic story of Tiffany's first lov...)

    2011
  • Pocket Worlds Non-fiction Year 4: Twenty Things You Need to Know

    (Part of a superb collection of 120 pocket-sized fiction a...)

    2008
  • The Adventures of Jellybean

    (From award-winning authors Bill Condon and Dianne Bates c...)

    2018
  • Riley and the Fantastic Plan

    (Riley's going to win the Champion's Cup, he has a fantast...)

    2013
  • Miss Wolf and the Porkers

    (Are the Porker kids so perfect? Is little Miss Wolf, the ...)

    2001
  • Curly Tales: Short Stories with a Twist

    (Award winning author Bill Condon author is back with with...)

    2017
  • No Worries

    (Brian Talbot: seventeen, virgin, high school dropout, nig...)

    2005
  • Planet Puzzle

    (A family of aliens are passing the time on a ride through...)

    2013
  • The Human Calculator

    (Ashley is upset when her classmate, Madison, is much bett...)

    2013
  • Riley Clowns Around

    (Everyone loves clowns - they're funny, friendly, and make...)

    2013
  • The Dream Team

    (Jasmine and her friends start a soccer team called The Ca...)

    2013
  • Humungoid

    (Something big and very bad is happening in the village of...)

    1997
  • Riley Versus the Giant Banana

    (Every night, Riley dreams that he's being chased by a gia...)

    2013
  • Don't Throw Rocks at Chicken Pox

    (A mixture of nonsense, funny and serious poems.)

    1992
  • One More Friend

    (Starting at a new school is scary. It's lucky then that J...)

    2016
  • How to Survive in the Jungle by the Person Who Knows

    (Follow TV show host Bradley D. Mented through six adventu...)

    2013
  • Daredevils

    ("I don't want to live longer. I want to live bigger." Tho...)

    2007
  • Confessions Of A Liar, Thief And Failed Sex God

    (It’s 1967. The world is rocking, and Neil is growing up f...)

    2009
  • That Smell Is My Brother 1990
  • What a Stinker! 1992
  • Auntie Spells Trouble 1992
  • Jolly Green Monster 1992
  • Hooked on Bananas 1995
  • Loco Zombies 1996
  • Slime Zone 1996
  • Freak Out! 1996
  • Bone Screamers 1996
  • Ghoul Man 1996
  • Rat Heads 1997
  • Holly and Mac 1997
  • Snow Bright and the Seven Sumos 1997
  • Snow Bright and the Tooth Magician 1998
  • A Waste of Space 1998
  • Jack and the Magic Baked Beans 1998
  • King Arthur and the Square Table 1999
  • Alien Detectives/The Galapina Treasures 2001
  • Oh, Oh! Lucy and Lion 2001
  • A Prize Idiot 2002
  • 100 Things You Really Need to Know 2003
  • Mack the Quack 2003
  • The Joker 2004
  • Time Travelers: The Jungle Goes Bananas, Sherwood Forest Goes to Pieces, the Wild West Goes Crazy 2005
  • Dreamgirls 2007
  • Pocket Worlds Non-fiction Year 3: Where in the World is Woolloomooloo? 2008

• Other Work

  • Dogs 2001

Views

Quotations: "Writing is the only vocation I ever felt an affinity for."

"I love the freedom of being able to create my own little world and to play in it, also to escape from real life and to not have a boss. Writing is the one thing I can do well."

Membership

• 

  Creative Kids Tales , Australia

Personality

When he is not writing, Bill plays tennis, snooker, and Scrabble. His dream is to receive a wildcard invitation to play tennis at Wimbledon.

Interests

• Scrabble, films, dogs, reading, watering the garden, punting on horses

• Sport & Clubs

  tennis, golf,

Connections

Bill Condon is married to the award-winning children's book author Dianne Bates. They live in Cordeaux Heights, south-west of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.

Wife:

Dianne Bates

Friend:

Robert Hood

References

• Bill Condon and Dianne Bates's website