Brian Keaney was born in Walthamstow, Essex, to Irish Catholic parents.
He reported that he learned about narrative by listening to his mother who was a natural storyteller.
He did not enjoy his schooldays and reported that some teachers at his secondary school were overly fond of administering corporal punishment.
A librarian at a school he was working at introduced him to young adult fiction, piquing his interest so that he decided to write his own.
Promises of Dr. Sigmundus Nathaniel Wolfe The Magical Detective Agency