The Mastermind Behind The Books
Mark Walden spent ten years designing and producing video games for a living before the idea of the Higher Institute of Villainous Education crept into his mind, and he decided to become an author. The unlikely inspiration behind the top secret school of villainy was, in fact, a Persian Blue cat named Otto. On noticing Otto’s uncanny resemblance to the cat that Blofeld owned in the James Bond films, Mark began to wonder exactly how the world’s evil genius’s honed their skills and where the nefarious villains of tomorrow were trained... and so H.I.V.E. was born. Higher Institute of Villainous Education was Mark’s first novel, and since then he has dedicated himself to the school’s diabolically talented teens, writing a further five books in the series; The Overlord Protocol, Escape Velocity, Dreadnought, Rogue and Zero Hour; and the bestselling World Book Day exclusive, Interception Point. Mark is happily married (as is his wife, he hopes) and is the proud father of Megan. He lives in Hampshire.