Gilles Abier was born in Paris, France. After a few years of letting him play in the Parc des Buttes Chaumont, a large park in the north-eastern part of Paris, his parents moved out to the suburbs. At 17, Gilles left home to work at small jobs in Rouen (Normandy), study French literature at the University of Grenoble (near the Alps), and work in an advertising agency in Paris. At the age of 22, after a week-long holiday in London, he decided to live there for a short while. He ended up staying for seven years. To improve his English, he studied theatre at a drama school in Manchester. Back in London, while looking for a job as an actor with a French accent, Gilles had plenty of time to write. Regardless of his various travels, jobs, or studies, Gilles always had a pen in hand, never thinking that writing could be anything more than a hobby. When an adult novel that he had written between auditions was about to get published in France, he went back to Paris (near the Parc des Buttes Chaumont), where he found a part-time job at the Pompidou Centre. One day, an editor suggested that he write a play for children, which she then published. Gilles enjoyed the experience so much that he went on inventing stories for kids, teenagers, and now young adults. Today, he lives in St. Denis (north of Paris), still works two weekends a month at the Pompidou Centre, and carries on writing stories.