Having spent the majority of his teens and twenties wondering just what would become of him, Simon chanced upon a hitherto unrealised ability to write. This ability, limited as it was, compelled him to enroll as a mature student at the University of Limerick to study journalism. His dreams of pursuing a new career were almost immediately curtailed by a punishing, unexplained illness which took away three years of his life but perversely, enabled him to fulfill a long-held ambition and write a novel. Those were dark, depressing years but in spite of the toll they took on him, Simon understands were it not for that illness he would never have found the wherewithal to pen his first novel, And the birds kept on singing. He has since completed his studies and works as a columnist for local paper, the Limerick Post. Simon is currently working on his second novel, a character study which deals with depression and loneliness among young men in Ireland, which he hopes to complete in 2019.