Ross Montgomery started writing stories as a teenager, when he should have been doing homework, and continued doing so at university. He has been shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book of the Year award twice, with his debut novel Alex, the Dog and the Unopenable Door and The Midnight Guardians. His books have also been nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Award while his picture book Space Tortoise was nominated for the Kate Greenaway Award and included in The Guardian's Best New Children’s Books of 2018.