Nigel McDowell grew up in County Fermanagh, rural Northern Ireland, and as a child spent most of his time battling boredom, looking for adventure - crawling through ditches, climbing trees, devising games to play with his brother and sister, and reading. After graduating with a degree in English he spent almost two years living and working in Australia and New Zealand.

The House of Mountfathom was Nigel's final novel, before his death in early 2016 at the age of thirty-four.