About M.C. Hughes
From Passion to Profession
M.C. Hughes is a British author and the founder of HeadTeks, an independent publishing imprint dedicated to books that inspire curious minds of all ages.
His lifelong fascination with the natural world, science, technology, and the biggest questions of human existence runs through everything he writes. Whether he is crafting a nature mystery for a six-year-old or exploring the philosophical edges of science fiction for adults, the thread that connects all of his work is the same: the belief that curiosity is the most important quality a person can have, and that asking the right question is always the beginning of something wonderful.
How It All Began
It started with a six-year-old girl, a scooter, and a Tuesday morning that did not go to plan.
My granddaughter Charlotte had a nasty accident and ended up in the hospital with a bruised nose, a cut lip, and a missing front tooth. Most children would have been frightened and in tears. Charlotte sat calmly in the waiting room, eating a bag of salted crisps while the doctors stared at her in disbelief. The nurse called her the bravest little patient she had ever seen.
I wrote her a book to celebrate that bravery. That book became Charlotte’s Brave Day, and Charlotte became the inspiration for Charlotte the Brave, one of the three young detectives at the heart of the Curiosity Crew series.
A Family That Keeps Growing
Of course, once Charlotte had her own book, her sister Caitlynn needed one too. And once Caitlynn had her own series, their cousins Tilly, William, and Ellie started asking questions. The Digital Detectives series exists entirely because I could not bear the thought of any of them feeling left out.
That is genuinely how HeadTeks works. Every book begins with a real child, a real personality, and a real desire to make them feel seen and celebrated. The stories and the science come after that.
What I Hope The Books Can Accomplish
I am not a trained teacher or a curriculum designer. I am a grandfather who loves science and stories, and I believe that curiosity is the most important quality a child can develop. Every book I write tries to do one thing: send a child outside to look more closely at the world around them, with a question in their mind that was not there before they started reading.
If that happens even once, the book has done its job.