From poems to prose, and other bits and pieces, you’ll find some of my completed writing here, as well as experiments and ideas. All rights are reserved on these works but do get in touch to discuss options and ideas.
An excellent book that is both a memoir and an excellent outline of the main tools you need in your writer’s toolbox if you want to be taken seriously as a writer. Stephen King’s approach to writing is story-driven, not plot-driven, so eschews away from other guides which suggest a need for endless pre-planning, outlines, character notes, etc. It’s refreshing to hear this, and it’s a great...
Signs clattered. A dog barked. Something heavy fell. He frowned at the note written his little black book and slid it back into the inside pocket of his tailcoat with a hint of resignation. He knew it was going to be a bad day. The Undertaker waited in the doorway of the saloon and checked his pocket watch again. There was no sun to glint off the case today. Dark clouds hung low on the horizon...
White noise his only friend a million miles from anywhere ...
The opening of Karl’s petting zoo promises to be the start of a new, brighter chapter in his life, but an unexpected meeting threatens to destroy everything he has worked for.— Logline. This is a follow-on piece to my earlier FTW. FADE IN It was a little after three in the afternoon. Sam, the lead zoologist, was enthralling a group of children with his extensive knowledge of goats...
Carlos is given a life-or-death task by his boss and while pondering the gravity of it, he is distracted by a dog that wanders into a derelict boxing gym. Driven by compassion, he seeks to rescue the dog and confronts his own demons, making a choice between good and evil.— Logline. FADE IN Carlos had been late and Mike was very unhappy. The meeting had gone badly. Carlos had been left alone...
Central to the origin stories was Gilgamesh, the shepherd king of Erech. He was as strong as the savage bull, the most splendid amongst heroes and the most glorious amongst men. His strength was unrivalled and he had the most extraordinary good looks ...
So, you're Caretaker of the World (that's the Number One, the Big Boss, Head Honcho, You Know Who) and your advisers are lining up to tell you how things are out there. You listen absently ...
He secretly admired her but they never really clicked. Until one night when she called out-of-the-blue sounding cryptic and urgent and needing him to go to her. He had no idea how his world was about to change.— Logline. FADE IN The freezing mist oozed up the river bank and slowly filled the main street. Echoes from late night revellers lingered in eddies drifting away half heard. He...
To define it simply, Gamesmanship is “The Art of Winning Games without actually cheating.” But shouldn’t winning naturally follow experience, practice and determination? Quite often, but the lesser player can still win if he employs a little tactical Gamesmanship throughout the match. So many books have been written on the subject of games and the tactics of play, but so few...
The church congregation had just started to head home after the service when three bat-like aberrations descended from the heavens like fallen angels. Wrong time. Wrong place. — Logline. Not wholly human, nor completely vespertilian, their bodies glistened as they came, tumbling through the night sky with abhorrent and deliberate ease. Their wide, empty, white eyes pierced the darkness...
Many (many) years ago, I discovered role-playing and Dungeons and Dragons in one of the after school clubs. It revealed a universe that allowed me to flex my storytelling muscles and enjoy a mixture of fantasy and sci-fi and feed the escapist dreamer inside.
Over time, I played (and story-led*) many systems including Call of Cthulhu*, Shadowrun, Dungeons & Dragons*, Middle Earth, In Nomine*, Bushido, Chivalry & Sorcery, Chill, Warhammer, Warhammer 40k, Gammaworld, Hawkmoon, Stormbringer, Immortals*, Marvel Super Heroes, Paranoia, RuneQuest, Vampire: The Masquerade*, and a couple of my own devising (Medieval* and Parody*).
I explored live-action role-playing – eventually running my own club and developing my own LARP systems (Fools Gold and Dream Conquest) – and usually found myself in script-writing or game-master duty, writing over 500 individual live adventures over the period, many linked into the world events of the fantasy land we created. I also volunteered for Curious Pastimes and Lorien Trust at their main LARP events (special effects at the Ritual Circle), and did a little script work, cameos and improv for Curious Pastimes. I was also the South East's Editor (UK) for the LARP magazine The Adventurer.
The rest, as they say, is history.