The idea.  Inspired by David J. Chalmers' Radio 4 feature What is Reality? (Autumn 2022), Slipstream grew from an interest in the nature of reality and how we perceive the world around us. It gradually evolved into a contemporary novel with speculative elements that explores family, memory, and the lasting consequences of the choices we make.

 

At its heart, it became a story about cause and effect.

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A forgotten experiment.

A family divided by secrets.

A past that refuses to stay in the past.

 

Slipstream is currently in the final stages of preparation for submission.

Work has already begun on a sequel.

Initially published in 2013 as my first venture into self-publishing, The Cathartic Couch is an anthology of short stories built around one of my favourite devices: the twist in the tale. In 2018, it was updated, and reissued under my own publishing imprint with a new cover.

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I am currently revising the collection for a new edition, planned for later in 2026.

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Looking back, I realise The Cathartic Couch taught me as much about myself as it did about writing. The clue has always been in the title.

In the early 2000s, I belonged to an online writing community called WriteLink. In 2004, they ran a Christmas Chiller short story competition where they provided the first sentence. I entered. I was delighted to win joint second place, along with a £25 prize. I've entered several writing competitions over the years, but this remains the only one in which I've won anything, so it deserves a mention here. 
 

Sadly, WriteLink no longer exists. Even the competition results appear to have been lost. A search of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine found no archive copy of the results page. Fortunately, I still have the story, and you can read it here.

In January 1999, my article War Graves on the Internet was published in issue No 13 of Practical Family History, then one of the UK's leading genealogy magazines. It turned out to be my only published non-fiction article. Magazine writing demanded regular deadlines and, with a one-year-old son, I simply couldn't commit.

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I enjoyed the process: the research, the writing, the creativity. Genealogy was another of my interests, and still is, but fiction suited my lifestyle far better. It allowed me to write at my own pace, in my own time. 
 

Practical Family History ceased publication in 2010, but I still have my copy of No 13. It's a happy reminder to see my work there.