Some Dad's play football with their sons. Some take them fishing. I write them stories.
'Matt's Dragon' was written for our second son, Matthew. And of course, after that they all wanted one....!
However, I was writing stories a long time before I had kids. 'Dry Murder' appeared in the first issue of 'Threads', a SF and fantasy short story magazine, now sadly long gone and all but forgotten! 'Shadowskin' and 'All the Dead of Morne' were published in later editions. 'Mariad's Island' has been published as part of a collection of my fantasy short stories ('Minutes of the Reality Escape Committee'). 'Out of Hadra', and 'Orlizon' have now been removed from the website as they form part of the second volume of 'Minutes', a collection of SF stories.
SF and Fantasy are my favourite genres, but I've tried my hand at other things - humour, for example, with 'The Fish'.
'Up the Mountain' is a bit different. I wrote it to explore, and to try and better understand, an especially difficult passage of the Old Testament. I found it a helpful exercise - possibly it will be of value to others.
There's no telling where a story will come from. For example, the idea for 'A Man to Fear' came to me whilst I was sitting in a seaside cafe on a miserable wet day. If you read the story, you'll recognise the scene! It has been published in the on-line magazine 'Welcome to Wherever' (now sadly defunct).
'A Scene of Crimes' draws on my background as a Scenes of Crime Officer (SOCO, or later, Crime Scene Investigator - CSI. And let me make it clear, it was nothing like on the TV!) - It's set in the same place as my crime novel, 'Can of Worms', though with different characters. 'The Art of Dying' is also crime - but with a bit of a twist: who's the criminal here?
'Interviews with a Magician' and 'The First Lesson of Magic' are Christmas specials - not about Christmas, but written for Christmas as a small gift for my readers. And, of course, to be enjoyed at any time of the year, along with all the others. Whereas 'That Christmas Present' is definitely Christmas-themed - if perhaps not very Christmas Spirited!
The 2022 Christmas Special was 'Desert Flower', which is not very Christmassy at all! I originally wrote this to explore a scenario and do a bit of world-building for a possible future novel. I haven't started on the novel yet, but I quite like the story, so no point in letting go to waste!
For the 2023 Special I've gone back to Crime, and to an old favourite of mine, Ben Drummond. He was the victim in my first crime novel, 'Can of Worms', but he was such an interesting character - and so much fun to write - that I brought him back for several prequel short stories (published in 'A Pattern of Murder'). I had the idea for another short story with him a long time ago, but have only recently got round to writing it. I hope you enjoy 'Ben Drummond's Cold Case Christmas'.
'Matt's Dragon' was written for our second son, Matthew. And of course, after that they all wanted one....!
However, I was writing stories a long time before I had kids. 'Dry Murder' appeared in the first issue of 'Threads', a SF and fantasy short story magazine, now sadly long gone and all but forgotten! 'Shadowskin' and 'All the Dead of Morne' were published in later editions. 'Mariad's Island' has been published as part of a collection of my fantasy short stories ('Minutes of the Reality Escape Committee'). 'Out of Hadra', and 'Orlizon' have now been removed from the website as they form part of the second volume of 'Minutes', a collection of SF stories.
SF and Fantasy are my favourite genres, but I've tried my hand at other things - humour, for example, with 'The Fish'.
'Up the Mountain' is a bit different. I wrote it to explore, and to try and better understand, an especially difficult passage of the Old Testament. I found it a helpful exercise - possibly it will be of value to others.
There's no telling where a story will come from. For example, the idea for 'A Man to Fear' came to me whilst I was sitting in a seaside cafe on a miserable wet day. If you read the story, you'll recognise the scene! It has been published in the on-line magazine 'Welcome to Wherever' (now sadly defunct).
'A Scene of Crimes' draws on my background as a Scenes of Crime Officer (SOCO, or later, Crime Scene Investigator - CSI. And let me make it clear, it was nothing like on the TV!) - It's set in the same place as my crime novel, 'Can of Worms', though with different characters. 'The Art of Dying' is also crime - but with a bit of a twist: who's the criminal here?
'Interviews with a Magician' and 'The First Lesson of Magic' are Christmas specials - not about Christmas, but written for Christmas as a small gift for my readers. And, of course, to be enjoyed at any time of the year, along with all the others. Whereas 'That Christmas Present' is definitely Christmas-themed - if perhaps not very Christmas Spirited!
The 2022 Christmas Special was 'Desert Flower', which is not very Christmassy at all! I originally wrote this to explore a scenario and do a bit of world-building for a possible future novel. I haven't started on the novel yet, but I quite like the story, so no point in letting go to waste!
For the 2023 Special I've gone back to Crime, and to an old favourite of mine, Ben Drummond. He was the victim in my first crime novel, 'Can of Worms', but he was such an interesting character - and so much fun to write - that I brought him back for several prequel short stories (published in 'A Pattern of Murder'). I had the idea for another short story with him a long time ago, but have only recently got round to writing it. I hope you enjoy 'Ben Drummond's Cold Case Christmas'.