A journey, yes, of sorts. With purpose, yes, that too. An author from another time, endeavouring to unearth space in today's cyber world - and hopefully be less ambiguous with his planetarian/galactic metaphors. And to generally find his way around in the attempt; all with the lofty dream of becoming a known author; an author of merit and for the right reasons: to bring literature back down to earth... to a place like, say, where fangs are still utilized for ripping into more traditional foods. With success, too... umm. Maybe that one is down to you, the reader. What you'll find here are 22 of his favourite posts carefully chosen from his own website, and from a writer who never claims to own the answers to his queries and observations, but who simply articulates them as they, seemingly, seek to trip him over - he's adept enough at tripping over his own shoe-laces. Sometimes he's amused; sometimes he's bemused. And sometimes, well, he's completely flummoxed... So come along for the ride. Who knows, he may even persuade you to purchase his debut novel, Wood Talc & Mr. J, set in 1970s northern England, to which each of these posts refers, by way of comparing its numerous themes with how we might view them today...
About the Author: Born and bred in the city of steel: Sheffield. Spent - or misspent, whichever your viewpoint - the majority of his 'young' years on the Northern Soul circuit. It's around this time and place that his novel is set - 'Wood, Talc and Mr. J' His academic education came much later, from scratch, in a sense. In time, he fell in love with the idea of languages, French in particular, and went on to get a BA Hons in French Language and Literature with subsidiary Spanish, at The University of Sheffield. He was a 'mature student', though maybe not as mature as he would like to think, looking back... After which, he moved down south - mid 90s - and eventually further still to the South of France for a few years, where he taught English. He then moved up to northern France to do much the same thing. But it was here where he also began to write, or experiment with writing. He came back to England in the mid-00s and lived in North London for five years, teaching and writing again. And for the last four or five years, he's lived in Norwich, where he's completed a Masters in Literary Translation, at the UEA - he likes to believe he's most definitely mature now! He's now working his way toward making a living by writing, with a little translation on the side... He tends to be picky about books, and take his time reading them; he expects each word to count; something he can go back to, read again - and again. Things witty, satirical, poetic... Moving. Favourite writers of late? Maybe Markas Zusak. Anna Funder, her 'All That I Am'. Actually, he's only just discovered Kurt Vonnegut, and read 'The Slaughterhouse Five'. Soulful writers, and their soulful things. And maybe he tries to emulate them. Same goes for his taste in films, music... and people.