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Writing and me

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Why?

I’ve been writing for literally longer than I can remember. I haven’t kept any examples of my work prior to 1994, but since then I have an almost complete record. The short story I wrote on a writing course at the Leicester Haymarket? The plays and monologues that were part of my Drama Degree at Manchester University? Yes, you can read those here if you really want to see my early progression.

Back when I was writing those things, I used to think that there was some secret to getting work produced or published that no-one had told me. I used to think that there must be some trick I was missing, some arcane tactic that would suddenly grant me a writing career. As I write this, I’ve got twenty years of writing behind me that you can see below. It took me that long to realise that I have - albeit small and unimposing - a writing career. That the way I got it was probably the same way everybody else got theirs: by persistence, by luck, and with the sneaking suspicion that everybody else was doing it better than me.

Which was why I decided to create this site.

I decided that I would document the process I went through to get where I am today, on the bottom rung of a career in writing. I wanted to answer the questions that I had when I first started out. I wanted to hopefully give the answers that would have made me realise the truth a lot earlier: there is no magic secret to becoming a writer. All you can do is write, and keep sending it out. Don’t wait to be asked: no-one will ever give you permission. Just get out there and do it.

So I made this website - using some of the things I’d picked up during my day job (if you are going to be a writer, you will need another source of income: in twenty years, I’ve earned £12,000 from writing. If I was a full time writer, I’d be earning 31p an hour.)

If you’d like to contact me to discuss any of this, you can use the contact form here.

My CV

Image of Mr Sin, by Blair Bidmead

Book

The Black Archive #58: The Talons of Weng-Chiang

Publication Dates
4 April 2022
Obverse Books logo
Most likely to be described as "a product of its time", The Talons of Weng-Chiang has been hailed as the best Doctor who story ever written, and maligned as blatant sinophobia. No other story has had more requests to consider it in its proper historical context, but perhaps equally important is how that context affects our relationship with the story today.
  • blog
  • writing
  • black archive
Cover of Build High for Happiness

Short Story

Build High for Happiness

Publication Dates
31 December 2021
Obverse Books logo
Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors. But that is a lie, of course. In Paradise Towers, everyone can hear everything. It was built that way on purpose.
  • paradise towers
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of Faction Paradox: Spinning Jenny

Book

Spinning Jenny

Publication Dates
21 November 2017
Obverse Books logo
Elizabeth Howkins has learned the secrets of the gods. Now, she knows their weaknesses. Now, she is ready to exact her revenge.
  • blog
  • writing
The cover of The Perennial Miss Wildthyme, by Paul Hanley

Short Story

The Perennial Miss Wildthyme

Publication Dates
30 September 2015
Obverse Books logo
Iris is a gin-soaked adventuress who couldn't give a stuff if things turn out for the best, as long as she has a wild time. And then - as if by magic - a shopkeeper appeared ...
  • writing
  • blog
  • co-writes
Cover of Flywheel Revolution

Audio Drama

Big Finish Short Trips

Publication Dates
1 January 2015 - 25 December 2015
Big Finish logo
Frankie has been consigned to the Scrapheap, with nothing to do but hunt for the monster that lives off the remains of his dead friends. A monster called the Doctor.

To dream of the Black Dog is to die in terror within the week. The Doctor thinks it nothing but mindless superstition... but then Leela dreams the dream.
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of Wildthyme of Mars

Short Story

Iris Wildthyme of Mars

Publication Dates
1 September 2014
Obverse Books logo
Two lovers set out to be the first humans to reach Mars. But can a stuffed Panda and his best friend get them safely home again?
  • writing
  • blog
Cover of Tales of the City

Short Story

Tales of the City

Publication Dates
30 June 2012
Obverse Books logo
What would Kurt Cobain do with eternal life if he couldn't be famous?
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of Wildthyme in Purple

Short Story

Wildthyme in Purple

Publication Dates
20 November 2011
Obverse Books logo
Iris Wildthyme and Panda want to know who killed the chauffeur in The Big Sleep. Who do you think they would ask?
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of the collection In Uniform

Short Story

In Uniform

Publication Dates
4 October 2010
Slash Books logo
If you were gay in the 50s, what hope could the world give you?
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of The Panda Book of Horror

Short Story

The Panda Book of Horror

Publication Dates
12 December 2009
Obverse Books logo
When you meet someone so amazing that you abandon your whole life just to be with them, what does that look like to those that get left behind?
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of Short Trips: Transmissions

Short Story

Short Trips: Transmissions

Publication Dates
1 July 2008
Big Finish logo
If an animal has killed, then you have it put down … but if it's intelligent enough to communicate, couldn't it be intelligent enough to have a motive?
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of The Many Hands

Book

The Many Hands

Publication Dates
10 April 2008
BBC Books Logo
An Edinburgh physician who won't let his father rest in peace can't resist an alien who will sacrifice anything to stay alive.
  • blog
  • writing
A Page of the web Comic Cut! with Art by Jim Mortimore

Comic

Cut

Publication Dates
1 December 2007
Factor Fiction logo
A woman driven to the brink by the words and thoughts trapped inside her struggles to find release any way that she can.
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of Time and Relative Dissertations in Space

Article

Time and Relative Dissertations in Space

Publication Dates
13 November 2007
Logo of Manchester University Press
Everyone thinks that the Virgin New Adventures were a continuation of the TV series Doctor Who, but what if they were actually a continuation of the Virgin novelisations of the TV series Doctor Who?
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of Bernice Summerfield: Collected Works

Short Story

Bernice Summerfield: Collected Works

Publication Dates
1 October 2006
Big Finish logo
She is the ultimate bad mother, drinking too much and abandoning her son whenever adventure calls. But even she wouldn't convince her son to kill himself to save her. Would she?
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of Time Hunter: The Albino's Dancer

Book

The Albino's Dancer

Publication Dates
1 June 2006
Telos Publishing logo
What if you said goodbye to your best friend at breakfast, and found out they died six months ago? What if you had a time machine?
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of Short Trips: The Solar System

Short Story

Short Trips: The Solar System

Publication Dates
22 October 2005
Big Finish logo
Ben Jackson would trust the Doctor with his life, if he was sure that he was still the Doctor.
  • blog
  • writing
Cover of Heritage

Book

Heritage

Publication Dates
7 October 2002
BBC Books Logo
A man who has seen too many deaths must fight a whole town to uncover just two more.
  • blog
  • writing
Portrait of Charles I of England by Antoon van Dyck

Play

A Northamptonshire Tale

Publication Dates
1 September 2000
Royal & Derngate Theatre logo
In the middle of the bloody Engish Civil War, how did two men from opposing sides become the best of friends?
  • blog
  • writing
Image of some faceless mannequins

Play

Skin Deep

Publication Dates
1 October 1999
Royal Exchange Theatre Logo
The white sheep of the family faces down her twin sister's abusive husband to save her niece. But how alike can twins be, especially when it comes to love?
  • blog
  • writing
  • writing group stories
Flyer for The Lunatic

Play

The Lunatic

Publication Dates
4 August 1999 - 30 August 1999
Are there crimes that are too great, too terrible to forgive even when the perpetrator is truly sorry?
  • blog
  • writing
Poster for A Night on the Tiles

Play

A Night on the Tiles

Publication Dates
5 August 1998 - 31 August 1998
Logo of K486
When things go very, very wrong, how do you carry on and put your life back together?
  • blog
  • writing
Flyer for The Kissing Game

Play

The Kissing Game

Publication Dates
29 January 1996 - 24 February 1996
IRDP Logo
Can a young virgin get over his fear of HIV long enough to fall in love?
  • blog
  • writing
  • issue plays
Flyer for Hello?

Audio Drama

Hello?

Publication Dates
30 August 1994 - 10 October 1994
IRDP Logo
Two people who desperately need help don't realise they can't help each other.
  • blog
  • writing
  • issue plays
Image by Richard Farrell accompanying Front Line

Short Story

Brief Encounters

Publication Dates
19 January 1994 - 12 May 1994
Logo of Doctor Who Magazine
Given the chance to escape, will the last of six friends stay to die in a WWI trench? The Doctor saves humanity, he saves the Earth. Time after time. But what if this time he can't save both?
  • blog
  • writing

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