Originally I planned to write one book, consisting of seven short stories, but these grew to the extent that I considered four sufficient for one book. Of the first seven stories, three – No Room at the Inn, The Search for the Missing Pintle and Over the Top – were selected for the first volume, along with a new story – Overnight Sensation. “Over the Top and Other Stories” was published in April 2000.

The remaining stories – A.N.U.S., Painting the Tank, A Tight Spot, and The Long Puddle – formed the second volume, “Painting the Tank and Other Stories”, which was the working title for the original book, but I had already begun a ninth story – Last Night Stand – so now a third book was necessary. In fact I wrote three more stories – Don’t Drink the Water!, A Big Surprise, and Sinking the Ship – before the second volume was published in August 2002 and the third volume followed almost immediately, in October 2002, under the title, “Sinking the Ship and Other Stories”.

Then there was a short break. My central character had left school at the end of book three and that might have been a good place to end the sequence, but I had actually written a further story prior to writing “Sinking the Ship” so I knew I had to go on. More stories were written, until eventually there were enough to fill a somewhat thicker book. “Taking the Plunge and Other Stories” was finally published in July 2004.

A much longer break followed, during which I devoted much time to writing educational articles for an A level magazine, but on retirement in 2013 I started to think about fiction writing once more and in 2015 I had an idea for a full-length Young Adult novel. “8 is Three Twos” was published on 31st October of that year. Since that time I have been busy working on the plots for two more YA novels, one of them with a Sci Fi element.

You can find me online at Goodreads.