More Fiction

What if….?

I started writing when I heard of the suicide of a young man who had been fostered by someone I knew. He and his half-brother had been abandoned by their fathers and left with a mother who obstructed other people’s attempts to help her sons. As a teacher I dealt with a number of boys whose fathers had walked out.

My interest lies in the way that we treat other people, especially those for whom we are directly responsible. Caring about other people is at the centre of civilised life.

Much of what I write is an attempt to answer the question, “What if….?”

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Why I wrote dunno

Launching ‘dunno’ at Marylebone Station

My inspiration for dunno came from the stories of two boys I encountered during my teaching career.

The mother of the first, a twelve year-old, came into school because of his anti-social behaviour and explained how his father had left, promising to visit him once a fortnight. Two weeks later the father had rung to say that it would be another fortnight before he would be able to visit. These fortnightly calls continued for eighteen months. Each time the boy put down the phone he sat on his mother’s lap and cried his heart out; at school he had become a bully.

The second boy had been asked by his house-master whether his father, a footballer with an international reputation, was ever going to pay a weekend visit. His reply was to the effect that his father, who did have a reputation as a womaniser, spent all his time making brothers and sisters for him. He too became violent towards other students and was expelled.

First novel ‘dunno’ won an Arts Council award.

And yet, each of these boys grew up to be decent young men. Somewhere, somebody helped them on their way. The first saw out his time in school successfully and the second returned to support his new school’s rugby team and, I’m pleased to say, greeted me like a long-lost friend.

Much later, talking to a class in a school in Kent, I was confronted by five girls who wanted me to realise what life could be like for girls in a house without a dad. They made me very aware of lots of important things, mothers too wary to let them out with boys, never seeing mum with a man who cared for and respected her, not knowing how to go on with their friends’ brothers, not having any sort of rule of thumb by which to judge boys’ conduct towards them.

Thanks girls

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Short Stories

Help yourself…. to read online or download, click on the titles.

Just Missed
Too late to meet a man who had fascinated me

Little Liar
Lying cured

Prisoner denied his dignity
What choice for lifers?

Prove It
School friend lost

The Interview
A change of career for Mr Windsor

The Mistake
Kidnapped – an eleven year-old killer

The Teacher’s Car
A confession stirs long-dead memories

The Visitor
The last brief encounter

The Witness
But what sort of Christian?

Would You Like a Copy?
A pushy parent pushes too hard

Obadiah Cranford v. The Archbishop
A man of words is held to account

Accounts Rendered
It’s too easy to interfere then walk away

An Inspector Called
A health and safety inspector saves the world

Certified Drivers
Held up on the road? – Traffic congestion cured

The Bonfire
Grown ups playing with matches

His Best Jacket
Mother killed by son’s best friend

The Stolen Spermatozoa
So tiny biologically, so enormous in its consequences

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Sample more novels

Click on the titles

On the Side
A boy from a wealthy background tracks down his anonymous father.

The Redundant Carpark
Essex  2025 – A desperate government tries to use the county’s entrepreneurs to kick-start a moribound economy.

A Year in a Golden Cage
A snapshot of life in a prestigious international boarding school.

Our Way ~ That Girl Again
The US turns on its oldest friend; a satire on the special relationship.

Still Life
Another teenage boy – discovers mother on a porn site.

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