MY WRITINGS

I think I write to put a full-stop to an interest. My books act as summaries of all those things which have engaged me.

My first novel “The Fate of Glassingall” (Olive Press/Impact Books 1991) gave shape to my childhood fascination with my grandfather’s house in Scotland. Illustrated by the artist Michael Potter, my brother, it was a free-flowing compendium of schooldays, ghosts, rock music, flying saucers, real and model railways, the eccentricity of adults, and the pain of loss when the house was demolished. 

My seven CD/MP3/audiobooks for SmartPass (1999-2010): “Macbeth”, “Hamlet”, “Julius Caesar”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Twelfth night”, “Pre-20th century poetry” and “Shakespeare: the works” came out of a career teaching English Literature. “Romeo and Juliet” won Bronze at the 2004 Speaking and Listening awards. (All are available as downloads and CDs from www.smartpass.) 

“A Third Wheel” (Panther 2009) was the only book in English on conversions of motorcycle to sidecar outfits and trikes, and was the culmination of years of interest in and ownership of these eccentric vehicles. I use a Harley-Davidson trike and a Honda ‘Fury’ with Watsonian ‘Meteor’ sidecar almost daily. 

“Carry on, College!” (H & SA 2011) brought together every amusing event and a gallery of extraordinary people in a summation of my years working for the Catholic Jesuit College in Wimbledon, and featured a huge number of photographs from my collection.

“Wimbledon College – the first 125 years” (The History Press 2017) was a co-written historian’s view of the entire history of the institution. (It is available from www.wimbledoncollege.org.uk.) 

“Shooting Europe” (Trans-Oceanic-Press 2019) is a mirror of my travels in America and Europe and my satirical interest in the concept art movement and the revenge plot. 

“Dark Lines” (2019) is a selection of poems, originally from a collection published in 2008, each  being the outcome of dreams, nightmares and the darkness.

“Losing It All” (2020) Anthony is fascinated by his grandfather’s magnificent haunted house. He teaches there and then turns it into a museum – but the dark force has not gone.

“Together Forever” (2020) Mike, Anthony’s brother, escapes from lunatic artist Mopsa in California. She pursues him to London where she hatches a plot to keep them together forever.

“Heavy Metal” (2021) Kids in the 1950s and ‘60s loved diecast models. This book is about that generation’s fascination with weight, with over 100 colour photographs of the products of Trix, Hornby-Dublo, Graham Farish, Dinky, Shackleton, Corgi, Britains and more.

“Dressing as Julia” (2022) 

I have also contributed articles ranging from the technical to the religious to magazines on-line and off, and have prize-winning poetry in several anthologies.

I am a member of the Society of Authors, and I was awarded an MBE for work in education and school drama in 2016.

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