Home Page

Dip. Professional Writing & Editing

I can't see the point of writing unless other people read what I write. And I write of the things I'm passionate about. On this site you will find my passion for drama, for history, for unionism, and simply for the pleasure of being creative with words.

It wasn't always so and my mum would shake her head in amazement and glow with pride when she saw me writing. We would sit and smile about a teacher I had when I was seven. Her name was Miss Bullman and she wrote on my exercise book, 'Why waste paper?' because of what I had ended up with on the page. I was never a good student.

I have a picture of Miss Bullman taken with a little wooden box Brownie camera back in 1956. On a school trip, and standing in the shadow of her emormous bosom, I pointed the box camera upwards, between those mountains of mammary and snapped, capturing forever an expression that epitomised everything my teacher represented. How wonderful it was for me, years later, an electrician by trade, and a newly published author, to sit with my mum and laugh at the thoughts of Miss Bullman; to see the pleasure on my mum's face knowing her little boy had proven that it never was a waste of paper. The finger marks, the dog eared corners and the illegible scribbles were no less than undiscovered creativity. Thoughts of Miss Bullman inspired a story called Hole in the Security Blanket, on my Stories & Essays page.

I like being me and I like being me in whatever I write. I hope you too, like what I write.

I discovered my passion for playwriting by accident in the early 1990s when my writers' group were asked by a drama school if anyone wrote plays. I didn't but thought I'd have a go. I became its writer in residance learning the craft of writing for stage with school students from primary age to secondary age. That led me to approach my local drama group where I began to write for adults too. Although I studied writing and playwriting at college and university, it was with the kids at the drama school and the adult amature theatre players at the drama group where the theory was proven and the the skills required to get from page to stage mastered.

I have been a unionist all my life. It is a philosopy you either believe in or not. I've known many union members that are just in it for themselves, not interested until they need someone to fight for them. Those people also disappear very quickly after they've got what they wanted. I have no time for them. Others recognise the the importance of collectivism and fight not for themselves but for the group. There is no room for selfishness in unionism. The group comes together to protect the individual but only when that individual is part of the group. It's a survival instinct.