Ayant passé sa jeunesse à l'étranger, cet auteur a d'abord mis à profit ses expériences et une connaissance limitée de l'anglais en tant qu'enseignant dans le secondaire. Sa conviction fondamentale que l'éducation doit être ludique pour être efficace s'est toutefois heurtée à un système privilégiant la paperasse au détriment des élèves. Aujourd'hui écrivain à plein temps, il cherche à captiver les lecteurs par une voix singulière, visant à rendre ses récits à la fois divertissants et percutants.
Set in the gritty backdrop of Brighton's slums in 1871, the story follows Alice as she navigates the harsh realities of survival. With playtime a distant memory, her focus shifts to making rent to escape the dreaded workhouse. The arrival of the local constabulary adds further complications to her already challenging life, hinting at a tense and gripping narrative filled with struggle and resilience.
Tess Hawkhurst has retired to Sinneport, Sussex, to raise her daughter, run the Mairemaid Inn, and engage in a little illicit business on moonless nights. She reckons she's content, but one fateful night a group of wandering musicians evoke her past so vividly it's hard to tell what's what and when's when...and Tess is left wondering who else might come calling. Inspired by the song Wages of Sin from The Dark Design debut album 12 Tall Tales, this story was first published in The Dark Design Anthology: Tale of the Red Queen and Other Stories.
(A short Steampunk novella) Sussex, 1867. A broken heart drives Yard Pilkin from his native London to a small fishing village on the Sussex Coast. The locals are wary of strangers and initially keep their distance. After Yard makes some unlikely friends, he discovers that every man, woman, and child in the village conspire to conceal a secret.
Lewinna's father is chieftain of Wyrdwuda. Lewinna has always harboured the impossible ambition to follow in his footsteps. When he's called away to war by King Alfred, taking all the fighting men with him, his domain is threatened by a Danish raid. Lewinna will have to fight to defend her people, but she's not sure if she can.