Frequently Asked Questions

Who are you?

I am a contemporary, urban and gothic fantasy writer.  I don't make up the genre titles, I just identify with them.

I was born in 1979 in Paisley, a large industrial town in the West of Scotland.  I attended the University of Glasgow where I graduated with an LL.B. (Hons) in Scottish Law, and absolutely zero desire to become a lawyer.  I continued my legal education at the Universtiy of Cambridge, reading for an LL.M. in International Law.  I then spent two years out of academia trying to secure funding for a PhD (first at Cambridge, then at Glasgow, then the London School of Economics), eventually starting as a self-funded student at the London School of Economics under the supervision of Dr Gerry Simpson.

Towards the end of a troubled first year at LSE I became ill, then depressed (a recurring story), and eventually took a one year interruption of studies that stretched to two years whilst I got my head around what I really wanted in life.  In early 2007 I realised what I wanted wasn't law.  What I wanted to do was write.  I officially withdrew from my doctoral studies at LSE in June 2007, and have been working on writing ever since, with some minor degree of success.

I judge my writing by two simple criteria: does a story scare my mother; and does a story scare my wife.  If the answer to either of these questions is "no", then the story needs more work.  As Julia says

"You, sir, are fucked up ... you hit me with the figure hunched over the bodies, and that sent a cold shiver up my spine. Bastard."

I have been a somewhat regular contributor to Fiction Friday over at Write Anything, which has helped to raise my profile, and my confidence.  Since November 2007 I have also written a weekly column on the Write Anything website.  Check me out every Sunday.

Aren't you that director/footballer/strongman?

No, I'm not. It's a common name oddly enough!

Didn't this used to be called Project Ex-Lex?

Yes it did, but not any more.

I needed a name for the site, and I couldn't think of one.  So I used a spur of the moment, not intended seriously, throwaway comment, safe in the knowledge that I could change it to something better at a later date.  Which I have decided to do now.

Influences

2010 Writing Tasks

  • Write every day - minimum of two pages each day.
  • Publish Chinese Whisperings: The Red Book in paperback.
  • Recruit for, edit, and publish the next Chinese Whisperings anthology.
  • Complete and submit a manuscript to an agent.
  • Enter twelve writing contests.
  • Record and post at least one podcast per month.