Tales of a North Briton

  These seven short stories cover most of my career and remind me of the many strange, yet interesting, situations in which I found myself. They are not autobiographical, but, that said, I have drawn from the hundreds of characters that have made my life worth recording and looking back on. I hope you enjoy them: The Watch: I've always loved trains, and this was a chance to construct a ghost story set in 1939. It concerns a young dining car attendant, Ronnie Wilson, and an elderly Scottish Member of Parliament who frequently meet on the overnight service but are unprepared for the surreal journey that's about to overwhelm them. Interrupted Service: The Anglican Church is only the faintest shadow of its former self. But during its day it attracted more than its fair share of characters, saints and sinners, devout and deviant. This is a good-humored look at life in a rough and tough rustbelt town and a recently installed vicar who's on the lookout for the good times! Who am I?: The world of modern online dating is a complex one. This story examines, in first person, the confusion which arises from an encounter with someone who is essentially a stranger. How much can one believe or trust when meeting someone off the internet?Seven Days of Lorcan Cumming: Lorcan and Peter have everything an upwardly mobile gay couple could want, including a fancy hair salon in Harrogate. But their affluent life is not enough and when hairdresser Lorcan decides to 'virtue-signal' on a grand scale and invite two girls from war-torn Absolutova to come live with them, he's not prepared for the results. Fun with the Irish, the Russians and the snobs of an English spa town.Pies and Lies: We all have dreams, but sometimes reality needs to give us a kick up the backside when we fail to see what everyone else can see. Michael wants to be a great musician. Problem is, they are often 'born' rather than 'made.' But who will tell him? Could it be the woman who's given him a part-time job, driving her van? Window Seat: Germans are notorious for placing their towels on sun loungers as a way of claiming their territory wherever they go. In Britain it's the seat beside a window that counts, even when, as is often the case, there is nothing much to see. This story follows Joanna and Rachel and explores how this obsession for the window seat affected their lives over thirty years. Market Forces: A coming-of-age story, where a young man helps his domineering mother on her charity stall. It's nearly Christmas and he's dreading being seen by his fellow classmates, but when a young musician from Romania arrives at the market and begins to play, something far more important develops.   .