The author, his writing and more
So you don’t like fiction. Yet your lives are criss-crossed with stories of your own invention. Fiction has its advantages. It offers an intimate glimpse into unfamiliar perspectives like that of the Colourful People struggling with their gender identity.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
The following questions and responses were inspired by reactions to my newsletter entitled, A touch of colour – a new novel in the making.… Read more
One of the most important riches of our world lies not in cultivating familiarity, but in courting that which is different…
A central feature of the familiar is that it is reassuring. The well-known face that greets you as you enter your office building.… Read more
He pressed forward through the throng driven to ask an urgent question, but doing so turned out to be much more of a challenge than he’d thought…. Read more of The Unanswered Question, a new Flash Fiction by Alan McCluskey.… Read more
In my novel freely inspired by Vincent Van Gogh – Bursting with Life! – what could be more natural than to weave paintings into the tissue of the story. In the extract below, the painting is from Van Gogh himself. The colourful photo above is a part of the cover of the novel and was painted by Henri, my two-year-old grandson.… Read more
For all it’s painful consequences, Covid 19 has revealed startling things about society. One is our relationship to experts and how their discourse is used in stories people tell. It raises questions about the misuse of opinions given as facts. This untethering from ‘reality’ could have dire consequences.… Read more
Secret Paths Editions has recently collaborated in the publication of work by a new author/artist, Eric Avertin. His first comic entitled Pépette la miette is now available (in French). Click here for more details about the artist and his work.… Read more
I see the world from unusual and unexpected angles. It’s the way I am. You might say the underlying mission in my life is to depict those unaccustomed perspectives, whether it be in novels or photos or articles, such that others can experience the world differently and in being moved by what they see or hear, possibly learn from it.… Read more
En français plus bas…
As a liberal country, Switzerland is proud to bank on individual responsibility as a rampart against the spread of the COVID virus. Yet the only responsibility granted people is to follow state-advised restrictions, restrictions that, in their rigidity if not their apparent arbitrariness, are not always self-evident or effective.… Read more
Asking strange questions and looking at the world from unusual perspectives seems to be my specialty. Here’s one. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to move from being an eternal, omniscient, omnipotent entity to a single body constrained by human perceptions of space and time with a limited life span and a severely veiled understanding of the world, not to mention the pain and suffering?… Read more
I was deeply saddened to read that the high court in England has just ruled to severely curtail, if not forbid, access to puberty blockers for young people under 18 (See the article in The Guardian). This applies to GIDS at the Tavistock Institute, the sole clinic in England working with transgender children.… Read more