The Anxious Adventurer
Smallholder and IT Consultant by day, writer and adventurer by night (and at weekends).
I live on our scruffy smallholding in South West Scotland in sight of mountains and the sea. We moved here at the height of COVID as part of my third mid-life crisis (Crisis One: Failed acting career; Crisis Two: Stressful West Country Grand Design). Phobias include a pathological fear of appearing lazy.
I love adventures, preferably those that are self-propelled and on two wheels. I especially love adventures that can be squeezed into a weekend.
I also love stories in whatever shape they appear. I love experiencing them, reading them, learning from them, and sharing them as best I can. Stories bring out the nerd in me. The nerd that devoured J.R.R. Tolkien and Iain Banks, played Tir Na Nog on my Speccy and Tomb Raider on my PlayStation until my fingers fell off. The same geek who now pores over the musings of Cory Doctorow and Scott Galloway and is inspired by the adventures of Annie Le and Markus Stitz. I’m a proud fanboy who is stupidly excited about Apple TV’s upcoming adaptation of William Gibson’s ‘Neuromancer’.
Stories . . make . . me . . better.
Some years ago, I suffered from the debilitating disease, Ulcerative Colitis. I underwent ostomy surgery, swapping out my large colon for a wee pink appendage, Clive the Stoma. He even has his own hashtag (#clivethestoma) albeit not widely adopted.
My next book, describing my experiences of cycling with a stoma, is provisionally entitled No Colon, Still Rolling.
