HarryC

Re-treading some old ground here! A few years ago, I wrote a novel which I've now returned to and am trying to rework into something quite different. 'An Outing' was originally a short story which I worked in to the beginning of that novel - but it always felt rather tacked-on and out of place. In the new draft, I'm using it more as a foundation for what follows (I hope!) The narrator is a man who has recently been late-diagnosed with autistic spectrum condition (Asperger's). This has enabled him to make sense of his life at last; to understand some of the problems he's encountered along the way. It's a liberation for him as he can now be 'himself', and not have to adapt to fit in as he previously had (with damaging psychological consequences). The difficulty now facing him is trying to get others - especially family and colleagues - to accept him as he is: to listen and to understand. But as he appears to be like everyone else in most other ways, this is never easy. I hope the novel, if it eventually becomes such, will also offer insights into the condition which might enable people to understand it much better. Writing it, too, is an exercise for me in self-understanding. I was diagnosed in 2015, aged 56. (my photo)

Part 6 of my Yuletide tale. Annie tells Jem the story of her marriage to Jack. And Jem tells a story of her own...