HarryC

Primary tabs

I have 179 stories published in 3 collections on the site.
My stories have been read 344533 times and 199 of my stories have been cherry picked.
125 of my 848 comments have been voted Great Feedback with a total of 135 votes

Close reader
HarryC's picture
Kevin Marman

Care worker, writer, memester, autist, dissenter.

I like people who not only think outside the box, but reshape the box into something else!

I've been writing since I was 10.  It's my sanctuary - though the structure often needs maintenance.  Over the last twenty or so years, I've won some writing prizes for short fiction, poetry and playwriting.  In 2013, I published my first novel, 'In the Day'.  Looking at it now, I can see all sorts of things I would change - but I suppose that shows progress.  I also have a collection of short fiction, 'Sacred Shirts', which was published in 2024.

In 2015, at the grand age of 56, I was finally diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Condition (Asperger's).  I live alone with my cat, Daisy, and lots of books.

My stories

Cherry

The Rest of My Life: The End of Work

I could have used a lie-in this morning because I slept badly. I was probably feeling a bit wired out on the new 'I no longer have to go to work'...
1 likes
Cherry

The Rest of My Life: Retirement Day!

When my alarm went off at 5:05 am this morning, I switched it off. For the last time! Today was my last day at work. Retirement Day! I went through...
2 likes
Gold cherry
Story of the week

Gift: A Son's Story (extract) - Photographs

I'm going through a final reading of 'Gift' - my memoir about caring for my mother in her final months. I thought I'd post this short section. It's...
Cherry

Gift: A Son's Story (extract) - Christmas (ii)

In spite of her cold, mum had rallied over Christmas and had been much more her old self. The warnings were never far away, though... The rest of...
1 likes
Cherry

Gift: A Son's Story (extract) - Christmas (i)

Another excerpt from my book about my time as mum's full-time carer during her last months of life. She confounded medical expectations by not only...
2 likes

Pages

125 of my comments have received 135 Great Feedback votes

1 Vote

Sadly, mirrors never lie! 

Posted on Wed, 21 May 2025

Sadly, mirrors never lie!  But a lot depends on the ambient light when you look in them!

Read full comment

Posted in Entry 1 — The Mug

1 Vote

I know the writing fog well,

Posted on Wed, 21 May 2025

I know the writing fog well, Jess!  It's like the mists on Dartmoor, too - it rolls in out of nowhere!  Reading is the best substitute/cure.  Walking, too, I find.

I'm not sure about 'experienced' as a writer.  I think it's all about life...

Read full comment

Posted in Entry 1 — The Mug

1 Vote

Thanks, Di, for those kind

Posted on Sun, 18 May 2025

Thanks, Di, for those kind words.

...and you would not have been reading this!

Read full comment

Posted in The Rest of My Life: Fate Accompli

1 Vote

It doesn't exist now.  The

Posted on Sat, 17 May 2025

It doesn't exist now.  The works closed down in 1987 - long after I'd left.  I don't know why, but probably because it was becoming too costly.  Also, the production methods hadn't changed for decades - and they were pretty unhygienic.  So maybe...

Read full comment

Posted in The Rest of My Life: First Day...

1 Vote

I like that play on words

Posted on Sat, 17 May 2025

I like that play on words with 'blue' in the first line.  Fits with what the poem is really about.  Some nice images.  It's where life starts, after all.

Read full comment

Posted in Sea-Salt

1 Vote

Keep writing, Jess.  You know

Posted on Fri, 16 May 2025

Keep writing, Jess.  You know where you're going.

Read full comment

Posted in Seventh Place

1 Vote

Thanks, Di.  I took this

Posted on Sat, 19 Oct 2024

Thanks, Di.  I took this matter up with my brother.  He was furious, telling me 'She's really overstepped the mark this time.'  He went off, raging, promising to sort it.  I almost expected what happened.  A few days later, he came back and said...

Read full comment

Posted in Gift: A Son's Story (extract) - Final Day

1 Vote

Thanks, Di.  Yes, she was a

Posted on Fri, 11 Oct 2024

Thanks, Di.  Yes, she was a special person - for many more reasons than just being my mother.  She had to be strong to get through those years with dad (bless him - he was a good man, but damaged).  Then to have all those health problems in later...

Read full comment

Posted in Gift: A Son's Story (extract) - A day out

1 Vote

A magic that all too quickly

Posted on Mon, 07 Oct 2024

A magic that all too quickly passes.  Mind you, some of us never grow up!

Read full comment

Posted in Magic Of Youth

1 Vote

I sneeze at sunlight, too. 

Posted on Sat, 05 Oct 2024

I sneeze at sunlight, too.  In fact, I enjoy the sensation of sneezing so much that I deliberately blink at the sun in order to sneeze.  Sadly, this led to a tear in my left retina earlier in the year, resulting in a 'floater' in my eye that's...

Read full comment

Posted in A hundred moments in autism - Terrence Oblong's peculiar quirk

Pages