HarryC

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I have 149 stories published in one collection on the site.
My stories have been read 197009 times and 162 of my stories have been cherry picked.
94 of my 681 comments have been voted Great Feedback with a total of 103 votes

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

Taking Care 5 (ii)

I wasn't sure how to get to Sainsbury's, but Terry seemed to know the way - telling me 'next left' or 'next right' in that robotic monotone of his. "...
1 likes
Cherry

Taking Care 5 (i)

Over the following days and weeks, as I settled into the routines at the Centre, my conviction consolidated. I'd never dreamed that I could get such...
1 likes
Cherry

Taking Care 4 (vii) - Day Centre

We had coffee at just before three. Most people had finished their painting by then. We put the ornaments on the windowsill to dry in the sunshine...
Gold cherry

Taking Care 4 (vi) - Day Centre

Laura's group came over at just after 1:30. There were a couple of replacements from the morning. Instead of Terry and Matthew, there was a young...
1 likes
Cherry

Taking Care 4 (v) - Day Centre

As soon as we got back, Maggie herded her people into their Previa for the trip back to Sittingbourne, and Laura took hers over to the farmhouse. "...

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94 of my comments have received 103 Great Feedback votes

1 Vote

Exactly what I said to the

Posted on Wed, 04 Sep 2024

Exactly what I said to the woman at KCC when she asked 'Is it likely to cause danger?'  They've said it's okay for now - not damaging the road or anything.  But the slime is making it slippery.  And, as you say, when it's icy.  The main problem...

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Posted in Water Palaver!

1 Vote

I've gotten quite a way into

Posted on Tue, 03 Sep 2024

I've gotten quite a way into it.  But I've sidelined it for now.  It was meant to be a memoir about my 20 years in social care, and the various organisations - private, charity and public - I've worked for.  Mainly, too, I envisaged it as a...

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Posted in Taking Care 2

1 Vote

The alarm bells are justified

Posted on Tue, 03 Sep 2024

The alarm bells are justified.  One of the worst abusers I've had the misfortune to work with.  A horrible bully - he and his wife together.  A colleague and I ended up blowing the whistle on them.  But they got off for lack of firm evidence (as...

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Posted in Taking Care 2

1 Vote

So sorry to read that you are

Posted on Tue, 03 Sep 2024

So sorry to read that you are going through this, Jenny.  I've had one of those scans and those machines are horrible - the noise, the being closed in... all of it.

I know someone who recently had a hip replacement, after years of...

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Posted in Can Life Get Better?

1 Vote

Someone should give her a

Posted on Tue, 03 Sep 2024

laugh

Someone should give her a rocket!

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Posted in Don't Mess with a Meteorology Man

1 Vote

And, according to figures I

Posted on Sun, 01 Sep 2024

And, according to figures I saw recently, an ever-growing number of adults now get their news solely from TikTok.  Who knows where that will lead...

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Posted in They Were Only Children

1 Vote

I agree with Claudine.  It

Posted on Sun, 01 Sep 2024

I agree with Claudine.  It does what poetry is supposed to do: explode something inside my head - a sense of recognition, understanding and agreement - but in a way that takes me time to think through and unravel.  It says what I think, but in...

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Posted in They Were Only Children

1 Vote

Ain't that the tooth!    A

Posted on Sat, 31 Aug 2024

Ain't that the tooth! wink   A short, off-beat tale to bring a smile to my face.

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Posted in Water.

1 Vote

Great to find these, Terrence

Posted on Mon, 26 Aug 2024

Great to find these writings, Terrence, after a long time away.  They speak like my own voice in my own head.  Unfortunately, sound is the BIG issue for me.  I can pick up the tiniest.  I have a new next-door neighbour who, sadly, has a TV the...

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Posted in A hundred moments in autism - Sometimes there is just too much

1 Vote

'Our life is frittered away

Posted on Tue, 27 Aug 2024

'Our life is frittered away with detail.  Simplify!  Simplify!'

Henry David Thoreau

(as many have pointed out... one 'simplify' would have been enough, Henry!...

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Posted in Never Enough?

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