HarryC

Primary tabs

I have 179 stories published in 3 collections on the site.
My stories have been read 344229 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

Tom Tom Turnaround (7) (ii)

"You still awake, Russell?" - "Russell?" "Shut up and go to sleep." "I want to see Father Christmas." "You saw Father Christmas in Selfridges." "I...
1 likes
Gold cherry

Tom Tom Turnaround (7) (i)

The street lay still and empty in the pale, windless sanctity of a winter Sunday afternoon. There was a church-like silence and secrecy about the...
2 likes
Cherry

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

When we got back to my flat, I asked him if he wanted to come in for a coffee. He hesitated a moment, then said okay - though he couldn't stop long...
1 likes
Cherry

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

The epilogue of my book (abridged). On 21st November 2017, as planned, Russell and I got together - the first time we'd seen each other since the day...
2 likes
Cherry

Tom Tom Turnaround (6) (ii)

Mum stopped working at Gibney's and took another job cleaning at the pub where she and dad used to go in the evenings. On some days she took him with...
2 likes

Pages

125 of my comments have received 135 Great Feedback votes

1 Vote

I bought some biscuit

Posted on Wed, 02 Oct 2024

I bought some biscuit-flavoured tea bags.  Tasted like sick!

Read full comment

Posted in Frugal Schmoogal

1 Vote

'I really don't like eating

Posted on Sun, 29 Sep 2024

'I really don't like eating food with other people.'  Same here.  Even the cat has to turn away.

Read full comment

Posted in A hundred moments in autism - The Whale Cafe revisited

1 Vote

Tall stories from little

Posted on Sun, 29 Sep 2024

Tall stories from little seedlings grow! wink

Read full comment

Posted in On the Other Hand

1 Vote

Love it!  I relate!  As

Posted on Sat, 28 Sep 2024

Love it!  I relate!  As Starmer might say, time to release the sausages.

I wish I could go to gigs.  I had to give up on them.  Other people make me angry!

Read full comment

Posted in A hundred moments in autism - I am Hangry

1 Vote

I was a civil servant for a

Posted on Thu, 26 Sep 2024

I was a civil servant for a few years, and my Office Manager was a Gordon Baker - so this resonated.

I really enjoyed this tale.  'The leaves in the park had lost some of their vibrancy and were beginning to dry up and crinkle, just...

Read full comment

Posted in On the Wind

1 Vote

Fabulous.  Stark images, and

Posted on Fri, 27 Sep 2024

Fabulous.  Stark images, and some perfectly-chosen words to create them.  I especially love that final stanza - dream-like and otherworldly.

Read full comment

Posted in Mudlarks

1 Vote

Me, too! 'Crackling Cauldron'

Posted on Tue, 24 Sep 2024

Me, too! 'Crackling Cauldron', 'Halley's Comet', 'Silver Fountain', 'Jack in the Box', 'Chrysanthemum Fountain', 'Spitfire', etc.  If you do a search on '1960's fireworks', check out the images.  You could still get 'Jumping Jacks' then, too....

Read full comment

Posted in Tom Tom Turnaround (2)

1 Vote

Yes, I've experienced some of

Posted on Mon, 23 Sep 2024

Yes, I've experienced some of that.  When I was first referred to a psychiatrist to discuss the issue, he said to me 'You can't be autistic because you aren't flapping your hands and rocking in your chair.'  So again, it was using his '...

Read full comment

Posted in A hundred moments in autism - Reading Nuerotribes

1 Vote

I only found out yesterday

Posted on Mon, 23 Sep 2024

I only found out yesterday that Steve Silberman had died.  I was shocked as he was so young - and not much older than myself.  'Neurotribes' was the first book about autism I read after my diagnosis.  Great book.  I especially loved the first...

Read full comment

Posted in A hundred moments in autism - Reading Nuerotribes

1 Vote

Climate Change

Posted on Sat, 14 Sep 2024

Thanks, Di.  I was going to put that in, but wanted to focus on the tech itself and was worried about length (close to word count).  You are absolutely right, though.  The data centres that power the internet are huge already and are growing with...

Read full comment

Posted in Where Are We Now? Ted Kaczynski and Technological Society

Pages