HarryC

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I have 175 stories published in 3 collections on the site.
My stories have been read 323317 times and 194 of my stories have been cherry picked.
118 of my 817 comments have been voted Great Feedback with a total of 128 votes

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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

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

I'm continuing with the final draft of 'Gift' - my memoir/journal based on my time as my mother's full-time carer for the last few months of her life...
1 likes

On Becoming Human Again

Oh goodness, how I wish that the Russians, or Chinese or North Koreans, or whoever would take out all the mobile networks so that everyone you see in...
Cherry

Dogsbody (3)

After the pub job, my money soon dried up. I was back to making calls and going through the local papers. One evening, Mr Watson – a tall elderly man...
2 likes
Cherry

Tom Tom Turnaround (4)

The days had a routine that he liked. Get washed and dressed and have his Corn Flakes or Ready Brek for breakfast. Dad had already gone to work, and...
2 likes
Cherry

Dogsbody (2)

After the interview at the Employment Exchange, I set to. Next day, I took a notebook down to the phone box in the village and looked up ‘Farmers’ in...
1 likes

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118 of my comments have received 128 Great Feedback votes

1 Vote

Reminds me though, Terrence,

Posted on Sun, 08 Sep 2024

Reminds me though, Terrence, of a story told to me by a teacher who'd worked with autistic children at a special school in Bulgaria.  Every morning, some of the kids would come in and set off the fire alarms - and the teachers couldn't understand...

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Posted in A hundred moments in autism - A trip to the cinema

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

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