‘Review a hotel for me,’ she said. ‘It’ll be easy,’ she said. I haven’t even got started and there’s a body in the bathroom. Things can’t get much worse after that, can they?
Balcom Industrial, the owners of Reevis, don’t like off-worlders on their planet. It’s a harsh place for humanity, one side is too hot for life, the other’s too cold. Everyone lives under the domes in the thin ribbon that separates them.
There’s a fortune to be made here, why is everyone so frightened of scrutiny?

Because of his past, journalist Miles Goram is already at the top of Balcom’s most unwanted list. He’s only on Reevis to do someone a favour. He figures that half a galaxy is far enough away from Igor Balcom to keep him out of trouble.

When it turns out that the body in the bath was the person he was supposed to be meeting, his first thought is, was that supposed to be me?

The dead man has left him a tale, about what’s really going on under the dome. As he struggles to get to the truth, Miles finds corruption and mistrust everywhere in Balcom. Then someone tries to kill him.

The more that everyone wants him to leave, the more he wants to investigate. Especially when it might just lead him to Layla Balcom, the missing heir to Reevis.

Miles wants answers. He will have to cross the galaxy to get them. If only he can live long enough.

Crossing the galaxy in search of answers, Miles begins to uncover a web of deceit that stretches further than anyone could have imagined. With his life becoming at greater and greater risk, he realises that there is no one he can trust. Will he discover the truth and finally come to terms with his past? And, if he does, will it be enough to save his future…?

Can you ever forget, when everything makes you remember?

Dave Travise is a man with a past. And the way things are going; he might not have much of a future.

All he really wants to do is forget, but he's reminded about what he has lost at every turn. His life is in a rut, until the day the person he was expecting to see isn’t there, because she’s dead.

He finds out that she had a secret, he’s warned to keep his nose out.

Does he listen? Or could this be this the adventure he’s been looking for?

As he gets more involved, his world turns upside down, events take control of his life, and before he knows how, he’s at the centre of a Galaxy-wide conspiracy, pursued by everyone desperate to keep what he now knows from the people

In Norlandia, a world of Steam and Clockwork, one man knows too much...

Horis Strongman, from the Ministry of Coal, discovers a secret, deep underground.

It could change the world, but anything that alters the balance of power will strike fear into the elite.

They want him and those around him silenced, by any means. He’s blamed for a disaster and forced to run for his life.

He has allies. Maloney, an ex-soldier with a mechanical arm and Grace, the chambermaid from his hotel.

There is nobody else he can trust.

They must keep him alive, to help him prove his innocence.

One thing is for certain. His life, and Norlandia itself, will never be the same again.

Meet Dave Travise. His life’s a mess. That’s not even his real name.

The only survivor from the massacre at Oonal, he’s in hiding, using another man’s identity.
Whatever his name is, Dave’s in deep trouble, there’s no way back to his old life.

He has to do whatever he can, to keep one step ahead of the bad guys.

Like shipping out with a new crew, working interplanetary freight, riding his luck.

It turns out that they have as many problems as he does, now there are even more hazards to keep him on his toes.

Myra is one of his new shipmates, is his life about to get even more complicated?

Andorra Pett has left her old life behind. But has she only swapped one set of problems for another? Running a café on a space station seemed like a good idea at the time, that was before the bodies started turning up. If she's not careful, she might be the next victim.

Andorra's on the rebound. Her only thought is to get as far away from her cheating ex as possible. With her best friend Cy in tow, she takes a job running a café on a mining station, it just happens to be orbiting Saturn.

Surely running a café couldn’t be that hard? Even though Andorra is accident-prone and can't make toast without a recipe and a video. What could possibly go wrong on a space station?

She quickly finds that her new home is full of secrets, not only that, there are plenty of dubious characters to contend with. One of them must know more than they are letting on.

Andorra's been unlucky in life and love, can she up her game? There's a murderer to be caught.

Before they strike again…

Some men thirst for adventure, all Horis Strongman ever wanted was a quiet life.

Robbed of that by the events in Aserol and Northcastle, surely a trip to the Western Isles will allow him peace. New discoveries await him in these foreign lands.

Meanwhile, those who were against him have recovered and can still do him harm.

Before he and those he cares for can be truly safe, he must face his foes again, and this time, the stakes are raised.

By the time his journey ends, he will find that he has allies in the strangest places; for the final confrontation that he hopes will secure his future.
A New Life in Ventis is the sequel to The Rocks of Aserol.

One tablet a day, it’s supposed to keep you alive. But it might just kill you.

TC is the wonder drug. Manufactured in secrecy, on a remote planet at the edge of the galaxy. It makes worlds inhabitable; and Balcom Industrial lots of money. Suddenly, the people who need to take it to stay alive start to die!

For Layla Balcom, the news is devastating. She’s just resumed her rightful place as head of Balcom. This problem threatens to spoil her moment of triumph. Can the drug be flawed? Or is something else going on?

The answer needs to be found, quickly.

Whether Layla or Balcom will survive is not guaranteed.

Everyone said it was suicide, but were they right?

Andorra Pett’s ex turns up, with some bad news. Her best friend Maisie has killed herself, on Mars.

Trevor doesn’t believe it. Neither does Andorra, it just wasn’t like her. He wants Andorra to come back with him, look around and see if she can find some answers.

Despite her misgivings, Trevor’s paying and says she can take Cy with her. It’ll be a cheap holiday! What can possibly go wrong...

It soon becomes clear that there’s a lot more going on. Rival gangs, hidden messages and new friends all point Andorra towards a much bigger story.

What was Maisie caught up in?

It’s only a dream…, isn’t it?

Rick’s life is boring. He escapes it in his dreams. There, he becomes Dan, and that’s much more exciting.

Dan’s an explorer, six hundred years in the future and half a galaxy away. Dan’s life on Ecias beats Rick’s days, on Earth, writing advertising copy for cat food.

It shouldn’t happen, but people and events from Rick’s dream world start to appear in his waking life.

His wife wonders what’s going on. What can he tell her, what would she believe?

Neither of them could be prepared for what follows. Both worlds collide and fall apart.

This leaves the question, can a man exist in two places and times at once?

From the uncharted jungle to the corridors of power, it’s all about surviving.

Ballantyne Alysom is the Galaxy’s most famous explorer, a man loved by billions. Davis Jansen is the cameraman he takes to record his latest mission.

When things go wrong, they are marooned on a savage and uncharted planet.

The survivors need a leader they can rely on. Jansen watches and records it all as Alysom’s true character is revealed. He’s not the genial and fearless explorer that everyone sees.

The Far Explorer is a ship riddled with infighting and jealousy, Alysom is controlling and arrogant, nothing like the man that his reputation suggests.

Jansen’s efforts to expose the truth carry just as much risk as surviving on the planet did.

Maybe more

Find out if enough lies can ever bury the truth in Survive, the tale of Ballantyne Alysom.

This time, it’s personal...

When your sister’s been arrested, is it really the end of the world?

Andorra Pett and her sister Argentia, have never got on, it’s complicated. So, when Andorra gets a call for help, she knows it must be serious.

Argentia is in trouble, big trouble. She doesn’t know why she’s been arrested. Or how she’s upset some big deal drug smugglers. But it seems her husband does, and he’s left her to take the fall.

The police think she’s guilty, Andorra is her only hope of avoiding prison.

Against her better judgement and without her friend Cy to help her; Andorra starts to investigate...

In a world of steam and clockwork, evil forces are at work.
Jackson Thwaite is unaware of the constant battles fought to keep Norlandia safe. After the accident that took his parents, he’s just another poor soul in Makewright Orphanage, surviving is the only thing on his mind.

He’s about to learn that the orphanage hides a secret. Jackson has been selected to join the ranks of the Orphan Detectives; a secret group dedicated to maintaining the peace and stability of the realm. Jessamine Batterlee, a seasoned detective, is to be his teacher. But could she ever become more than that?

Their foe, in Jackson’s first case with the detectives, is armed with the latest devices that perverted science has devised. Control of Norlandia and everyone in it is his ultimate aim.

All that stands between civilisation and anarchy are Jackson, Jessamine, and the rest of The Orphan Detectives. Jackson, although he doesn’t know it, holds the key to success or failure.

Lives will be lost and saved; dangers will be faced. Hard decisions must be taken. Can Jackson and Jessamine survive when all seems lost?

Break one promise to keep another, can there be another way?

Dave Travise has promises to keep, a galaxy to search and no time to lose. The trouble is, most of the promises that he’s made contradict each other.

Why is there always more than one problem to solve at the same time? The authorities are on his trail and his girlfriend’s family are missing.

If that wasn’t enough, he’s expected to mete out revenge on a man he hasn’t seen for fifteen years.

Pulled in different directions by the demands placed on him, friends become enemies and new allies appear. Once Dave realises that the only way to appease everyone is by doing what feels is right, he may be surprised at what his efforts reveal.

In the end, there’s more than one way to keep a promise.

It was one last job, what could go wrong? Everything!

Assassin Dan Jones is a man that can get things done. When a rival crime boss wants to expand her territory, he's ordered to remove her. If he succeeds, he can retire in peace.

Dan has it all worked out, everything is going well. Until the unexpected happens.

He's given a choice, he can try again, or his failure will be the death of him.

Having never been a fan of dying, Dan does the only thing he can do.

Except that this time, he's forced to work with the source of all his problems.

Dan must learn to work with the thief to finish his mission.

If he succeeds, maybe they'll both get out alive.

Just when she thought it was all over, there's another adventure for space sleuth Andorra Pett.

Yearning for peace and quiet with her partner, Derek, Andorra heads home to the space mine off Saturn. It’s been a while since she left, she wants to be among her friends again.

Despite her good intentions, she soon gets dragged into station politics, so it’s a relief when the chance of a holiday comes up.

All she has to do is give a speech on the maiden voyage of the Solar Breeze, a new type of cruise ship. A voyage around the solar system will soon be the must-have vacation.

Andorra will be one of the first to try it, along with the great and the good.

But nothing is ever simple in Andorra’s life. Things get serious when the Solar Breeze is hijacked by eco-terrorists. They want an end to the dumping of rubbish on Mars.

Or else!

Behave, or the Syk'm will come and take you away!

Tales of the mythical Syk’m have been used for centuries to frighten the children of Skander. Now that Hors Lawis is older, they no longer terrify him and he has almost forgotten their existence.

Until the day the Syk’m come to find him. Their message is clear: they need his help. Soon.

It was the day Hors discovered that the Syk'm were not the monsters he had always believed them to be.

That there were others in the universe.

Now he must convince his friends to help fight a battle it isn’t certain they can win, for a race of people who have always been the enemy.

In a race against time to save the Syk’m, everything Hors has ever known is turned upside down.

Can Hors and his friends put aside their doubts and help the Syk’m, before it’s too late?

Do you want to write Sci-fi or Steampunk adventures?
Are you struggling with World Building?
Do you want to create a world: or even a universe, but you’re put off by all the science you think you need to know before you can start?


If the answer to any of those questions is yes, I’ve tried to simplify the process by showing you another way.
This guide is based on the World-building workshops that I hold as a member of the Exeter Authors Association. The aim is to show you an easier way of doing things, with chapters on such subjects as Location, Characters, Sidekicks and Steampunk.

I’ll tell you the method that I’ve used to create several universes in the future and in an alternative present, maintaining realism without getting bogged down in the technicalities.


Creating a Sci-fi World contains exercises and suggestions, as well as examples from my novels, there are even some short stories to illustrate how my methods can be applied.

When Saul is paralysed in an accident, he thinks it’s the end of his life. In fact, it’s just the beginning.

While trying to come to terms with his injuries, the mysterious Dr Tendral offers him a way to make a difference. All he has to do is join his project. There are no other details until he agrees, he’s either in or out.
What choice does he have?

Agreeing is just the beginning. Saul undergoes drastic surgery, only then is the full depth of the project revealed.
Or is it?
As time goes on and he learns more about Tendral’s scheme, Saul’s new life becomes increasingly difficult.
In the end, he has to abandon everything as he learns the truth.

All second chances come with a price.