Why...just why?

I also write in my spare time (which is pretty limited). I get my inspiration from films, TV, books, friends and colleagues. I'll add links to stories as I start them. I hope you'll bear with me as it may be some time before they're finished. I'll usually mention when I've added new pieces in the Site Updates section on the homepage.

Title	Description	Status	Rating
Ricardo Swindelli: Vampire Hunter Extraordinaire	A short(ish) story I cooked up for a guy I swap insults with on a message board. I think the title pretty much says it all. It reads like a hybrid of Buffy and Van Helsing, (although it was written long before the latter came out), combined with a dash of Terry Pratchett and my own weird sense of humour.	Complete	12
A Cobra's Tale	Another story inspired by a fellow poster. This one is a cranky Canadian who kept the rest of us in stitches with his rants...a good guy - if a little difficult to get on with at times. Its an attempt at an epic Battletech-style story and is a work in progress.	Incomplete	15
Shadowlancers	This was going to be my first attempt at a bona fide Battletech story with completely fictitious characters (i.e. not based on anyone I know) but then a couple of guys asked what parts they'd have in my new story...so being the mug I am, I incorporated them, using real names but totally made-up backgrounds to make them more convincing - hopefully. This is another work-in-progress. I'll keep adding to it as and when I can.	Incomplete	12
Shadow Company	My first full story for over 10 years and my first attempt at writing fan fiction. This was also the basis for the Shadowlancers story (surprise, huh?). Stars the Slackers of the Inner Sphere - a group of posters on the HPG Uplink message board (of which I am a proud member).	Incomplete	12
Coyote Cavaliers	This one pretty much came out of nowhere really. I was just messing around with some ideas. In Battletech, my chosen faction is Clan Coyote and I figured it would be a cool thing to have a new mercenary unit. I put the two together and - hey presto! This story is going to be a collaboration, so development of the story may be sporadic.	Incomplete	15
A Friend In Need	This one came about after a few of us on the HPG forum started posting info on new Battletech (yep - that old chestnut again!) factions we'd created. We started going over likely scenarios for our newly-created nation states to be involved in and this is one that I got interested in enough to develop into a full blown story.	Complete	15
A Friend In Need II: Shadow of the Jihad	The idea for this came about when a few of us HPGers started posting stuff about our respective factions. One guy suggested his arms company came under attack and had its facility in a neighbouring state taken over by unidentified hostile forces, who would them pursue the survivors into my state, which would then come under attack itself. Myself and a couple of the others made a good start, writing a number of chapters, before the HPG went off-line and our group went their separate ways. Luckily, by then, I'd figured out a way to finish the story.	Complete	15

The Rating System...

The ratings given are based on those used by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and take into account the use of strong language, descriptions of violence and subjects with adult themes. If you feel you may be offended by the content...do the sensible thing and don't read it!