Merry New Year.

The year started with my SF horror short story ‘Heat’ being published as part of KZINE issue 8 (Kimota Press), edited by Graeme Hurry. Graeme has released three excellent issues of KZINE this year, recently introducing guest editorials from the likes of Stephen Gallagher and Mark Morris, which have both proven hugely worthwhile additions to great array of stories from up-and-coming and established genre writers.

I was also delighted to be published as part of the mighty Terror Tales series, edited by best-selling author and all-round good guy Paul Finch. My horror short story ‘The Offspring’ appears in Terror Tales of Wales (Gray Friar Press), which is a strong edition of an already prolific and robust catalogue of regional short horror collections. I remember picking up the first collection at my first Fantasycon in 2011 and loving it, so it’s slightly surreal to now be part of one. It was a great honour and thrill to be published alongside such legends as Stephen Volk, Tim Lebbon & Priya Sharma among many others, making a writing ambition become a reality. Huge and grovelling thanks to both Graeme and Paul for their support and for letting me get my words out there.

I was also very pleased to be part of Wattpad’s ‘Featured List’ this year. ‘The Good Death Guide’ has reached an astonishing 70,000 reads across the year, with hundreds of lovely comments and reviews from Wattpad users. It’s great to have my work read by so many people and be part of a wonderful community of writers. I’d be a fool not to try and capitalise on the story’s success, so early in 2015 I plan to release an extended version of the story as part of a small short story collection on Amazon, entitled The Good Death Guide & Other Tales, for a very tiny fee. One of the short stories featured is co-written with my partner Ellen Gallagher, so is particularly special to me. If you pick up a copy, I hope you enjoy it.

I was also lucky enough to see two of my plays appear in London theatres this year. The Probleming, a horror comedy, debuted at the Tristan Bates Theatre in the West End, and my SF comedy Pilgrim Shadow returned to the stage at the Dugdale Centre in North London later in the year. I also directed Ray Newell’s lovely comic farce A Recipe for Disaster alongside Pilgrim Shadow in a double bill at the Dugdale. It was a privilege to once again work with the immensely talented Adam Joselyn and Cliff Chapman this year, as well as to meet and work with actors Emma Stirling and Robert Ashford. I can’t wait to work with you all again the near future.

I also had a great Fantasycon this year with the Gallagher clan, and was delighted to connect and reconnect with so many writers that I admire - those I missed I hope to see next time. I’m not worthy.

I hope 2015 is just as busy, if not busier. Two brand new theatre productions are in the works, and I’m currently working on a number of spec scripts for TV and radio in order to broaden my arsenal and hopefully, eventually progress into writing for audio and the screen. As well as my short story collection, I’m also working on some other fiction projects, including a graphic novel and new short stories, and welcome any other opportunities that come along on the way.

Rik Mayall.

A bit late I know, but as Rik would say - 'piss off, who cares'. I'm not going to try and spin you a yarn – I'm just going to tell you the facts.

I didn't know Rik - I'm just another fan who never met him. I was brought up on 80s and 90s British comedy, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that from the ages of seven to fourteen, I wanted to be Rik Mayall. The first comedy script I remember writing was an episode of Bottom. I was about 10 at the time, did it with another boy who had the same fixation with it as me. We’d write it, act it out – brilliant fun. The script itself was shit, but it was brilliant fun. Around the same time I had a lot of confidence issues. I was an insecure little kid, always nervous about the next day, thinking ahead of all the things that could go wrong. Quoting and repeating put-downs I heard on Bottom to bullies was my only defence in an all-boys secondary school that felt like some kind of dystopian prison. My group of friends at that school were all Bottom fans - that was our common ground. In 2003, I saw Bottom live in Hammersmith with two of those friends, who cosplayed as Richie and Eddie for the evening. It was the final tour that Rik and Ade Edmondson would ever do together, so I’m glad I saw them perform together when I had the chance.

My plays have been compared to Bottom on more than one occasion, which I can only take a great compliment. Rik Mayall's work on The Young Ones, The Comic Strip, Blackadder had a profound influence on not just my writing, but my sense of humour, who my friends are, my career, and my personality. If Rik Mayall hadn’t have been a thing, I may have ended up an accountant. Close shave. Recently, I bought The New Statesman box set, and it’s like discovering Rik all over again. His effortless charisma, his paranormal comic timing, his presence – this man could make anything funny. I can’t imagine how amazing it would have been to work with him, or even just going for a pint with the one-man comedy tornado that was Rik.

Rik is the first of my personal heroes to die, and he won't be the last, but he just might be the greatest comedian who ever lived. No-one was a good as Rik in his prime.