The Truth about Smilodon (At least one version thereof)

What can I say that would be even vaguely interesting to the reader? I am lucky enough to live in a beautiful part of the South West of England. I'm married, have five children and far too many dogs and cats. I thoroughly enjoy my life but it is a boring subject for others. I was born in England a few years after the end of World War II. I spent my formative years bathed in the twilight of the British Empire in wonderful places such as Sri Lanka, Kenya and Bermuda and not so wonderful places like Aden. My peripatetic early years left me with an insatiable curiosity about the world, a love of travel and, I like to think, reasonably good powers of observation.

I have always had a passion for reading and it was this, combined with an idle moment or two, that led me serendipitously to discover a Newsgroup called ASSM. I was confused by what I found. There were extremely well written pieces mixed with the most unspeakable drivel. I thought I could at least fit somewhere in the middle. So, after lurking around for a while, I wrote my first short story and posted it to ASSM in June 2002. A number of the 'regulars' were extremely helpful and supportive so I persevered. The results are what you now see here and may judge for yourself.

Questions from readers

Since I started writing and posting I have a lot of e-mails from people who read my stories. Most of what I receive is in the form of comments about particular stories but I also get a number of questions. The most common questions appear below:

Q: Why do you write stories?

A: Simply because it's fun! It is also a challenge to keep trying to improve what I do.

Q: What sort of stories do you like to write?

A: I really don't know yet. I get an idea for a story and off I go. I have a vague idea about trying to be erotic rather than pornographic but that's probably because I don't think I could write a convincing 'stroke' story.

Q: Are your stories true?

A: No. All my characters are made up. I try to be as realistic as possible and inevitably this means I sometimes draw on my own experiences.

Q: Why do some of your stories have sad endings?

A: I often have the ending before I have written a story. I don't think 'happy ending' or 'sad ending'; I just feel the story going in a certain direction and go with the flow.

Q: Why do you use the pseudonym 'smilodon'?

A: It's a kind of family joke. My wife says I'm getting a bit long in the tooth.

Q: Where do you get your ideas?

A: I wish I knew. If I did, I would go there more often!

Q: Why don't you turn a story into a novel?

A: Lack of time, lack of patience. One day I might, who knows?




Thank you, Denny

This web site exists entirely due to Denny Wheeler. We smilodons roamed the Earth in the days before computers. Denny picked up on a confession I made about being too dumb to build a web site. He volunteered his services. Denny is also my editor so again, it is due to him that all the missing words get put back, all the extra ones get taken out and the random letters get rearranged into the correct order.

Feel free to email me

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