After leading a respectable existence for - no, I won't say how many years - my enthusiasm for "Ashes to Ashes" and, through it, "Life on Mars", led me to discover the world of fan fiction, and life has not been the same since. I have to fit my fanficcing in and around the paid day job (as a civil servant), my overpowering passion for opera and classical music (which leads to me going out on an awful lot of evenings), and the unpaid part time job (as an opera and music critic - well, not entirely unpaid, I get quite a lot of free tickets but, alas, no money).

All my fics so far relate to "Ashes to Ashes", which is THE GREATEST TV SERIES IN THE WORLD!

My "main series", distinguished by having "Ashes to Ashes" in the title, so far consists of three stories. In chronological order (but NOT order of publication), they are: "Ashes to Ashes: Home to Mother", "Ashes to Ashes: Loss and Gain" (not available on this site because of its script format - it's posted on The Collators' Den, a specialist "Life on Mars"/"Ashes to Ashes" fanfic site containing over 1000 fics (mainly LOM, a few A2A). (NB: At present The Collators' Den is down due to a virus attack - if anyone wants a summary of the story, or a docX of the complete text, PM me), and "Ashes to Ashes: Stravagation" (what's stravagation? Read the story and you'll find out!). Let me know if you think the theme could stand a further sequel (Stravagation II??) - I have a fragmentary idea but would like to know whether you think it would be worth pursuing!

"Decision Time", a different take on Alex Drake's dilemma, is an angstfest which has an M rating, not because of smut but because of its darker subject matter. Its sequel, "Best Served Cold", follows the fortunes of her daughter, Molly, twelve years on from the series.

My other three stories are stand-alones. "Candlelight" is a bit of Christmas-themed angst in four chapters. I've just finished posting "Gunshot", my response to the shocking ending of Series 2. "Operation Christmas Carol", my Christmas fic for 2009, was inspired by harrypotterfan2009 on Luigi's. In an attempt to get it all posted before and during the Christmas season, I've broken my own rule and started posting before I've finished it. Flying by seat of pants time.

Before finalising the third and subsequent chapters of "Gunshot", I visited St-Dunstan-in-the-East, which plays a crucial part in Series 2 Episode 8 as St Joseph's, where the final showdown takes place, and plays an equally crucial part in my story. This ancient church on St Dunstan's Hill, only a few minutes' walk from the Tower of London, was blitzed and never rebuilt, and in 1971 was turned into a beautiful garden which has won many awards and is very popular with city workers. It is still occasionally used for open air services. Only the church tower, built by Wren, survived the Blitz and is now used by the All Hallows House Foundation, a registered charity that provides core and complementary health services to those who live or work in the City of London, through its trading arm, The Wren Clinic. In my story, "St Joseph's House" (which in S2 ep 8 is the building behind Gene when he shoots Alex) is actually the rear of One Great Tower Street, and "St Joseph's Alley" is actually St Dunstan's Alley, a narrow footpath which runs between One Great Tower Street and the garden. Sometime soon I will post my photographs of the area on Photobucket, but in the meantime I recommend Ian Wyllie's on Twitter, which in any case are much better than mine!

I have several more "Ashes to Ashes" stories rolling about in my head, but (except for "Operation Christmas Carol") I won't post anything until it's finished. (My writing technique is to finish the story, post the first chapter, and then revise the later chapters as I go along, in the light of the feedback received).

I also go by the monicker theHuntgoeson on The Railway Arms (the LOM/A2A forum, for the uninitiated), Luigi's (the A2A forum), the Collators' Den, and on Photobucket (which is currently hosting my photos of last year's "Life on Mars" exhibition in Stockport and my deck of Ashes to Ashes and Life On Mars - themed playing cards).

Some day, when my "Ashes to Ashes" muse is finally exhausted, I just might get round to typing up and posting some of the operatic fanfics I've been writing in my head for years before I ever knew that fanfic as a genre existed!