Air; Tori Amos; Arcade Fire; Ash; The Beatles; Blink 182; Bloc Party; Blur; The Cardigans; The Choir; CSS; The Cure; Daniel Amos; Death in Vegas; Doves; Duke Special; Bob Dylan; Echo and the Bunnymen; Ben Folds; Nelly Furtado; Goldfrapp; Gorillaz; The Guillemots; Gemma Hayes; Mark Heard; Hot Chip; Interpol; The Killers; The Like; The Long Blondes; The Lost Dogs; Madness; Mortal/Fold Zandura; New Order; New Young Pony Club; Larry Norman; Pet Shop Boys; The Pogues; The Prayer Chain; Radiohead; Santogold; The 77s; Sigur Ros; Sixpence None The Richer; The Smiths/Morrissey; Gwen Stefani; Stone Roses; Sugababes; Teenage Fanclub; The Ting Tings; KT Tunstall; The Upper Room; Vineyard Music Group; The Violet Burning
Movies
Paris, Texas; The Shawshank Redemption; Magnolia; It's a Wonderful Life; The Apartment; Field of Dreams; Funny Bones; City Lights; Chariots of Fire; Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence; Reservoir Dogs; Secrets & Lies; Leon; All Quiet on the Western Front; The Remains of the Day; Baby, It's You; Ginger Snaps; The Usual Suspects; Jean de Florette; Mulholland Drive; Safety Last; Shaun of the Dead; Three Colours Red; Citizen Kane; The Elephant Man; Bridge Over The River Kwai; Vertigo; Fight Club; Fargo; King of Kings
Television
My all -time favourite programme is Johnny Jarvis - and if you know what that is, you've a good memory of early 80's BBC drama.
Other favourite shows - Father Ted, Roots, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Our Friends in the North, Shooting the Past, I'm Alan Partridge, The Simpsons, Time Team, 24, Lost, Big Love, Six Feet Under, Raven, Dick and Dom in da Bungalow and anything involving cricket
Books
The Bible, Cloudstreet (Tim Winton), Border Crossing (Pat Barker), That They May Face The Rising Sun (John McGahern), Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky), The Moonstone (Wilkie Collins), What's So Amazing About Grace? (Philip Yancey), Watchmen (Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons), V for Vendetta (Alan Moore & David Lloyd), Girlfriend in a Coma (Douglas Coupland), The Great Gatsby (F Scott Fitzgerald), Maus (Art Spiegelmann), Brass (Helen Walsh), The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (Roger Lewis), The Last Party (John Harris), England's Dreaming (Jon Savage), Run Baby Run (Nicky Cruz), White Teeth (Zadie Smith), The Bird Artist (Howard Norman), Charley's War (Pat Mills & Joe Colquhon)
About me: Hi. I live in Derry with my wife and soulmate, Karen and two children, Jireh and Halle. I'm currently a social work student at University of Ulster and work for social services in Northern Ireland.
I've joined the site to maybe share some of the fiction I have been writing through the blog space. I've always enjoyed writing, through making up my own comic books as a kid through to writing novels as an adult.
I started trying to write full length fiction back in the late 80s, when I left school. First up, I wrote nearly 300 pages about a group of sixth formers in Belfast and then gave up! I kind of lost heart in it.
My first completed work of fiction was 'A Prophet in Alverington' in 1990, about a Christ figure turning up in a small Yorkshire village. I obviously thought it was ace when I wrote it back in the day but it's been gathering dust up in the attic for over 15 years and I'm not sure I'll look at it again.
I didn't write anything else of note until I started working on a piece about a former detective who suffered a nervous breakdown. I finished this in 1997 and, after much musing, called it 'If Only Tonight We Could Sleep'. Yes, oh so pretentious. Fired it off to numerous publishers and was offered a deal by Minerva. Was really excited for about 10 seconds, then found out it was a vanity publisher and wanted loads of money so kicked that into touch.
'Higher' took me the most time to write, struggling with it from 2000 to 2003, and it's the longest thing I've written. It's set in Ballymena and concentrates on the irony of that town being the capital of fundamentalist protestantism as well as NI's heroin hotspot.
I completed 'Destiny Raye' in 2005. At the time, I was working as a drugs educator in Creggan, Derry and was working with a lot of young teens and that inspired me to write something for that age group, concentrating on the ideals and dreams of youth and how these can be so easily shattered.
Most recently, I completed my fifth novel, Gene Team, about a group of 'genetically enhanced' teenagers.
Please drop me a note if you would like to see any of my writing.
Girl next door with a free spirit.
You're low key and naturally sexy.
Sweet and approachable, people are attracted to your upbeat attitude.
And even when life doesn't go your way, you always eventually turn things around.
Thanks very much. I had to fight with them to get the home birth Every time I spoke to the head midwife she was really negative and kept trying to put me off it. She even told me there was five women due to have home births at the same time as me and it was really unlikely there would be any one available, left me tears at the end of most appointments! I would have put all that in but I think the trust wanted it as a good publicity piece so the story was written from that angle. I had to write lots of letters to the chief executives of the trust, head of departments at altnagelvin and the advocacy group Mothers Voice!
Formal Greetings Robert (I'm guessing this IS, DEFINITELY your real, proper name, myspace eh :) ) its so very nice to meet your acquaitance, and thankyou muchly for being my (our) friend.
I trust you have enjoyed our tunes (or fancied one of us, or found one of our faces funny to look at (shame on you)) because you have added us as a friend - if you fancy a couple of our mp3s for you ipod/nonbrandedmp3 player - then just ping me your email address back to me for our mailing list (info about gigs and the like) OR just click here on these here words and I'll sort that out for you hastily, well, probably in the next couple of days, quite busy.
We've a gig on Friday 11th July @ Water Rats nr Kings Cross if you fancied it, I think we are on at 7.45/8. Forgive the indulgence Robert but I've just worked out how to do this so i'm gonna put it in here - its a video of us playing one of the songs we would send to you live @ Bull and Gate last month - hope thats ok :)
Hi Robert, thanks for finding and connecting. We seem to have a very similar taste in music and art in general.There aren't so many Daniel Amos fans left :-) Hope you like my stuff. Daniel (=WOOD)
Thanks Robert, we were at the arsenal match on sunday so it was a pretty good birthday. London was brilliant, just back last night. Cathair absolutely loved it, so I'm sure you's will have a ball too!
11 days to go - Update to Northern Ireland's first "boutique" festival just outside Derry, in Limavady is on 15th - 17th August. Weekend tickets with camping £70! So get yours ASAP. Over 18's only. Take your own drink into camping and when you're not there all drink and food is cheap. 2 stages and a marquee line up. you should see the karma valley stage!! Line up includes get cape. wear cape. fly, jape, the coronas, Andy irvine from planxty, hybrasil, hovercraft pirates, Delorentos, ASIWYFA, Mantic, Two Door Cinema Club, Skruff, David Kitt, Thomas Kitt, Grammy nominated blues guitarist Kent Duchaine, Yakuza, Driving by night, TPO, Citizen Snips, Escape act, Tommy shots, Fiona Pears violinist NZ, Elin Manahan-Thomas and many more. Check the blog and join those already experiencing the syndrome!! www. stendhalfestival. com DAY TICKETS limited ! Weekend Family tickets only £95 for 2 adults and up to 4 kids...check the blog! Have you experienced the syndrome? CHECK THE NEW VIDEO ON OUR PROFILE.
Why do people always send me messages like "Is that you?" as if I survived a nuclear strike or hadn't overdosed on (insert random new demonic drug here)
I'm just like everyone else, with the exception of having ever used an iron.
I've got a few mates in Belfast and am trying to sort out a few gigs with them over the summer. I'll try and get in touch with The Nerve Centre to arrange something while we're there.
Hi Robert. I see we like the same bands! Derri Daugherty of The Choir recorded our new cd for us. Wishing you all the best with your fiction! I hope one day I can brag that you were once my friend on myspace. ha! Have a very Merry Christmas and God Bless! anne-marie gb
Ha ha...you have to give him loads of stick...he's trying to make me take it down but if he insists on dressing up in something so disturbing, then he has to take his oil!
is it that obvious it's me? lol yep I am indeed! I must check out your review. How did you get involved in that then? the editor, Catherine, is going out with my daughter's dad. She's a lovely girl. Mental like but lovely lol
