Up and Coming
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Thu 05 Feb 2026: Teaser and the Firecat
Wed 10 Dec 2025: A Birthday
Thu 05 Feb 2026
Teaser and the Firecat
So I’ve got this idea for writing original stories based on characters or titles of songs from albums. The first one is called ‘Teaser and the Firecat’ and uses characters from Cat Stevens’ early albums. I’ve fleshed out an outline which seems to really work but in addition I’ve also been exploring ChatGPT to generate images from text. I was interested in that if a writer can write clear descriptions then how well could AI convert them to images? Would such images equate to anything like those I see in my mind?
So opposite is an image of the first time Teaser meets Firecat in a Victorian junk yard.
My first reaction was ‘Wow!’ and so now I am seriously considering that it could become a story with illustrations.
So here is the extract from Teaser and the Firecat to go with the image,
The yowling had now stopped, but there was still a quiet hissing coming from the carpetbag. Tom knelt down to open the bag. He saw a nameplate between the handles on one side. It said “T. Easer” He smiled as he read it, for it seemed to him to be a good name.
He cautiously opened the bag, the clasp giving a solid click. At first, nothing happened; no sound, no movement, as if there were nothing in the bag.
Then suddenly the bag opened wide, and a head appeared. It was a cat! It was a bright, flaming orange cat, the largest that Tom had ever seen, and it was angry.
Tom recoiled in fright and stood up, for the cat had now jumped out of the bag and was standing its ground next to the bag. It was the largest cat Tom had ever seen; he did not know that cats grew to this size.
It was angry, so furious. With deep, menacing eyes, it was staring directly at Tom. Its fur was standing on end, back arched. And it was hissing loudly and spitting as it raked the air with its claws, which Tom could see were like needles, razor-sharp and ready for business.
Tom was horrified at the prospect of being attacked.
“It thinks I’m one of its attackers, not its rescuer,” he thought to himself.
The cat suddenly stopped hissing, retracted its claws, and its fur returned to normal.
“Then I thank you, kind sir,” A voice said.
Tom jumped and looked about wildly to see who had said this. “Don’t be afraid. Look down,” the voice said again.
There was the cat looking at him. Tom could swear it was smiling as it stared at him.
Wed 10 Dec 2025
A Birthday
I’ve started work on a new novel. It’s working title is ‘The Boy Who Fell Asleep’. It’s about Roger, a young man who has been obsessed with whales all his life. After a fateful incident where he falls into the sea whilst whale watching, a blue whale rescues him. As a result he makes a bond with the whale who then some time later invites him to experience his ocean world by implanting Roger’s ‘mind’ into that of a willing humpback whale.
This is an extract from Chapter 1: A Birthday;
“At first, he wasn’t sure what was happening, and then it hit him like a sledgehammer. He was falling, helpless in the grasp of gravity. His racing heart felt as though the blood in his veins was boiling lead and that it would burst from his chest. He knew all too well where he was headed, but at this moment the ocean below looked like an undulating black satin leviathan patiently waiting for the inexorable arrival of its prey.
He instinctively took a breath, and his lungs filled with precious air, releasing his mind from an iron grip of fear. His descent now seemed to be slowing into a leisurely free fall. His heart slowed, his body returned to normal.
The black sea parted as a huge head surfaced. He simultaneously heard a voice in his mind,
“Roger”. It was welcoming and not to be denied.”
The voice called again.
“Roger!”
This time the voice was calling from the bottom of the stairs. He opened a sleepy eye. His alarm had gone off some time ago, and he had switched it off and fallen asleep again.
“Are you awake, dear?” the voice called again. It was his mother.
When this popped into my head I was so excited and had to see where it would lead. Oh and by the way opposite is my first attempt at the cover (yes, I do all my own covers).