HarryC

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I have 157 stories published in one collection on the site.
My stories have been read 206802 times and 171 of my stories have been cherry picked.
95 of my 703 comments have been voted Great Feedback with a total of 104 votes

HarryC's picture
Kevin Marman

Care worker, writer, memester, autist, dissenter.

I like people who not only think outside the box, but reshape the box into something else!

I've been writing since I was 10.  It's my sanctuary - though the structure often needs maintenance.  Over the last twenty or so years, I've won some writing prizes for short fiction, poetry and playwriting.  In 2013, I published my first novel, 'In the Day'.  Looking at it now, I can see all sorts of things I would change - but I suppose that shows progress.  I also have a collection of short fiction, 'Sacred Shirts', which was published in 2024.

In 2015, at the grand age of 56, I was finally diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Condition (Asperger's).  I live alone with my cat, Daisy, and lots of books.

My collections

My stories

Cherry

Gift: A Son's Story (extract) - Last Words (ii)

When we got back to my flat, I asked him if he wanted to come in for a coffee. He hesitated a moment, then said okay - though he couldn't stop long...
1 likes
Cherry

Gift: A Son's Story (extract) - Last Words (i)

The epilogue of my book (abridged). On 21st November 2017, as planned, Russell and I got together - the first time we'd seen each other since the day...
2 likes
Cherry

Tom Tom Turnaround (6) (ii)

Mum stopped working at Gibney's and took another job cleaning at the pub where she and dad used to go in the evenings. On some days she took him with...
2 likes
Cherry

Tom Tom Turnaround (6) (i)

Then there were days when different things happened. Days when dad would take him out on the lorry when he did forage deliveries around the city and...
1 likes
Cherry

Gift: A Son's Story (extract) - Settling Up (ii)

A couple of days later, he came over again. He'd brought his copy of mum's key, so I now had them all. Four door keys in total, plus two for the back...

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95 of my comments have received 104 Great Feedback votes

2 Votes

I genuinely think her heart's

Posted on Thu, 26 Sep 2024

I genuinely think her heart's in the right place.  She uses her wealth to good social ends.  I find her music and her presence quite bland, uninspiring and forgettable - Joni Mitchell or Patti Smith she ain't -  but am glad if she can make some...

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Posted in On the Wind

2 Votes

“No, it’s a tediously nasal

Posted on Sat, 14 Sep 2024

“No, it’s a tediously nasal-sounding middle-aged white man in a cape.” 

Brilliant.  I retire next year on only the state pension.  And as I've worked for fifty years, I'll get the full state pension.  Which'll make me £12 a month above...

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Posted in Sir Kier Starmer Superhero – Sir Kier and the energy crisis

2 Votes

I heard a joke recently:

Posted on Sun, 08 Sep 2024

I heard a joke recently:

'How do you know if someone's autistic?'

'They'll tell you.'

Hm.

One of the biggest laughs I had was at a comedy night where one of the comedians was disabled.  He used his metal crutches to...

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Posted in A hundred moments in autism - Autistic Comedy Night

2 Votes

And it's a very common

Posted on Mon, 04 Mar 2019

And it's a very common experience with high-functioning autistics - as I read and hear all the time from others.  Even in my last job, with an autism charity, the lack of proper understanding was profound.  I left in the end because of a bullying...

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Posted in The Love of the Loveless (Chapter 6) (8)

2 Votes

I understand the info

Posted on Tue, 06 Nov 2018

I understand the info overload!  It's all a lot to take in, and it takes time to process.  I'm 3 years past diagnosis now, and I'm still running the numbers.  To use the old cliche, it's a rollercoaster.  So many positives... but the other side...

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Posted in Aspie Life

2 Votes

Thanks, Stephen.  It takes

Posted on Tue, 06 Nov 2018

Thanks, Stephen.  It takes some processing - and we're good at that!  I over-analyse everything.

I tried to make this not so much about behaviours and more about how Aspies perceive the world.  It's one of the reasons that diagnosis is so...

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Posted in Aspie Life

2 Votes

Legalise it now.  Either that

Posted on Fri, 02 Nov 2018

Legalise it now.  Either that, or I'm emigrating to Canada!

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Posted in Ode to Cannabis Sativa

2 Votes

A beautiful tale, Lindy.  It

Posted on Thu, 13 Mar 2014

A beautiful tale, Lindy.  It lifted my heart to read this today.

That's sounds like exactly my kind of holiday, too!  The travel agents never quite understand, do they.

I especially love the hope embodied in this - the...

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Posted in Monochrome

2 Votes

So many things going on in

Posted on Sun, 16 Mar 2014

So many things going on in this one, Tina.  Love, loss, disappointment, aging, the sense of growing isolation... and the comfort, still, in those small familiar things.  That final stanza is perfect in capturing it all.

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Posted in Definitely Not Just Another Dog Story

1 Vote

Thanks, Di.  I took this

Posted on Sat, 19 Oct 2024

Thanks, Di.  I took this matter up with my brother.  He was furious, telling me 'She's really overstepped the mark this time.'  He went off, raging, promising to sort it.  I almost expected what happened.  A few days later, he came back and said...

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Posted in Gift: A Son's Story (extract) - Final Day

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