Before I started writing ONE MAN AND HIS DOGMA as a novel, I had a string of similar half ideas from different genres laid out in incomplete forms on my hard-drive.

Some of them were comic book storylines I was working on with a friend for an ongoing series we were plotting and developing, others were short stories which had no spine or heart - and were floundering messes I had jettisoned into the "Junk" file in my WRITING folder. One was a three quarters complete stage-play which kind of ran out of juice. Unsure if it was a BOTTOM style manic comedy, or a Jack Lemon/Water Matthau whimsical comedy... And was not really very good at being either.

Then there were threads of the same story that just needed a dust and a polish until I could see the bones to put the flesh on.

One such short story was ONE IN SIXTY MILLION.
Written when I had a bout of severe insomnia at college in 2001, it is a simple concept that - when filtered down - had a solid idea which was waylaid badly in my adolescence as a writer...
Trying in vain to find my voice.
Banging and smashing and tripping over blindly in the outhouse trying to build my style...

Bits and pieces of the idea were stolen for tiny fragments of the novel ONE MAN AND HIS DOGMA, when I realised that a "SILLY" idea could be rejigged and rebuilt into a dramatic long-form project...
It's the idea of a very green, very naive writer who was struggling with delusions of grandeur, but I will be damned if it doesn't hold a big place in my heart.

I have posted the story over at my PATREON page for you to read, I did not want to post here as I want to try and keep some things offsite like a hidden treasure (there is that delusion of grandeur again...) hiding things around my social media on the web, where you can find bits and pieces should you go exploring.

PATREON is a strange concept, I am not entirely sure I even really get it yet. Watching people I admire like Amanda Palmer use it as well as she has though, with the support she has received and the feedback she puts out, has made it slightly less frightening.
But I am well aware how lucky I was with my Kickstarter to have the book completed and allow me to self publish - so I am also aware how I could be pushing my luck by having a page at Patreon.
Still - have one I do - and if you want to check it out and the things I am offering, please follow the link and have a gander:

ANDI JAMES CHAMBERLAIN - PATREON

I will occasionally post random and unique things there, including stories I would not post anywhere else.
So keep checking back and, should you wish, feel free to Patreonise me!

In the next week or two I hope to share a full chapter from the novel with you all and some short-stories written for my pledgers on Kickstarter, released for public consumption with their express and gratefully received permissions...
For now.
Take care and enjoy the story you crazy kids.

Peace.
Andi James Chamberlain
17.06.2015