Robert Hugill

When writing Neil I did worry he was a bit close to Matt!

Over the next couple of months, Neil managed to weave himself into my life: drinks, the odd meal, a bit of music, and eventually even organising me into buying second-hand furniture for the flat. He seemed to have charmed Lila too—at least she never failed to mention him. >Now, how’s Dinner Hunk? “Well, he’s popped up at a few concerts. He even came to a Sheppard Singers one. >Again! Surely he’s heard that before. He can’t be that keen. “He wanted to hear the talk.”

Charlie does appear again... eventually!

When Wednesday evening came around, I was standing outside Basingstoke’s Vale View Academy really wishing I could simply book an Uber and go back to Mother's. I was wool-gathering—so much so that I didn't notice Neil arrive. He was in a similar outfit to previous, his usual it seemed. "All right?" "Hi. Thanks for doing this." He gave a grin. "No sweat. I'm just over Andover way." "Where you work?" "Live'n all. Fancy craft workshops in an old mill." “Whereabout

That's two errors so far and I'm only three chapters in!

To say that I wasn't looking forward to lunch with Uncle Edwin was something of an understatement. He was polite and charming, true. But everything seemed to be part of an agenda with him. Take the flat I was getting: it turned out that it was part of a failed development, and I was pretty sure my occupancy was to keep the place warm pro tem. But what I was really dreading was the quid pro quo, the 'by the way, whilst you're there could you...' I walked up Pall Mall in London, trying to

I was obviously on something when I wrote this! The crowd refers to the Cafe Momus scene in La Boheme!

Have to confess, it's not an instrument I have written for! Alas

Mother is called Margaret. Not sure when we find out.

When Neil dropped me off at Mother’s, I had had twinge of anxiety. Good manners had meant that I had suggested he come in for a drink. Thankfully he wanted to be off home. I had no idea whether Mother would really welcome a visit from Neil, but I sure as hell knew that she would reprove me if I did not offer. Good manners were important. "You're prompt, love. I wasn’t sure whether you’d make it. You got a lift then?" Mother was in the living room, and it sounded as if there was a

Now we have come to the end of Louis and Charlie's journey, it's nice to see that we made No. 3 in this month's Mystery Chart! Top 10 Most Read Mystery in the last month are: Circumnavigation by C James A Change of Worlds by Josh Aterovis The Art of Living by Robert Hugill Gabriel's Gambit: Contract Terminated by Jason Rimbaud Thank you to all our readers.

I have realised that characters do reappear in different guises, so that Alex & Neil has an uncle character akin to the Louis' uncle, only Alex's is alive and kicking.

Venetia does not make an appearance I am afraid. There is no real 'bitch' character in the story!

Having crashed and burned after early success as a composer, Alex has managed to rebuild his career and his life. Carpenter Neil is between girlfriends, and his knowledge of music is limited. Yet despite their differences the two come together, and each spurs the other on to explore life further and to take risks. Add in a pair of mothers who are friends and Neil’s fragile younger brother—as well as a manipulative rich uncle and some lively friends—and you have a dynamic mix.

Mother had met Anne at evening classes, where they were both teaching. After Father had died, Mother stopped teaching full time and replaced this with a mixture of supply teaching and evening classes. She had also taken a course in Teaching English as a Foreign Language, and something seemed to click. She eventually gave up drumming English literature into recalcitrant British teenagers and concentrated on teaching English to those who wanted or needed to learn the language. And being Mother