Category Archives: News

Can fiction shape our future?

I was a guest on The Artist Unleashed blog recently where I posed the question: ‘How good do you think fiction is as a bridge between the experts and the public when it comes to creating debate on ethical issues?’

When I published my three recent stories, Human Enhancement: Sex, Drugs and Marriage, it was partly my intention to prompt debate, and partly to have a bit of fun. They’re free, for now, and you can download them as an eBook or a PDF. I’d love to hear what thoughts they spark in you.

And, if you think fiction can create debate then you might also want to read and comment on The Driverless Car’s Dilemma. It’s a piece of flash fiction about the ethical choices manufacturers of driverless cars will have to make in the future. For example, if an accident is about to happen and the car has to choose between its passengers and nearby pedestrians, who should it choose?

Over to you…


Can fiction prompt ethical debate and shape our future? #SciFi #Ethics Share on X

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photo credit: 1111_Thinking Blue_019 via photopin (license)

Would anarchy maintain the status quo?

A couple of weeks ago I spoke at the Greenbelt Festival on whether a mature and confident society should encourage people to opt-out; if we have a successful and attractive way of living (capitalism and consumerism) then the number of people wanting something different would be insignificant and we should go out of our way to accommodate them, rather than bully them into our way of thinking.

Exploring this idea led me down a number of paths you might find interesting: Continue reading

Launch event for Fluence

Fluence was published just over a month ago and after a fortnight of interviews and reviews the official launch took place on 21 July in a packed Primrose Hill Community Library.

I was really pleased that people took the time to come along on a sunny evening and I certainly enjoyed meeting them, reading extracts and talking about the inspiration behind the novel. The most enjoyable part for me (apart from the pub afterwards) was the Q&A at the end.

All the questions were thoughtful and wide-ranging, including Continue reading