Ice Made and Other StoriesPaperback, 26 July 2010

"It's the writer's job to find the facts and build them into his story." Is this drudgery or are you inspired? In Little Jimmy, Asbestalux and Pax Imperii an enormous reservoir built in the Rossendale Valley is backdrop to the hazards of asbestos and a still supreme British Empire. Message for Oeipa and Winter in Alexandria are set against the slaughter of three Roman legions in 9 AD. What would our pets say about us if they could talk? Carrie gives a cat's view and Dodger a dog's. If an alien came to this planet, what would she see? In Night of Life, first contact with aliens comes with strings. Cuckoo looks at cross species hook-ups. In Joe and the Xenophids, first contact has gone badly wrong and the extinction of the human race is on the cards. Brant is a knight-errant who gets drawn into the intrigues, as the royal blood line of a kingdom comes under threat. Not all fantasy is happy ever after as our heroine discovers in City.