I helped prepare for London 2012
I used to work in crisis management for the Government. Part of this involved thinking about the most likely worst thing that could happen during the Olympic and Paralympic Games – and then working out what we’d do about it if it happened. It was a fascinating way to help prepare for the Olympics – even if I did spend that summer in a windowless basement watching the long jump…
The Axe and Grindstone
I’m a Doctor Who Photographer & Writer
At least once a month you can find me in my studio taking photographs of people who helped make Doctor Who. Some people, like Tom Baker, have done this for years. Others have never done anything like it before in their lives. It’s a chance for fans to meet their heroes, and everyone comes away with a smile. It’s a properly heart-warming job. I’ve also written officially licenced audiobooks. A Small Semblance of Home was released in 2018 and is read by The Doctor’s very first companion – his granddaughter!
I also write Soap Opera Horror – think Crossroads meets Dracula
I write for Big Finish Productions’ series Dark Shadows – based on the 1960s / 70s gothic soap opera (and one-time Johnny Depp movie). Famous for being filmed live with questionable production values, it introduced a vampire in its tenth month and the rest is history. It’s been resurrected on audio. I’ve co-written the next 13-part full cast series, called ‘Windcliff’. It’s due out in 2020 and is the scariest thing I’ve ever written.
I used to have an office in the House of Commons
I used to be Private Secretary to a number of Government Ministers, including the Leader of the House of Commons. I was behind the Speaker’s Chair when someone threw purple powder over the Prime Minister, helped represent the UK at a summit in Canada and helped brief Ministers after 7/7. Almost once met Shilpa Shetty.
I’m married to Gareth and live on a roundabout
I married my husband in 2014 and took the decision to go double-barrelled as the ceremony was about joining our families together to create a brand new one. I don’t think he’s ever forgiven me. “It’s not Phillips… it’s Phipps… Oh, just let me spell that for you…”
I was once a missionary
I spent seven weeks in 1997 building a church in Peru out of mud. There was a team of ten of us building this thing next to a river which was also the local sewer and rubbish dump. Dead dogs would float past several times during the day. We weren’t allowed to smoke or drink, which may be the reason why I started to compensate the moment we landed home.
The Axe & Grindstone is based on real life
Well, some of it is. For several years I spent my evenings sprinkling parsley on food for Yates’ Wine Lodge in Woking before it turned into a nightclub in the evening. I’ve also worked in smaller country pubs where the contrast couldn’t have been more different. To tell you the truth, I miss those days – working behind a bar properly made me the man I am today. It forced me to be strong, to accept who I was and to face down my fears and insecurities. My mother things Mark Adams, the main character, is based on me. I told her she was wrong. I may have been lying.
The Axe and Grindstone is published by BAD PRESS iNK and available in paperback (or free on Kindle Unlimited) at mybook.to/theaxeandgrindstone
Ladies and Gentlemen, last orders, please.
Seriously, this could be your last ever order...
Have you ever fancied running a pub?
What about two pubs?
And what if they were in different dimensions?
Enter Mark Adams who is in serious need of a pint.
Now the fabled landlord of Peacebattle, he’s the only person who can stop the world from screaming for the rest of time.
But why chose a loser to save the world? What is the truth at the heart of the Binding Brothers’ dark religion and the monsters who thrive in its heart? And will Mark survive long enough to remember the most important advice of his entire career:
Don’t scream.
Whatever you do.
Don’t scream.