Share this author's profile darkliquid (Andrew Montgomery-Hurrell)

Not much to say, I'm just an average computer geek with many eccentricities. I love coding, electronics hacking, reading, writing and music. I just mill around in Poole and Bournemouth in Dorset, living out my life as a professional Ruby on Rails developer and web designer.

As a amateur writer I always seem to have one or more stories on the go at some time or another, my mind is always a melting pot of ideas and I tend to bounce from one thing to the next, annoyingly leaving me with little stamina to actually finish something! I've NaNoWriMo-ed for 3 or so years now and consistently failed each time. Go me!

Like my music, my taste in books tends to be fairly eclectic at times, but the core area lies firmly in science fiction.

My favourite books of all time (in no particular order) have to be:

• Brass Man by Neal Asher
• The Skinner by Neal Asher
• Cowl by Neal Asher
• The 'A Requiem for Homosapiens' series by David Zindell
• The Bridge by Janine Ellen Young
• The 'Dune' series by Frank Herbert and later Brian Herbert
• Faith of the Fallen by Terry Goodkind
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Turing Option by Harry Harrison and Marvin Minsky
• Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
• The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams
• The Dirk Gently books by Douglas Adams
• The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett

Writing, I try my hand at whatever pleases me. I write the occasional horror and thriller, but I stay mostly in the realms of sci-fi and blend it with another genre for fun. I'm also attempting a couple of fantasy novels, one of which may end up on here since I seem to have lost steam with it.

I enjoy themes of what it is to be human, of morality and moral ambiguity. I like elaborate, story-arcing jokes that most people don't understand or will even notice. I have an odd sense of humour which often comes out in my writing. Unfortunately, I'm really not a people person and I'm a bit of a misanthrope at times, which often comes out in my writing too and tends to make it suffer for it. I hope as I become more engrossed with the community here that I'll learn to overcome that.

Stories

When it comes to stories I post on here, nothing is sacrosanct. I'm always happy, eager even, to see someone take something I've written somewhere. That's something I really like about Protagonize - the collaborative atmosphere.

There are some stories I have started that have come to mean a lot to me (not to say that all my work doesn't mean a lot!) and I'd really like to see them develop and grow. Foremost of these are:

• Axis Moon - a fantasy story in a strange land following a young girl on a personal quest to save the world
• My Baby Beetle - a story about a family dealing with everyday life when the baby is a living miniature classic VW Beetle
• Unfolded - an over-the-top tongue-in-cheek pulp action story about Frank Winchester, billionaire CEO turned one man army out to avenge the death of his wife at the hands of the sinister Origamist
• This Polaroid Truth - a story about mysterious happening surrounding a retired photo-journalist who unexpectedly receives an old, strange camera through the post.

Things I've contributed to

There are lots of things I've contributed to during my time here but some of the ones that standout to my memory are:

• Tagged - some amazing work with some amazing authors about a tagger and his friends trying fight back against corrupt politicians and gangsters. Started by Eloosive.
• Free Your Mind - a story set in the near future where creativity is outlawed and the remnants of protagonize.com are fighting against the system for the freedom to think and create once more. Started by Asheyna.
• The Stone of Tides - an unfinished attempt at a joint NaNoWriMo novel with my wife. Low-magic, fantasy setting, saving the world kind of thing. More contributers are welcome! Started by DruidX.
• Daddy's Drawer - a wonderful little childrens story of sorts about a child being whisked into a strange land within a forbidden drawer. Started by Wood.
• Crunchy Squishy Homebacks - an awesome tale of snails rising up against their oppressers. My set of branches on this is going down a distinct childrens story angle. Another excellent piece by comedy genius aryst0krat that deserves more attention.

Seeking Contributions

Well, to be honest I welcome and encourage contributing to anything that I haven't marked as solo. I really, truly want to see where other people take things I've either started or worked on but there are some particular ones I would really appreciate a hand on.

• My Father's Key - A man is left a letter and a mysterious key in his father's will. What does it all mean? This has been dead for a while. I'd love to see it brought back to life.
• Her Ladyship's Wife - A fictional memoir (of sorts) of a butler for a royal lady outing herself as a lesbian. Meant for exploring some political and social themes.
• Guess Again - one of the few mature pieces I have on here, that's been recently extended by cottonwoodhead. Themes of drugs, identity, psychosis and scifi/robot/aliens.
• Bag - a somewhat tongue-in-cheek teen horror/dark comedy about a mysterious and sinister bag.

Stalking Material

If you feel the need to or are interested in knowing more about me and all that jazz, visit my website at http://darkliquid.co.uk or follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/darkliquid. You can also check out my pictures and musical tastes at http://www.flickr.com/photos/darkliquid/ and http://www.last.fm/user/darkliquid respectively.