Who let the geeks out? Put the cat outside, unplug the telephone and prepare to be entertained by a cast of misfits of the type your doting mother warned you about! Real life's just too much effort... That's the conclusion that the author has reached after spending years of his life doing his best to avoid it. As one of millions of teenage boys (and sometimes those other ones who smell better and have two bumps at the front) who spent the 80's playing games with model soldiers or pretending that they were a mighty elf warrior as the role playing craze swept the globe, the author takes the reader on a journey of almost 3 decades from his first forays into fantasy worlds, all the way to - allegedly - making a living as the owner of a game store in the 90's. Candid and heartfelt, this is the truly entertaining tale of a decidedly abnormal son of a normal family. The story is in turn, humorous, sad, serious and introspective, but always unrepentant. It asks some of the most important questions faced by a teenage 'games geek' of the time: When does 'Will you go out with me?' become unacceptable as a chat-up line? How can I avoid compulsory P.E lessons? What on earth is a 'Ral Partha'? Where did the author end up after a night out with his gaming chums? Can you make a million running a game store? These questions and many more will be answered - possibly honestly - as the reader skips hand in hand with the author along the yellow brick road of youth, headlong into the red brick wall of adulthood.
About the Author: M.A.Hides is the eldest of three children. This gave him some amazing insights from a very early age: 1. He would have his own bedroom until another sibling came a long. 2. The imagination is a powerful tool for making (albeit imaginary) friends. 3. When you are an only child there's nobody else to blame. 4. Enjoy the peace and quiet as long as possible. Before long that box of building bricks will have to be shared by other kids with sticky fingers and a tendency to write on anything not specifically theirs. 5. All things being equal he would be the first to die. Life's funny like that... As is typical of quiet, sensitive children, Mark spent the majority of his formative years getting the stuff that's good for the roses knocked out of him, receiving his first black eye at age eight, and his first good thrashing at home when he confessed that the same boy responsible for delivery of said black eye had also been taking his lunch money for over a month. The 70's were hard - even for 8-year olds! Upon leaving school (simutaneously breaking the world land speed record) Mark passed through several retail jobs until meeting his wife in the bed of his best friend (read the book for the full sordid details) during what he refers to, in quiet tones as 'the missing years'. After spending the best part of the 1990s managing and then owning 'Dungeons & Starships' (a dream come true) in Sheffield our hero went into the Civil Service where he remained until he found almost a decade later that working in a government office was not at all like the TV sitcoms of the 80s and, you sometimes actually had to put finger to keyboard and do something. Still, ten years was a good run. Mark now styles himself an artist and writer - really - and lives with his wife of almost a quarter of a century (who often quips that had she murdered him, she'd have been out by now) in a dusty garret which, they share with three dogs and a cat. Mark still collects all things fantasy and sci-fi and has appeared in several magazines as well as on 'Discovery Channel' demonstrating his skills with a paint brush. He will never be wealthy, but Mark has the bonus of being able to look out of his window across the city of Sheffield whenever he likes without hearing those dreaded words 'My office, now, PLEASE.' ever again. He hopes to avoid death by applying the same vim and vigor with which he has avoided a responsible lifestyle for the last 30 years or so.