Welston World Sagas

In the desert, no one can hear you, queen' Justin David's newly-released novella is part creepy coming-of-age story, part black-comedy, set partly in buzzing 1990s London and partly in barren New Mexico wildlands. When Jamie meets Matthew in Soho, he's drawn to his new-age charms. But when he follows his new friend across the planet to a remote earth-ship in Taos, bizarre incidents begin unfolding and Matthew's real nature reveals itself: he's a manipulative monster at the center of a strange cult. Jamie finds himself at the center a disturbing psychological nightmare as they seize the opportunity to recruit a new member. Pushed to his limits, lost in a shifting sagebrush landscape, can Jamie trust anyone to help him? And will he ever see home again? This evocatively set desert gothic expertly walks the line between macabre humor and terrifying tension. "Kissing the Lizard" is a world unto itself. Perhaps the universe is talking to us after all.

Growing up in the Black Country under Mrs Thatcher's iron grip, Jamie dreams of a life in a magical metropolis, rubbing shoulders with the mythical creatures from Smash Hits. Despite the quirky characters in his hometown and his mother's witty one-liners, Jamie's heart is set on something greater. Follow him through secondary school, teenage turmoil, and art school, where he falls in love with Billy and the allure of the big city. Will he choose to play it safe in Welston or take a chance on a new life in London? These flamboyantly funny stories of self-discovery, set against the shifting social scenery of the 80s and 90s, are for everybody who's ever decided to be the person they are meant to be.

Love is the Drug... Twenty-four-year-old Billy is beautiful and sexy. Albert-The Pharmacist-is a compelling but damaged older man, and a veteran of London's late '90s club scene. After a chance meeting in the heart of the London's East End, Billy is seduced into the sphere of Albert. An unconventional friendship develops, fueled by Albert's queer narratives and an endless supply of narcotics. Alive with the twilight times between day and night, consciousness and unconsciousness, the foundations of Billy's life begin to irrevocably shift and crack, as he fast-tracks toward manhood. This story of lust, love and loss is homoerotic bildungsroman at its finest. 'At the heart of David's The Pharmacist is an oddly touching and bizarre love story, a modern day Harold and Maude set in the drugged-up world of pre-gentrification Shoreditch. The dialogue, especially, bristles with glorious life.' -JONATHAN KEMP, author of London Triptych