A Speccy Man has a Breakdown: start here

The book, and the emails about making it

Hello – welcome to this page about my new book.

You may have landed here directly after buying a copy of the book (thank you!). Or perhaps you followed a link somewhere. Either way, I’m glad to have you here.

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In March 2026 I started sending a short regular email documenting the making of a new book.

It’s a hardback containing some of ~300 drawings I made in a psychiatric hospital in 2018, at a time when I genuinely believed I was worthless. It’s the origin story of a character called the Speccy Man – long-faced, a bit lost, trying to find his way. The drawings are raw. Some are funny. Most are not.

The emails are about the book and what went into making it – the breakdown, the drawings, the decision to publish, and what it costs to put something this personal into the world.

Some people reading these emails knew me already. Some had heard me talk about this before. Some are curious about the process of making a book. Some, I know, have experience of the dark places I write about.

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A few posts to start with

If you’d like to read a little before deciding what to do next, here are several entry points – not in any particular order:

The full list of posts/emails is further down this page.

What you might do next

You’re welcome to read and move on. If you’d like to follow along, there are three things you could do, in any combination:

Sign up for the Speccy Breakdown emails. They’re short, and each comes with an audio version if you’d rather listen. If you have bought a copy of the book, your address has been added automatically. You can unsubscribe any time.

Already on my main newsletter list? Please sign up here too – this is a separate list.



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Buy the book. The first edition is limited to just 250 numbered, signed hardback copies, with a signed A5 art print included.

👉 Buy Collectors Edition, including postage worldwide
(Import duties may be payable outside the UK.)
👉 Buy Paperback edition, including postage
(Paperback only shipping within UK for now.)

Just keep an eye on the site. New posts continue to appear. You can come back whenever.

The full list of posts so far:

List updates automatically (click any to read / listen):

  1. Original invitation to readers

  2. Thanks for joining me. Here’s what’s coming

  3. The book, and the emails about making it

  4. “Speccy” is not meant to be unkind

  5. Some fragile bloke in a psychiatric ward, drawing pictures

  6. Why I hate talking about this – and can’t stop.

  7. Smiling in every photo. Wishing I was dead.

  8. What £45 actually pays for

  9. Names printed in the book, and everyone who has joined them since

  10. Specifications of the object itself

  11. The moment his hand left the rail

  12. The orders came in

  13. Making the book, on a difficult day

  14. What held me up, and what didn’t

  15. The part where I work out postage

  16. Crash helmet

  17. Every day I think: I have to stop

  18. The rules I make up as I go

  19. The people I was sure I’d never hear from again

  20. Faces I drew on my day off

  21. What gave me confidence

  22. Not quite going to make it

  23. Still at it. And there’s a thank you page

  24. Sharing it with The People Who Matter Most

  25. Proof copies (also Brecht)

  26. There for the asking

  27. Chuffed

  28. Falling into a padded envelope

  29. A nice problem to have

  30. Seasick on Zoom

  31. A barcode won’t help

  32. Gone to the printer

  33. He talked with his wife

  34. A shinging thing

  35. A foray into marketing

  36. Like holding my breath

  37. How to say no

  38. A dust jacket situation

  39. The publisher regrets the erroor

  40. An interview has occurred

  41. Cellophane sleeve slipping

  42. Dust jackets in place

  43. A baby crying for attention

  44. A writer worth pressing into people’s hands​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

  45. A Speccy Man Has a Breakdown is becoming a collectors’ edition