No tea. No guns. No phones. No broken hear—

Strike that last. Hearts will be broken.

With apologies to Annie & Dave for this week’s title.

It’s easy to say ‘the rules are there are no rules’ when it comes to creative writing. Good luck with that. You do need some rules and I apply these to the speculative fiction novels I’m currently working on:

• No blasphemy.

• No guns.

• No smartphones.

• No tea.

Not your typical list, I agree. If one or more of them ejects you from your comfort zone, please be reassured there remains a host of familiar – and realistic – tropes and themes within my nascent works.

My rules might be simple, but the reasons I apply them are more complex and varied. Let’s address each of them, in reverse order: