One of the features of writing for newspapers and magazines is that the words pass through the hands (and word processors) of editors and subeditors on their way into print, and get transformed into the appropriate house style for the publication, and cut to fit the space available. The smoothing into house style may make the writer look better than s/he really is, but the cutting is always painful.

What the reader reads is often different from what the writer wrote. But this is the place where I can put the original, unedited versions of some of my more intriguing and entertaining stories, warts and all, and anyone with the time and inclination can amuse themselves by comparing what they see here with what appears in the pages of certain publications.

This should not, by the way, be seen as a criticism of the way editors and subeditors go about their tasks. Polishing and cutting is essential in the commercial world where people are expected to pay for the end product. But life on the Web is different. I hope you will find that the originals, for all their rough edges, have a certain naive charm. The idea is to share my sense of wonder at the strangeness of the Universe we live in with whoever is interested. Happily, the same editing procedures don't apply with books, so at present I have no intention to add books to this page. On the other hand, several of my titles are out of print, and I might one day get around to making them available electronically. Watch this space!

Happy reading,

John Gribbin