Platform Boots and Plot Twists: Every Writer Needs a Stage

March 1, 2026

There was a time when subtlety was thrown out the window and outrageous clothing was the in thing. The 1970s was my decade, the years in which I came alive.

The 1970s didn't whisper. They shimmered.

Platform boots. Glitter. Hair that required structural engineering. Vinyl records stacked like sacred texts. And music that did not so much play as announce itself.

Artists like David Bowie, T. Rex, Sweet, and the deliciously theatrical Alice Cooper understood something important.

Life is dull without a stage.

And somewhere in that glitter-streaked decade stood a younger version of me, long hair flowing, three-piece suit pressed, brown boots polished, standing behind a pair of turntables.

My disco was called Quarry Rock Disco.

The name was not accidental. It was a nod to The Quarrymen, the original band that would eventually become The Beatles. If you are going to borrow inspiration, you may as well borrow it from the source.

Quarry Rock Disco lived in village halls, youth clubs and smoky upstairs rooms in pubs and clubs. It lived under coloured strobe-lights at the side and in front of the deck. It lived in the nervous energy before the first record dropped.

And that first record always mattered.

A DJ learns quickly that a dance floor is a living thing. It breathes. It hesitates. It tests you. If you misjudge it, it punishes you with empty space and folded arms. If you read it correctly, it rewards you with movement, laughter and that wonderful collective surrender to rhythm.

I was not simply playing records. I was learning timing.

Which, as it turns out, is precisely what a novelist does.

You build tension. You sense when the reader needs release. You hold back just long enough. Then you drop the chorus. Or the twist.

Glam rock also taught me another lesson.

You can be yourself and larger than yourself at the same time.

Elton John did not simply walk on stage, he arrived. Roxy Music turned style into theatre. Bowie reinvented himself as Ziggy Stardust and made transformation look effortless.

Stage persona was not dishonesty. It was amplification.

The boy behind Quarry Rock Disco was me. Entirely me. But brighter. Louder. Slightly braver.

Now I've swapped my platform boots for plot twists. My turntables have turned into timelines, and village halls swapped for a global readership.

But I'm the same performer, just in a different medium. And I'm still reading the room, except my room is now social media.

Fast forward a few decades and here I am, writing historical fiction, building espionage worlds, building brave new science fiction worlds and experimenting with AI poetry. And occasionally appearing online as a dangerously confident glam rock frontman for no other reason than it makes me smile.

Different stage.

Same instinct.

Every writer needs a stage. Although I didn't realise it at the time, my years as a DJ was me building a stage for my writing.

Not necessarily wearing platform boots. Though I make no promises.

But a stage of some sort. A place where imagination is allowed to step forward and declare itself. A place where you are permitted to be bold.

Quarry Rock Disco did not make me famous. It did not change the music industry. It did not lead to a record deal or a glittering career under stadium lights.

What it did was far more useful.

It taught me not to fear an audience.

It taught me that performance is not pretence. It is communication with a bit of sparkle.

It taught me that if you believe in the moment, others often will too.

So when I publish a book now, when I post about a new release, when I craft a dramatic image or lean into a persona for fun, I am not reinventing myself. I am simply stepping back under the lights.

From platform boots to plot twists, the rhythm is the same.

Drop the right track.

Tell the right story.

And never be afraid to take the stage.

I always said I had a book in me, desperate to come out. And lo and behold, they were queueing up.

If you want to take one of my books for a spin, then be my guest and delve into my writing with a free book. Just click here and download the book of your choice.