Who is Alex Annesty?
I write fiction, poetry and music under the name Alex Annesty. I carry out research and write factual pieces
under my real name, Phil Chapman; this includes online / social media work and print media publications. In
October 2017 I had my first full-length book, This Day in Music's Guide To Queen, published; more information on this is available at
Phil Chapman online.
I live in the beautiful Peak District, in the UK, where I eat fish and chips, drink beer and worship the
ukulele.
What does Alex Annesty do?
I contribute poems, articles, comedy sketches etc. to a number of on-line resources and via more traditional
agents, publishers, TV companies etc. I also write and record music in a converted coal cellar.
I'm about half-way through writing my first novel, 'Colin goes to Zobeland' and have written the synopsis for
a second.
I contribute to the following on-line media (some more frequently than others):
- Ukebloke's Ukeblog - my semi-regular blog, written under
the user name 'ukebloke'.
- Colin goes to Zobeland - my novel in progress. Here you can find
out all about the novel and read the latest draft on-line.
- Zobeland diary - another blog of sorts, created
originally to document the progress of my writing the novel 'Colin goes to Zobeland', this diary tends
to cover whatever I'm writing at the time. It captures the moments that new ideas develop, my
diversions into minor side projects, plus the occasional major one. The research and factual writing
incur delays in the development of CGTZ, but I'll get there one day.
- Facebook - Alex Annesty's rather neglected social
networking presence. I must do something with this as soon as I can find some time.
- Twitter - My microblogging home. The original intention was
to use it for short poems and announcements. At the moment I just tend to tweet the occasional haiku.
- Halfbakery - I've contributed a few suggestions
for this wonderfully silly site under the user name 'nononoyes'. Please note, since I first created
this user name at Halfbakery, it has appeared on quite a few other sites and forums; as far as I know,
none of them have anything to do with me.
- 1,000,000 Monkeys Typing - I discovered this site back in 2008 and decided to get
involved. It was a great implementation of an idea I'd been toying with for ages, but they did it far
more effectively than I ever could have. Using a sort of
'exquisite corpse'
principle, it allowed anyone to contribute to and influence the development of stories - this is a lame
explanation of a brilliant idea - the best way to understand it would be to have a look and get your
own creative juices flowing. Sadly, it disappeared in August 2011 and I haven't been able to track
down its creators so far. The original URL was www.1000000monkeys.com, but that domain has clearly been
allowed to expire; what a shame. You can view the final incarnation of
1,000,000 Monkeys Typing at the Wayback Machine Internet Archive.
- WritersCafe.org - I've posted some of my poetry
& short stories on this writers' site.
- Phil Chapman website - The main site for factual writing, under the name
Phil Chapman.
You can listen to a sample of some of my songs at my
Music by Alex Annesty page.
Please have a look and/or listen and if you like any of my work, let you friends know and
send me some feedback.
Alex Annesty? Ukebloke?
Why Alex Annesty?
When I started writing for the Internet, with thoughts of print media at the back of my mind, I did a quick
search to find out how many Phil Chapmans were out there; I discovered there are a lot and most of them
aren't me. I decided I needed a nom de plume, which was memorable, unique and would appear near, or at, the
beginning of most alphabetical listings; I can't remember exactly how I came up with it but 'Alex Annesty'
resulted from trying different first name + fictitious surname combinations.
Why the 'Ukebloke' nickname?
Why 'ukebloke'? Well, although I play the guitar and piano / keyboards, I adore the ukulele and often travel
with one; it's possible to play one quietly in an hotel room, without disturbing one's neighbours, and I
defy anyone to play a uke without smiling.
