In 2019 a hopelessly bored standard-issue nerd decided to stretch his creative, yet under- developed wings with a challenge to himself: to put fi gurative pen to paper, fi ngers to keyboard, and ideas into action by writing from scratch a short story from the start to fi nish of each calendar month for a whole year, and have it ready, presentable, and maybe even legible. The aim of this was to force ideas into action, to unstick the corroded gears of creative writing, and above all, to take that next brave but vital step in becoming an author. Battling the commitments of a full-time career as a paramedic, raising three young children, and working through a generation-defi ning pandemic, this nerd would coax ideas forth and jettison them into view of an unsuspecting audience, like a gastro patient in a waiting room. So join him as he explores the various genres of fi ction, from stories of survival in the unforgiving outback of Australian deserts, to stories of survival in the offi ce workspace. Tales of not-so-distant futures as humanity clings so desperately to existence it forgets what it even means to be human.