First Encounters (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781505392937)

A S Wilkins has been writing sensual romance for over fifteen years. It all started quite by accident, following the tragic death of his wife in 1998, when he was left with two small children to bring up alone, as well as manage his own software consultancy. While still in a state of shock and running on auto-pilot, he settled into a daily routine of dropping the kids off at day care, fulfilling his nine to five obligations, collecting the kids in the evening, feeding them, bathing them and putting them to bed with a night time story, before collapsing in front of the television and crying into a large glass of red. He had neither the opportunity nor desire to meet anyone new, yet he craved companionship. Posing as Charming Man, after his favourite song by The Smiths, he began to trawl online chat rooms, striking up conversations with anonymous individuals who may or may not have been who they said they were; it made little difference to him. Before too long, these intimate exchanges left him wanting more, such is the nature of making a new acquaintance. However, charming by name and charming by nature, he chose never to cross the line until encouraged to do so by others. This led to many a cat and mouse war of words with many a like-minded soul, which both intrigued and excited him. It was during this time he wrote his first short story, Night Vision, detailing his longing for the next love to enter his life. The more he chatted, the more he became obsessed with the notion of sexual encounters between strangers. Still not in a position to embark on a new relationship in the real world, he continued to engage women in cyberspace, and together they would contrive a variety of scenarios from the respective comfort of their laptops. Many of these scenarios were later to become short stories; Beach Encounter, Mid Air Collusion, Ariana, A Greek Tragedy and The Hitcher, to name a few. Writing as Charming Man, A S Wilkins is always on the lookout for the next encounter to write about. When two individuals make eye contact across a room or on a crowded train, and a connection is made, this is often the green light that sets his imagination on fire. A knowing look is all it can take; a word might never be spoken. However, the minute an affinity is perceived, a scenario is hatched in his head, which is then honed over the coming days and weeks into a believable idea for a story. Find out more about Charming Man by visiting his website at charmingman.com.