Hi. I’m Nigel Leech and I live with Jenny in Leeds,Yorkshire,UK.
After over thirty years teaching people,maths,rock climbing,computing,running,study skills,thinking skills etc I was forced to take early retirement because of ill health (decades of chronic depression coupled with the stress of teaching). I now have the time,and sometimes the energy,to pursue writing and hopefully take it to a professional level. I’ve always been a writer,but teaching with depression makes it tough to be an author.
Since 1970 I’ve been working at understanding the human mind better. This has involved a lot of study (including a range of university text books),a number of courses (including a Certificate in Guidance and Counselling),much thinking,and significant experimentation. I have the knowledge of statistics and research study design to assess the validity of most research projects and their conclusions. A full CV (résumé) is available here.
I am looking for two things:
- to help people,especially those suffering from depression (their own or someone else’s),
- to get feedback and build contacts.
One project I have in mind is a book about living with depression and living with people who suffer depression. I have over forty years experience of the former and twenty five of the latter (yes,we have celebrated our silver wedding). That’s before you take into account living with a seriously depressed parent.
Another major project is writing a book about Adam Warner and his views and suggestions on disability and life. This is turning into something really exciting. Adam was crippled with cerebral palsy caused by a medical error at birth. His parents were told he’d be stuck in a wheelchair for life. When I first got to know him he’d progressed to only needing a stick to help him stagger down the corridor. Now he has got rid of the stick. Sometimes he falls over,and that’s okay although it can be quite painful. There are other things that hurt far more. I’m interviewing Adam,and he is checking what I write as soon as the first draft of any section is ready. Adam was in my Form (Tutor Group) for two years,and we have remained friends.
The project I’m currently engrossed in is a linked pair of books,both of which have complete first drafts,and both of which will feature cartoons by Miriam.
One is a novel aimed at Young Adults,but intended also for any age. It’s called maths is black and is ‘written’by a 15-year-old Ed who hates maths,loves his girlfriend Jess,and wants to know what’s happened to her –she’s disappeared. Length 50,000 –60,000 words,so a short novel.
The other is a weird introduction to what maths really is,as opposed to what they tell you at school. It purports to be written by Ed’s latest maths teacher (who appears in the novel). Current length 30,000 words,but will probably be quite a bit shorter after a complete rewrite.
The two covers are designed to be clearly related,and we might do a joint e-edition with links between the two books.
We’ll soon be looking for people to take a look at the 2nd drafts and hopefully comment. Honest criticism usually leads to significant improvement 
Rehearsing Pink Floyd's 'Comfortably Numb'with a band for a charity show
If you’re interested there’s more information on my web site,although I need to do some updating there.
Here’s a quick reference guide to the topics on this blog:
monochrome and blue is about anything to do with depression
wet super computer is about anything to do with the mind
book reviews comments briefly on any book I’ve enjoyed and found useful –no limits on topic
random is for occasional stuff that doesn’t fit any of the other topics –I hate limiting what I write about
photos is an occasional relaxed look at some of my photos
I can be contacted at nigel@nigel-leech.com
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Nigel Leech is a participant in the Amazon Europe S.à.r.l. Associates Programme,an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.co.uk/Javari.co.uk. I’m using this as a means to provide reliable links to the Amazon site for books I recommend.
