About

I am Ian Schagen, a statistician (rather less charismatic than an accountant). This blog contains short stories and other writings composed over the years. 'Stochastic' means 'random, happens by chance', and that's a fairly good description of them.

(This painting is The Reader, in oils and mixed media on canvas)

At the start there is a link to a science fiction novel called Armontiriath. The link will take you to Chapter 1.

Following that is the sequel to that novel, called Andromeda.

Then there is a kind of poem (which doesn't rhyme or scan) that I wrote when I was a lot younger. It's called 4-d Cats, and was based on a time-lapse photos of a jumping cat which I later turned into a painting.

The Final Battle is a dystopian short story of a future England, based on current political events.

The Flying Mermaid is based on a hotel in Sort, in Catalonia, Spain, which we visited while following my father's route through Europe in 1943. He was escaping from the Nazis, crossed the Pyrenees and was captured by the fascist police. On his journey from the border to prison in Lleida he spent a night in this hotel, which has carvings of flying mermaids on each side of the frontage.

The next story (The Portal) is inspired by the amazing scenery of the US South-West, in particular the incredible landscape of Arches National Park in Utah.

The Silent Army is also inspired by the scenery of Utah, in this case Bryce Canyon National Park, with some influence from the Terracotta Army of Xian, China.

The Dragon and the Hero was based on the story of Sigurd the Volsung, translated into the realm of science fiction.

Santa and the Vampire is a light-hearted attempt to explain some of the mysteries surrounding Santa Claus.

Trump in Hell is a political and theological fantasy, based on the hopefully soon-to-be-recent leadership crisis in the USA.

The Fickle Finger of Fate is a political fantasy, inspired by my faith in statistics.

Mr Brexit is a political cartoon strip, with apologies to the ghost of Roger Hargreaves.

Barsoom was inspired by A Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs - apologies to his memory.

How the Spoonbill Became Pink is a light-hearted creation myth, inspired by the beauty of the creatures described.

Dark Lords is a political prose poem.

Strange Bodies is a short piece about racism and skin colour, based on my experiences in Ghana.

The background for each story or piece of writing is a painting or photograph, designed to illustrate or complement the theme of the piece.