170 ratings | 27 reviews | avg rating:4.17

Rob’s Year In Books

Rob’s 2024 Year in Books

Take a look at Rob’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

Go to Rob’s 2024 Year in Books

Rob Gregson’s Followers (21)

Rob’s Bookshelves

to-read (3)
currently-reading (0)
read (170)

Rob’s Friends (34)

Jeanette Ford

273 books | 102 friends

Corben

29 books | 25 friends

Michael Brown

8,341 books | 29 friends

Rachel Foster

1,304 books | 56 friends

Alastair Miles

40 books | 6 friends

Robert Wingfield

38 books | 11 friends

Lucinda Elliot

404 books | 89 friends

Cee Jackson

136 books | 200 friends

More friends…

Rob Gregson

Goodreads Author

Born

in Liverpool

Twitter

#RobGregsonWords

Genre

Fantasy, Humor and Comedy

Influences

Bill Bryson, Stephen Fry, Douglas Adams, Robert Rankin, Gore Vidal and ...more

Member Since

April 2014

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/nullroom

edit data

Rob Gregson spent much of his youth reading fantasy novels, immersing himself in role playing games and generally doing everything possible to avoid life in the real world. In his defence, we're talking about the late 1980s - a time when ridiculous hair, hateful pop music and soaring unemployment were all very popular - so it wasn't altogether a bad decision. However, had he abandoned the realms of elves and wizardry at an earlier age, he might have developed one or two useful life skills and he would almost certainly have found it easier to get a girlfriend.

Since that time, he and reality have developed a grudging tolerance of one another although their relationship still goes through the occasional bad patch and his first two novels - Unr ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Rob Gregson questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Rob Gregson I'm not sure it's good to listen to too much advice - at least, not if that advice feels like it's trying to mould you into a fine, upstanding mainstr…moreI'm not sure it's good to listen to too much advice - at least, not if that advice feels like it's trying to mould you into a fine, upstanding mainstream author. There are more than enough of those in the world already. If you want to enjoy writing - rather than turn it into just another job - then keep your quirks and your individuality. Otherwise all you're doing is maintaining a facade.

For that reason, I'd never presume to offer any advice on writing style. After all, it's not as though it's difficult to find it elsewhere. Plenty of publishers and agents offer good, pragmatic guidance on their blogs and websites. If you hope to engage with them and produce something that's actually saleable, then it's probably an excellent idea to listen to their house rules.

Paying due regard to professional advice is one thing, but (as with sweets and puppies) I think you should be very wary of accepting suggestions from strangers. Act on every new word of advice you receive and you'll soon end up writing by committee. In recent years, I've had feedback from all sorts of people and, sometimes, I suspect that what they consider good writing is just whatever matches the style of their favourite author. It may be well meant, but it won't always be well reasoned, so be ready to consider advice if you wish, but be equally ready to discard it.

That said, I do think it's worth involving yourself in writing groups and eliciting feedback where you can. That's 'feedback' as opposed to 'advice'. It's easy to make assumptions as a writer - about what works and what readers will intuitively understand - but run your early drafts by a few fellow authors and you'll quickly unearth issues and ideas that would never otherwise have occurred. For me, that all started on the much-missed Authonomy site and, ever since, I've found that 'reciprocal feedback' approach invaluable. There are some really bright, kind and insightful people out there, and discovering some of them has been one of the most rewarding aspects of my whole writing experience. (less)

flag

3 likes · like
Comment

Why do you feel this 'work' of your is worthy of our consideration, considering in retrospect that in hindsight the work must be 'made' worthy rather than achieving worth in the pre-order?

Rob Gregson Um... Yes. And Tuesday, in that order.

flag

2 likes · like
2 comments

See all 3 answers from Rob Gregson…

Combine Editions
Rob Gregson’s books

Average rating: 4.49 · 53 ratings · 28 reviews · 3 distinct works

	Unreliable Histories 4.61 avg rating — 23 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shelf Life: The Book of Better Endings 4.24 avg rating — 21 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Endless Land 4.78 avg rating — 9 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

30 posts
Rob Gregson's Blog

November, National Novel-Writing Month

On November 13th 2019, two Lancashire libraries will help to celebrate National Novel-Writing Month by playing host to a couple of short talks for local reading groups, aspiring writers and anyone else with an appreciation for the written word.
I mention this mainly because I'll be one of the speakers.
The first will take place at 1pm at HeyshamLibrary. The second will be held at the Harris Museum, Read more of this blog post »

View more on Rob Gregson's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on October 26, 2019 06:17

View all 30 posts »

rss
Rob’s Recent Updates

Rob Gregson made a comment in the group CLOG - Comedy Literature Only Group — A SPACE HOPPER KILLED MY HAMSTER ... topic " Shared the Spacehopper link on FB, incidentally. "
Jul 21, 2025 03:18AM
Rob Gregson rated a book it was amazing The Reluctant Ascent of Nevil Warbrook, in his own words: Volume Two, Blood & Water by Nevil Warbrook	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 21, 2025 03:03AM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Reluctant Ascent of Nevil Warbrook, in his own words by Nevil Warbrook. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Reluctant Ascent of Nevil Warbrook, in his own words by Nevil Warbrook <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rob Gregson rated a book it was amazing The Reluctant Ascent of Nevil Warbrook, in his own words: Volume One, Intimations of Mortality by Nevil Warbrook	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Intelligent, gentle and often very funny, these 'journals' provide an exceptionally entertaining accompaniment to This Iron Race: Book One and This Iron Race: Book Two. Nevil might be a fictional author but he's very entertaining company. The world h ...more
Jul 21, 2025 03:01AM · 2 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Reluctant Ascent of Nevil Warbrook, in his own words by Nevil Warbrook. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Reluctant Ascent of Nevil Warbrook, in his own words by Nevil Warbrook <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rob Gregson rated a book it was amazing NO LAUGHING MATTER ... : a short tale of death, and how to recover from it. by Cee Tee Jackson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jul 20, 2025 01:39AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of NO LAUGHING MATTER ... by Cee Tee Jackson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — NO LAUGHING MATTER ... by Cee Tee Jackson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rob Gregson rated a book it was amazing The Reluctant Ascent of Nevil Warbrook, in his own words: Volume One, Intimations of Mortality by Nevil Warbrook	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Intelligent, gentle and often very funny, these 'journals' provide an exceptionally entertaining accompaniment to This Iron Race: Book One and This Iron Race: Book Two. Nevil might be a fictional author but he's very entertaining company. The world h ...more
Jul 17, 2025 05:41AM · 2 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Reluctant Ascent of Nevil Warbrook, in his own words by Nevil Warbrook. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Reluctant Ascent of Nevil Warbrook, in his own words by Nevil Warbrook <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rob Gregson rated a book it was amazing Dunstan the Wanderer (Wanderers, #3) by Raymond St. Elmo (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 13, 2025 01:16PM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Dunstan the Wanderer by Raymond St. Elmo. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Dunstan the Wanderer by Raymond St. Elmo <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rob Gregson rated a book it was amazing How To Read Water by Tristan Gooley (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 05, 2025 01:45AM · 1 like · like
Rob Gregson rated a book it was amazing How to Read a Tree: Clues and Patterns from Bark to Leaves by Tristan Gooley (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 05, 2025 01:45AM · 1 like · like
Rob Gregson has read How to Read a Tree: Clues and Patterns from Bark to Leaves by Tristan Gooley (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 05, 2025 01:44AM · like
Rob Gregson rated a book it was amazing Wild Fell: Fighting for Nature on a Lake District Hill Farm by Lee Schofield	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 05, 2025 01:44AM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Wild Fell by Lee Schofield. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Wild Fell by Lee Schofield <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">