Alan Parkinson was born in Sunderland in the seventies and spent his formative years growing up in Southwick.
Leg It
He wrote his first novel, Leg It, during a career break in 2001 and finally published it 10 years later. Leg It has gained a cult following for its humorous depiction of childhood in Southwick in the eighties, and has been sold in countries as diverse as America, India and Japan.
Idle Threats
His second novel, Idle Threats, a comic tale of an armed siege in a call centre was released in August 2015.
In December 2015, following the success of Idle Threats, Alan gave up his lucrative career in the software industry to become a full-time writer.
Life In The Balance
His third novel, Life In The Balance, was released in June 2017. The tale of socially awkward Manuel Frost who records good and bad deeds in a ledger, balancing them out each day. Events spiral out of control until he must perform the ultimate balancing act.
Troll Life
Troll Life, a tale of an internet troll who is forced to come off benefits and work in the call centre he has been trolling was released in October 2018.
Burying Reggie
Burying Reggie, was published in October 2021and tells the story of an ordinary man forced into extraordinary circumstances when his family is put in danger.
Burying Reggie has been Alan’s fastest selling novel to date.
Alan has also been running several workshops and played a lead role in the successful Putting Southwick On The Map project.
As well as his novels Alan plans to release a modern etiquette guide based on his humorous blogs and has had a number of short plays performed. His monologue, Parting Shot, was part of Sunderland Stories which was shortlisted for a North East Culture Award in 2021.
He was Festival Coordinator on the Sunderland Creative Writing Festival 2018 as well as delivering an editing workshop and appeared at the  Sunderland Literature Festival in October 2018.
Alan also ran community based workshops that resulted in a book of short stories that were read out at 2018’s Summer Streets Festival as part of the Tall Ships Race.
He also did an online reading of Idle Threats as part of the 2020 Summer Streets Festival.
In 2019, Alan was one of the inaugural recipients of the Sunderland Culture Creative Development Fellowship.
Alan is a freelance writer for both websites and magazines and has written on a number of diverse subjects. Please contact him for a quote.
He is a qualified trainer and is available for workshops and talks about writing and his books.
To contact him please use the Contact page or click on the Twitter or Facebook buttons on each page.
Alan Parkinson social media.
He can be followed at:
Twitter: @Leg_ItÂ
Alan Parkinson 