Rutland man Phil Newby discusses dying in comedic book of short stories The Rules
A Rutland man is refusing to let a terminal illness get in the way of seeing the positive side of life and has released a book of comedic short stories.
Phil Newby released his book The Rules - a collection of 11 short stories - in April and has been overwhelmed at the response so far.
Diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2014, Phil says that nine of the stories aim to take an irreverent poke at issues that he’s come face to face with, with the other two on dying and the environment - topics close to his heart.
“The theme that runs through them all is that we have never had so much to celebrate as a species or so much to fear,” said Phil, 49, who describes himself as a rule-breaker.
“It’s not a manifesto for rule breaking but it’s about not taking the rules so seriously.
“It’s about both celebrating and lamenting the world before us.”
Disability and friendship are also running themes and he describes the stories as based on autobiographical experiences.
Phil says finding the positives in his experience are important.
“I’m trying to be as normal as possible and keep walking forward - well as much as you can when you can’t walk,” laughs Phil.
A foreword written by Olive Travers reads: “If something is below humour, it is below humanity” and Phil says this perfectly expresses his attitude to life.
“There are a lot of people worse off than me.”
The book is self-published and available as an e-book on Amazon under his full first name Philippe.
Asked if finding a publisher would be something he’d look to do in the future, Phil replies: “Well it depends on how much future there is.”
The Rules is Phil’s third book - his previous two were written for family and friends. His first Innocent Lives was a novella based on his grandparents as orphans during the Second World War and his second called 28 Days in Kerala follows Phil’s experiences in India trying alternative medicines for his illness.
Both were received well and with the second, it was loaned out to people beyond immediate family and close friends until Phil decided to release it.
Already The Rules has been discussed in book clubs as far afield as London and Edinburgh, as well as in Stamford and Phil says reviews have “so far been very kind”.
Phil has already hit headlines after taking his plea for assisted dying to the High Court and the Court of Appeal, both of which dismissed his case.
“We had a strong case and we were only asking was for the evidence to be looked at but the judges came back in the strongest possible terms and said it wasn’t the right place to discuss it. Whichever way you look at it, we lost 2-0
He says the argument was gaining traction in Parliament before the “coronavirus crisis swept in” with Rutland MP Alicia Kearns among those to speak out on the issue.
“She’s got an intuitive understanding about it and she approached me,” says Phil. “What she said was really strong. I’m hopeful it will be discussed more in the future - there is still discussion to be had.”
Currently Phil is self-isolating at his home on the shores of Rutland Water and is supported by his wife Charlotte and their two daughters.
One of his daughters captured the cover image used on The Rules. It features a duck and was taken while the family were at the Harbour Café in Whitwell a couple of years ago and Phil promised to use it as a book cover. The book is dedicated to his daughters.
It is available to buy on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback format.