Who let the geeks out? Put the cat outside, unplug the telephone and prepare to be entertained by a cast of misfits of the type your doting mother warned you about Real life's just too much effort... That's the conclusion that the author has reached after spending years of his life doing his best to avoid it. As one of millions of teenage boys (and sometimes those other ones who smell better and have two bumps at the front) who spent the 80's playing games with model soldiers or pretending that they were a mighty elf warrior as the role playing craze swept the globe, the author takes the reader on a journey of almost 3 decades from his first forays into fantasy worlds, all the way to - allegedly - making a living as the owner of a game store in the 90's. Candid and heartfelt, this is the truly entertaining tale of a decidedly abnormal son of a normal family. The story is in turn, humorous, sad, serious and introspective, but always unrepentant. It asks some of the most important questions faced by a teenage 'games geek' of the time: When does 'Will you go out with me?' become unacceptable as a chat-up line? How can I avoid compulsory P.E lessons? What on earth is a 'Ral Partha'? Where did the author end up after a night out with his gaming chums? Can you make a million running a game store? These questions and many more will be answered - possibly honestly - as the reader skips hand in hand with the author along the yellow brick road of youth, headlong into the red brick wall of adulthood.

Real life's just too much effort...Dealing with a dragon or a powerful necromancer is easy, but girls, bullies and parents are a totally different challenge altogether. This bitter-sweet, but always humorous memoirtakes the reader on a revealing journey as the author attempts to escape from the world he thinks of as mundane, immersing himself in the world of fantasy role playing games and wargaming. This is a personal celebration of the quirky and geeky rather than an apology for being a fantasy-obsessed man-child. The reader may laugh, cry or just cringe at the antics recounted, but no matter how strange they may appear, they really happened. So, put out the cat, unplug the telephone and skip hand in hand with the author along the yellow brick road of youth, right into the red brick wall of adulthood.