Former Denny High teacher goes back to the future with debut novel

Matthew Keeley, an English teacher in Denny for six years, has penned an eerie science fiction tale which centres on the idea that “ghosts” may actually be time travellers from the future.

Called Turning the Hourglass, the plot supposes that in centuries to come people who want to study the past will be able to beam themselves back to former times to observe our lives for themselves.

But at the same time it seems some of us will glimpse their outlines as ghostly apparitions.

Matthew said: “I wondered – what if ghosts aren’t remnants of the dead?

“What if they’re glimpses of the future; visitors who’ve come back to observe us?

“From here, I built a story around one of these future visitors. What would they want to visit and study? And what would they do if they knew we could see them?”

The central character of Turning the Hourglass is 23rd Century historian Dyrne Samson, who uses time-distortion pods to take a peek at any event in history he chooses - but visiting his own timeline is forbidden.

Publisher Black Rose Writing notes: “This sci-fi story is an exploration of secrecy, guilt, loss, and prejudice and the extremes these can drive us to”.

Matthew J Keeley studied at the University of Glasgow and graduated with an Honours Degree in English Literature, before working as a secondary school English teacher.

He mostly writes speculative and literary stories and has had short fiction and poetry published by Centum Press, Medusa’s Laugh Press, Mother’s Milk Book, Ink & Voices, and Havok magazine.

He is also a contributing writer of arts reviews for award-winning magazine The Wee Review and the Neon Books blog.

There’s to be a launch event for Turning the Hourglass at the Hillhead Bookclub (bar-restaurant in Vinicombe Street, off Byres Road, Glasgow) on Sunday, April 28 at 3pm.

For more information visit www.matthewkeeley.co.uk.