I've been a huge fan of the handsome and talented Rufus Sewell since "The Pillars of the Earth" and have loved as good as everything he's done so far, but the character that absolutely won my heart is the lovely and somewhat mysterious Mick Carpenter, the pearl trader from Bill Bennett's beautiful and sadly little-known 1999 movie "In a Savage Land", co-starring the equally lovely Maya Stange. Thanks to Bill and Jennifer Bennett for thinking up Mick and Evelyn, and thanks to Rufus and Maya for bringing them to on-screen life so wonderfully.

This film never left my thoughts for long ever since I watched it for the first time, wondering both about Mick's backstory and whatever might have happened after the bittersweet ending ... and suddenly there I was, writing fanfic and actually publishing here (not least because of the very kind and helpful support of the wonderful ladies of the Rooftop message board - thank y'all for encouraging me).

I have listed the chronology of the stories below. When I began writing about Mick and Evelyn, I just wanted to continue their story from the end of the movie that left so many questions open, but at some point I found myself thinking more and more about that fascinating and enigmatic man's backstory, feeling this had to be written first to lay a foundation for what would happen later.

Here's the timeline of my stories so far:

A small introductory piece (set post-IASL)

My Miracle (set around 1952)

Mick's backstory

The Telegram (1918)
A Surprise Gift (1921)
Leaving Home (1923)
A Solitary Stranger (1923)
A Walk with Grandpa (1924)
Rage and Reputation (1929)
Runaway (1929)
Departure (1930)
Stormy Sunday (1930)
To the Lighthouse (1930)
All I Want For Christmas Is You (1930)
Christmas Day (1930)
Moonlight on the Snow (1930/31)
The Storm (1933)
A Hard Night's Morning (1933)
This House Is Not A Home (1934)
Piano Man (1934)
A Little Of That Human Touch (1934)
A Matter of Trust (1934)
Everything Changes (1934)
Over the Ocean (1935)
Among the Ruins (1935)
Family Ties (1935)
The Moment of Truth (1935)
Mixed Blessings (1936)
Choppy Waters (1937)
Freedom Is Just Another Word (1938)
Discovery (1941)

The missing years
Mick's life between Evelyn's leaving the island and their reunion

Decisions (1943/44)
Please Don't Mention the Holiday (1944)
Enlisted Man (1945)
Changed, Changed Utterly (1945)
Crossroads (1945)
Travellers (1945)

post-IASL

Sink Or Swim (1945)
A New Life (1946)
Step By Step (1946)
Academic Business (1947)
Suffer the Little Children (1948)
You Better Not Cry (1949)
Turning Points (1950/51)
Storm Clouds (1951)
Arrival (1951)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (1953)
Letters and Phone Calls (1953)
The Stars That Were There Before (1954)
On a Warm Summer's Night (1954)

Some little detours, based on minor characters

Home for Christmas (1955)
Moonlight Sonata (1960 - something of an epilogue to "Everything Changes" from Rosie's point of view)
Gone But Not Forgotten (2004 - a story told through the eyes of Nell's brother)
Trait and Trace (2013 - told by Mick's granddaughter)

Early work

When I started writing about Mick, "My Miracle" was the first story and I thought I'd be done after a few little sketches of what happened after the movie's end, plus something about Mick's wartime experience. Project Carpenter then turned out to be far more epic than expected, as you can see.

Meanwhile, I have re-written some events from the period right after the movie, so these old stories don't actually match the plot or timeline of my big overarching narrative any more. I have taken them out of the listed chronology, but I don't have the heart to discard them completely either, so it's up to my readers to decide if they want to read them or not. These are the titles I'm talking about:

Early Days (1946)
Golden Autumn (1946)
Full Circle (1946)

A Long Way Home (1943-45, 1952)

... and now for something completely different: I wrote a contemporary Christmas story based on the movie "Uncorked" (aka "At Sachem Farm" aka "Higher Love). I've always loved darling Ross and his music - so perhaps this will be the beginning of another batch of stories. We'll see.

So far, there's only "Season's Madness".

I have further branched out at least once with "His Mother's Favourite Son", based on the movie I took my nickname from.