The Waiting Room, began life as an interim novel while I was working on another novel that is tied, historically, both to place and time. I decided I needed a break from the more demanding novel, and I began The Waiting Room. Initially, I had expected it to take about three months, but as is often the case the three months became six, and the six became nine...

The Waiting Room is about perspective and how we can see the same thing differently, depending on our perspective. It is not an action novel, and the suspense is more psychological than physical.

“The waiting room, which to some may seem quite large and to others relatively small, is a medium-sized rect­angular room with cream walls, burnt-orange doors, and light-coloured bamboo flooring. It can, however, appear either rectangular or square, depending on both the per­spective and emotional state of the person entering it. The floor can vary from dark polished timber to an uninteresting cheap beige linoleum, and the colour of the walls fluctuates, depending again on the individual, between off-white, old rose, and midnight blue. However, no matter their perspective regarding the size and colour of the room, everyone agrees that there are no windows and only two doors.”


“... Arthur walks slowly towards the windows, wondering at the vastness and the total emptiness of the space. Without saying anything, he wonders: What is it used for? Why is it empty? Why is it connected to the waiting room?... ”


“Is she happy? She is not completely sure. Thinking of her bag on the desk behind her, she would probably have to say no, but losing a bag, and temporarily at that, can hardly be an indicator of where one is on the happiness scale. She tries to forget about the bag, and she asks herself a second time if she is happy. The fact that she cannot come up with a definite answer worries her a little. Perhaps she is not happy; perhaps the State has failed her.”

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