Jim Sheldrake

James "Jim" Sheldrake was a subversive 20th century comics writer whose life was manipulated by the sceneshifters so that he helped bring about the Age of Steam. (PROSE: The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Enemy)

Early life
In 1953, Sheldrake was born at a Hampton hospital. He was deaf in his left ear and blind in his right eye, which left him unable to drive.

In 1970, Sheldrake was expelled from Hampton Grammar School for dealing psychadelics.

Through most of the 1970s, Sheldrake worked blue collar jobs, unable to secure other work due to unfavorable references from former headmaster Edgar Hyphen-Hyphen. He married Edith Neville in 1974. (PROSE: The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Enemy)

Comics career
After Edith became pregnant in 1977, Sheldrake was inspired to quit his job as a Gas Board clerk and begin trying to make a career in the comics industry. He wrote a number of back-up stories for Amazing Comics' Mister E tie-in comic; he would later claim to have no memory of writing one story which featured the Temperons, rulers of Mister E's homeplanet, engaged in a Time War against the Black Sun Brigade. Sheldrake spent the next several years writing twist-ending stories for Spitfire Comics; these were his first steps in IdeaSpace. (PROSE: The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Enemy)

In 1982, Sheldrake began writing The Man and The Secret for Atom Comics, (PROSE: The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Enemy, Mightier Than the Sword) having been recruited by his former editor Del Rictus. Through these series, he began receiving critical acclaim and won several American awards, including seven Altrix Awards. The next year, Gumshoe Periodicals senior editor Leonard Holland invited Sheldrake to begin writing Muck Monster. (PROSE: The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Enemy)

In early 1984, Sheldrake wrote the letters page for the 12 May issue of Spitfire Comic, creating "Douglas, Age 8". (PROSE: Mightier Than the Sword) Later that year Sheldrake withdrew from Atom Comics due to disagreements with editor Del Rictus. (PROSE: The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Enemy) However, another account indicated that Sheldrake was still writing The Man in 1988. (PROSE: Mightier Than the Sword)

In 1986, Sheldrake's success led to Gumshoe Periodicals pushing him to begin writing the massively popular TickTockMen series. During interviews for TickTockMen in 1987, Sheldrake began criticising Gideon Barrow, starting a long-standing feud between the two writers. (PROSE: The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Enemy)

Sheldrake allied with Faction Paradox, (PROSE: Mightier Than the Sword, A Hundred Words from a Civil War) who were interested in him due to the machinations of the sceneshifters. (PROSE: The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Enemy)

In 1998, Sheldrake wrote The Five O'clock Shadow for Spectral Press, which hinted at his involvement with the Faction. (PROSE: Mightier Than the Sword)

Imprisonment
In either the early 2000s (PROSE: Mightier Than the Sword) or 2010, Sheldrake was imprisoned at Camp Gulliver because of his writing. (PROSE: The Enemy of My Enemy Is My Enemy)

In 2008, Sheldrake smuggled the short story Unfashionable Beast out of Camp Gulliver for it to be self-published by a friend of his. (PROSE: Mightier Than the Sword)

City of the Saved
Sheldrake went into hiding in the City of the Saved. (PROSE: Born Among Briars) Story speculated that he might have still been affiliated with Faction Paradox. (PROSE: A Hundred Words from a Civil War) Story was certain of Sheldrake's existence in the City due to his connection to Sheldrake's creativity, although as late as AF 291 he had not sensed that Sheldrake had ever written a story while in the City. Story searched the City for Sheldrake, unsuccessfully scouring everywhere from Snakefell to Bonehall District; (PROSE: Born Among Briars) in the City of the Saved Civil War, he failed to find Sheldrake in the Compromised Regions. (PROSE: A Hundred Words from a Civil War)

Other information
Patient Y claimed, among his various accounts of the War in Heaven, to be a fictional character stranded in a reality where everyone and everything in popular culture had marginally different names. (PROSE: Pre-narrative Briefing P)