Stephen Baker hails from Kingston upon Hull and is an alumni of the University of Hull. He served on Hull City Council as an elected member (councillor) for 12 years and is now an Honorary Alderman of the city. Educated in the State School system, he left school in 1975 with no real direction career wise. A love of writing drew him to a BA degree course at the University of Hull, studying as a mature student part-time for six years. He then studied full-time for a Master's degree in Historical Research. A creative writing course soon followed and he felt a real desire to write. This desire has resulted in the publication of this collection of monologues, a collection of monologues entitled Against the Tide, a single monologue in the TSL Relationships compilation. Brief Encounters is Stephen's fourth collection of monologues.