Tracks in Time.. Countdown

With the release of Tracks in Time just around the corner, we thought we’d do something a little different. Instead of me telling you what the book is about, we asked Daniel—yes, that Daniel—to share his thoughts on having his life turned into a story, what the book really means beneath the romance and the “time” element, and why he hopes readers might see a bit of themselves in it too. Here’s Daniel, in his own words…

I’ll be honest: if you’d asked me a year ago if I’d ever be the sort of bloke who ends up “fronting” a book, I’d have laughed in that very specific way you laugh when you’re trying not to admit you’re a bit terrified. I’m Daniel. I’m the one in Tracks in Time who does the looking back, the second-guessing, the “what if I’d just said the thing?” thinking at three in the morning. And apparently, I’m now also the one who’s meant to tell you why you should read the story of my life like it’s a Sunday paper and a strong cup of tea.

Here’s the thing, though: Tracks in Time isn’t a “look at me, aren’t I interesting?” kind of book. It’s more of a “look at us—at all the ordinary, messy, brave little choices we make—aren’t we all a bit like this?” kind of book. It’s about love, and timing, and the way your past can feel like a place you could step back into if you just walked far enough. It’s about those moments that seem tiny at the time—one conversation, one missed train, one decision to stay or go—and how they quietly shape everything that comes after. If you’ve ever replayed a memory like it’s a song you can’t stop putting on repeat, then… yeah. Welcome. You’re in the right place.

And yes, there’s a “romantic twist.” I can’t say too much without giving you the sort of spoiler that would make me want to crawl under the sofa and live there forever, but I will say this: it’s the kind of romance that doesn’t arrive with fireworks and a montage. It arrives the way real romance does—through small moments, half-finished sentences, and the slow realisation that someone has started to matter to you in a way you didn’t plan for. The sort that makes you want to be better, even while you’re being an idiot. Especially while you’re being an idiot.

What do I think of the book? I think it’s a bit unfair, if I’m honest.

Because you don’t get to live your life with a narrator. You don’t get neat chapter breaks and the luxury of hindsight. In real life, you make the choices and you carry them, and you don’t know which ones are going to echo. But in Tracks in Time, you get to see the threads. You get to see why I hesitated, why I ran, why I stayed quiet when I should’ve spoken up. You get to see the moments I’ve spent years pretending didn’t matter… and then you get to watch them matter anyway.

There are parts of this story I didn’t enjoy revisiting. The awkward bits. The stubborn bits. The bits where I’m convinced I’m doing the “sensible” thing, when actually I’m just doing the “safe” thing. There are chapters I’d happily redact if I had a say in it—mostly the ones where I’m being a bit too proud, a bit too scared, a bit too human. But that’s what I like about it, too. It doesn’t dress me up as a hero. It doesn’t punish me as a villain. It just lets me be a person, muddling through, trying to get it right.

And I think that’s why it lands.

Because beneath whatever you want to call the “time” element—tracks, loops, echoes, all the ways the past nudges at your sleeve—this is a story about hope. Not the cheesy, poster-on-the-wall kind. The quieter kind. The kind where you realise you’re allowed to start again. The kind where you finally stop holding your own happiness hostage to the mistakes you made when you didn’t know better.

So, if you’re reading this and you’re curious, here’s my pitch, from me to you:

Read Tracks in Time if you like stories that feel like real life—funny in places, painful in others, and full of those little emotional gut-punches that sneak up on you when you’re not expecting them. Read it if you’ve ever wondered how different things might be if you’d turned left instead of right, or if you’d said “stay” instead of “okay.” Read it if you want a love story that’s more heart than hype.

And if you do read it… go easy on me, yeah?

I’m trying my best.

Tracks in Time is available to pre-order now on Amazon, and it lands on 2nd February in Kindle and paperback. If you pick it up, thank you. Truly. Because it turns out telling your story is one thing.

Letting other people see themselves in it… that’s something else entirely.