Saving the World, One Mix-Tape at a Time

Nicky is sixteen and lives in a dull Northern town in 1978, but science fiction, music, and his colourful friends give him a sense of purpose. Then, he meets Angela, everything changes, and he takes teenage alienation to a whole new level.

Saving the World, One Mix-Tape at a Time is a coming-of-age story set in reality… and beyond. Nicky, aimless and at odds with his parents, finds solace in science fiction and his quirky misfit friends. His problems are simple: he knows too many kids named Paul, he wants to date a girl, and he has far too much on his mind. However, when he meets Angela, his reality is turned upside down, and nothing is as it first seems. As Nicky navigates the tough year of 1978, he discovers that life is full of surprising alternatives and that sometimes the most unexpected and strangest events can change our lives forever.

Told through Nicky’s vivid experiences and misadventures with his friends, Saving the World, One Mix-Tape at a Time blends sci-fi, punk rock, and the bittersweet memories of first love. It explores themes of adolescent angst, friendship, and the transcendent power of imagination during a time of turbulent social change and literal teenage alienation.

Colin Johnson grew up and still lives in Leeds. Colin’s background is in academic research and technical writing, but he has also read a lot of science fiction and listened to a lot of music of all types. His experience of music and popular culture, in the novel’s unnamed ‘Northern town’, provides the backdrop for many of the key events and misadventures of the protagonist and his friends. When he is not writing, Colin rides a bike, tries to grow a wildflower meadow and enjoys time with his family.