Marking the Occasions collects all the author's published short stories and short prose of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s in chronological order, and incorporates three collections Marking the Occasions, Funny Farm and The Word. By keeping to date order, it allows the reader to follow the author's stylistic development over time from more experimental early works to short stories in the more classic, traditional style of the genre. The pieces variously explore themes of mistaken identity, social commentary, murder, madness, suicide, heartbreak, lost love, the underdog, surrealism, social deprivation, dark fantasy, science fiction and the absurd, from a time when Andy Botterill was a regular contributor of stories to magazines and publications such as My Legacy, New Fiction and Shadows Mystery Magazine. All the stories have been revised and updated for this collection.