 He remained a full-time writer for some eight years, before finding work in various multimedia, web development and editorial roles at the Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education (now the University of Gloucestershire) and the University of Essex; in 2014 he returned to full-time writing and editing.Brooke's first story was published in the British small press magazine "Dream" in 1989, but it was his first sale to "Interzone", the story 'Adenotropic Man', which first brought him notice.He continued to be published in "Interzone" throughout the 1990s.