Boys, Belles, Bikes, and Bells.

I just posted this piece to Medium. In a forest criss-crossed by tracks and trails of many different sorts, three types of users enter for their exercise, entertainment, and escape from the troubles of the world. Pedestrians vary from the agile runner in search of challenges, through dog walkers exercising their pets, groups sharing the …

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Contagious Tales, Edited by Andrew Simms: #BookReview.

176 pages.22 modern folk tales. Alan Rusbridger, former editor of The Guardian and now editor of Prospect magazine remarks, ‘These stories matter because they help us grasp a world that is seemingly out of control, and imagine what steps we can take to make things better.’ This anthology is subtitled ‘22 modern folk tales in …

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A Seasonal Short Story for You. Enjoy!

The picture above is by Larry Krause, on Flikr It is replicated using the Creative Commons License The story is entirely free and posted just below this brief intro. I have a free seasonal story on my site already, but it’s a humorous piece about New Year, and has been on there for some years. …

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Bridport Prize 2022 Anthology: #BookReview.

This anthology from the respected Bridport Prize annual competitions presents the winners of the Poetry, Short Story, and Flash Fiction sections. Of the 35 pieces published here, I’m disappointed to report only one, Kerry Lyons’ ‘Seventeen Weeks’, really moved me. Many of the others struck me as pretentious, overly academic, self-absorbed, or simply incomprehensible. A …

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Houses Borders Ghosts, from The Fiction Desk: #BookReview.

Nine short stories from contributors to The Fiction Desk appear in this, the 14th anthology published by this independent publisher of short stories and edited by Rob Redman.This is an eclectic collection of tales on no particular theme or treatment. It seems unnecessary to individually review these stories, and to synopsise them would be to …

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Between Before and After, by Jessica Stilling: #BookReview.

If you’re seeking an emotional see-saw you could no better than try this book. The ups and downs are so beautifully handled, and the characters so wonderfully drawn, I was engaged from the very beginning, and remained so to the end.On the surface, this is the story of a filmmaker, one of the ‘arty’ types, …

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#ScenicSaturday 05/Nov/22

All photographs in this series were taken in November, though not necessarily this year. My digital picture library started when I bought my first DSLR camera a few years back. I like to share them here to show #ourworldiswonderful.This one, from 2021, was taken on the approach to Hardraw Force, a spectacular waterfall in the …

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#MABLE – The Launch of Several New Books

And Not a Few Older Ones! Publisher, Fantastic Books Publishing, run by the inimitable Dan Grubb, hosted an online event for the month of October to launch several new books from his publishing house, and to bring to readers’ attention other books that had not had the coverage they deserved due to the Covid epidemic! …

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The Deadly Reckonings, by: Rebecca Heap & Victoria Heap. #BookReview.

A story employing themes of injustice, bullying, courage, the overwhelmingly destructive nature of power, prejudice, and the joys, pains, and potency of love. The Deadly Reckonings, although a complete story in itself, is clearly the first of a series set in this imagined world with its population of characters that merge humanity with animalistic properties.A …

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#MABLE: Author Interview with Meghan Purvis

Meghan Purvis You’re all cordially invited to join in the fun of the Massive Autumn Book Launch Event (#MABLE) organised by my publisher, Fantastic Books Publishing. The books in the event are hugely discounted, so it’s a great opportunity to try some new and exciting fiction. It began on 17th September and runs to 31st …

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#MABLE: Author Interview with Linda Nicklin

Linda Nicklin You’re all cordially invited to join in the fun of the Massive Autumn Book Launch Event (#MABLE) organised by my publisher, Fantastic Books Publishing. The books in the event are hugely discounted, so it’s a great opportunity to try some new and exciting fiction. It began on 17th September and runs to 31st …

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#MABLE: Author Interview with Jack Mann

Jack Mann You’re all cordially invited to join in the fun of the Massive Autumn Book Launch Event (#MABLE) organised by my publisher, Fantastic Books Publishing. The books in the event are hugely discounted, so it’s a great opportunity to try some new and exciting fiction. It began on 17th September and runs to 31st …

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#MABLE: Author Interview with Mark Millicent

Mark Millicent You’re all cordially invited to join in the fun of the Massive Autumn Book Launch Event (#MABLE) organised by my publisher, Fantastic Books Publishing. The books in the event are hugely discounted, so it’s a great opportunity to try some new and exciting fiction. It began on 17th September and runs to 31st …

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#MABLE: Author Interview with James Vigor

James Vigor You’re all cordially invited to join in the fun of the Massive Autumn Book Launch Event (#MABLE) organised by my publisher, Fantastic Books Publishing. The books in the event are hugely discounted, so it’s a great opportunity to try some new and exciting fiction. It began on 17th September and runs to 31st …

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#MABLE: Author Interview with Drew Wagar

Drew Wagar You’re all invited to join in the fun of the Massive Autumn Book Launch Event (#MABLE) organised by my publisher, Fantastic Books Publishing. The books in the event are hugely discounted, so it’s a great opportunity to try some new and exciting fiction. It began on 17th September and runs to 31st October. …

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