Picture from Pixabay, modified by author. The story posted today was originally published in the Autumn 2024 issue of Scribble, a print and online literary magazine. Enjoy the read. I'm afraid this will be the last short story posted here for a short, unspecified time due to other commitments. Small Hands, Pale and Fragile. Nathan …
Continue reading Small Hands, Pale and Fragile: a Short Story
https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/messy-interior-full-clothing_152559099 This story was first featured on the website of Flash Fiction World Contest in 2013. Unfortunately, I didn’t record the website URL and can’t now find it, which means the site probably no longer exists! Too Much Trouble 'You've let yourself go.' He looked down his length and saw the protruding belly hiding his …
Continue reading Too Much Trouble: a Short Story
Photo by author, Stuart Aken. This story was first published in a slightly shorter form in ‘Ouse Valley Poetry’ in 2009, where it won 3rd prize in a contest. Sadly, the journal is no longer in publication. CHANGES IN THE WIND ‘I’m cold. I want to go back home now,’ Kerry told her mother. Dawn …
Continue reading CHANGES IN THE WIND, a Short Story
Photo is mine, but modified by Julia Kalman for the interview. I have been interviewed by Julia Kalman for the New Literary Society journal. The interview is published on Medium. Dear Readers,We’re honored to introduce you to Stuart Aken — a writer whose creative life is shaped by justice, memory, and the quiet discipline of …
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The picture is from Pixabay. I've modified it to remove identity in the people waiting for their bus. Sorry for the delay this week, we had such a sunny day after some weeks of dull, wet weather, we decided to take a longer walk than usual! This story was first published in the Winter 2021(92) …
Continue reading ‘Bus Pass George’ A Short Story
Wine dark sea, by author, Stuart Aken. A short story for your entertainment. Enjoy. Comment. Wine Dark Sea Eventually, the older couple, introduced only hours before, took the hint. The pair were last to leave the impromptu beach party. Silent but relieved of boredom, Danni silently urged them along the wooden jetty, the dying fire …
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Having read many of Stephen Kings excellent books, I expected to find this as easy to read and enjoy as all the others. But it has an inbuilt problem for me as a reader from the UK. The language and cultural references in the first chapters are frequently confusing and sometimes even incomprehensible.Generally speaking, if …
Continue reading sleeping beauties, by Stephen King & Owen King: #BookReview.
If you haven’t seen the show (BBC1 and variously repeated on other TV channels), you probably won’t get the best out of this amusing collection of facts, opinions, jokes and odd asides. But don’t let that stop you giving it a go. It’s a well-written book. Lots of humour. Some of the ‘pointless’ items you’ll …
Subtitled ‘A neuroscientist’s guide to a healthier, happier life’, this book is just that. An extraordinary piece of work that, read well and applied to everyday life could be a life-changer for you. It already is for me. In just 8 chapters, this book demystifies both the workings of our most complex organ and our …
Continue reading How To Make Your Brain Your Best Friend, by Rachel Barr: #BookReview.
F.R.I.G.H.T. - A short Story for your entertainment: F.R.I.G.H.T. Foster sneered at the novel in front of him. ‘Writers! Shoot the bloody lot if I had my way.’ He leered at the scientist perched on the corner of his desk. ‘Who told him?’ The scientist inclined her head. ‘Not you, was it?’ She bridled, crossed …
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A pool in a Greek Hotel. Here's the next short story in my intention to give you one each week for the whole of 2026. I have a couple of anthologies of short stories, too, for those who love such collections. The one that would be most relevant for those who enjoy the one below …
Continue reading A Perfect Solution: A Short Story
I last wrote about the WIP on the 8th of August. How is it possible I’ve allowed all those days to pass without a single catch-up piece?At that time, the MS stood at 122,237 words over 282 pages. As I write this, it stands at 120,705 words over 280 pages, having been through a number …
Continue reading Is There Progress In The Work In Progress?
What is ‘Outline’? Is it a novel, a collection of essays, a piece of philosophy, an account of the physical, mental and emotional wanderings of the gifted author? It is all these things, and more.Whilst I discovered it was possible to put the book down, it was not feasible to do so without finishing that …
Continue reading Outline, by Rachel Cusk: #BookReview
Subtitled ‘A new author’s guide to publishing and marketing for success’ this book was recommended to me by another writer, who thought it might be of use to me. It is! First, I’m a published writer, both self-published and published with a small indie publisher, so, on the face of it, this book could seem …
Complex, moving, full of insight, and harrowing in places, this novel haunts the reader with its rich, expressive prose and its comprehensive depiction of its characters. Set mostly in Ireland and Africa, it uses the emergence of Eire as a republic and the difficulties that separation from mainland Britain imposes on that society during the …
Continue reading The Temporary Gentleman, by Sebastian Barry: #BookReview.
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Antidote to the Novel
Stuart Aken 