This short story appeared in a charity anthology, ‘Wrong’ to benefit Creative Writing Institute that sponsors cancer patients in writing courses. The theme was 'I have a list and a map. What could possibly go wrong?'You’ll find a link to the book at the end of the story. A Fork in the Road Lauren tapped …
Continue reading A Fork in the Road: Short Story
Translated from the original French, by Alison L. Strayer, with remarkable insight and understanding of the original text, this ‘autobiography’ is an extraordinary piece of work. I use quotes around ‘autobiography’ because this book is so much more than that. It’s a brilliant mix of life story, history, sociology, philosophy, meditation, and poetry. Although some …
Continue reading The Years, by Annie Ernaux: #BookReview.
This condensation of an extensive theme into something far more concentrated, selective, and relevant manages to say everything it means in ways both accessible and moving. The appalling Irish Magdalen laundry system, imposed on the country by a church made far more powerful than it ever deserved by indoctrination and the spread of superstitious fear …
Continue reading Small Things Like These, by Claire Keegan #BookReview.
On rare occasions, a reader encounters a book that inspires, entertains, edifies, and asks questions in such a way as to force him to reconsider long-held views. Whilst I was already in full agreement with some of the ideas and conclusions revealed in this small and beautifully written book, there were some notions that forced …
Continue reading Orbital, by Samantha Harvey #BookReview.
Subtitled ‘Humanist Ideas and Philosophies to Live By’, this collection of thoughts from thirty-one intelligent, experienced, and fascinating people has been compiled from Andrew Copson’s podcasts with over sixty such individuals between 2020 and 2024. It was initially inspired by essays from Bertrand Russell in 1925 and E.M. Forster in 1938, and a separate collection …
Continue reading What I Believe, Edited by Andrew Copson #BookReview.
This story won 2nd prize (a day at the local races) in a Yorkshire local writing contest in 2010. It was not published. The End of the Tempest. A terrified whinny urged Carl out of dreams and into reality, and metal clashing metal in a howling gale finally woke him. He must enter that storm, …
Continue reading The End of the Tempest: Short Story
I last updated progress on 28th of October, so a little late with this one. Sorry. At that time, the first draft was up to 80,840 words and I’d started editing to include a new character and had got as far as chapter 14. The old word count was 33,454 and the new to that …
Continue reading Further Progress on the #WIP.
This short story has a long history. It first appeared in the small print magazine ‘Ouse Valley Poetry’, unfortunately no longer around, where it was placed third in their monthly contest in January 2008. Following some slight editing, it was then published in the monthly print magazine ‘Writers’ Forum’, where it gained second prize in …
Continue reading Rebirth. A Short Story.
I last updated progress on 8th of this month, when I reported that I’d experienced a strange epiphany not uncommon for pantsters. It meant I needed a new character, and that new person had to appear right at the beginning of the story. He also has an intimate connection to the original main protagonist, replacing …
Continue reading More Progress on the #WIP.
It’s a few weeks since I last posted a short story here. I’ve been busy with other things. But I decided I’d continue the posts of previously published stories to give them a second chance of being read. Please feel free to comment, share and like as you will. This was published in the now …
Continue reading I Am, Perhaps. Short Story:
I’m still working on the first edit of the initial draft I finished, at 84,141 words, on 14th May. On 7th September I let you know I was well into the first edit of the WIP, when the word count had reached 57,341. On 15th September I let you know I was up to chapter …
Continue reading Further Progress on the #WIP, 8/10/24
This story was first published in the now discontinued Writers’ Forum magazine in May 2007, when it won the 1st prize in their monthly short story contest (£300.00, quite a generous sum). The story was, at that time, part of a romantic thriller I was writing, and altered to stand alone as short fiction. This …
Continue reading #Short Story: The Best Possible Time
Still working on the first edit of the initial draft that I finished, at 84,141 words, on 14th May. On 7th September I let you know I was well into the first edit of the WIP, when the word count had reached 57,341. I also promised to keep you up to date with progress at …
Continue reading Further Progress on the #WIP
In this rolling series I’m looking at things seen when out walking. Some objects will be familiar to some readers, but many are likely to be unfamiliar to most. I’m presenting those that caught my attention through incongruity, idiosyncrasy, or simply their odd appearance.I came upon this birch leaf on an autumn walk through the …
Continue reading Oddities Observed On Outings #22
This story was published in Words, a quarterly magazine sold in aid of the Winnicott Baby Unit charity. It appeared in issue 57, in early 2006, and was published before I started to write under my usual pen name of today. I received no fee (not expecting one) but did get a free copy of …
Continue reading Short Story: A Change of View
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Antidote to the Novel
Stuart Aken 