In honour of Star Wars Day – May the Fourth – I thought I’d share a nostalgic short story that was published back in 2016 in the Sunday People newspaper. It’s one of the few stories I’ve written where the title came first – and it amused me. Sadly, the title was shortened to something… Read More Waiting in line for The Empire Strikes Back
It’s been a while since I’ve had something published, but today a flash fiction of mine has appeared in UK literary journal Ellipsis zine. ‘Saviour’ is a theatrical tale about the joys of auditioning, told with something of a Greek chorus slant. It originated as a writing class exercise on voice, and I was interested… Read More ‘Saviour’ in Ellipsis zine
Online literary journals are wonderful. Fact. From a readers’ perspective, they’re easily accessible, free to read and – for the most part – packed with quality writing. For writers, they offer an opportunity to get work out into the world (often for the first time), the confidence boost of an acceptance and a credit to… Read More A couple of Best Microfiction 2020 nominations
I’m on a social media break at the moment for family reasons, but I had to do a quick post to tell you about a wonderful charity anthology I’m delighted to have contributed to. No Good Deed is published by literary one-stop shop Retreat West, which is run by publisher and teacher Amanda Saint. She… Read More Retreat West charity anthology ‘No Good Deed’
Today I have a flash published in UK literary journal Lunate. It’s called ‘Mind Games’, and it’s about the worst type of hypnotist. Lunate is a new journal, but the work they’ve been publishing over the past few months is of such consistently high quality that it: 1) inspired me to aim high by trying… Read More ‘Mind Games’ published in Lunate Fiction
I’ve been on a writing/blogging hiatus recently because of family health issues. My mother has been unwell and it’s pushed everything other than day-to-day essentials to the side. But I had to do a short post because of some lovely, surprising news I had today. [Boast alert] A flash fiction piece of mine has been… Read More Best British & Irish Flash Fiction list
I’m really thrilled to have a short story included in this year’s edition of The Ogham Stone, the annual literary print journal published by the University of Limerick’s Creative Writing department. And what a sumptuous publication it’s turned out to be. ‘It’s the Little Things’ was shortlisted for the first Colm Tóibín International Short Story… Read More ‘It’s the Little Things’ in The Ogham Stone
Today I have a tiny flash fiction piece up on a British literary journal called Fictive Dream. It’s part of an annual special feature they do called Flash Fiction February, where a different story is published every day of the month. I won’t tell you anything about it because it’s an odd little thing that… Read More ‘Baggage’ in Fictive Dream
I had an unexpected Christmas present yesterday when a very short flash fiction piece of mine was published online. The Drabble is a literary journal that specialises in micro fiction of 100 words or less. My story is called ‘Socks for Samuel’ and it was inspired by this year’s WWI commemorations. It came about after a… Read More ‘Socks for Samuel’ in The Drabble
A short story of mine, called ‘A Simple Loss of Balance’, was published a few months back in a UK literary journal called The Nottingham Review. It’s now been added to their online archives, if you fancy giving it a read. This story also earned a Highly Commended in the Colm Tóibín International Short Story… Read More ‘A Simple Loss of Balance’ online
