Blog Posts

"Nonsensically Challenged Volume 1" out now

3/6/2017

Further to the wildly successful Not-Entirely-Serious Wantonly-Rule-Breaking Adverb Writing Challenge, and the resulting two anthologies (Volume 1 and Volume 2), here's the next book-of-a-challenge to feature. Which, rather than adverbs, is this time principally concerned with...

... nonsense!

This anthology, Nonsensically Challenged Volume 1, is a collection of the first 100 mini-stories submitted as part of "Lesley's Nifty Nib-Nibbling Nonsensical Narrative Challenge", to give it its full stupendously silly title. In partnership with the writer Lesley Truchet, this time writers were invited to be as daft or as surreal as they like, provided the story maintained a coherent plot and satisfying conclusion.

It's available as both a paperback and an eBook for your Kindle... and all profits are in aid of The Daisy Garland, a charity whose aim is to support lives affected by drug-resistant epilepsy. Click here for the dedicated page on Chris's website for details of where to buy.

So, do buy a copy... or preferably, more than one copy... and add some nonsense to your bookshelf and e-reader, for a very worthy cause.

(PS: Volume 2 is already chugging along apace... everybody is welcome to unleash their Inner Silly and submit here.)

...and now "Adverbially Challenged Volume 2"!

30/3/2017

After the heartening success of the first "Adverbially Challenged" anthology (that's the book of the collective works of "Mike's Not-Entirely-Serious Wantonly-Rule-Breaking Adverb-Writing-Challenge", with the "Mike" in question being, somehow, me)...

...here we go again!

"Adverbially Challenged Volume 2" is now out in both paperback and as a Kindle eBook. That's 100 more adverb-packed mini-stories, this time generously donated by 72 writers, all in aid of the fabulous charity First Story.

Please do click through to the page on Chris Fielden's site and buy a paperback and/or eBook copy via any of the links available - or go direct to Amazon here - it's all in a great cause.

And if you don't already need a further reason: the stories are great, too. Who knew breaking writing "rules" could be so inventive and entertaining?

(PS: Volume 3 is already well underway! All writers are welcome to unleash their excess adverbs and submit here.)

"Adverbially Challenged Vol 1" - out now!

18/11/2016

Well, I never thought we'd end up with this!

Back in April 2016, I wrote an article for Chris Fielden's website - a site chock-a-block with writing advice, competition listings, and services.

My article was imaginatively titled "How to Research, Write, and Publish a Short Story".

About half way down, I put in something a bit daft. "You could even," I wrote, "write a story in which the majority of words are an adverb. Go on, I dare you."

(In mitigation, all I was trying to do was make a meandering point about the "consensus" of good-practice writing guidelines... but in hindsight, I do admit now it came out a bit weird.)

Anyway, such wanton-rule-breakage certainly caught writers' imaginations far and wide, because here is the result: "Adverbially Challenged Volume 1". 91 writers; 100 flash fictions; many, many adverbs.

All proceeds go to the charity First Story. Please do click through to the page on Chris Fielden's site and buy a paperback and/or eBook copy via any of the links available - or go direct to Amazon here - it's all in a great cause.

(PS: my own story, "Giving it the Adverbals", is my first - and in all likelihood, last - attempt at a pun-packed prose-poem.)

(PPS: Volume 2 is already well underway! All writers are welcome to unleash their excess adverbs and submit here.)

"Beat the Brainbox" published in "Separations" from The Fiction Desk

19/9/2016

Announcing the latest of my short stories to appear in the fabulous anthology series The Fiction Desk.

My story this time, a cautionary tale about social media, is a particularly short one: at not-quite 1000 words, it came runner up last year in The Fiction Desk's flash fiction competition.

It is now published in their tenth anthology "Separations" alongside ten fabulous other stories. You can order a copy via the usual outlets, through The Fiction Desk themselves here, or better yet - subscribe.

"Me, Robot" republished online - plus an article and a challenge...

18/4/2016

An unfathomably long time ago (that'll be nearly four years), the short story publisher The Fiction Desk accepted, and subsequently published, my short story "Me, Robot" in their fourth volume "Crying Just Like Anybody". It's a process I recall well: from the moment I pinged it off to them, to the immensely satisfying moment it appeared in print a few months later.

Now in 2016, the writer Chris Fielden has re-published the story in full on his website (a site chock full of magazine listings, competition listings, writing advice, and services: invaluable for both the emerging and established writer). Alongside my story, you can read my advice-for-writers article: "How to Research, Write & Publish a Short Story", using my experiences with "Me, Robot" and The Fiction Desk as case study examples.

Additionally, as an added "bonus": within my article, whilst making a somewhat meandering point about writing "rules", I inadvertently challenged the reader to write a short story consisting "mostly" of that most frowned-upon, horribly-overused, tool-of-telling-rather-than-showing, word type that, as writers, we're always being told to cut out of our work: the adverb.

Thus "Mike's Not-Entirely-Serious Wantonly-Rule-Breaking Adverb-Writing Challenge" is born. (Who knows what beast I've helped unleash upon the unsuspecting literary world.)

Having had a crack at my own challenge (you can read my effort, "Giving it the Adverbals", alongside other writers' adverb-riddled efforts on the same page), I would say that there could be a point to the exercise after all: try this once, you're not going to want to write another adverb ever again.

If you're a writer (or even if you're not) and fancy a go, please do. All efforts will be published on Chris's site.

"Last Call For Maybe Air" published in Bridge House Anthology "Snowflakes"

19/11/2015

I'm pleased to announce that one of my longer short stories - at least, the longest one to be published in 2015 by some margin! - has now been released by Bridge House Publishing in their annual anthology.

Here's a somewhat ethereal YouTube video to help promote it.

This year's theme was "Snowflakes". My story, "Last Call for Maybe Air", a cautionary tale of corporate ruthlessness, is set mostly in Greenland... so, plenty of snow there! But do the Inuit really have fifty words for it? Read it and find out.

Buy a copy in print, or for your Kindle, via Amazon here.

"To Hull & Back" - Volume 2 - out now!

31/10/2015

This time last year I was privileged to win Chris Fielden's inaugural "To Hull and Back" competition for humorous short fiction. Part of my prize was to be immortalised on the front cover of the anthology, riding a motorbike through a ring of fire, brandishing a flaming quill... (basically, just a normal night out for me in Mitcham).

Well now, it's back! And this year, I am honoured to feature again, not as a contestant, but as a member of the judging team. This was a completely new experience, and allowed me to see for myself just how difficult, demanding, yet incredibly rewarding it can be to assess so many great (and very funny) works of fiction. You can see the results, plus my not-entirely sensible comments about being a judge, on the 2015 To Hull & Back page.

Congratulations, therefore, to Radovana Jágriková, who replaces me on The Hog (see picture for the awesome sleeve, designed by Lukas Migel). Massive congrats also to all the other winners and shortlistees who made it into the book, out of an impressive 216 entries.

The anthology is available now from Amazon - check out Chris Fielden's site for the numerous Amazon sites where you can buy it in paperback, or for your Kindle. As well as each of the 20 shortlisted stories, it also includes a story from each of the judges, including my story of office politics run amok, "Away Day".

"Postcards" published in the National Flash Fiction Day anthology "Landmarks"

27/6/2015

Saturday 27th June 2015 marks the fourth annual National Flash Fiction Day, a celebration of all that is bold and brief about this ultra-short literary form.

Every year there are a number of events, competitions, readings, and publications - including the ever-impressive National Flash Fiction Day anthology.

The book this year is called "Landmarks" (after Ian Shine's story) and is centred on the theme of "Geography". Over 60 writers contributed to this volume, taking the theme in a huge variety of literal and metaphorical directions - with none of the stories coming in at any more than 500 words.

I'm delighted to have had a story accepted for the book; mine is called "Postcards". Buy a copy of the book in print or for your Kindle at this link.

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