Non Fiction
Sometimes I don't make things up!
Read below to find out about my miscellaneous other publications.
Guest Blog Posts
Occasionally I'm asked to write an anecdote - a "story behind the story", if you like - about some of my published fiction. Other times I may do a guest blog, or partake in assorted random musings.
Click on the images below to read them.
Guest post on The Fiction Desk about my story "Me, Robot"This was an online "Story Behind the Story" article, to accompany my story's publication in the fourth Fiction Desk volume, "Crying Just Like Anybody".
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Guest post on InkTears about my story "True Colours"This was a brief article to accompany my story, which came runner-up in the 2012 InkTears short story competition.
Also included (as per what InkTears was doing at the time), is some reader feedback after my work enjoyed its month of publication. With some comments overwhelmingly positive - and others definitely less so - there can be no doubt about it: literature is indeed superlatively subjective stuff. |
Feature on Litro Magazine entitled "My Personal Cult - Magic Society""My Personal Cult" was a series of guest features to publicise the then-Litro Book of the Month, "Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore" by the American author Robin Sloan. I offered Litro a brief article about my days as a teenage magician, referring to the story of mine they'd published back in 2012, "The Real Miracle".
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Contributor Q&A on Momaya PressMy story "Mrs Morris and the Celebrated Chop Waltz" was shortlisted in the Momaya Press Short Story Competition in 2013, and duly published in their "Music" themed anthology that year. I contributed a short article, including the background to the story, on their website. (You may need to scroll down the page to find my section.)
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Guest post on The Fiction Desk about my story "I Say Papaya, You Say Pawpaw"This was another online "Story Behind the Story" article I wrote for The Fiction Desk, to accompany my story's publication in their seventh anthology, "There Was Once a Place".
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Guest post on The Red Line, entitled "What Makes a Good Short Story?"This was an unimaginatively-titled, lighthearted, but hopefully-still-helpful article I wrote for the online literary magazine The Red Line.
Unfortunately they appear to have since disappeared from cyberspace, including their various issues and essays (although you may be able to navigate an archived version of their site here.) However, I have re-published my feature within my blog on this website here (click on the image to read). |
Contributor Q&A on Bridge House PublishingMy story "Last Call for Maybe Air" was published in the 2015 Bridge House anthology, "Snowflakes". I gamely attempted to answer some of their questions, including the background to my story, on their website.
Also included here is a brief extract from the story itself. |
How to Research, Write & Publish a Short StoryLike Ronseal, it does what it says on the tin. Chris Fielden published this article on his website to accompany a full online republication of my Fiction Desk story "Me, Robot".
This article also contained the genesis of the now-notorious Mike's Not-Entirely-Serious Wantonly-Rule-Breaking Adverb-Writing-Challenge. Tread carefully, now... |
Guest Interview with Cath BartonThe writer and photographer Cath Barton kindly invited me to partake in a few Q&As on her website.
Therein I muse upon inspiration, recommendations, wishes, somehow squeezing in a reference to one of my favourite short stories, WW Jacob's "The Monkey's Paw". |
Shampoo
When Pantene discontinued their "Perfect Curls" range - boy, was I not happy.
My not-entirely serious letter to them was published by the fabulous website Dear Customer Relations - home of the "world's funniest complaint letters".
Click on the bottles to read!
When Pantene discontinued their "Perfect Curls" range - boy, was I not happy.
My not-entirely serious letter to them was published by the fabulous website Dear Customer Relations - home of the "world's funniest complaint letters".
Click on the bottles to read!
Biographies
My first commercially available, published works were released in 1999/2000, when I was commissioned to write biographies on various pop groups. The result was read aloud by an actress, recorded onto CD as a talking book, then packaged, marketed and distributed by the Chrome Dreams label to record shops all over the world.
Whilst I had no particular affinity with the bands I was commissioned to write about, it provided me with some excellent experience in writing with a particular audience/listenership in mind, and adjusting my language accordingly - something which has been of immense benefit to me ever since. (And oh yes... you can, apparently, still buy them!)
