Short Fiction
Listed here are details about my published short stories and flash fictions.
I've put links where you can either read them for free online, or buy them as part of the book or journal in which they appeared.
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The Fiction DeskThe Fiction Desk are an independent publishing house based in the UK. Since 2011, they have published regular volumes of thoughtfully curated, stylish anthologies of short stories by new, emerging, and established writers. My work has appeared in three of their books. Click on the cover of each one to find out more. |
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National Flash Fiction DaySince 2011, National Flash Fiction Day have run annual events and competitions, and published work both in print and online, celebrating all that is fun, clever, entertaining, and poignant about this super-short form of fiction. Their annual anthologies promise the very best of the form; I am delighted to have had my work featured in two of their volumes. Click on the cover of each to find out more. |
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To Hull & BackRunning since 2014, "To Hull and Back" is a competition for humorous short fiction, based in the UK but open to writers all over the world. The brainchild of writer Chris Fielden, the winners not only are awarded a cash prize, but also receive the rare honour of having their face emblazoned on the front cover of the resulting competition anthology, riding a motorbike and brandishing a flaming quill. Quite a prize, huh? It was an honour I had myself when I won the inaugural award in 2014. There I am all those years later, still atop Chris's "Hog", jumping through a ring of fire. As one does. On many occasions since then I have been on the "other side" and have assisted with the judging - an invaluable experience. The judges themselves also donate stories to the anthologies - click on the cover of each to find out more. |
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The "Rule Breaking" ChallengesBack 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.) Anyway, such wanton-rule-breakage certainly caught writers' imaginations far and wide, because the result turned out not to be not only the first highly entertaining, enlightening, and amusing collection of adverb-stuffed stories... but also more challenges, and more books. Since then Chris, with the help of other writers, has run challenges on the themes of "Nonsense", "Sensory Overload", "Clichés", "Prepositions", with yet more to come. And the best thing is... anyone can submit, and be published. It's a great way to familiarise oneself with "good writing practice", whilst having a bit of fun deliberately breaking those so-called "rules". Not only this, each themed-anthology has its own charity, to which the all proceeds of the book sale are donated. Book sales from my adverbs challenge, for example, go towards the literacy charity First Story. Please click on each book cover of details of where to buy - and happy rule-breaking reading. |
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Other publications in print journals, magazines, and anthologiesMy work has also appeared in the following publications:
Click on the cover of each for more info. |
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Online publicationsA number of my stories over the years have appeared online. Some of them, particularly the earlier pieces, have been prone to disappear... although with a bit of technical wizardly, they can be made to re-emerge... The following are various online literary journals or competitions where my work has been featured.
Click on each image to read a story of mine online. |