He wonders about the ways in which people can be made to feel unworthy. The first thing he thinks is that he doesn’t like that word: unworthy. It doesn’t really seem to capture the core of the feeling he’s trying to explore. Would ‘non-worthy’ be better? Or ‘non-worthwhile’? What he’s trying to get at is a sense of a lack of value. Valuelessness. But in … Continue reading Voice
He sits on the edge of the bath, biting his lower lip, hard. They mustn’t hear him crying. His hands grip the bath tub tight, knuckles pushing through the skin.
He tries to think about nothing but the force of his grip. On the bath tub. The coolness beneath his hands. His eyes squeezed shut, pushing the tears out. Liquid streaming down his face. A few drops falling onto his legs. But no sound. Not a single sound emerging from his mouth. His wide open, silent mouth.
Continue reading “Seated”If you’ve been visiting this site in the last few weeks hoping for an update, I owe you a ‘thank you’ and a ‘sorry’: red-pen season is far from over and there hasn’t been much time for cyber-niceties. However, I have tried to stick daily posts on Twitter and Facebook, so hopefully you’ve been able to follow those. (Incidentally, I should mention the new ‘profile … Continue reading Purple
Bad news first. I didn’t get through to the short list of the HappenStance Short Story Competition. But never mind, getting into the Top 25 ain’t too bad. More importantly, I have completed Draft Number 1 of The Novel. I’m not allowing myself to get manically excited about this, because I know how much more I’ve got to do to get to Draft Number 2… … Continue reading Reach
Even more exciting news: I’m on the second ‘long list’! Thanks very much for all your good wishes and words of encouragement. Now could you please cross your toes too. The final winners will be announced in about a fortnight. If you’d like to see the shorter long list, please click here. Continue reading Shorten
Returning to Poland always causes me to be introspective. Even the fact that I used the word ‘returning’ above contains several hours’ worth of navel-gazing value. Is it correct to use ‘return’ for a place in which the longest amount of time you’ve spent is around ten months, when you were aged seven? This year’s trip pushed all the usual buttons as well as some … Continue reading … Since I Was A Child
I’ll post more details about this in a couple of weeks, but I thought some of you might appreciate advance warning of the fact that I’ll be reading a short story at Tales Of The DeCongested at Foyles in London on Friday 25th May. Please do come along if you possibly can. Continue reading More Tales
The big news this month is that the current edition of Pulp.net – one of the most well-established and highly-regarded magazines on the web – features one of my newest short stories, The Sound Of Sky. Please click right here to go straight to the magazine’s Fiction section. Any thoughts/views from any of you would be more than welcome. If you’d like to send your … Continue reading The Sound Of Sky
I’m really excited to announce that Pulp.net – one of the most well-established and highly-regarded magazines on the web – has selected a short story of mine for publication. Entitled The Sound Of Sky, the story will appear in next month’s ‘sky-themed’ issue. Visit Pulp.net right now to read the current issue, which features three stories based around the subject of yearnings and wishes. Continue reading Pulp.net
A few moments ago I received a telling-off from a former pupil via MSN Messenger: “Update your site more often, damn u.” I don’t know why, but I keep assuming no-one reads these scribbles. Clearly I’m wrong, so a big Sorry to everyone for making you wait so long for a new diary entry. I’ve been trying to a write a short story which, at … Continue reading Coat
