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
