(It’s Christmas)

Happy Christmas and all that, such a pleasant time of the year and naturally, a time to reflect a little. With that in mind, looking back over 2017, three stories stand out for me.

First, is the quite incredible ‘Collective Nouns For Humans In The Wild‘ by Kathy Fish, published over at Jelly Fish Review in October. Go and read it. It’s probably won loads of awards by now, and is definitely one of my favourite pieces of the year.

Next, is ‘Cat Person‘ by Kristen Roupenian. Apparently this story caused quite a stir when it was published in the New Yorker this month, with a lot of controversy surrounding it. I’ve not read any of that, I just read the story and knew straight away it was going places. Again, read it here. You should.

The last but far from least story which caught my ear this year is ‘Black Holes‘ by Matthew Fogarty published at Cheap Pop Lit. I’ve written three space / science based stories this year so I was instantly drawn to this anyway, but I think Black Holes is a superb example of what can be done in such a way. Well worth a read, and you’ll find it here. 

On that tip, I’m pleased to say I’ve had a story called Places Satellites Go To Die due for publication over at (b)OINK in the new year. I’ve enjoyed reading (b)OINK during the past 10 months, so it’s a pleasure to have something due for publication with them. As always, if you haven’t had a look at them,  you really should.

Well, that’s it. Another year nearly gone. All the best, and see you in 2018.

 

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Death Pool

Thanks to The Sunlight Press for publishing my story Death Pool this week. If you haven’t had a look at Sunlight’s site, you really should. Get on over there.

Sunlight Press

Delighted to say I’ve just had a 1000 word creative non-fiction piece called ‘Death Pool’ accepted by The Sunlight Press, a digital literary journal providing a home to new and established voices. They welcome creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, reviews, photography, and artist reflections on their craft.

I’ve not got a publication date yet but it should be within the next couple of months. The submission process with Sunlight Press was really smooth and the two editors, Rudri and Beth were great to deal with. More importantly, they pay for published work, which is always a bonus.

If you haven’t browsed through their site, then you should – visit them here

New writing

Quite a quiet month in June, for various reasons. Sad to say I missed out on (what looked like) a superb inaugural Flash Fiction Festival in Bath on 24th and 25th June. Workshop and talks were given by writers such as Vanessa Gebbie, Kit de Waal, Tania Hershman, Paul McVeigh, David Gaffney, Ashley Chantler, Peter Blair, David Swann, Meg Pokrass, Jude Higgins, K M Elkes, Christopher Fielden, Michael Loveday and Pamela Painter. The weekend also saw the launch of the National Flash Fiction Day Anthology 2017, Sleep Is a Beautiful Colour, which I’m delighted to be included in with my flash fiction Gabriel. The anthology is available to buy here.

I’ve got two stories coming up in July. The first, called Dad Set Fire To A Field, is a 300 word creative nonfiction piece due for publication at EllipsisZine on Monday 24 July. EllipsisZine is an online publication for beautifully written fiction and creative nonfiction in any genre. If you’ve not visited the site, have a look. Their upcoming list of authors promises some excellent reads. Visit them here.

Next up, I’m delighted to have a story upcoming on Jellyfish Review on Sunday 30 July 2017. I’m been an admirer of pretty much everything on JellyFish since I read my first story on there and I’m very pleased to see my flash Why Does Earth Sparkle So Much? included in their upcoming Intergalactic Planetary Issue. Visit JellyFish Review here.

NFFD Anthology 2017

Delighted to find I’ve had a piece called Gabriel accepted for the upcoming National Flash Fiction Day Anthology 2017. The anthology, edited by Santino Prinzi and Meg Pokrass, is scheduled for release on the 24th June 2017, entitled Sleep Is A Beautiful Colour.

The theme this year is ‘Life as we know it’ and looking at the line up of the authors included it’s going to be an excellent read. I’m delighted and honoured to be featured alongside such company.

You can find out more about NFFD 2017 here http://nationalflashfictionday.co.uk/