Paul St John Mackintosh found this wonderful quote from Robert Aickman who many bats who live in the same cave as I do, know and love. What struck me about it was that it’s very relevant today in the world of social media in which some writers thrive and others struggle:- ‘It seem to me… Continue Reading
Strong-hearted stories, dark & funny
Category Archives: BOOKS
A REVIEW OF CULLING MYNAHS AND CROWS by RK Biswas
Culling Mynahs and Crows, is a gritty, honest and uncompromising novel. There are some moments of high drama and some of tenderness, and a couple of places where shocking things happen, one the result of the fact that one of the main characters, Agnirekha, regards men with ‘chilling contempt.’ Yet, while it is a dramatic… Continue Reading
WRITING CONTESTS:- A WORLD OF THEIR OWN
Although I’m not in the habit of entering writing contests much, I know a lot of writers do enter them regularly and I’ve noticed a couple of things about some contests that are quite disturbing, and this includes the better known ones. The least worrying of these elements, but still something to take note of,… Continue Reading
MEDICINE FOR THE WRITER’S WILL POWER
Phillip Clement has written a review for The View From Endless Street that really made me feel enlivened. He wrote it for Krishan Coupland’s magazine Neon and it can be seen here and also on the reviews page of this website. http://www.neonmagazine.co.uk/?p=5144#comment-47718
KEVIN BARRY’S DELICIOUS WRITING
KEVIN BARRY’S DELICIOUS WRITING. Thank you Farah Ahamed for finding another of Kevin Barry’s fantastic stories. His writing is so beautiful. Hares in the Old Plantation: a short story by Kevin Barry http://www.newstatesman.com/2014/10/hares-old-plantation-short-story-kevin-barry Listen – There’s a lock-in at the Connaught Arms, and every melodious old soak in town is inside the place, wall-eyed with… Continue Reading
REVIEW OF SHADOWS AND TALL TREES ANTHOLOGY 6
REVIEW OF SHADOWS AND TALL TREES ANTHOLOGY 6. What I always dread when reading dark stories is that I’ll be confronted with the true horror in fiction writing – clichés. So it was great not to be waylaid by any among the seventeen strange tales in this anthology. There are haunted houses, to be sure,… Continue Reading
THE SI LEEDS LITERARY PRIZE
Congratulations to my dear friend Farah for being shortlisted in this literay prize:- http://sileedsliteraryprize.wordpress.com/news/meet-the-2014-shortlisted-writers/ Farah Ahamed is a lawyer. She started writing short stories encouraged and guided by the short story writer, Rebecca Lloyd. Earlier this year, under the mentorship of Louise Doughty, she completed a Diploma in Creative Writing with the UEA-Guardian masterclass. She is currently a mentee on… Continue Reading
My back to back short story collections, and interview with Fehmida Zakeer
It’s great to see this interview with Fehmida up online:- http://www.openroadreview.in/interview-rebecca-lloyd/ . Many thanks for your time and trouble, Fehmida.
The Cliche:- Death to Style
From time to time, and not infrequently, new writers want to know how they can improve their writing style. While I usually tell them that their own style or ‘voice’ will develop over time if they are writing consistently and in a committed manner, and to on no account consider imitating another writer’s voice, the… Continue Reading
A REVIEW OF DYING EMBERS BY M.R. COSBY
Among these ten short stories entitled Dying Embers by M. R. Cosby, there are apparitions, time warp occurrences and unspeakably horrible chimera-like creatures. Sometimes the stories have a slightly old-fashioned ring to them and this sense of a different age is echoed again in the names of some of his main characters such as Pendleton… Continue Reading
