Tag: reading

‘Proscenium’ is here!

on By

It’s been a really busy week, and I’ve only just had time to post about the fact that Proscenium was published in Fictive Dreamon Thursday.

I’ve been really touched and pleased by its reception so far – the lovely Sophie G. on Twitter said it “totally nails beautiful/sad” – which really made my day!

As with On the Last Rebellion, here’s a couple of sentences to tease, but don’t forget to read he whole story here:

Afterwards, when the shock waves had subsided, there were only a few survivors left. In side-turned, velvet-clad seats. They cried until their breath escaped, and their plaintive, mewling noises made the theatre wish it did not have such sturdy walls, that it had not performed its pain-prolonging half-protection, but had simply let the tiny particles roll in and penetrate the oozing, fleshy bodies completely.

‘On the Last Rebellion’ in Open Pen THIS WEEKEND!

on By

CapturePhew, it’s been a busy week all round, but particularly when it comes to short story news, as the beloved folks at Open Pen have just let me know they’d like to publish my flash fiction story On the Last Rebellion. It will be available ONLINE and FREE TO READ this weekend!

You will be able to have a look at it from 9AM ON SUNDAY over on the Open Pen website.

I also thoroughly recommend taking a look at their archives, as they’ve just had their big 20th issue celebrations and there’s a lot going on.

Continue reading “‘On the Last Rebellion’ in Open Pen THIS WEEKEND!”

One week until ‘Proscenium’ goes live!

on By

Capture.PNG

Taking to cyberspace on this cold winter’s day to give a huge shout out to Fictive Dream online literary magazine, who one week today are publishing my short story ‘Proscenium’ as part of Flash Fiction February!

I’m super proud have been selected as an author for this special short story month, and really recommend checking out their website all this month for new great stories every day.

Reading to warm your toes amongst this midwinter chill! x

Publication of The Locust Theorem

on By

I’m totally thrilled and excited to say that my latest short story, The Locust Theorem, has just been published by Fairlight Books. It’s online, it’s free to read right here, and is a lovely bit of sci-fi fun to get you through to the weekend.

The story takes about twenty minutes to read and follows Andy Anderson, a struggling geneticist trying to come to terms with the loss of his girlfriend – and if that doesn’t grab you, here’s an excerpt:

The first indication I had that something might be wrong was the day the builders came. They had set up scaffolding outside the hotel and, as Su was passing under it, one of them dropped a knife. It sailed four floors down, point-first, straight towards Su’s face. She looked up just in time for it to hit her. There was a sharp sound, like a blade against granite, before the knife fell to the ground and clattered away across the forecourt. Su was shaken but not hurt, aside from a light red irritation that bloomed in a line down her face.

Continue reading “Publication of The Locust Theorem”

Reporting from Hay Festival 2017

on By

19399733_10154960845642763_2404641259623861922_n.jpg

As some of you may have gathered from social media, I’ve been busy-beeing away running the Hay Festival Twitter feed again this year. What a joy it’s been too: so many insightful, thought-provoking ideas flying around. Amazing to be there to help celebrate 30 years of Hay – I’m totally exhausted and completely inspired!

As well as Twitter, I wrote a summary of the industry news from the first half of the Festival for BookBrunch, and also joined the journalists in the media room to write a few Facebook posts for Hay:

Continue reading “Reporting from Hay Festival 2017”

The final BookBrunch interview: a celebration of reading with Damon Young

on By

It seems fitting to end my collection of BookBrunch interviews over the last year with this blast of positivity and deep thought from author and philosopher Damon Young.

Thank you so much to BookBrunch (Nick, Neill, David & Tobias in particular) for letting me launch this new column of the magazine over a year ago now, and a huge big shout out to my successor Julie Vuong – do get in touch with her via the BookBrunch website if you’re interesting in being interviewed. I have enjoyed doing these interviews so much and will really miss them – big love to everyone who’s been involved along the way.

So, without further ado: Damon Young on his new book, The Art of Reading.

young_damon.jpgYoung describes The Art of Reading as having three strands: autobiographical, philosophical, and “vaguely” sociological. But it quickly becomes clear that his analysis of reading is going to step outside the box…

Define ‘reading well’
“What I’ve suggested is that the best way to think about ‘reading well’ is that there is no law. It’s not an easy universal principle, you can’t just say, ‘The way to read is like this.’ Our experiences and books are too diverse for that to make sense. We can’t even read the same book in the same way, let alone all the different books.” He cites the Bible. “Love of God’s a perfectly reasonable Christian response to the Bible, sure, but it’s not enough. There are so many different ways to read the Bible, let alone Nietzsche, and Jane Austen, and Henry James… There is no law.”

Continue reading “The final BookBrunch interview: a celebration of reading with Damon Young”

BookMachine | The March Wrap

on By

BookMachine_logoIt’s the time of the month where I round up all the internet’s top publishing stories and stick them in one place on the BookMachine blog for your perusal! Here’s a sneak peek – don’t forget to visit the BookMachine blog for more…

The big news from March in UK publishing is obviously the London Book Fair (LBF). Poland shone at this year’s Market Focus, and the Fair was busier than usual, with six-figure deals struck ahead of time and publishers cheerfully splashing cash as sales rose. This was seen as further evidence of the rise of print, with The Guardian stating that by the end of the month stats showing that print outperformed digital. Yet, despite the recent whopping $65m forward paid for the Obamas’ new book (which hasn’t pleased all and prompted a list of the biggest deals of all time) no single title emerged as this year’s big hitter.

Continue reading “BookMachine | The March Wrap”

Born – Breathing – Bound published in Cadaverine

on By

cadaverine-Logo-final-01-2.pngUnder what has to be the fastest publication schedule ever, BORN – BREATHING – BOUND was published on The Cadaverine website yesterday. It is available for your perusal absolutely FREE right here: http://www.thecadaverine.com/?p=11401

I’m so thankful to everyone at Cadaverine, particularly the lovely Lenni who discovered my story in the slushpile and suggested some very valuable edits.

I’m also very grateful to everyone who has read and commented so far – you’re feedback has made the last 24-hours really special! Here are some of my favourites:

“What a profound story! I’m so touched, and proud, and sad, and happy, all at once”
Ben, Canada

Continue reading “Born – Breathing – Bound published in Cadaverine”

Bookmachine | 3 Top Tips for Staying Safe With eReaders

on By

BookMachine_logoHere’s the next instalment of my fortnightly Bookmachine article.  To read on, visit the Bookmachine blog.

Over the past few weeks, headlines have been peppered with claims that reading eBooks before bed is bad for your health. A new study, published in the journal of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), has found that reading light-emitting eBook before sleep can compromise the quality and length of your sleep amongst other things.

The Findings

Researchers conducted experiments on 12 subjects, who were put into controlled environments before bed for a period of two weeks. Participants were either given a light-emitting (LE) eBook or a print book to read for four hours before sleep. Those reading LE eBooks fell asleep on average 10 minutes later than those reading print, had suppressed levels of the sleep hormone melatonin, slept less deeply and took ‘hours longer’ to wake up in the mornings.

All this can lead to serious health issues: sleep is crucial to maintaining an alert, healthy body and suppressed melatonin production can lead to an increased risk of certain kinds of cancer… [READ MORE]