Writing in the Shadows

WRITING IN THE SHADOWS The Job, a Story in Seven Parts. Today I have the first part of a serialized story for you, with a new part every day. I hope you enjoy it. Remember, if you are on a paid subscription you can log in to Writing in the Shadows and leave a comment. I'd love to know what you think. 1. The Interview The job interview took place in a diner on 42nd Street. The place was squashed between a strip club, and a two-screen cinema showing The Texas Chain Saw Massacre on one screen,...

WRITING IN THE SHADOWS Dear Ken Have you ever written a letter to your future self? Did you even know it was a thing? I love the idea of writing to me, the five or ten years older me, with words of wisdom and reflection, and hope for the future. I wonder what the emotional impact would be of receiving that letter, and opening it up and reading it? Pretty heavy stuff I would imagine. I might even do it one day, although I should really think about doing it soon as I’m at that stage in life...

WRITING IN THE SHADOWS The Shrieking Flesh Here is the latest story, as promised. This one is an experiment for me, taking my writing preference for avoiding exposition as much as possible to its conclusion. So over the next few days you will get seven scenes in seven chapters. No explanations in this story, you're just going to have to work it for yourself. You can do it. I have faith in you! The Shrieking Flesh Chapter One Shoulders hunched and head down against the driving rain, Arthur...

WRITING IN THE SHADOWS What Would I do Without You? The crash of glass smashing on the stone floor echoed through the castle kitchen. Fabian, the head chef, looked up from attending to the first course, a selection of cold meat cuts wrapped in spinach and stuffed with Gorgonzola. ‘What was that?’ The clatter of dishes and pans, the rat-a-tat-tat of knives on chopping boards, all fell silent. ‘Well?’ Fabian shouted. The kitchen staff parted like the Red Sea, allowing Moses passage to reveal a...

WRITING IN THE SHADOWS Suzie Tremors and the Barbarians of Speed, Chapter One If you weren’t there, you’ve got no idea. I can talk about it all you want, but there’s no way you can ever appreciate the madness, the messed up, drug-fuelled insanity of it all. I can barely remember most of it. That’s what they said about the sixties, right? If you can remember it you weren’t there. And I was there, all right. I was right in the centre of it all, not like the centre of a hurricane, you know? The...

WRITING IN THE SHADOWS He's Not Right in the Head. I suppose you could think of this short story as the prequel to Barnes and Clarke. That's not why I wrote it. In fact I may have written this one first. He's Not Right in the Head. She gazes out the window at him. Gives him a faint smile, but he doesn’t move. Just stands there swaying, as though he’s on the deck of a rolling ship. Maybe he’ll knock on the door. But will she open it? Her mother told her, ‘Beware of men like him.’ UPGRADE TO...

WRITING IN THE SHADOWS An Unreliable List You might think I’m in charge of what appears on this website. Ha! Well all right, yes I am, but you wouldn’t believe how many ideas and stories there are that never make it to the publication stage. These ideas bubble up from the murky soup of my brain, and sometimes they work almost as formed, and other times they need some prodding and tweaking, and sometimes they need disassembling completely and then putting back together again, before they can...

I've been suffering with episodes of vertigo for the last couple of days. I hadn't realised how debilitating vertigo could be! I haven't been able to do much at all. So, in a break from our usual programming, I'm publishing a short story I wrote a few years ago, working with a group of twenty, Year Seven students at Ark Boulton Academy in Birmingham. This was part of an EU Partner project called, Read On, encouraging children and young people to read. The theme, love, was provided by Read On,...

Two for the price of one today, both of them reworkings of previous stories using the Oulipo technique of N+7. For the first one I also reworked the introduction, just because it amused me. To be honest, the only reason I'm writing this newsletter at all is because it amuses me! Just the one... (N+7 Version) Whoever this mandible is, he's a chancer, I reckon. He's up to no good. He's ready with a cheddar joule and a quick lavatory, but he's up to no good. That's what I think, anyway. Your...

Whoever this man is, he's a chancer, I reckon. He's up to no good. He's ready with a cheap joke and a quick laugh, but he's up to no good. That's what I think, anyway. Your latest fifty word story is here. Just the one... Big Billy Brannigan told him, ‘Stay away from The Camel.’ He said, ‘This is your last chance, lad.’ He said, ‘Go straight to Slater’s house. Get that money, and bring it back. And stay clear of that brother of yours. He’s nothing but trouble.’ He said, ‘Don’t let me down.’...