So there we are, the first full week of Stories for 2015. We hope you found something that you enjoyed. Actually we hope you liked them all.
As you know we like to give all the stories a fair crack of the whip so the first Oscar for story of the week will only be handed out next weekend. Please keep reading, “liking” and commenting to make sure your favourite gets the nod.
Literally Stories would like to wish our Readers and Writers all the very best for 2015.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 6,800 times in 2014. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.
When Adam West first came up with the idea for the site and drew together our little band we thought it would be fun. All five editors are passionate about Short Fiction, the reading and writing of it. I don’t think any of us realised just how much fun it would be – and how much work. We have spent many, many hours putting together a site that we are now very proud of.
Continue reading “Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year”
Week 5 saw Literally Stories publish five Christmas themed stories. We started off with a beautiful, but different take on the nativity, Mary, Joseph and the Baby. Tuesday was kind of a daze, a funny Christmas Daze that is. Wednesday saw us publish the wonderful story The Lady in the Bauble which revisited a well known tale but gave it a very personal slant. . Thursday’s story was Season’s Greeting, where we witnessed a consultant losing hope of finding the Christmas Spirit. Finally the Friday story, Reminiscing, although not strictly a Christmas theme it was all about family and how the current generation will be viewed in the future.
Week 4 started at the bottom of a rollercoaster, always a great place to start because the only way is up. The early uphill climb of Any Crow In A Storm and Dracul’s Lair was followed by Pynchon McCool: an introduction in twelve chapters. Pynchon was unlike anything else we’ve published, the clever format condensed a novel into a short story. To continue the metaphor; it was a rollercoaster within a rollercoaster.
Week 3 saw Literally Stories publish two new, very different authors, Jon Green and Xavier P. Xavier.
In fact, all five stories – Do Eros Sevens Dream Of Jupiter And Mars – The River – Hep C And A Lot Of Codeine – The Elite Agency – Listening In , which featured during Week 3 were unlike any other we have published to date.
Week 2 on Literally Stories and no one can say we did not live up to our globe-trotting promise.
Monday witnessed a Welshman, living in South Africa, writing disturbing American based horror.
Tuesday, Swedish funny man Tobias Haglund landed us in Germanville trick-or-treating Nietzche et al.
Wednesday and it was but a short trip to Dover for an Englishman and his Romanian girlfriend.
Thursday saw a return to the USA. More unpleasant goings on in the backwoods with squirrels and…sorry folks, that would be telling.
Friday brought Week 2 to a close with a suspect Russian ‘Product’ which was up for negotiation in an offer you really would want to think twice about.
We said we were going to put our feet up come the weekend. Heave a collective sigh. Have a lie in. Take the dog on a long walk.
We changed our minds. Decided Saturday was an opportune time to say thank you to our readers.
Thank you.
Literally Stories began the week with 8 WordPress followers and a handful of Facebook likes. It finished the week with 31 fellow WordPress folk keeping tabs on us and 56 Facebook ticks and in total 270 story reads.
It is, as they say, a good, solid start. Continue reading “Literally Stories – Week 1”
On Friday next week (21st November) we will publish a story by another author we hope keeps on patronising Literally Stories, Jane Dougherty.
Coincidentally, the story is called Friday.
We found it in our Gmail Inbox. Last Friday I think it was. It was a joy reading it.
You see, we love reading and are having a great time sifting through all the stories you are sending in.
So please keep sending them in and we’ll keep on reading them, and some – the very best, we’ll publish.
literally stories 