Tag: fiction

All Stories, Editor Picks, General Fiction, Latest News, Short Fiction

Week 528: What’s in a Title; The Votes Are In and Genre Overkill

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Naming Stuff

I like interesting titles. Now, these are not items to be confused with lying “clickbait” nonsense, but titles of books, movies and songs that stray from the norm. Often, as is the case of the cheap 60’s Spaghetti Western God Forgives, I Don’t, the item fails to live up to the title (but, to be fair, it is an interesting little film regardless). And sometimes certain interesting titles almost guarantee a good picture. The two Sergio Leone “Once Upon a Time…” films are classics, as is Quinton Tarantino’s exceptional Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. There is also one called Once Upon a Time in Mexico that I’ve heard good things about (starring Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz, both excellent performers), yet I’ve somehow yet to see it (I hope to fix that someday soon).

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Short Fiction, Writers Reading

Writers Read: The Dead Zone by Stephen King

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The Dead Zone by Stephen King

1979

The Dead Zone was the first SK novel I ever read. The first book of his that I read, given to me by a neighbor, was a short collection called Night Shift. Lots of good stuff there, my favorite being Gray Matter. It made me double check my beers for a long time.

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All Stories, General Fiction

Swordfish by Graham Mort

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Swordfish laid out in the supermarket, next to tuna steaks and mackerel. Marlin, the guy behind the counter offers, wiping bloody hands on his white jacket. Mussels laid on a bed of samphire. You can almost taste the salt. Call me Ishmael. A wide Sargasso Sea. Wind over waves. Barnacles on the hulls of schooners, where a man could be keelhauled. As it happens, I’m shopping for other things. Breakfast cereal, yoghurt, pineapple, white wine. The list written out on a scrap of cardboard torn from a tissue box. So, yes, move on.

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Editor Picks, General Fiction, Short Fiction

518: Toys and If I’ve Hit Girls in Leotards Once I’ve Done it a Million Times

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Toys

During my decade at Goodwill I had many jobs. I recall one fondly: Toy evaluation. It involved going through the massive amount of donated toys and separating the trash from the saleable.

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All Stories, Fantasy

Sin Eater by Tarri Driver

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I once was a young woman who, for some years, didn’t eat animals in any shape or form. I felt irresponsible and cruel eating them. That’s not the whole story, but that’s the relevant truth. I was troubled knowing that there were animals living in suffering on gridded farms overflowing with flies and shit as far as the eye could see. I didn’t want to ingest all of that pain, brutality and filth. That was too much for me to eat.

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All Stories, auld author

Writers Reading. Review by Mick Bloor

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Re-Reading ‘Lucky Jim’

Note: This review contains spoilers.

I’m a big fan of re-reading, a sovereign cure for Life’s Disappointments. Whenever you injure your foot at the start of a walking holiday, or your team gets relegated, or the school bully turns up again as your new line manager, there’s one guaranteed restorative: re-reading a favourite story. And not just any favourite story: for my money, it’s got to be either a galloping adventure story, or a comic novel. (Notice I don’t say ‘favourite author:’ Stevenson’s ‘Treasure Island,’ or ‘Kidnapped,’ definitely fall into the ‘sovereign cure’ category, but don’t ever pick up his ‘St Ives’).

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All Stories, sunday whatever

Sunday Whatever – Visiting Bill Burroughs by Dale Williams Barrigar

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This week’s Whatever is a fascinating work that was originally submitted as fiction (in truth Dale told us that it was a non-fiction piece that he had ‘tweaked’) but when we read it we knew immediately where it belonged. An enthralling story about abortive attempts at a pilgrimage. A super read. We give you:-

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All Stories, auld author

Writers Reading. Review by Paul Kimm

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The Unfortunates by B. S. Johnson

I’ve always enjoyed reading books that challenge the reader, turn the experience on its head a bit, make me do some work in return for the work they’ve done, and just make me think about what’s possible with writing. There are those that do it with such force it makes for some mental heavy lifting and cognitive contortionism from the reader, David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest and Julio Cortazar’s Hopscotch being prime examples (even though I admit to having enjoyed reading both those), but I want to talk about one of my very favourite writers, B. S. Johnson.

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