The Hole in the Wall

I’m delighted to say that one of my short stories has just been published in Metaphorosis, an online speculative fiction magazine the looks for “intelligent, beautifully written stories for adults”, and though the implication is flattering I’m far too modest to had said so myself!

The story in question is The Hole in the Wall, which follows the journey of a trader of unique goods who relentlessly pursues the best possible deal for herself, and learns the high cost (but good value) of wisdom as a result.

I mentioned this story at the beginning of the year when it was selected as a runner-up in the fifth annual Friends of the Merril short story contest. That modest prize and this modest fee make this my most lucrative work — worryingly appropriate, given the subject matter…

I hope you enjoy it!

MEMORIES – Dark Matters: Volume 4

PUBLISHED!

MEMORIES - LRGThose who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it, and only the dead have seen the end of war. The last book in the series, Dark Matters: MEMORIES presents two stories in which the shadow of the First World War lies heavy upon those who endured it — and those who did not…

In The Palimpsest, a soldier-turned-artist has tried to put the horrors of the trenches behind him, only to discover that a horror still stalks him. But in The Foundation, a future persists in which not only was the Great War’s outcome very different, but the conflict itself has been… forgotten.

One is a ghost story in the classic vein, inspired by the writing of M. R. James; the other a piece of alternate history — or maybe alternate future. They stand against George Santayana’s wisdom, because here the end of war is seen, and the past returns to repeat itself, upon another victim…

These are stories that step out from the light, where only the dark matters…

Amazon: US | CA | MX | BR | AUS | IN | JP

Amazon Europe: UK | FR | DEES | IT | NL

Apple | Barnes&Noble | Smashwords | Goodreads



The cover art was created using Creative Commons-licensed images. My grateful thanks go to the State Library of South Australia for Men in the trenches, and to Tony Hisgett for Poppies Again 6.

AFTERMATHS – Dark Matters: Volume 3

PUBLISHED!

AftermathsLRG

After April’s intrapocalyptic offering, AFTERMATHS Dark Matters Vol.3 features two tales set in the wake of different but equally disastrous futures, which offer damning evidence of the depths which the desperate will sink to.

In The Seeding, a frontier farmer battles against ecological adversity and the threat of his rivals and neighbours with the most underhand of tactics. And in The Diminishing Returns, an isolated survivor and his last, best friend learn that companionship and survival make for untrustworthy bedfellows…

These are stories that step out from the light,
where only the dark matters..

 

Amazon: US | CA | MX | BR | AUS | IN | JP

Amazon Europe: UK | FR | DEES | IT | NL

Apple | Barnes&Noble | Smashwords | Goodreads