Once a week Kate sits in his small office, laying out stories spanning her thirty years. Loose pages of a book, confessional secrets for her pastoral counselor to untangle and make sense of, they tell of her father’s angry outbursts and stony silences, her mother’s icy glares and disapproving comments, her own struggle for self-esteem.
A timely novel which makes the reader question their place in our modern, technological, world, Green Valley offers a unique comment on society via the use of its fast-paced plot and bold characters. As we begin to take a look at how and why we use technology within every aspect of our lives, Green Valley
‘Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.’ – Zig Ziglar ‘They put up a poster saying we earn more than you, we’re working for the clampdown.’ – The Clash I turn down the radio in my car – talk radio – some crappy awful phone-in show providing a platform for the permanently incensed,
I’m ashamed to say I’d never heard of Nancy Stohlman up until a few weeks ago, you see I’m quite new to flash fiction, so I’m playing catch-up all the time, discovering new and brilliant voices daily. But a few weeks ago I had the chance to attend the Flash Fiction Festival in Bristol and
‘Melting Point’ is an odd collection, to say the least. Though here, ‘odd’ isn’t to be taken as a negative, rather, what makes ‘Melting Point’ so strangely enjoyable is its oddities – it’s whispered moments of surrealism and shouted moments of the humorous absurd. Magarian is a lyrical author, who fuses and blends his prose
My father sat in a thin blue shirt with buttons undone, his breath seeping out the corner of his chapped lips in lazy coils. The windscreen had frosted over during the night, barbed spirals of ice like bacteria in a petri dish. He hadn’t bothered to scrape it off on my side and only an
‘Don’t write like a housewife. And read David Sedaris.’ This was the advice my daughter gave me as she thrust a copy of his book, Let’s Discuss Diabetes With Owls into my hands. Three years later, on the night of my 49th birthday, Bec took me to see David Sedaris at Cadogan Hall in London.
In Whiskey When We’re Dry, John Larison has created a tale as beautiful as it is brutal, as touching as it is gritty and as heart warming as it is heartbreaking. It’s a genuinely authentic western where the dialect is traditional but is met with a modern literary touch which is thoroughly impressive. Set in
Zack’s phone vibrates. It reads, she’s my best friend. Promise you’ll tell her on the drive home… ok? He replies, yes. Once sent, the young man swipes left on his conversation to ‘Marty B’ and hits delete. The sedan’s trunk slams shut and Tiffany climbs into the passenger seat just as he manages to disconnect
Fraser’s debut, ‘The South Westerlies’, a collection of 18 short stories set mostly in and around Gower, South Wales, is rife and woven with careful detail and design. I could ramble and try to find a multitude of words to describe it, but ultimately, the collection is a joy to read for all those who
