Sunshine Sometimes Strikes Twice

I’ve been nominated for a second Sunshine Blogger Award.

Cue lots of choking noises from those who were already chuckling at cynical old me getting the word sunshine thrown in my direction the first time around.

Pipe down once more ye chucklers and titterers.

You’ll be pleased to know that the world hasn’t gone completely mad. My natural instinct remains to stick my head in the sand and ignore this kind of thing. I still don’t know why, it’s just how I am. Probably explains why I hate charades and dancing.

Gastro The Great

I wrote this story a little while back. In August 2013 to be precise. It was inspired by GM foods, the Googleburger and was a real departure for me in terms of style at that time.

I’m very happy it now has a new home on Literally Stories and I hope you’ll enjoy it.

*

Roll up! Roll up! Widen your eyes, suspend your disbelief and step forward to be amazed and enthralled and in thrall you shall be! Such wonders await, such sights will abound! For this is no ordinary journey friends… this is the looking-glass, the time travelling, time unravelling, unparalleled and unrivalled… Monsanto Brothers Circus!

Short Stories For Charity – Please Read and Share!

For the last year or so I’ve been involved in the running of a short story site – Literally Stories. Sunday marked one year since we published our first story, and to celebrate this milestone we launched an anthology to showcase the best of the best from year one.

The site has always been a labour of love and the anthology is no different. All the funds raised from book sales go to The Book Bus – a literacy charity doing amazing work throughout Africa, Asia and South America.

The ebook is available via Amazon in the UK, here…

…in the US, here…

…and there’s even an option to use a print on demand service to order in paperback here.

The quality of the stories is excellent, the cover art is splendid and it’s a steal at the price (£2.74, $7.07 and £7.99 respectively!).

So please, buy yourself a copy, give it as a Christmas present to someone who loves the written word or just reblog the shit out of this post – it all helps to support this very worthy cause.

Thanks for your help you lovely lot 🙂

A Tale Of Two Letters

Letter 1: The Rejection

It’s taken a while but I finally feel like a real writer. That probably sounds a bit weird for someone who has been blogging for about seven years, has written a sixty thousand word baby diary and has about forty other short stories up on the web (and one in print) at this very moment…but any writers reading this might just have an inkling where I’m coming from.

All of my work so far has been delivered in very safe environments.

Step 1 – Blog. Ultimate Safety. On my blog I am the master. End of.

Step 2 – Submit to a site with no rejection policy (repeat thirty odd times). Thanks Shortbread!

In Flight Memory

I wrote a post last month discussing unusual points of view from which to construct a story (it’s here if you want to refresh your memory). My personal experiment was with second person future and it seems it was a success – or at least in the eyes of my fellow Literally Stories editors who agreed to let it loose on an unsuspecting world earlier today. Hope you enjoy it – and I’d love to hear any thoughts you have on whether the POV enhances the piece or detracts from it.

*

The ice will wake you. You’ll hear it dropping in the plastic cup, sense it being passed in front of you to the woman in the window seat you haven’t spoken to since the flight began. You’ll drift, then you’ll open your eyes and stare into a face that would be prettier with less make-up. Her strip-light smile won’t fade as she asks you, patiently, for the third time if you’d like something to drink. You’ll order a gin and tonic even though you don’t want one because that’s what you do on flights. While she rummages for the gin needle in the haystack of unwanted brandy you’ll wonder if you’ll get peanuts or mini pretzels.

You’ll bet on pretzels.

And you’ll be right.

[continue reading on Literally Stories…]

The Culex Experiment by Nik Eveleigh

The Culex Experiment: A typical vector. An atypical payload.

literally stories

The thin penetrating whine dragged him from the warm recesses of sleep. He pawed at the air as he sank back into slumber but his swipe was ineffectual and the incessant drone continued. He turned on to his side. The insect followed. He sat up in bed, groaned and shook his head.

“Light”

The bedside globe reacted to his command painting the room a dusky yellow.

Where are you, you little…

He rubbed his eyes and scanned the ceiling. No sign of the intruder and no sound to track it by. Resigned to have to start hunting he stretched a lazy arm across his body to pull back the covers.

Ahh…there you are.

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Apathetica by Nik Eveleigh

Apathetica – my new story published today on Literally Stories!

literally stories

“Thank you all for coming.”

Like I had a choice boss. You can fill the meeting invite up with all the pleasantries and corporate wank-speak you want, the real message says “Attend or be fired” so here I am.

“I’ve brought Dawkins in from marketing. He’s going to take us through our latest product launch. Real out-of-the-box thinking. Went live…this time last week eh Dawkins?”

The man in the pastel suit nods his sculpted head. He smiles a perfect, retina-scorching smile and fiddles with a laptop smaller than my phone.

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Only Rock And Roll by Nik Eveleigh

This story goes up to 11…

literally stories

I was baaaawwwwn. In a one way cul DE saaaaaac.

“Is that actually possible?”

“Is what possible?”

“A cul-de-sac being one way. How would you ever leave?”

“Exactly.”

“Exactly what?”

I set my beer on the bar and give Frank the look.

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Reinventing Amy by Nik Eveleigh

My latest short story on Literally Stories. It’s about love, loss, regret, friendship and a pie dish with an identity crisis. Hope you enjoy it.

literally stories

“We’re really so sorry Craig. She was an amazing woman.”

“The best of the best.”

“She was so sweet, so gentle. We all loved her.”

“Amy was one of a kind, she didn’t deserve for this to…”

“I broke your pie dish.”

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Switch it off…switch it on

It appears that the internet is broken this evening. I was doing my best to be productive and catch up on the recent submissions to Literally Stories when…boom, nothing seemed to want to work, everything ground to a halt and suddenly I was faced with a full glass of red wine and nothing to do.

Let me just state for the record that I did try and refresh the browser as well as rebooting my modem before subjecting you all to a blog post (which may or may not get posted depending on the future state of internet-upness).

You will note (now that I’ve told you to) I used the phrase “catch up” on my reading for Literally Stories. I use this phrase in place of the truth which should be “read and then pass comment/judgement upon work that is often far superior to my own.”