‘Are you sure that’s the saying?’ Paris asked. Helen nodded. The couple stared up at the giant wooden horse that had appeared overnight outside the walls of Troy. ‘Absolutely,’ Helen said eventually. ‘Never look a gift horse in the arse.’ ‘I thought it was mouth.’ Paris was a simple man, but to him it looked … Continue reading Flash fiction: The gift horse →

Eve looked at the serpent.  ‘So you are saying if we eat this apple we’ll get really clever?’  The serpent squirmed a little. He was still getting used to his new marketing role. He was telling the truth, obviously, just not ALL of it. ‘Yes,’ he hissed, nervously. ‘Cleverer.’ ‘And no side effects?’ asked Eve, … Continue reading Flash fiction: The apple →

https://hawkeyebooks.com.au/winning-short-story-competitions/ By L.E. Daniels and C. Sawyer I bought this book on a whim: it’s an Australian publication and I live in the U.K. so not entirely sensible to get it posted (there’s no electronic copy). I’m glad I did, although it’s been excruciating to read. Not because it’s badly written - it’s excellently written. … Continue reading Review: Winning short story competitions →

Back in 1992, in a middle class suburb just outside Sydney, life is about to change forever for the narrator Tikka, her sister and their friends the three Van Apfel girls. As the title tells us: by the end of the summer the Van Apfel girls are Gone. Where have they gone? Why? Will they … Continue reading Review: The Van Apfel Girls are Gone →

Published by Hawkeye Books Australia https://hawkeyebooks.com.au/welcome-to-blackwood/ I read Welcome to Blackwood in a day because I found it very hard to put down. The humour, especially in the dialogue, crackles along and the writing is confident and assured. More than that, Khaiah Thomson has created a fascinating parallel world where most people are Mundane (I’m … Continue reading Review: Welcome to Blackwood →

We pay a lot for our home security. We have a designated list of key holders and a control room that phones them when the alarm goes off. They even send the police round, in certain circumstances. I’m not entirely sure how the call to the police gets triggered because the control room seem to … Continue reading Essay: The case of the disappearing cat →

This poem first appeared in the 1000 Monkeys lockdown newsletter, July 2020 Morning walk The dog, free in the woods bounces gently between the trees, bouyant on squirrel scent and good boy biscuits. Soon, he will deflate. I drag him home like the sudden weight of a toddler’s post-party balloon.

Get a blog, they said. Here's my blog - short stories, poems, reviews and other chat. Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton