Until very recently, the term 'under pressure' had meant something gruesomely literal to me. It is common practice within Lockdownia to 'press' miscreants with heavy stones laid upon the chest until they either confess their treacherous deeds, or give up the ghost. Under my rule, of course, such barbarism would not be tolerated. But the... Continue Reading →
I was walking across town the other day when I saw him standing in a field on the outskirts: an old man, skin turned swarthy by decades-long exposure to the sun, sharpening his scythe. He turned and grinned a friendly, welcoming grin: he was waving to his neighbour across the road. Had it not been... Continue Reading →
Today, I'm very excited to bring you another wonderful short story from Laura Schmidt, creator of Voyage of the Mind. Visit Laura's newly revamped website for more short fiction and poetry, as well as many great factual pieces on topics ranging from ancient history to social media trends. There is something to delight every inquisitive... Continue Reading →
Today, I'm returning to my Work in Progress, my first novel, The Folks Across the River. Ken Rice has very kindly done a critique of the first chapter, with many editorial suggestions. Below you can find the result, which I think is a much more readable and tighter version of this chapter. You can compare... Continue Reading →
I found this scrawled into my copy of Joyce's Dubliners (one of the books I'd liberated from storage last weekend). I was immediately intrigued, because I couldn't remember writing it. It's not so much a story as a vignette, and I'm afraid it's not quite up there with Joyce in terms of literary merit. Still... Continue Reading →
I admit that with the current Covid-19 situation, I've digressed a bit from the normal remit of my website with some 'factual' pieces (in as much as anyone's personal diary can be considered 'factual.') It's high time, then, that I returned to some experimental fiction, and as such I'm posting the opening section of my... Continue Reading →
