SHORTS ON SHORTS: 'The Future Husband' by A.J. Ashworth

Just before Christmas, Salt Publishing had a few of it's short story anthologies on special for Kindle, including  this one Somewhere Else, Even Here. So let me just show you the Goodreads synopsis so you can understand why I might have found it intriguing...


A girl meets with danger on the beach when she is lured away by a strange boy; a  
bereaved wife enlists the help of a mysterious woman to perform rituals that will bring her dead husband back to life; a boy’s anger at his absent father leads him towards an act of destruction in the basement of his school.

I'm a few stories into it at the moment and one of them has definitely left an impression....


In a nutshell...

A woman is watching a man from a far as he examines an Egyptian museum exhibit. She may have have had a few fantasies about him in the past... (sorry that makes it sound flippant when it really isn't)


My favourite quote...

" It says she's been scanned and X-rayed to find evidence of her past - disease or abnormality in bone and flesh; the arthritic afterglow of birth in her pelvis; the age at which she died after breathing in too much sand from Egypt's many dry and dusty desert storms."

I just love that phrase 'arthritic afterglow of birth'. Yes, I'll say it again ARTHRITIC AFTERGLOW OF BIRTH.

Ok, I'll stop now.


Bits and pieces I'll take away...

It's concise and rather beautiful and this is what I love in short stories. Whenever I try to write one, it always ends up being that little bit too long. I guess the more I write, the shorter they get? Maybe? Hopefully? Not too short though. I'm not sure I really get flash fiction.

So far, this anthology has been an interesting read, and I'll keep you posted if any more nice little nuggets crop up...

SHORTS ON SHORTS - 'Love Letter Straight to the Heart' by Terry Tapp

I was trying to find a story to write about today that I could link to. However, I just could not find anything that grabbed me. This might have something to do with the fact that I'm knackered and reading small print off the screen of my laptop is making my eyes feel scratchy. So, I'm afraid I had to pick one out of an old-fashioned paper anthology and I'm afraid I couldn't find an online link to it. Sorry. Must try harder tomorrow.

Anyway, this one grabbed me in my tired state. I found it in a short story anthology I picked up from a second hand bookshop in Brisbane called Paper Windows. The book was called Paper Windows, no the shop. Although, that would be a BRILLIANT name for a second hand bookshop. But apart from that I can't find that much information on the story, or the author, apart from the fact it was written in 1978 and he is English. And he has a really cool name. Seriously, who wouldn't want to be called Terry Tapp?


In a nutshell...

A man is rifles through his morning mail and comes across a letter from his younger lover. He contemplates his dilemma of whether he could leave his wife for her.


My favourite quote...

She placed the egg in the boiling water, noticed that the shell had cracked and said 'Damn,' causing a cylinder of ash to fall from her cigarette into the boiling water.

If I smoked (which I don't), I could so easily see myself doing this.


Bits and pieces I will take away...

This is short, but very satisfactory. And very clever. And kind of funny. The ending made me gasp and then giggle and then shake my head in a 'you-sneaky-little-short-story-writer so of way. And I can't really say much else about this as I will be a big old ruiner and ruin the smarty-pants ending.

Hopefully I'll find something with a link tomorrow, but I'm not making any promises.

SHORTS ON SHORTS - 'Letter for Carlos' by Michael Morpurgo

Wow, I've managed to keep this up for three days in a row. I don't normally manage this level of blogging commitment. Yay for me. Anyway, today's short story is Letter for Carlos by Michael Morpurgo. This story is featured on the Guardian website as part of there week-long feature for National Short Story Week. It's a bit like my week-long feature for National Short Story Week. But not as good.

I'M KIDDING.

Well, I'm a little bit ashamed to admit that I haven't read any of Michael Morpurgo's novels. I have them there, sitting on the Kindle, and I've been toying with the idea of reading Private Peaceful fairly soon (which may or may not have something to do with this), but it hasn't quite happened for me yet. This story originally featured in his anthology Singing for Mrs Pettigrew: A Storymaker's Journey, but you can access it here. And instead of me relaying more background information about it, have a read of this interview where he explains the inspiration behind the tale. And a very interesting read it is too.


In a nutshell...

On his tenth birthday, Carlos is given a bike and a letter from his long-absent father.


My favourite quote...

When I looked down upon you that last time, cradled in your mother's arms, I remember I tried to picture you as a grown boy. I couldn't then and I still can't. For me you are that sleeping child, yawning toothlessly, fists clenched, frowning through your milk-soaked dreams.


Bits and pieces I'll take away...

This is a really interesting take on a very big subject, but I'm guessing that Mr. Morpurgo is rather experienced in writing captivating tales on the subject of warfare for a younger audience. It's a wise and  rather moving account the the reality of war from a disillusioned young man, but I just felt there was something missing  - maybe flipping back to Carlos's perspective would have help the story feel a bit more complete for me. But otherwise, this was a brilliant read, and also suitable for slightly younger readers. You might have already guessed from the title, but a large section of this takes the form of a letter. This is of interest to me personally, as the story I am working on a the moment takes the form of a letter, so thank you Michael Morpurgo, not only have you written a powerful story, but you have also given me a mini-creative-writing tutorial.

SHORTS ON SHORTS - 'The Paper Menagerie' - Ken Liu

Well, I hope you enjoyed yesterday's post. Today's is going to be a bit tricky to write about. And that's because it's so bloody good. And by good, I mean don't-even-think-about-reading-this-one-on-public-transport-for-fear-of-bawling-your-eyes-out-and-scaring-a-few-people good. Yes, THAT good.

I first read about it when Flannery over at The Readventurer listed it as a must-read in her International Short Story Day post. And me, like the fool that I am, didn't read it STRAIGHT AWAY (which I hope you will do after reading this). And it comes complete with accolades a-plenty - The Paper Menagerie was the first short story ever to win the Nebula, Hugo and World Fantasy Awards. You can find out a little bit more about Ken Liu right here, and here's the oh-so-essential link where you can read and weep..


In a nutshell...

A young man with a Chinese mother and American father reflects on his upbringing and his complicated relationship with his mother, a former mail-order bride.


My favourite quote...

Blimey, where do I begin? Even typing this out is making me well up again..

Mom looked at him. "If I say 'love', I feel here." She pointed to her lips. "If I say 'ai', I feel here." She put her hand over her heart.

And that is just the tip of the iceberg, people.


Bits and pieces I'll take away...

This really is a reminder of how powerful writing can be in this form and how vital every sentence, every word really is. I don't really know what else to say, apart from if you think that reading short story just won't give you the full-on emotional whack that a novel will, that reading a short story just won't have as much of an impact, that it will be forgotten as soon as you've finished that last line, then you really need to read this.

Seriously, READ IT.

Wowsers. Well, I hope that tomorrow's story can keep up the standard....

SHORTS ON SHORTS - 'May Malone' by David Almond

When I made the rash decision to start this feature yesterday, as soon as I wrote my introductory post, I made for the bookshelf and started rifling through a few anthologies. But then it struck me - bloody Twitter of course! Whenever I see a link to a new story, I favourite it with every intention of going back to read it later, but of course, later always turns into next week, or thereabouts. I do get around to it eventually, promise...

Anyway, I noticed this one the other week. It was posted by Thresholds, which is home to the International Short Story Forum. If you haven't had a look yet and you're interested in short stories, please do, as it is a mine of information, including submission deadlines for publications and competitions. And you can follow them on Twitter @ShortStoryForum.

Anyway, back to the story - May Malone by David Almond. Probably most famous for Skellig (which you can check out a recent review of right here by the lovely Jo), this originally featured in The Childrens's Hours Anthology in 2008 but you can read it here.


In a nutshell...

Miserable teenager Norman decides to investigate the mythical monster rumoured to be kept in the house of local lady with not-too-savoury-a-reputation, May Malone.


My favourite quote...

Ok, so I can't include my favourite quote because it's a bit of a spoiler, so I'll opt for this one instead...


Norman thought about illness and death and dying all the time. He thought about the devil and Hell. And those nightmares! Boiling oil and scorching flames and red hot pokers and devil's horns. He told the priest in confession about it and the priest sighed. Oh dear. Such fears and dreams were common enough amongst his flock. We all had such a cross to bear.


Bits and pieces I'll take away...

Oh gosh, it's all so sad. Is it supposed to be sad? I can't really say much else apart from poor Norman, just when he thinks he's gained an understanding and a new smidgen of maturity, well...

And also, green coat and read nails. I know it's slightly off the point, but is it me, or does this sound rather fabulous?

And also, I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but this is really astonishing writing. So I urge you to click on that link and read it please. I bought a copy of Skellig the other day that was way down on my TBR pile, but now I think it might be moving up a few places.

Anyway, come back tomorrow for another Shorts on Shorts for National Short Story Week.

How many times can I use the word SHORT this week? I might go for the record...

A Little Something for National Short Story Week...

So, it's National Short Story Week (you may have already sussed this from the title of this post), and I quite like short stories. I quite like reading them and I quite like writing them. And hopefully you do to. In which case you might quite like to read this post...

In the last celebration of stories in their shortened form, International Short Story Day (gosh, these things have a lot of themed time periods attached to them), I wrote a post about how I was going to spend the summer looking at them. Yeah, well, that didn't quite happen to the extent that I planned  for many reasons that I won't go into here, but now it appears I have been given another chance to redeem myself on the short story front. So to celebrate the week, starting from tomorrow, I'm going to read a short story a day and do a little post containing my random thoughts about it. What form those random thoughts will take, well, you'll just have to wait and see. But hopefully they will encourage all of us to pick up a few more short stories in the future.

To find out a bit more about National Short Story Week, just take a look here. Personally, of particular interest is the recommended reading list for children and young adults, from which I shall attempt to delve into, if not this week, then at some point in the future. Also, the Guardian website is participating by publishing some of the stories from their reading list. At the time of writing this, none have been put up yet, but hopefully I might read one or two at some point in the next few days...but here's their Short Stories page in the meantime for you peruse.

So, I hereby declare Anna's Shorts on Shorts well and truly open...let me just make it clear, there will be no posting of pictures of me in shorts at any point in the next week. Shorts HATE me and I have long since accepted that they will form no part of my wardrobe ever again. Just thought I'd clear that up in case there was any confusion.