Established 2003. Now incorporating The Sudbury Hill Harrow and Wherever End Times

Saturday, November 30, 2024

Bill poster in action today

What would make a good caption for this - "Culture clash"?
Photo: bill poster man in hi-vis work clothes up tall ladder to replace the topmost of two large billboard posters. The bottom one is a poster advertising flats at Greenford Quay "West London's Vibrant Rental Community". The top one is half and half and it's hard to tell which poster is being added and which being covered over; one is for "First Hindi Entertainment on Samsung TV Plus"; the other appears to be a fashion advert for White Fox brand leisurewear.

Update:
The new poster completed (for First Hindi Entertainment Channel)


Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Short Story of the Month, December 2024

The trouble about helping strangers is you just never know what you're getting into and you don't know what other strangers there might be when you get into it. The clue is in the word "strangers". (Ed.)

Short Story of the Month - December 2024


The Man on the Train by Sarah Turner


“I’d speculated about the man even before we spoke; he interested me as soon as I saw him on the station platform that afternoon, in his long tweed coat and beaten-down, once-formal shoes. He caught my eye and paced towards me with a focused look that made me think he was about to ask me something.”

Sarah Turner's short stories have been/are due to be published by Shooter Literary Magazine, The Sonora Review, J Journal, The London Magazine, Epoque Press, Fictive Dream, Litro, LEON, The Phare, and others, and in 2023 one of her stories was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize Short Story Award. Some of her published work can be read at www.scturnerfiction.com.


Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Short story related Starter Pack (Bluesky)

Bluesky starter pack for Short Story Related

If you are on Bluesky and want to follow short story related accounts on there, you could take a look at this starter pack I created. With starter packs on Bluesky, you can browse the list and follow some, view their posts, or even click on "follow all". There are starter packs for all sorts of interests, some very specialised, like "17th century history", some a bit more general. There are all sorts of "feeds" you can subscribe to as well, e.g. Literary Agents, Irish Writers etc etc. Link: https://bsky.app/3pZT3Aa (Ed.)

Sunday, November 10, 2024

Bonus book for the next Story of the Month

Cover: Day of the Flying Leaves

In addition to a copy of one of the New Short Stories anthologies, the next Story of the Month author will receive a copy of Day of the Flying Leaves, poetry by yours truly. I will also inscribe and sign an as-yet unpublished poem on a blank page. I hope this will not be a disincentive! (Ed.)

Thursday, November 07, 2024

Short Story of the Month, November 2024

We've just arrived back to civilisation and found a great short story of the month for November. It's a "read twicer". Did anything happen while we were away? Ed.

The Willesden Herald Story of the Month

November 2024: IOU by Robert Stone

… When Brett left, Bill hadn’t realised she was going. Her drink was unfinished. And when she was gone the others didn’t seem to miss her or to take the opportunity to talk about her and that surprised him and taught him a lesson …

Robert Stone

Robert Stone was born in Wolverhampton. He works in a press-cuttings agency in London. He has been a teacher and the foreman of a London Underground station. He has had stories in 3:AM, Stand, Panurge, The Write Launch, Confingo, Eclectica, Punt Volat, HCE, The Decadent Review, Heirlock, Lunate, Main Street Rag, Clackamas and Wraparound South. Micro-stories have been published by 5×5, Third Wednesday, The Ocotillo Review, Star 82, deathcap and Clover & White. He had three stories published in the Nightjar chapbook series. A story has been included in Salt’s Best British Stories 2020 volume.

Wednesday, November 06, 2024

The canal at Ladbroke Grove, Tuesday

12:22 5 November 2024

Photo: Looking along a canal that bends away to the right in the distance from this viewpoint on a bridge, with a swan beside a houseboat barge on the right bank, on bright calm shiny water, with a variety of buildings alongside the left bank, foremost one completely covered in brightly coloured graffiti. (There is another swan following some distance back by the next houseboat. They both leave gentle V-shaped in their wake.)

Tuesday, November 05, 2024

Lime + Uber eBikes chaos – London

Kensal Green: 5 November 2024, 11:08 a.m.

Photo: “On Lime + Uber” branded eBikes piled up blocking the pavement outside Kensal Green underground station, 5 November 2024