The Dark Crystal: Fantasy, Animism & Subversion

What might one say of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance? Lovers of the original, like myself, appear to be blown away by it, and even those who didn't like the original movie have nothing but good things to say about it. So if you haven't watched it, don't waste time reading this and go …

Brain Boil: Mind-Thistle Reloaded

Heads turned to see me, arms raised to the sky and imploring existence to "give me a goddamn notebook!"School mothers quirked worried smiles at me as my son stopped his bike and said "are you alright daddy?"No! Not at all, for my brain had caught alight and I had no means by which to write …

Cassandra Says Hi, Dickhead

This one was a little bit Bukowski (*so you want to be a writer?), sort of warts and all. It just popped out and I posted it after being inspired by the decidedly irrational comments section of Radio Leicester's Facebook page. A friend had posted how great it was to see people rallying to the …

Crumbs For Crow #3: Apocalypse Disco

 Apocalypse DiscoPfff! The dust is settling and everyone's suddenly playing the existential blues on a vintage guitar with two strings while some journalistic hack bangs away on an old, broken piano tuned by an establishment that can only summon enough cognitive prowess to think in black and white.The proverbial arse has fallen out of the …

Short Story: The Mind-Thistle Run

Short story written for Fantasy Writers Forum August Challenge, 2019 - this was written pretty quickly and subject to a limit of 5k words, so apologies in advance for the rough edges and confusing ending. Ankles, so called because he still bore the scars from his manacles. It was common amongst prisoners forced to march …

Crumbs For Crow #2: Everything’s Ruined/Nothing Works

Everything's Ruined/Nothing WorksHello my delicious sinners. You look sad. What's the matter? Still languishing in the horror of your own samasarian nightmares? Poor you. You have my sympathies, you really do. It's not, after all, your fault so why pressure ourselves unnecessarily with personal responsibilities? I mean, look around. It's not like you weren't being …

Crumbs For Crow #1: The Hardest Step

The Hardest of Steps It is never, nor ever has been, the Universe itself that causes you to weep my child. With these words, and through the staunch bastion of determination within you, you have become a seeker. You and I are not unalike, but child, I see that the tears are welling up even …

The Cosmic Highway (Early Writer’s Circle Work 2002)

During my years at college I was introduced by a friend to Men At Arms by Terry Pratchett, and now looking back I can see how Pratchett was a big influence on my style, particularly the way in which his dialogue was structured to provide comic effect, as well as the way in which his …

Crumbs For Crow: A Solstice Fairy Tale

[This was another quick writing project that was done for the monthly challenge on http://www.fantasy-writers.org. I kept the working title as I liked it, but if anyone has a more appropriate one let me know. But first, sit back and have yourself a little slice of my dark, festive offering......]Through the shifting halls of dream …

The Wonderful Mr. Valentine

If I may, I'd like to take a break from the usual today, and instead ask for a moment of your time to tell you about my dear friend Paul Valentine who recently passed away. In the tapestry of one's life, there are many threads, and some are dull and some are necessary, but there …