Still time to order a book for Christmas – just!

Okay, you know I’m promoting our own book but really, send someone any book of your choice. There’s still time and Amazon will gift wrap it for you if you click “contains a gift” in the checkout process. You can also customise the message. How about this for a message, “Dear … I’m sending you this copy of New Short Stories 11 for your Christmas present. It’s fabulous and so are you.”

Ahem! So, yes, you can order the book we’re trying to hypnotise you into ordering by clicking this link (Book Depository, a subdivision of Amazon, free delivery worldwide) or this link (Amazon .com) or this link (Amazon UK).

Here’s the start of one of the stories, hopefully to intrigue and fascinate you*. When you finish reading this you will awake, go and order the book and remember nothing about what you read here. 1. 2. 3. Awake!

“I could hear my father singing in the lower field. In between the lines of the poorly-sung Joe Dolan number he would call for me, each time more demanding, though he did not bother to draw near to where I actually was, which was at the back of the house, pegging his newly-washed clothes to the line. I knew I’d give in eventually to his calls, but I wanted him to hurt his voice as much as possible with the screeching.”

* From: “The Emperor of Russia” by Jaki McCarrick

Willesden Herald: New Short Stories 11

New Short Stories 11 – First Look – Unboxing (video)

The eagle, or at least the secretary bird, has landed. Due for general release in the next two weeks.

Update 1 December: Now available from Book Depository and Amazon.com.

2019 – New Short Stories 11

Contents

Front cover of New Short Stories 11 – first look

• “Miss Maughan” by JL Bogenschneider
• “Satellites” by Ursula Brunetti
• “Forgiveness” by Carol Dines
• “Dark in Here” by Derek Dirckx
• “Only Human” by Sarah Evans
• “Fireball Outfit” by Jeff Ewing
• “Meadowlands” by David Frankel
• “Voyager” by Ray French
• “To Have a Ghost Baby” by N. Jane Kalu
• “Caboose” by Marylee MacDonald
• “The Emperor of Russia” by Jaki McCarrick
• “Rabbit Season” by Gerard McKeown
• “Vole or Mole” by Jay Merill
• “The Watcher” by Diana Powell
• “The garden designer” by John Saul

“Contemporary fiction from Britain, Ireland, America and Nigeria, from huge cities to very small towns and on several journeys. We’re at work, at school, in homes, gardens, cities, in the countryside and on the road. There are crises, violence, tragedy, vengeance, reflection and reconciliation. Here are vividly evoked times and places, characters of every kind, and insights into their circumstances and relationships.”

The 15 best international short stories, as submitted to the Willesden Herald in 2019. Editor: Stephen Moran. With an introduction by Gina Challen.

Available from

• Book Depository
• Amazon.com 

isbn: 978-0-9995277-6-4

Contributors

Valley Press: “Chalk Tracks” by Gina Challen

“A debut collection; brooding short stories of haunted lives and fragile hopes.”

“Lillian helps people to die. Ruth encounters an unsettling stranger on the towpath. Kathy obsesses over a painting. Robyn puts her trust in a fox. Mags is a forager; he takes the things he wants.

“Rooted in the landscape of the South Downs, where the chalk hills roll out to the sea, this incisive debut collection of short stories by Gina Challen explores the places where the familiar can become threatening.”

‘Mesmerised and amazed me in equal measure. How does the author cram such a richly textured narrative into such a small space? How does she manage to say so much with so few words?’ Katy Darby

Twice contributor to New Short Stories Gina Challen’s debut collection of short stories can be purchased direct from Valley Press. Also available on Amazon.co.uk etc.

Novel Called Patience Published 4,581 Days After It Was Begun

via Novel Called Patience Published 4,581 Days After It Was Begun

And yes, believe it or not, Toby Litt is a previous contributor to New Short Stories. We have an embarrassment of riches, in that sense, though still seeking adverts (zero so far) for our latest edition, the eleventh in the series.

You can read “Veronika and Roger-Roger” by Toby Litt in Willesden Herald: New Short Stories 4 (2010).

Out Now: “The False River” by Nick Holdstock

“My first story collection is now out from @UnthankBooks – thanks to the editors and magazines that helped shape much of the work @stephen_j_moran @EmilyNemens @tom_vowler @mancreview @ShortFiction8 and especially the late Jeanne Leiby of @southern_review https://t.co/2YzjDsT6el”

— Nick Holdstock (@NickHoldstock) September 26, 2019

Nick Holdstock is a three-time contributor to the New Short Stories series and won the Willesden Herald international short story prize in 2014.

Cork International Festival: Short Fiction Chapbooks Launch Event

My short fiction chapbook “It’s Not Me, It’s You” will be launched next Thursday 26th September at 2.30pm at Cork City Library as part of the Cork International Short Story Festival. The other winning chapbook “A Middle Eastern No” by Jill Widner will be launched also. Can’t wait pic.twitter.com/0ndDgGseAx

— Brian Kirk (@briankirkwriter) September 20, 2019

As we previously reported, past contributors to WH New Short Stories, Brian Kirk and Jill Widner, enjoyed a double win at the Cork International Short Story Festival 2019. The garlanded stories are set to be launched in chapbook form at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 26th at Cork City Library.