Short stories

  • Follow That Ferry and Would Have, Could Have (2017) – two short stories commissioned as part of the WRITE Festival programme 2017. I spent seven days as Writer in Residence at The The Word, the National Centre for the Written Word in South Shields where I created two short stories inspired by my experiences there. Read them here.
  • Dislocation – Stories of Science and Death – A collection of science-fiction ‘what-if’ stories. Do aliens appreciate art? Is teleportation such a good idea? What if procreation meant the ultimate sacrifice? I explore these and other questions in this free collection – just click on the link and sign up to my newsletter to get this book completely free.  “Michael sat on his sofa in a facsimile of a living room somewhere in a warehouse in Vancouver. His room was one of hundreds stored there, each one with its own unique bundle of pre-packed humanity living out their lives inside. He’d seen it for himself, climbing into the sky; monumental cliffs of concrete and plaster, the human home evolved with shark-like efficiency until nothing but purpose remained.”
  • Scissors (2015) – commissioned by the National Literacy Trust. A creepy ten-part story for Premier League Reading Stars about a boy who has a particularly vivid dream. Something followed me out of my dream. No, not some thing. Some one. Someone followed me out of my dream. He’s watching me now from the end of the bed. He’s called Scissors.”
  • The Watchers – Winston and his grandfather take a day trip to see the mysterious Watchers – two giant visitors standing over the heart of London. Neither has moved since their arrival almost thirty years ago, and no one knows why they are here. “Folk would just walk by all the time, eat lunch under their feet, touching them, taking pictures. Course the army didn’t like it. They wanted it all to themselves. They got their way after the bomb.”