This is the anxiety dream I had on the morning of launching The Dark Poet. In Real Life, I want to wake at 6.30am and do some last minute preparation. In My Dream, I wake late, at 7.30. I am worried about having slept in. I will be late and ill-prepared. Then I realise I … Continue reading The Second Baby
Tag: Short Stories
Why do you love short stories?
How old are short stories? Short fiction is as old as humankind. Novels are the new fang-dangled thing. The first short tales were oral. Storytellers often used rhyme to memorise stories. One the earliest still surviving tales is "The Shipwrecked Sailor" written on papyrus in Egypt around 2000 BCE. The Greek Aesop's fables, the first … Continue reading Why do you love short stories?
The Power of Stories
Humans tell stories. We are all natural storytellers even if we never write a book or call ourselves writers or directors. We even see patterns and create stories even when none exists. Watch this film. https://youtu.be/VTNmLt7QX8E Do you see a story? This film was used in the 1944 experiment of "Apparent Behavior" by Fritz Heider … Continue reading The Power of Stories
Margaret Atwood proves short stories are alive and kicking
A prolific favourite author of mine, Margaret Atwood proves again that the short story is alive and kicking. This year she released Stone Mattress a collection of nine tales. I am so excited, but silly me I decided to choose this book for my book club. If I read it too soon it won't be fresh … Continue reading Margaret Atwood proves short stories are alive and kicking
Short Story from author of The Slap
Read Petals by Christos Tsiolkas Most people know Christos Tsiolkas because of his book The Slap. If not the book, then people know of the slapping of young Hugo from the television series on ABC TV - and hot of the press it is set to be remade by NBC for American audiences. I love the description of The Slap as … Continue reading Short Story from author of The Slap
Is Storytelling more important than shelter?
American storyteller Reynolds Price wrote: A need to tell and hear stories is essential to the species Homo sapiens – second in necessity apparently after nourishment and before love and shelter. Millions survive without love or home, almost none in silence; the opposite of silence leads quickly to narrative, and the sound of story is the … Continue reading Is Storytelling more important than shelter?