Cooking up a short story, the triangle of characters are talking to each other in my head, I'm trying to get all the beats in place without it turning into a novel. This is great. It's also torture. There's never enough time.
A.J. O'Toole
@scribblerotoole.bsky.social
Writer - working on short fiction and my novel "Half A Lie". Good listener, quiet talker, part-time drinker. Black Country state of mind.
Day Three - prompts are prompting 🦝 Trashcan Observations: Most popular bin for character is Purple - hardly anyone has chosen Red Most popular Trashie for character is Weed by some margin, Opossum is lagging Get in on it: trashcatlit.com/call-for-pro...
Call for Prompted Stories
THE CHALLENGE HAS NOW BEGUN, GET YOUR PROMPTS BEFORE THE 6th TO BE ABLE TO SUBMIT A STORY. THE LINK TO THE PROMPT REQUEST FORM IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE. HAVE FUN!Note: Contributors to the Apri…
trashcatlit.com
What are five things in your upcoming release? Black Country pubs TV star Girl you fancied at school A scam for The Money Folklore of a woman found dead in a spooky tree
Joanne Harris@joannechocolat.bsky.social · last wk.What are five things in your upcoming release? Giant electricity pylon Neolithic coffin route Haunted wardrobe Recurring tennis balls Demon dog
Love an airport where you can check in and then wander off...
Love a pub with a machete and a gun on the bar... and a good story.
Always a good day if you see a heron. Next stop: the edge of the world.
Publishing has to catch up, by the way. Bluesky is the Staff Picks of social media.
Good news, Gen X: the original recording of Flagpole Sitta is now available on Spotify.
Remembered an anecdote on my walk. I can quickly knock out a hundred word micro for this, I think. First draft word count: 237 Onwards and outwards. #flash #amwriting
A story about a curious locksmith who helps the burglar robbing him, by Ben Daggers. buff.ly/jxRPcrn
High hopes for The Westies. (didn't have my own Hell's Kitchen adventures until the noughties)
I worked in Soho through the noughties, so can't watch this tennis match without saying 'Are you a sinner or are you a winner?' every other minute. #iykyk
This is a brilliant essay, which, in my view, accurately describes the predicament of the post-Boomer generations, and the vast infrastructure of lies designed to disguise it. "Degeneracy is a symptom. The disease is rent." 🧵 henryfudgeofficial.substack.com/p/degeneracy...
Degeneracy is a Symptom
On Conspicuous Despair, the Ponzi stage of being alive, and why your grandparents are wrong about you.
henryfudgeofficial.substack.com
Great to see this Zevon inspired anthology from the guys at Literary Garage is out. Downloaded the Kindle version today. literarygarage.com/bad-intentio...
Bad Intentions Anthology | Literary Garage
BAD INTENTIONS is a crime fiction anthology inspired by Warren Zevon—15 stories of bad decisions, consequences, and no easy endings. Supporting Philabundance
literarygarage.com
Calling all writers! Try your hand at writing to images with our ekphrastic challenge for issue #42. Choose one of the photos below by NFFR fiction & photography editor Louella Lester and write a story (500 words max). We'll be open for subs 15-31 July. Our guidelines: newflashfiction.com/submit/
For the lunch time crowd, today's last Zevon-inspired story from @scribblerotoole.bsky.social is a darkly funny tale about mortality, memory and one man's decision to go out on his own terms. Check it out at the Garage: literarygarage.com/last-orders-...
Last Orders at The Parting Glass | Literary Garage
A bittersweet tale of mortality, single malt, and one final act of defiance.
literarygarage.com
Literary Garage@literarygarage.bsky.social · last mo.Today's story, Last Orders at The Parting Glass by @ajotoole.bsky.social is a fitting finale: funny, heartbreaking, quietly rebellious & deeply human. A darkly funny meditation on mortality, memory, and one man's decision to write his own ending See you on 7/07 literarygarage.com/last-orders-...
Got in late last night. A couple of minutes even later as my wife spotted one of the neighbourhood cats down the street...
This one is up today - thanks to @literarygarage.bsky.social Longest piece I've had published: pubs and death and the ghost of a woman. All the usuals. literarygarage.com/last-orders-...
Last Orders at The Parting Glass | Literary Garage
A bittersweet tale of mortality, single malt, and one final act of defiance.
literarygarage.com
Sam Smith's pubs were a great discovery for me when I first moved to London. Decent bitter on handpulls was rare, and I couldn't afford to drink anywhere else.
Temperatures have dropped... the local pensioners have all buttoned up their overcoats again.
Every hometown's got an ominous megastructure, what's yours?
Submitted my entry to the Welkin genre prize. This seems the suitable badge for me. Details here: www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-press... @welkinpress.bsky.social
Kind of knew early on that today would be a write off... So I spent it napping, catching up on 'event' TV, dozed through a good bad film... I'll be better tomorrow.
A lot of good stuff in here, if you're trying to straddle literary fiction and premium TV. lithub.com/save-it-for-...
Save It for Your Novel: The Difference in Writing for the Screen Versus the Page
To examine the increasing similarities between television storytelling and literary fiction—particularly their shared emphasis on complex characters and challenging themes—I recently spoke with Ras…
lithub.com