This is a selection of shorts stories I wrote that won things back in 2014.

The stories are presented here exactly as they were when they were listed, published, or whatever.  Warts and all.  They were written a while ago, and I’ve done a fair amount of learning since then, so some parts are very warty.  Click the titles to read, and consider yourself warned.

Putting Out Fires

The ship is on fire and slowly sinking; his men don’t respect him, and the Captain has abandoned him.  But Lieutenant Jack Beachum has a list of names in his pocket and a job to do.

The very first short story I wrote when I decided to start this project, and a finalist in the Atlantis Short Story Competition.   Science Fiction in disguise.  Probably.  You can read their feedback on my submission here.

Spark

First lying on the storeroom floor; second with Kath by the Arwenack Annex; it was only the third time, when it made the shape of a man like a silhouette drawn by sparkler, that Terry thought to be afraid of the spark.

Spark was shortlisted in the 2014 Fowey Festival short story competition, as part of a celebration of both the work of Daphne du Maurier and the historic region.  Although plans to publish the shortlisted stories fell through in the end (a sadly common occurrence with these sorts of competitions), I enjoyed writing it enough to want to share it here.

Only Whores can be Heroes.

Charlotte Coal only cares about the money and only came to rob the bank; but beneath the town of Liberty is something that cares very much about her, and it is growing.

Only Whores can be Heroes was written for the Monkey Kettle “Western” collection.  I wrote about Monkey Kettle here and you can buy the full collection of stories from Lulu here.  This was my first attempt at genre fiction*, although which genre it belongs to is an open question.

* Unless you count all the science fiction I write.  Which is basically everything!