The Island

Microfiction Friday

Hi everyone and welcome to another Friday of fiction in your inbox. This week has been a really tough one— the kids are still two and a half weeks away from going back to school, I have a foot injury so I can’t run away from them, and my husband and I are trying to juggle work with their demands. Thank goodness for microfiction and those wonderful people that are

Miguel S.

and

Erica Drayton

for keeping my mind busy this week.

But first… news

My author copies of Oceanus are arriving today (eeeeeeeeeek) so I finally have something to show for it. The proof copy was nice and all but it’s not the finished thing, so I kept that one to myself. You can still read it on Substack until the 29th August when it will be archived.

The Devil At The Door is going really well. Thank you for leaving a comment and sharing your thoughts with what you think is going on! I think

Nicole Paton

had a great idea when she suggested that we have a separate chat for our theories. Chapters 5 and 6 are coming on Sunday. I absolutely love sharing this with you, so thanks for reading. It’s set in a place close to my heart and as well as trying to tell a suspenseful horror story, I’m also trying to do the history and the location justice.

My reading this month

This month I downloaded and finished

Patricia J.L. 👻🧶🖊️

fun mermaid romance. If you haven’t already read it, Deep Curse is available to nose at here. I was honoured to have been a beta reader for

David B. Corder

recently, too. Look out for his second book of the Tales Of The Bloodstalker series coming soon! Other than that, I stormed through The Housemaid and The Housemaid is Watching this month. If you’re a greedy thriller reader, they’re worth your time.

What have you been reading this summer? Let me know in the comments. I’m currently waiting for

Sean Thomas McDonnell

to release his new collection of stories Beneath The Valley Oak on e-book as everyone on American and Canadian fictionstack is raving about it while the rest of the world waits patiently.

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The Island - a stacked story.

This was a challenge set by

Erica Drayton

this week. I could have written any one of the 6, 50 or 100 word stories but Erica had the challenge open for writing a stacked story. I started with 6, moved on to the 50 word continuation and ended with the 100 words. It’s weird, but it was fun. Enjoy.

The Island: 6 words 

Marking SOS on this infinite beach.

The Island: a 50 word continuation.

Living on the edge, quite literally. Yesterday, I met a bear. It didn't go well. The good news is, I'm not the first to have landed here. Don't ask me how I know this.

Coconuts fall freely, but I'm a man without a rock.

The bear has all the rocks.

The island: 100 word continuation

Help came; not in the form I had expected. Did you know that squid are sentient? Did you know that squid are actually from another world? Neither did I. 

Anyway, just as my neighbourly bear swung a paw in my direction, I felt myself floating into the air. They can’t speak any human languages, but they are hospitable. 

The language barrier is an issue. For example, I am back on the beach, only, it is 1492. The Portuguese gentleman who had the decency to rescue me informed me of this. 

The good news is, I’m not in debt any more.