Novels
THE LIFE LIVED
Sarah Morgan’s death has haunted those who loved her. A lifetime later, her cantankerous widower Miles, having lived an inconveniently long life in the depths of the Scottish Borders, now approaches his own end. Architect of his memory, he seeks to find those responsible for the death of his wife, losing himself in a maze of fading memories, suspicions and betrayals to uncover the truth before his own time runs out.
Collections
IMITATION OF LIFE : A Short Story Collection
A psychiatrist cures a husband who can predict his wife’s every thought, a man receives the ultimate gift from his ex, a father returns from the underworld for his son’s birthday, the last man on earth can’t be sure he is. In this collection of short stories and tall tales, the speculative rub shoulders with the truth, divine comedies with warnings for the curious, and sleepless dreams of dystopia take root a little too close to home. Getting your hair cut will never be the same again.
Anthologies
TALES ON TWEET – Edited & Created by Manoj Pandey
Manoj Pandey tweeted out a story. Then some more. And others began tweeting tales right back at him: Margaret Atwood and Kabir Bedi with death tales, Salman Rushdie and Jeet Thayil with their dark humour, Teju Cole meditating on loneliness, Prajwal Parajuly on literature, Shashi Tharoor on India … It was a literary moment of sorts: spontaneous, changeable, tangential and then, just like Twitter itself, surprisingly poignant in bursts and flashes. But it was when these stories came together with Yuko Shimizu’s phantasmagorical images that Tales on Tweet stepped off the scrollable vortex of a webpage and into the tactile intimacy of the reading experience. Together, they tell powerful stories that explore the dramatic potential of brevity through micro-narratives that build worlds, bring them down, laugh at death, mourn the moon.
PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE – Forest Publishing
An anthology of new work by emerging writers from across the UK and beyond, WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE YEARS? was created during the global COVID19 pandemic of 2020, a year that challenged our normal sense of time, the present, and the future. In this book, 29 writers and poets respond to the theme of ‘past, present and future’.
Audio
OLD RAIN
PRESENT TENSE
Short Stories
ALPHABET SONG – Eunoia Review
“A is for… Another long day.”
THE LAST THING TO GO – Lavender Bones Magazine
“Hearing is the last thing to go. So they say.”
DESIGNED FOR LIFE – Bandit Fiction
“What had Clive called it? Oh yes, her ‘liberty of conscience.’”
THE HAUNTING OF LORD BARACLOUGH – Storgy Magazine
“The degree to which a gentleman reveals himself to another is a curious state of affairs at the best of times, though I suppose the holding of a razor to one’s throat helps.”
SIGN OF LIFE – Scrittura Magazine
“The woman was all that separated herself from silence…”
AN ACCEPTABLE VIOLENCE – Storgy Magazine
“It was a family tradition to die and the day had now arrived for Aubrey to go to war.”
OLD RAIN – Literally Stories
“The boy’s father considered there to be two primary aspects to parenting – the importance of time spent with the child and the importance of time spent without the child.”
REMEMBER TO FORGET ME – UNESCO City of Literature, Story Shop
“To describe my office as Open Plan would be to imply there is a Plan.”
THE CAVE OF CURIOUS COUNSEL – Sandstone Press, Short Fiction Competition – Shortlisted, Highly Commended
“It was Phuntsok’s turn to ascend the Holy Mount. Reaching The Cave Of Curious Counsel, he peered into the Stygian gloom and pondered – how can a man tolerate so isolated an existence, be they bodhisattva or not?”
ONE SHADE OF GREY – Friday Flash Fiction
“There is a tiny black dot on my bright white new sofa. I try not to care but I know it is there.”
LOST APPETITE – Scottish Book Trust
“The desire for flesh came upon me. I was so very hungry.”
OH NO – Scottish Book Trust
“It was all my brother’s fault. He did it. I admit the whole thing on his behalf.”
AUDIO
Ian Murphy 