I am seeking representation from a literary agent for three collections of short stories:
1. ‘The Ashtray and Other Stories’ (18 stories; 55,000 words)
Two rivals compete for a girl at an English boarding school in ‘The Loser Code’; a man gets stuck in his chimney where he plots revenge on his cheating wife in ‘Chimney Piece’; burglars target a pensioner in ‘The Last Tin’; a Japanese schoolboy is thrown into turmoil by the return of the girl he loves in ‘Tatami’; and a pair of schoolgirls play a prank on their teacher in ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry.’ Includes ‘Energy Thieves,’ ‘The Ashtray,’ and ‘Donald and His Dreamcoat’ (see below).
2. ‘Escaping the Wives Club and Other Stories’ (24 stories; 53,000 words)
Tarzan discovers a lost valley of British pub-goers in the jungle in the satire ‘Tarzan and the Valley of the Smokers’; a city trader eyes up a replacement for his wife in ‘Escaping the Wives Club’; an old man goes to heaven to look for his brother who died many years before in ‘We’ll Meet Again in Heaven’; and a lawyer becomes obsessed with his neighbours in the psychological thriller ‘Commuter Boy.’ Includes ‘The South Wind and the North Wind’ (see below).
3. ‘To the Bridge and Other Stories’ (25 stories; 57,000 words)
A time traveller from 1860 joins modern students in ‘Housemates’; a career woman gets her wishes granted in ‘Teeth’; a couple are preserved forever in ‘The Look’; a party on a beach yields visions in ‘White Building’; and a student tries to find answers to the disappearance of his friends in the horror ‘To the Bridge.’ Twenty-five stories, lots to enjoy. Includes ‘Propagate or Die’ (see below).
Published Short Stories:
‘Energy Thieves’
Five assumptions about attractiveness, relaxation, youth, ageing and groupthink are challenged in a sequence of dialogues. Published in Ambit Magazine issue 235 in January 2019 (Link) and in Best British Short Stories 2020 in October 2020 (Link).
‘The South Wind and the North Wind’
A man feels his connection to the land through his experience of the four seasons of the year. Published in Dawntreader Magazine issue 56 in October 2021 (Link).
‘Propagate or Die’
An elderly lady worries about the future of her granddaughters in their brave new world. Published in Every Day Fiction in March 2024 (Link).
‘The Ashtray’
A captain in the Austrian army escapes execution during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and heads for the new world of America. Published in Sundial Magazine in April 2025 (Link).
‘Donald and His Dreamcoat’
A British diplomat swaps souls with a colleague in the Moroccan desert. Published in The Brussels Review in September 2025 (Link).