Keeping Quiet by Victoria Watson

This is a doleful and melancholy tale. Victoria Watson charts the life of a woman born before the war. She manages to convey the details of a sad, lonely and sheltered life excellently. The main character is always caring and constantly keeping the peace between warring family members. Her domineering mother takes away her finest years day by painful day.

As downbeat as the story is, you are left feeling uplifted and grateful for what you have got in your own life. An extremely strong and reflective story from the author. If you read it in an environment that allows you to concentrate on the minutiae of the story it is a powerful and emotive exploration of the characters life. Victoria Watson continues to delight and surprise with the depth and variety of her writing. She is most definitely an author to watch out for.

Download Keeping Quiet HERE
You can find Victoria's blog HERE

Smoke by Nigel Bird

Ever since I first read Dirty Old Town by Nigel I have been a fan of his short stories. The collection which followed it Beat On The Brat only reinforced this feeling. When I heard that Nigel had a novella out I was excited at the prospect of reading it.  I wanted to see how Nigel would handle longer fiction and he didn’t disappoint me.

Bird brings us a unique flavour in the setting of the town of Tranent. Like most writers of his considerable talent you can’t quite put your finger on the singular thing that makes his writing unique. Smoke is Brit Grit at its very finest. Think in terms of Layer Cake or Snatch.

The story starts with Jimmy being humiliated at school and vowing revenge against his nemesis Sean Mulligan. Things go downhill for Jimmy very quickly from there. This is also the story of Carlo who we first saw in Nigel’s story An Arm And A Leg which appeared in The Mammoth Book Of Best British Crime 8.

The story is set in the middle of a huge dog fighting tournament and one or two scenes excellently convey the brutality of this horrendous pastime. I won’t grace it with the word sport.  Nigel’s writing often deals dark settings and damaged characters and this is particularly true for Smoke.  The two main characters in Smoke are physically damaged in different ways.  However, don’t let this put you off, always with Nigel’s fantastic writing there is humour and a nugget of hope. There is always a shot at redemption for these characters. The story is left open and we could possibly see the return of one of the characters in the future. I do hope so it would be great to see the setting of Tranent again.

I started off as a fan of Nigel Bird’s and my admiration for his work has only increased with the addition of Smoke to his portfolio.

Download Smoke HERE

The Longcroft Estate needs YOUR Talent!

Writers do you dare step into the shadowy alleyways of the Longcroft Estate? Will you go for a drink in the dingy Red Lion or the Rampant Horse? Maybe you could have a drunken snack in Kebab King. If you have been inspired by my tales from the Longcroft Estate you now have the opportunity to write your own story in this challenging setting. Trestle Press will publish your story as the fourth in the series. The third story Rowan’s Folly will be out in the very near future.

Stories ideally must be 2,000 words or preferably longer. However, shorter stories will be considered if they are excellent. A well as myself there are two independent judges who will read the submissions and judge the best. Those judges are talented writers Nick Quantrill and Nick Boldock so you know these guys have an eye for a great story. 

If there is more than one story that really shines for us then we will consider also integrating it into the series at a later date with the author's permission.

I’d encourage writers to reuse places and/or characters that have already appeared or at least been mentioned in the series but it is by no means mandatory.  Let your imagination roam the litter strewn streets of the Longcroft and hit us with your best shot.

Please send all submissions to: dazzasaint@gmail.com

Please put LONGCROFT STORY in the subject line. Closing date for submissions is 19th December 2011. If you have any questions then please address them to me via email.

If you are new to the Longcroft series you might like to download them to familiarise yourself with the setting. Please see the links below for information. Both stories are only 86p / $1.34 downloads.

Info on A Good Day HERE

Info on Community Spirit HERE

Blood Guilt by Ben Cheetham

This is the first novel I have read by Ben Cheetham and it won't be the last. Blood Guilt is a cracking page turner of a thriller. I found it well written, suspenseful and above all believable. Cheetham whilst cranking up the tension never once over does it. The dialogue is snappy, clever and again totally believable.

Blood Guilt is, I feel, as well as being an excellent story an exploration into the what if. By this I mean what if your own life turned to crap due to one event? What if you had nothing to lose and let the darker side of your character roam around and seek vengeance where in order to atone for guilt? Cheetham managed to engage me totally with the story

Harlan is desperate to make amends for killing a man and he puts aside everything else in his life in his quest to help the widow. He crosses the line again and again. I found my frustrations mounting with Harlan, the central character, as he felt the need to punish himself time and again. I felt sympathy for his partner, Eve, as she was knocked back again and again by Harlan's self-destructive actions and yet despite this remains devoted to him. Ben Cheetham proved himself a fine story teller and I became a fan after reading this novel.

The author doesn’t bog down the text with too much descriptive dialogue. He chooses instead to add it when it is needed most and this makes Blood Guilt a gratifying read. 

On the whole a fine tale well told and one I would recommend to lovers of good thrillers. Cheetham is an author to watch and I hope he gets the success he deserves with this excellent thriller.

Download Blood Guilt HERE

Find out more about Ben on Good Reads HERE
Find Ben on Twitter as @Ben_CheethamUK

The Writing On The Wall By Julie Morrigan

Julie Morrigan once again proves that not only is she talented but she is also versatile. I've read three titles by Morrigan this year and quite frankly any of them is worthy to have pride of place on the shelves of a major book retailer as opposed to the tiny digital coffin that is the modern e-reading device.

Morrigan deserves all the success that a major publishing contract might bring. However, as with Andy DuFrane from the Shawshank Redemption some birds should not be caged as their feathers are just too bright. The diversity Morrigan has brought us with her titles this year would not be allowed by a dollar obsessed traditional publisher that is of course totally their loss and our gain.  This reader for one is overjoyed that she self-publishes her work. Released in time for Halloween the Writing On The Wall brings us several chilling tales.

Shadow Man - A straightforward chiller that does a great job of suggesting more than it shows in classic horror tale style.

The Black Dog - A contender for my favourite of the collection. Artefacts such as books contain power as we learn from this brilliantly told tale.

Chocolate Button Eyes - One to make you shudder and proof if ever it were needed that danger does not always emanate from a masculine source.

So Many Summers - A story that left me melancholy as it did a great job of reinforcing the brutality of life. As always with the best stories a clever twist ensures you remain captivated throughout.

The Project - A short intelligently told tale in which we learn that torment can come from unlikely and distant sources.

Seasons Of The Witch - A tale that is written in the style of a modern fairy tale and proves very effective indeed. Fabulously compelling.

The Writing On The Wall - The set piece of and title story for the entire collection. I read this and found that it was so well written it was almost 3D HD. A very "cinematically" written story which frankly could be made into an excellent movie. I am in awe of Morrigan's talents.

Frigid Air - A guest appearance by Steven Miscandlon who edited, proof read and carried out graphic design work on the cover. He proves to be a fine writer too in this great tale. I most liked the wit and humour that he carefully wove into the narrative like little chuckle mines in a minefield awaiting a hapless foot to step on them. A fine story well told.

Download The Writing On The Wall HERE

If you haven't already check out the following titles by Julie Morrigan:
Gone Bad - A collection of short stories featuring dark deeds.
Convictions - Julie's Debut Thriller Novel
Heartbreaker - Julie's latest novel released in October 2011.

I Should Have Seen It Coming by Victoria Watson

Victoria Watson is one of Trestle Press’s newest signings. She impressed me greatly with this excellent story.  Written in the first person Watson unveils the story of a woman who has fallen upon hard times.

The woman finds a deck of tarot cards and the next thing you know she is called Jacqueline Stargazer and is making plenty of money fraudulently.  If you mess with karma you soon find things don’t go your way.  So it is for our central character.

Watson has most definitely found a strong voice for this story and we find that we are sympathetic with the main character throughout. She managed to pack plenty into this short story and it is clear that she is an accomplished and very competent writer.  This tale although told in the first person never for one moment became dull or uninteresting she keeps it real and believable.

You would be hard pressed to find fault with the internal dialogue described by Watson it struck a chord as being a genuine thought process and as any writer knows that is a hard thing to achieve. I’ll be looking out for more from the talented Victoria Watson.

Catch Victoria's blog HERE
Download her story (Only 86p!) HERE

Liverpool 5 by Luca Veste

Luca Veste sprang onto the writing scene earlier this year like a scouse gazelle on steroids.  He very quickly established a good name for himself with his excellent blog Guilty Conscience

Liverpool 5 is a collection of five flash fiction stories. The stories are set in and around the great city of Liverpool. The stories are about life, death and the wafer thin relationship between the two to quote Luca.
I’ll discuss each story in the order it appears in the collection. As this is flash fiction I’ll try to generalise so that I don’t give anything away.

Dreams – This story is perhaps my favourite of the collection. Luca makes a great point about life, friendship and relationships in this story. A heart warming and beautifully melancholy tale.

Model Behaviour – Social networks come under a lot of scrutiny.  On the news you hear mainly negative things.  But what if someone used it to reach out to you in a time of crisis? A fantastic observational story that makes you think.

Heavy Sleeper – Now a couple of years ago I slept through an earthquake.  This story sent a chill down my spine because I am a heavy sleeper.  An excellent and darkly chilling tale.

Peeling Spuds – A tyrant of a husband.  A selfish pig who cares about nothing and no one but himself. Everyone has their breaking point right? Eloquently related from the start and with a very clever twist.

He Ain’t Heavy – A tale of two brothers whose lives take them in two different directions which could turn out to have potentially dire consequences.

What Luca Veste does best is give you everyday situations and make them interesting. He has the gift of the storyteller and you find yourself racing to get to the end of each story to see how it turns out. He has an uncomplicated style of writing and that is not a criticism.  He uses this style to great effect to engage and hook the reader expertly.

Trestle Press have once again signed up a cracking writer who I have no doubt will turn out to be the Steven Gerrard of their squad. Strong, solid always reliable and a great finisher.

Download Liverpool 5 for only 86p HERE