Penstricken
Andrew Ferguson – Author
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Get Your Copy of Penstricken: Collected Stories!
Posted on May 1, 2021 Leave a Comment
There are short stories, there are very short stories and then there is flash fiction: the delicate and often tricky art of telling a story in as few words as possible.The stories in this tiny little book (all originally published between 2015 and 2020 on the fiction blog, Penstricken) are deliberate exercises in brevity.
In total, this book contains twelve flash fictions ranging from fifty to 2,000 words apiece, plus six collections of six word stories.
While these stories vary in mood and genre, you will find in many that the author’s tongue was firmly entrenched in his cheek; whether it be in the brief tale of a Martian liberating his ‘kin’ from the deep fat fryer of a Glasgow chip shop or the nightmarish tragedy of Santa Claus’ true genesis, Penstricken: Collected Stories is a brief snapshot of one writer’s meandering imagination.
Spotlight: Chino & The Boy Scouts by Nancet Marques
Posted on March 8, 2021 Leave a Comment
Chino and the Boy Scouts introduces the mysterious world of Summerhill, a western island state with high immigration from the world over and a mysterious connection to India…. What at first seems like a fun, if academically hazardous venture, spirals more and more into a world of danger and magic, as the school’s hidden past and depths reveal themselves to the ironically unprepared scouts
Penstricken: Collected Stories by Andrew Ferguson – Out Now!
Posted on February 18, 2021 Leave a Comment
There are short stories, there are very short stories and then there is flash fiction: the delicate and often tricky art of telling a story in as few words as possible.The stories in this tiny little book (all originally published between 2015 and 2020 on the fiction blog, Penstricken) are deliberate exercises in brevity.
In total, this book contains twelve flash fictions ranging from fifty to 2,000 words apiece, plus six collections of six word stories.
While these stories vary in mood and genre, you will find in many that the author’s tongue was firmly entrenched in his cheek; whether it be in the brief tale of a Martian liberating his ‘kin’ from the deep fat fryer of a Glasgow chip shop or the nightmarish tragedy of Santa Claus’ true genesis, Penstricken: Collected Stories is a brief snapshot of one writer’s meandering imagination.
Penstricken: Collected Stories by Andrew Ferguson – Out Now!
Posted on January 23, 2021 Leave a Comment
There are short stories, there are very short stories and then there is flash fiction: the delicate and often tricky art of telling a story in as few words as possible.The stories in this tiny little book (all originally published between 2015 and 2020 on the fiction blog, Penstricken) are deliberate exercises in brevity.
In total, this book contains twelve flash fictions ranging from fifty to 2,000 words apiece, plus six collections of six word stories.
While these stories vary in mood and genre, you will find in many that the author’s tongue was firmly entrenched in his cheek; whether it be in the brief tale of a Martian liberating his ‘kin’ from the deep fat fryer of a Glasgow chip shop or the nightmarish tragedy of Santa Claus’ true genesis, Penstricken: Collected Stories is a brief snapshot of one writer’s meandering imagination.
PENSTRICKEN: COLLECTED STORIES – OUT NOW!
Posted on December 19, 2020 Leave a Comment
There are short stories, there are very short stories and then there is flash fiction: the delicate and often tricky art of telling a story in as few words as possible.The stories in this tiny little book (all originally published between 2015 and 2020 on the fiction blog, Penstricken) are deliberate exercises in brevity.
In total, this book contains twelve flash fictions ranging from fifty to 2,000 words apiece, plus six collections of six word stories.
While these stories vary in mood and genre, you will find in many that the author’s tongue was firmly entrenched in his cheek; whether it be in the brief tale of a Martian liberating his ‘kin’ from the deep fat fryer of a Glasgow chip shop or the nightmarish tragedy of Santa Claus’ true genesis, Penstricken: Collected Stories is a brief snapshot of one writer’s meandering imagination.
Spotlight: Weeks by Jasyn T. Turley
Posted on November 10, 2020 Leave a Comment
Phil, Tim, and Dakota are three survivors taking refuge in Atlanta, Georgia. The year is 2027, ten years after a nuclear fallout decimated the known world and left it in shambles. With hordes of the undead flooding their once safe home and a city now depleted of all resources and supplies the three must make a daring gamble. To trek across the States and Canada, looking for a new place to call home; safe from the monsters that plague the lands. In their daring gamble this trio encounters more than just zombies. They are relentlessly pursued and hunted by both an old and new nemesis’. Trying to survive and stick together, no matter the odds, they must rely on their faith, bond, and past experiences to live through their tribulations. In this world, a fool’s chance is usually their only chance.
Spotlight: Love Offline by Olivia Spring
Posted on November 3, 2020 Leave a Comment
Emily’s Struggling To Find Romance Online. Will Ditching The Dating Apps Lead To True Love?
Online dating isn’t working for introvert Emily. Although she’s comfortable swiping right at home in her PJs, the idea of going out to meet a guy in person fills her with dread.
So when her best friend challenges her to ditch the apps, attend a load of awkward singles’ events and find love in real life, Emily wants to run for the hills.
Then she meets Josh. He’s handsome, kind and funny, but Emily’s had her heart crushed before and knows he’s hiding something…
Is Josh too good to be true? Can Emily learn to trust again and if she does, will it lead to love or more heartache?
Love Offline is a fun, sexy, entertaining story about friendship, stepping outside of your comfort zone and falling in love the old-fashioned way.
Spotlight: The Girl She Wanted by K.L. Slater
Posted on October 27, 2020 Leave a Comment
Alexa has always looked up to her older sister Carrie. Carrie lives in Alexa’s family home, and adores her one-year-old niece Florence. Alexa doesn’t know how they would cope without her. So when Carrie is suspended from her job as a senior nurse, accused of the most terrible crime, Alexa reels in disbelief. Alexa knows how caring Carrie is, and as she watches Florence gurgling and cooing whenever Carrie is around, she knows her little girl is in safe hands.
Alexa’s husband doesn’t trust Carrie. He wants her out of the house, unable to ignore what people are saying about her. But when he suggests that Carrie could be a danger to their daughter, Alexa shuts him out. Nobody will ever come between her and her sister.
Then Florence is hurt while in Carrie’s care and Alexa at last starts to wonder. Alexa has always wanted to protect Carrie from the past they have hidden. But does Alexa know what Carrie wants? And will the secret that has kept the sisters together now destroy her little girl?
Spotlight: Opposable by Kirk E. Hammond
Posted on October 20, 2020 Leave a Comment
The Arca Trochia; a shifty, omniscient mega-fungus two billion light years from Earth, impregnated Dr. Vanderbilt’s mind with Sparks; thought spores carrying ideas. The Sparks search the cosmos for other habitable planets and germinate in fertile minds. Once rooted, they create Spires; portals allowing for instantaneous travel between the two worlds.
The first Spark told Dr. Vanderbilt to document every detail of the Arca Trochia’s home world; Halteres. The second Spark told him to attach bionic, opposable thumbs onto his cats.
PAY ATTENTION. THIS IS SERIOUS.
The ambivalous Dr. V thinks these ideas are his, and what he’s too aloof to know, will kill us all.
EARTH’S FATE COULDN’T REST IN WORSE HANDS.
Can psychotic cyborg cats, a pyromaniac alien, the punk rock Veteran of Chemical Wars, a merc known as Lilac Vengeance, and a severed head convince the unwitting doctor that he and his cats hold the key to thwarting the imminent alien invasion?
It’ll take every gram of effort (and drugs) the multi-species cadre of rebels can score to knock some sense into Dr. V as they cut a swath of debauchery through the Rocky Mountains and Southwest on their way to head off the attack.
ALIENS, PREPARE TO ABDUCT SOME LEAD.
Spotlight: Point of Danger by Irene Hannon
Posted on October 13, 2020 Leave a Comment
Radio talk show host Eve Reilly is used to backlash from her pot-stirring on-air commentary and interviews, but now it seems a disgruntled listener is resorting to more than angry words to express their displeasure. When a suspicious package arrives on her doorstep, Eve turns to law enforcement for help.
Police detective Brent Lange can’t find any evidence to link the string of unsettling incidents that follows, but he’s convinced they’re connected. As the harassment grows more menacing, it becomes clear someone wants Eve’s voice silenced–permanently.
But unless he can track down her foe, fast, the gutsy woman who is willing to take risks for what she believes–and who is swiftly winning his heart–may not survive.
Penstricken 