Books | Penstricken

How to Help Your Audience Suspend Disbelief

Posted on May 21, 2021 Leave a Comment

You as the writer have a responsibility to write a story which makes it easy for the audience to suspend their disbelief…. The issue is not one of what is possible. The issue is of what is likely.

What Should I Spend My Waterstones Vouchers On?

Posted on May 19, 2021 1 Comment

I’m calling on you, dear reader, to help me decide what to buy from Waterstones this year (while reserving the right to ignore all your suggestions if I don’t like them).

Horror Clichés and How To Avoid Them

Posted on May 8, 2021 Leave a Comment

Well, we’re getting near the end of our series on genre clichés and how to avoid them. Today it’s all about horror.

Romance Clichés and How to Avoid Them

Posted on May 7, 2021 Leave a Comment

I’m just going to come right out and say it: love stories really aren’t my thing…. Nevertheless, romance is a major genre of fiction and we are right in the middle of a series on genre clichés and how to avoid them so it seemed only right for me to take a stab at this anyway. So here goes nothing.

Sci-Fi Clichés and How to Avoid Them

Posted on May 6, 2021 Leave a Comment

For those of you who haven’t read the previous post, get over there and read it for even more sci-fi cliché goodness. But first, and without further ado, I give you today’s top three sci-fi clichés…

Mystery Clichés and How to Avoid Them

Posted on May 5, 2021 Leave a Comment

Mystery Clichés and How to Avoid Them #NewPost #fiction #stories #writing #writetip #writingtip #amwriting #genre #mystery

Fantasy Clichés and How to Avoid Them

Posted on May 4, 2021 Leave a Comment

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve done a series of posts on any subject so I decided it was about time for another one: this time focusing on all your favourite genre clichés and how to avoid them.

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.