I need a quiet place to write, a near-silent environment. I can just about take the low hum of a refrigerator, or the laptop’s electronic whirr. But a ticking clock will drive me up the very wall on which it hangs, a buzzing fly can have my concentration broken in mere seconds. Outside jackhammers, thunder … Continue reading My Music, My Motor by Colin O’Sullivan
Soundtrack for Maiko Moans by Colin O’Sullivan
Excerpt from Maiko Moans by Colin O’Sullivan
What Maiko remembers most is how plain the girl was, yet how much effort she had put in to surmount all that. She hadn’t much to go on. Her head seemed too big for her body, her shoulders too rounded, as if she shied of her own being and was forever pulling inward on herself; … Continue reading Excerpt from Maiko Moans by Colin O’Sullivan
Maeve, 1979
EXCERPT FROM A GOOD ENOUGH MOTHER She stepped away from me. ‘And now I’m going downstairs to make dinner. We’ll get you sorted tomorrow with clothes and whatever else you need. In the meantime,’ – she reached over to the dressing table and picked up something from a small glass dish – ‘you might want … Continue reading Maeve, 1979
EILEEN, 1960
EXCERPT FROM A GOOD ENOUGH MOTHER When the train pulls into Euston Station, I wake with a jerk. I wake in the same way now, all these decades later, after one of my bad dreams. They always start at the same place: seeing myself as I step out onto that platform, into the freezing, clattery … Continue reading EILEEN, 1960
MAEVE 1979
EXCERPT FROM A GOOD ENOUGH MOTHER Monaghan Joanie was barely fourteen. They had taken her baby from her while she slept. Sometime during the night, a couple of weeks earlier, they’d slipped into the nursery and taken him. One of the other girls, Grace, had awoken to the sound of their habits, shushing across the … Continue reading MAEVE 1979
A Foretaste of Venice
Here is an excerpt from A Long Day in Venice, published in Latin American Literature Today. Enjoy a foretaste of Venice! https://latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/2022/06/an-excerpt-from-a-long-day-in-venice-by-abel-posse-translated-by-george-henson/?fbclid=IwAR32MPS_N-Yg1vkNCfGXTx25kz3jR91jEiI6YrtHkTI-e7SBSysnvPvDQl0
Excerpt from THE TRUE STORY OF BINDERELLA AND OTHER SECRET SIBLINGS by Colin O’Sullivan
Excerpt from “Binderella, the girl who lives in a dustbin”, the first tale from THE TRUE STORY OF BINDERELLA AND OTHER SECRET SIBLINGS by Colin O’Sullivan
Award-winning short story by David Hogan
Congratulations to David Hogan for winning the 2nd place in the 2020 San Diego Public Library Short Story Contest! Betimes Books published Hogan’s debut novel, The Last Island, in 2013. The novel was a finalist in the San Diego Book Awards, and the e-book version was a bestseller in Australia and the U.K. Hogan's stage … Continue reading Award-winning short story by David Hogan
Excerpt from SOUL CATCHER, a novel by Dimitri Bortnikov
Translated from the French (Repas de morts) by Svetlana Pironko, in collaboration with Dimitri Bortnikov. Coming out on October 26, 2020 ...................................................“She was bringing waterlilies. From a good distance. Long stems. Long… In her mouth. She was swimming like a long replete reptile. I was making waterlily crowns. Garlands… She was wrapping herself into the … Continue reading Excerpt from SOUL CATCHER, a novel by Dimitri Bortnikov
“An intelligent novel that twists your gut.”
We are thrilled to share another wonderful new review for a 'backlist' title - a proof that great books don't have a 'use-by' date! REACH THE SHINING RIVER by Kevin Stevens in NB Magazine Stevens has written a grippingly sinister murder mystery that oozes menace and violence. Reach the Shining River captures the deeply corrupt … Continue reading “An intelligent novel that twists your gut.”
A beautifully creepy new short story from Colin O’Sullivan
Dear Readers, This is a dark and creepy season. To cheer you up, Colin O'Sullivan offers you this new story, "The Shadow Babes" It might be scary, but it ends well. Click on the image and enjoy!
A tribute to Aretha Franklin
As a small tribute to Aretha Franklin, this excerpt from Reach the Shining River, a novel by Kevin Stevens, writer and jazz connoisseur: "A full house was tough on the nerves but easier to gather and please. If you knew what you were doing, and Arlene did. Had known from the beginning when, eleven years … Continue reading A tribute to Aretha Franklin
Is your home robot cute?
Another short excerpt from Colin O'Sullivan's new novel, THE DARK MANUAL, for your enjoyment: “Where’s your ‘bot?” “It’s shut down for the evening. I’m sick to death of listening to the fucking thing.” “Oh, bring him in. I want to see him.” Susie hates the personal pronoun. Calling it a him. Zen was a he. … Continue reading Is your home robot cute?
Excerpt from “The Dark Manual” by Colin O’Sullivan
From Chapter 3: Susie suddenly lashes out, sending the cereal bowl flying from the counter out into kitchen space. It smashes to pieces against a side cupboard and lays silent on the floor in thick white shards. “Turn it off,” she shouts. “Yes, Miss Susie.” The grey woman on the grey beach vanishes and there … Continue reading Excerpt from “The Dark Manual” by Colin O’Sullivan
Video extract from “The Starved Lover Sings”
This novel is O’Sullivan’s second, after Killarney Blues, published by Betimes Books in 2013. It takes place in a world transformed by disaster: earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, nationalist and corporate mergers, roaming wolves. The Starved Lover Sings is a fever dream of a world at the end of its rope. Our protagonist, and in many chapters … Continue reading Video extract from “The Starved Lover Sings”
Love and Death: What else is worth writing about?
Dearest Followers and Readers, If you haven't discovered Patricia Ketola yet, you are missing out on a truly original new voice. If you are weary of pre-formatted fiction, you simply MUST read Dirty Pictures! Patricia KETOLA’s flamboyant characters play a delightfully witty game where death and desire are intertwined. Rebellious, stylish and eccentric, like its … Continue reading Love and Death: What else is worth writing about?
“Corrida de Toros”, a short story by Sam Hawken
"He wanted to be out of Mexico, and he never wanted to come back." This story is part of our anthology BORDERLAND NOIR, edited by Craig McDonald Read the story here: http://www.samhawken.com/?p=10948#more-10948
Free climbing: excerpt from DIRTY PICTURES
Patricia Ketola's novel Dirty Pictures is about artistic daredevilry. It is a cultural romp, peopled by musicians, painters and performance artists, and it conceptualizes a world in which the older artistic traditions manage to embrace the younger, more conceptual definitions of art. From stolen Rembrandts, to gypsy jazz, to free-climbing, Dirty Pictures celebrates all forms of self-expression and … Continue reading Free climbing: excerpt from DIRTY PICTURES
Christmas at Le Select
“Dream as if you’ll live forever; Live as if you’ll die tomorrow.” CHRISTMAS 1924 “Christmas is a holiday that persecutes the lonely, the frayed and the rejected.” —Jimmy Cannon PARIS Hector & Victoria It was warm and crowded in the café. The liquor was flowing and everyone was laughing and wishing one another a Happy … Continue reading Christmas at Le Select
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