The author, his writing and more
The local boys are toying with their guns down at the shooting range, their pot shots echoing like whip cracks off the hills around. They’ve been let out for the first time since the pandemic had them rushing for cover. Overcome by an urge to celebrate, they’re firing off a round or ten.… Read more
I have just recorded an audio version of my flash fiction, Oratorio for a Wreck. Inspired by the work of Dirk Maggs who directed and crafted the sound of the BBC radio production of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere as well as Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, I tried experimenting with multilevel soundscapes.… Read more
I hadn’t written a piece of flash fiction for a while. An encounter early this morning with an old lady inspired this new short story entitled Where was I?
Where did I put that paper? It was in here somewhere. What a mess.… Read more
Read my new flash fiction: Umbrella People. Here’s a brief extract:
Rain patters on the flagstones that pave the square. Rivulets of water converge forming ever growing puddles, till the place resembles an immense lagoon bordered by a forest of pillars curving upwards, arching protective over tables huddled like bedraggled lambs.… Read more
Off Shoots 13 was officially launched today at a special event in Geneva organised by the Geneva Writers Group. In this publication you will find one of my short stories entitled The Light Knows No Secrets. Here are the opening lines:
“What did you say, Sandy?”… Read more
Read more of Alan McCluskey’s short story, The Complex Weaver.… Read more
Branched out into SciFi with this flash fiction entitled, Encountered. Here’s the beginning:
The whir of colour wheels settled and a familiar sinking announced the return to gravity. Ahead the docking station took shape. AT381. Home. He let out a deep shuddery breath.… Read more
Read my latest short story called Flowerpot Scientists, inspired by a strange conversation with Ginger. Here’s the first sentence:
“No. I insist. They hide under flowerpots,” she says, draining most of her cup, turning it upside down and placing it dripping over a solitary sugar lump… (Read on)… Read more
Read Alan McCluskey’s new short story: Devouring Folk Tales. Here’s a short extract:
Something went wrong, dreadfully wrong, once upon a time.
Von stood alone on a broad open plain, hills of pink dust rolling away in every direction. The sun blazed high in the sky causing waves of heat to ripple over the desert making it look as if it throbbed.… Read more
