Creative Book of 10 Best Short Stories Read online

  Our family love music and two of our daughters share my passion for dance and Ballet.

  I really admire writers such as Steven King, Philip Pullman and JK Rowling, for their ability to evoke pictures and emotion simultaneously. I have a long way to go, but I dream that one day I will achieve their level of skill. This autumn our youngest disappeared off to University, leaving us alone with our 2 Labradors. Instead of snatching moments to write, I hope to fill an empty nest with the many stories in my head which want to burst out on to the page. If I could provoke a single tear, a smile or a memory, then I would be gratified.

  Writing is not just a want, but a need, like breathing in air. I write every day … someone once told me it’s good for the soul.

  BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

  GEORGE R MITCHELL

  George R Mitchell was born in Aberdeen. He has so far spent most of his adult life working in theatre and dance, running his own successful company for many years. During this time, George has had four of his own productions highly praised in the London Stage newspaper and has been quoted as being one of the UK’s most innovative freelance Rhythm Tap choreographers.

  However, after feeling he had achieved what he set out to do and always one to keep evolving, George in early 2011 finally hung up his shoes on his old career which he now refers to as his parallel universe.

  With a very keen interest in the politics of life, George has a huge passion to explore the world and take in all that it entails. Over the past eighteen years he has spent much time working and living abroad has extensively travelled in over 65 countries, keeping numerous diaries about his adventures.

  The more off the grid travels George undertakes, the more invaluable experiences and situations he encounters that give him tremendous inspiration to write. It’s with these unique insights and his insatiable appetite to learn about real people that he intends to base his future writings on.

  BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

  JULIE WONG

  Watching slam poets performing on Youtube, which sadly is the closest I’ve ever gotten to one, I’ve always aspired to be one of the following: a professional fiction writer, a slam poet, or a guitarist. As for guitar, I’ve always lacked the skills people could label as endowed and even worst, the perseverance that would blind anyone to that absence. As a slam poet, I felt compelled to throw myself off the stage whenever I found myself standing near, on, or about to enter a spotlight. This included the center of a classroom or burping in the middle of a ceremony. As an amateur writer I found the editing process tedious and the process of putting the words down on paper even more difficult. But that didn’t stop the dreams and the thoughts from running through my mind.

  What claimed the end of my tirade against the skinny attempts I made at the craft of word was ultimately, the force of inspiration. A fiction writer, to be truthful, has the perfect job in concept. My heroes and heroines could be slam poets or guitarists. Writing their adventures would be vicarious to me as living different lives in a single lifetime would be. True, the misuse of a single word might be a felony, but if you have those dreams and well, a computer, what is your excuse not to write?

  I believe it is the duty of the writer to express him or herself. It is her job to enter the controversial fray and it is his job to provide a faraway plane where a fictional character shares parallel obstacles to the reader, who seeks solace in a world often fraught with more misery than award. In my mind, it is the job of the fantasy writer to create a world separate from ours so that we can depart from our Earth for the realms of the impossible even if it is only to cherish those childhood memories one last time, find sanctuary in what seems to be a psychological impasse, or to keep alive a dream that many share. Or at least, that is how it is in my mind.

  BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

  SMRITI KRISHNAN

  Smriti Krishnan lives in the United States.

  She is of Asian-Indian heritage, and is very proud of her heritage.

  She lives with her parents and younger sister.

  She is extremely involved with school, especially organizations such as Amnesty International and Key Club.

  She enjoys learning new languages, learning about other cultures, and campaigning for the prevention of injustice, such as infanticide and political prisoners, as part of Amnesty International.

  She loves her family, loves to dance, and is an avid reader and writer.

  BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

  KEVIN ALLEN

  Kevin Allen is an author and poet who started out on a different path. While pursuing an engineering degree at Camden County College, he felt more comfortable in English class than he did in other courses for his major. After finding a talent for creative and technical writing, his interest grew. His English professor noticed a spark in his creativity and brought attention to his affinity for writing. Although he ignored his professor’s initial suggestion to explore writing as a possible career, he eventually overcame his stubbornness and decided to take his professor’s advice by switching his major to English.

  Drawn toward crafting tales of thriller and suspense, Kevin’s main goal is to connect with the reader by creating an account that is easy to follow while remaining somewhat unpredictable. His approach to constructing a story is comparable to a chef agonizing over the details of his presentation after cooking a delicious meal. He methodically prepares satisfying, attention-gripping stories by immersing his fiction in facts. He allows his concept to develop naturally, adding just the right ingredients at the proper time to create a savory tale. The result is always an enjoyable story aimed at mesmerizing his audience.

  Kevin finds inspiration in highlighting the struggle of humanity in order to captivate the reader’s emotions. While working from the idea that no one is perfect, he likes his characters to exhibit their flaws. He believes a writer’s strength comes from embracing the dueling sides of good and evil displayed within a person’s soul. Trying to enhance his audience’s experience, he links the character’s actions and feelings with various similes and metaphors to make the story more visual. By placing his characters in believable situations, he causes the reader to question whether the story is actually fiction.

  BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

  CHRIS BARNHAM

  Chris Barnham's stories deal with the chills - either supernatural or more commonplace - that seep into everyday life, usually set in the darker corners of urban south London, where he lives with his scary wife and three tolerant children. Chris has been a teacher, lead singer in a long-forgotten punk band and a government official in Whitehall. He has not yet however been a lumberjack, short-order cook, or any of that Ernest Hemingway kind of stuff.

  He has published a variety of short stories over several years, usually with an urban noir flavour, and is now concentrating more on full-length fiction. He is currently seeking a publisher for two very different novels. The first is Among the Living, a hybrid of modern vampire story, historical novel with a twist, and the story of how far a man will go to recover the thing he most loves. The book grew out of a much-loved story published years ago in the Pan Book of Horror series. The other book is called Fifty One, in which a time-travelling policeman from 2040 goes rogue in World War Two London to save the woman he loves from dying in the explosion of a German flying bomb that killed 51 people in a London street market in 1944.

  BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

  STEVE WILSON

  Although always interested in the written word, I didn’t consider writing until my late 30s, when an idea for a novel formed. I wrote the first chapter in an exercise book – and then left it, for almost ten years. It was 2000 before I came across the discarded first chapter, transferred it onto my PC, and spent the next few months completing the first version. Over the next three years, the novel became a trilogy, but, in 2004, I again came to a stop with my writing.

  It was only when I joined a writing group in 2007 that I began to write regularly. Since then, I have written well over a hundred short stories,
one novella, and I have also registered for the November Novel Writing Month this year, where I hope to write the first 50,000 words of a new novel during the 30 calendar days.

  I don’t concentrate solely on fiction, and have written a number of sport-related books from the point of view of a spectator attending various events across Europe.

  The writing group I currently attend meet weekly in Lytham, in a relaxed atmosphere in a town-centre pub. Each week, we set ourselves ‘homework’ (the group was founded by members of a creative writing class, and we still refer to our sessions as ‘in class’) based on a variety of random prompts. Generally, I prefer the ‘twist in the tale’ type of story, but I try and vary my output to avoid becoming too predictable.

  And so to “The King’s Speech”. The prompts for the week were The Return of the King; the Green Lantern; whatever happened to Teddy? For some reason, I thought of a story about Elvis’ return to England for a concert, only to find when I researched that he never actually performed here. But my research took me down new avenues, until I discovered that he had (allegedly) set foot in Britain twice around half a century ago. Some of the dialogue I attribute to Elvis has been derived from a daily newspaper report of his visit to Scotland.

  I probably enjoy researching the stories as much as writing them. I always try and come up with something that is factually accurate, and have learnt many things which otherwise would have passed me by (Elvis being just one example).

  As to ‘what next’ – well, I just want to continue doing what I enjoy, writing each week. I did study on a Masters course in Creative Writing a few years ago, taking it as far as achieving a Post-Graduate Certificate, and I would like to perhaps resume the course one day and continue it to completion. The parts of the course I enjoyed most were the associated reading elements, which reintroduced me to the poets, classics and Shakespeare, but at an age where I was able to appreciate and enjoy them rather than resent their existence (which I did when force-fed them as a schoolboy).

  ANDREW'S DESTINY

  Why the hell did I kiss her! Why couldn't I have used some self- control? But how was I to know she would throw herself into my arms as soon as I walked into the room - how was I to know she would kiss me with such passion? All I assumed she wanted was a hug, not for me to turn her innocent kiss into something hot and passionate but when I felt her in my arms, pulling me closer and kissing me - I was lost.

  For the first time in seventeen years I was pleased. Barbara, my wife, had come home. You will have first encountered Andrew Bennett in Diana Daneri's first novel 'Kristina's Destiny' - here is Andrew's story. Unwanted and unloved, at the age of fifteen circumstances force him to run away.

  Also available to order from many online retail outlets including:

  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrews-Destiny-Diana-Daneri/dp/0956853528

  THE LINCOLN LETTER

  Hidden deep within the annals of American history lies a secret so devastating, it could put an end to the “United” States forever. A letter, written by President Abraham Lincoln himself, concedes the Civil War and grants autonomy to the Confederate States of America. Michelle Hooper and her son Aiden pack up to go away on a weekend of historical entertainment in the little town of Gettysburg and find themselves instead the guardians of a secret document that threatens the very future of the country they hold so dear.

  Also available to order from many online retail outlets.

  http://www.creativeprintpublishing.com/publishing/bakery/the-lincoln-letter-141.php

  THE SHADOW LINE & THE SECRET SHARER

  The Shadow-Line is a short novel based at sea by Joseph Conrad.

  The novella depicts the development of a young man upon taking a captaincy in the Orient.

  The Secret Sharer is a short story by Joseph Conrad written in 1909. The story takes place at sea, near the Gulf of Siam, and is told from the perspective of a young nameless Captain. The captain is unfamiliar with both his ship and his crew, having only joined their company a fortnight earlier.

  Also available to order from many online retail outlets including:

  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shadow-Line-Secret-Sharer/dp/0956853501

  TO HOLD A STORM

  A British man, Daniel Moorcroft, disappears in to the Canadian Wilderness. Why has he decided to flee society? What do the strange encounters with the bears and the wolves mean?

  As we learn more about the troubled and brutal background of Daniel Moorcroft we realise that he has some very profound problems, some of these are personal and some are shared by the whole world.

  I have spent my adult life fighting a war that is not my own; a war that still continues and whose modest aims are to increase the lifespan of our present way of life. This is a system which is unjustifiable, unreasonable and soon to collapse anyway. Ordered into battle by those with the most to gain, it is myself and my colleagues that have had the most to lose. I have killed many people. Few of them deserved to die, though most would have killed me in preference to dying themselves. But I have also killed the utterly innocent. This was part of my job, necessary and unavoidable.

  As Daniels adventures become increasingly serious it becomes obvious he cannot hide from his past, even in the vast emptiness of the Canadian Wilderness.

  Titles from Creative Print Publishing Ltd

  Fiction

  The Shadow Line & The Secret Sharer Joseph Conrad

  ISBN 978-0-9568535-0-9

  Kristina's Destiny Diana Daneri

  ISBN 978-0-9568535-1-6

  Andrew's Destiny Diana Daneri

  ISBN 978-0-9568535-2-3

  To Hold A Storm Chris Green

  ISBN 978-0-9568535-3-0

  The Lincoln Letter Gretchen Elhassani

  ISBN 978-0-9568535-4-7

  Contacting Creative Print Publishing Ltd

  w: http://www.creativeprintpublishing.com

  e: [email protected]

  t: +44 (0)845 868 8430