Tag: fiction

noir, social realism4 Comments

Indie Authors Linda MacDonald & Cathryn Grant

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I am not really a reviewer so I am stopping short of calling this a book review – and in any case, it concerns five books at least so we’d be here all day. Instead, I’m going to just talk about two indie authors – one American, the other British – both of whom write about relationships in a way that takes the reader right inside the characters, following every introspective argument, uncertainty, dilemma, and impactful resolution. Beyond that, they are chalk and cheese. Cathryn Grant writes suburban noir and introduces me to people with whom I have nothing in … Continue reading Indie Authors Linda MacDonald & Cathryn Grant

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‘How the Fat Fairies Saved the World’

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

An antidote to the recent leg-crosser, Fat Fairies is another sideways look at how the universe works – maybe. In Zouch Magazine today: Back in the day, Fat Fairy’s life was an unmitigated misery; at least during the episodes not involving jam sponge or double cheese pizza. She was surrounded by gaggles of thin, twinkly fairies who flitted and flounced through the air on gossamer wings, while her wings were more like the carapace of a large bug. Read More: http://zouchmagazine.com/fiction-how-the-fat-fairies-saved-the-world-dr-suzanne-conboy-hill-short-story-month/#ixzz32oYiOyJT Continue reading ‘How the Fat Fairies Saved the World’

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publish fiction, writing9 Comments

When it’s better not to be shortlisted

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Recently, I failed to make the short list in a competition* I had entered. It’s not the first time by a long chalk, nor is rejection by publishers or requests for revisions to something I thought was fine in its first iteration (often it turned out better in the end which reflects well on the editorial critique), so when I say I’m actually quite relieved, it isn’t a defensive swipe at the ones that made it. Maybe you’ve found yourself in this position too: you enter in good faith, you’re shortlisted, you cheer. Then you read the stories you’re shortlisted … Continue reading When it’s better not to be shortlisted

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short story4 Comments

Puddles Like Pillows – Lascaux Finalist

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Finalist in the 2013 Lascaux Short Story competition. ‘Puddles like Pillows’, is a little piece of speculative fiction in which gravity suddenly reverses its influence. Published byZouch Magazine, August 28th, 2013, it is still on the Editors Choice list today. After a while, with the streets and parks getting less cluttered, it started to look as if some cosmic recycler had dropped by to tidy us up. So then people stopped using the bins and just hung about with their cameras waiting for their banana skin or whatever to take off. Just a little bit pleased.   Full Text Puddles … Continue reading Puddles Like Pillows – Lascaux Finalist

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Writing Fiction: Raising the Bar

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Originally posted on paulgapper:
Forgive the irony, but sometimes you’ve got to grab a cliché with both hands.  In Brain Pickings Weekly recently, they summarised the findings of Daniel Goleman in his book The Hidden Driver of Excellence.  In short, he concludes that, contrary to received wisdom, just practising a new skills for ten thousand hours isn’t enough to become a genius.  It needs to be a deliberate attempt to improve, often concentrating on just one aspect at a time.  (And to keep that open to feedback.)  As Stanley Donen, director of Singing in the Rain has said, ‘Talent is… Continue reading Writing Fiction: Raising the Bar

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‘No Animals …’ – the story behind the story

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

I had just started writing this when I saw that the author of Digging Deep, which followed mine on EDF, had done exactly the same thing. His account of the genesis of his story lets us into the history of it, the emotional drive, and also the subtext that, for better or for worse, is so often implied rather than exposed in very short fiction. Aaron Polson wrote in his blog about the intensity of feeling that underpinned Digging Deep because he wanted us to know, I imagine, how deeply he felt that connection. It is important to him and … Continue reading ‘No Animals …’ – the story behind the story

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It’s a Dog Day on Ether

Suzanne Conboy-Hill

Dog Day Within the hour, all four were done up like dogs’ dinners, installed in a stretch limo with cheesy piped music, and deposited in front of a gilded reverend of questionable denomination. ‘Dog Day’ is the story of an easy marriage that rumbles along until the social wheels fall off. For Alice and Frank, this could be a breaking point. On Ether Books today. Continue reading It’s a Dog Day on Ether

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