I am moving from WordPress.com to WordPress.org (or it may be the other way around).
Followers of this site will no longer receive email updates – sorry chaps.
The good news is that if you head over to my new site, you can subscribe and keep up with any news or ideas I have.
Please do check out the new site – it’s looks much better than this one.
A short poem of mine ‘Run or Hide’ is to appear in the upcoming poetry anthology from Clarendon House Publications.
Cadence : The Inner Circle Writers’ Poetry Anthology 2018 will be available in a just a couple of weeks.
In other news this week, my story ‘Serve Cold’ has been accepted into the Flash Fiction Addiction anthology by Zombie Pirate Publishing.
The date is yet to be announced.
Staggering news.
My story ‘Sins of The Father’ has been voted the best story in Vortex, The Inner Circle Writers’ Group Literary Anthology 2018.
To say ‘I am absolutely stunned’ is an understatement.
The quality of storytelling in the anthology is astonishing. Many of the writers found in its pages have been writing for years and are used to being published. I was and still am a newbie.
I have my favourites from the book.
Interlude by L. T. Waterson was a dreamy story of forbidden love and new experiences.
Concrete by Bill Swiggs made me cry.
A Rock n Roll Song by Samantha Hamilton is the cleverest story and most beautifully written.
Kadee Rose by P. A. O’Neil was a slice of rodeo life.
Hey Demon I’ll Make You A Deal by Elizabeth Montague is a brilliant two hander between a woman and her doubts.
I Wish by Riham Adly will take your breath away.
Some of my favourite short story authors can be found inside, Steven Carr, Gary Bonn, Mehreen Ahmed and Carmen Baca to name few.
I could go on and on. I’m sure you get my meaning. Many if not all of the stories were, in my opinion, much better than my effort.
And to think, complete strangers thought mine was the best of the bunch, even after reading these fabulous stories by super talented writers.
Unbelievable – I am truly honoured.
The upshot is that the publisher, Clarendon House Publications, is giving me the opportunity to have my own anthology of short stories published.
Now the hard work begins, I have a lot to live up to.
You can get Vortex for your Kindle from Amazon
Or in paperback at Lulu
Great review of Vortex, that mentions my story ‘Sins of the Father’
I just finished Vortex. I must say it was like hosting a neighborhood potluck with all your friends bringing their ‘A’ dishes. I certainly skipped all the starchy food so as to leave room for the very best. I was not disappointed. Vortex, an anthology of literary fiction, is edited by Grant P. Hudson and published by the independent Clarendon House Publishing, based in Sheffield, England but it features authors from around the world.
by Mark Kodama
Content
I loved every story – the grand ideas and then execution of the grand ideas – the craftsmanship and beauty of the words. I think if a person only reads bestsellers and classic short story anthologies they are really missing out on a lot of great stories.
I had a favorite story in Vortex. It was “The Sins of the Father,” by David Bowmore. It was an absolute page turner and just…
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An excellent five star review of Vortex.
I just finished Vortex. I must say it was like hosting a neighborhood potluck with all your friends bringing their A dishes. I certainly skipped all the starchy food so as to leave room for the very best. I was not disappointed. Vortex, an anthology of literary fiction, is edited by Grant P. Hudson and published by the independent Clarendon House Publishing, based in Sheffield, England but it features authors from around the world.
I loved every story – the grand ideas and then execution of the grand ideas – the craftsmanship and beauty of the words. I think if a person only reads bestsellers and classic short stories anthologies they really missing out on a lot of great stories. I had a favorite story in Vortex, it was “The Sins of the Father” by David Bowmore. It was an absolute page turner and just a riveting story about a priest whose moral weaknesses were about to catch up with him.
Other jewels in the crown were “The Vanishing of M. Renior” by RLM Cooper, “Concrete” by Bill Swiggs, “Burnt Candle” by Marlon Hayes and “A Rock N’ Roll Song” by Samantha Hamilton. The stories all had grand ideas, a great soul to them and executions of their grand ideas were flawless.
“The Vanishing of M. Renior” is about a young American Magazine reporter in Paris, just before World War II who meets a true Parisian gentlemen M. Renior who takes him periodically for conversation and they develop a friendship. Later, M. Renior pretends not to know him. The puzzled reporter must evacuate to London before the shooting war begins. When he investigates a story about the child refugees fleeing to England, he discovers what a truly courageous gentlemen M. Renior is.
“Concrete” is about a Australian farmer who disowns his son for volunteering for the Army to fight in the Vietnam. The son is killed in action and wins a medal of valor. And still the father cannot forgive until a surviving war buddy of his son who was saved by his son comes to the farm. “Burned Candles” is about a close knit African American family in Chicago trying to heal from the memories of the violent shooting death of one son and the imprisonment of a second son for his revenge killing. What stands out most about this piece is the natural dialogue of the storyteller.
“Rock N’ Roll Song” is a story told from the point of view of a Rock N’ Roll song about a young talented rock star from Iowa who is destroyed by the fast paced life of instantaneous success. It is heart wrenching but at the same time exhilarating and certainly artistically bold and creative.
The stories were great, no false notes and the endings were all strong. I think these five pieces would hold their own in any university anthology featuring the greats like Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen Crane, and Ernest Hemingway.
I thought “The Midas Agency” by L.E. Lacaille to be an over-the-top quirky humorous piece of work on karma, fame and success told tongue in cheek. I absolutely loved its dark alternate world humor. Mops and Fairytales by Catherine A. McKenzie was a marvelously disturbing piece about a middle aged woman unable to cope with life.
“A Taste of Friendship” by Shawn Klimek was wonderfully neurotic about a lonely neighbor who unexpectedly receives a cupcake from an anonymous neighbor. “The Taxi” by Edward C. Hartshorn was funny.
I thought “Animal Pancakes” by Traci Mullins and “The Blizzard” by Copper Rose were wonderful pieces about the deaths of close aged family members. It is always a shock to lose someone you assume would be around forever.
Mehreen Ahmed’s “At the Far End of the Alley” was a nice meditation on love and the contrast between love within the bounds of society and adulterous love that ruins families told as if it was a Pakistani fairy tale.
A lot of effort and talent went into all the stories in Vortex. If I did not mention a story, it is because I don’t think laundry lists are helpful. I honestly enjoyed every single story. They were all certainly well worth the read.
Certainly the world of independent publishing houses are a source of great literary works for those who enjoy the refinement of a plate of oysters Rockefeller to go with your homemade macaroni and cheese.
Vortex: The Inner Circles Literary Anthology is available in paperback from Lulu.com and for your Kindle at Amazon
My first piece of work is available to the public.
At 75 words long, it is short and sweet.
Please take a look
This is well worth reading, please do.
Steven Carr is an amazing writer, and thoroughly nice chap.
I recently interviewed UK author Gail Aldwin about her book, Paisley Shirt. You can catch up on that interview here. It was a very popular post and now I have another interview for you.
Steve Carr is an American author and I am in several Facebook writing groups with him. He’s always very gracious with his time to group members and I’ve had the pleasure of reading many of his wonderful short stories. A number of these stories have now been gathered into a short story collection called Sand. I’ll review this collection in more detail soon but, for today’s post, here is my interview with Steve.
You can find Steve on Amazon and on Twitter. What’s amazing is that I share so many likes with Steve. Regular readers know how much I love the writing of Pearl S Buck and I have a copy of the…
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My story ‘Sins of the Father’ will appear in this anthology along with 31 other brilliant stories.
Here’s the cover
Today, I had some great news – A short story of mine ‘Sins of the Father’ has been accepted by Clarendon House Publications.
It is to appear in VORTEX – THE INNER CIRCLE WRITERS’ GROUP LITERARY ANTHOLOGY 2018.
I feel honoured to be included with 31 other fantastic authors.
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For more information visit http://www.clarendonhousebooks.com/anthologies
David Bowmore 