Here is a selection of fiction blips and blops I've written over the years. Enjoy!
As Ian Carrington
TEN-TWO FORTY-FOUR
"He turns up looking like a drowned rat or a soaked ferret or some other crappy animal dragged through piss that had no business being on my doorstep..."
"He turns up looking like a drowned rat or a soaked ferret or some other crappy animal dragged through piss that had no business being on my doorstep..."
Featured in The Book Of Manchester (Comma Press, 2024)
As Fat Roland
Featured on The Hillside Curation:
IN LIFE IT SEEMS LIKE YOU HAVE CHOICES
"You insert an extra column between rows G and H, creating another 92 cells. In each cell you individually write the word ‘paperclip’, entirely ignoring the auto-complete function."
Featured in Wordlife: An Anthology
"The sign, written by one of the humans, said some human words. The panda squinted at the sign across the walkway for two hours or two days, piecing together the letters until she understood."
Featured in A Box Of Stars Beneath The Bed.
AND THIS IS MY MOTHER
"The other day, she crushed a bauble until it burst into powder. The cuts on her palm were invisible and stung like hell."
Featured on the Merry Gentleman blog.
NORWAY
"A worm tries to burrow into my face. All it finds is cold, irritated human skin, a football field of blotches."
Runner-up in the annual Peirene Press 900-word story competition.
GOOD FATHER
"Look at you. You are all bones. I will upgrade to HD. Something with a better resolution."
featured in Sadcore Dadwave 5. Review by Beach Sloth here.
TWO-TOKE PASS
"A curt laugh from Mr Kevin then in its reverb, the sound of Hedgerow blowing the air grey."
featured in Now Then Manchester.
LADY GAGA EXTENDS HER TELESCOPE & PHIL CARTER FILM DIRECTOR
"...Mustang fighter jets once performed furious pirouettes, firing and crashing in ways Lady will never understand."
A sampler anthology featuring works by poets and fiction writers published by independent UK publishers.
FOR THE SADNESS
"The walls were the next to go, pockmarks in the plaster that connected into trenches."
100 RPM is a collection of 100 flash fiction tales, all stories are inspired by songs on YouTube, each story being 100 words or fewer. Inspiring, thought-provoking and often witty. Fat Roland is one of the 100. Introduction by Nik Kershaw.
THE LINE
"What a great way to avoid the cracks, he thought as he wiped back his hair. Her dress was like clouds or something. Sexy clouds."
featured in the 2012 leap day edition of Flash 365. Not currently available.
IF YOU WERE THE ONLY BOY IN THE WORLD
"I’ve said all this to you. On the phone. Do you remember?"
The fourth anthology from Manchester literature collective Bad Language.
LISTS OF OCCURENCES IN THE FIRST MARRIED DAYS OF ROBERT AND SUSAN FURNISS
"7. Watched LA Story starring Steve Martin. Wondered if sentient road signs existed."
Word Gumbo is a bi-monthly e-zine, with fiction, poetry, script, non-fiction, mixed-form, and multi-media, plus interviews and special features. (PDF direct link.)
THE PEOPLE VS THE TOOTH FAIRIES & THE BIRD CATCHER
"The white sprites flew in celebratory circles while their fairy dust clogged chimneys and gave thin boys asthma."
Award-winning blog for writers. Fairies. Birds.