GUEST POST: Writing Short Stories by Orlando Ortega-Medina

Name: ORLANDA ORTEGA-MEDINA Author of: JERUSALEM ABLAZE (2017) On the web: orlandoortegamedina.co.uk On Twitter: OOrtegaMedina To celebrate the launch of his excellent debut short story collection, Jerusalem Ablaze, I’m very pleased to welcome Orlando Ortega-Medina to Reader Dad to talk about writing short stories. I don’t have one specific method of writing the first draft […]

THE BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS by Stephen King

THE BAZAAR OF BAD DREAMS Stephen King (stephenking.com) Hodder & Stoughton (www.hodder.co.uk) £20.00 When people think of Stephen King, they most often think of the massive tomes that helped to make his name: The Stand, It, Needful Things. What we often forget is that King is as comfortable writing short fiction as he is writing […]

FEARIE TALES by Stephen Jones

FEARIE TALES: STORIES OF THE GRIMM AND GRUESOME Edited by Stephen Jones (www.stephenjoneseditor.com) Illustrated by Alan Lee Jo Fletcher Books (www.jofletcherbooks.com) £14.99 For most of us, the fairy tale is one of the staples of growing up. Bedtime stories for young children, it’s only when we reach adulthood that we realise just how disturbing they […]

DOCTOR WHO at 50: 11 DOCTORS 11 STORIES

11 DOCTORS 11 STORIES Eoin Colfer (www.eoincolfer.com) Michael Scott (www.dillonscott.com) Marcus Sedgwick (www.marcussedgwick.com) Philip Reeve (www.philip-reeve.com) Patrick Ness (www.patrickness.com) Richelle Mead (www.richellemead.com) Malorie Blackman (www.malorieblackman.co.uk) Alex Scarrow (www.scarrow.co.uk) Charlie Higson (www.charliehigson.co.uk) Derek Landy (www.skulduggerypleasant.co.uk) Neil Gaiman (www.neilgaiman.com) Puffin Books (www.puffinbooks.com) £12.99 On 23rd November 1963, the BBC introduced the Doctor to the world. In the […]

Hospital Reading Round-up, or: A Letter of Apology

Dear Reader, I hope you will forgive this break from the usual straightforward literary(?) criticism for this personal note to explain the relative quiet at Reader Dad of late, and to apologise to authors, publishers, publicists and potential readers for the lack of reviews written and published on the site since mid-February. Anyone who follows […]

LET THE OLD DREAMS DIE AND OTHER STORIES by John Ajvide Lindqvist

LET THE OLD DREAMS DIE AND OTHER STORIES John Ajvide Lindqvist (johnajvide.com) Translated by Marlaine Delargy Quercus (www.quercusbooks.co.uk) £16.99 It’s difficult to believe that it has been a mere five years since John Ajvide Lindqvist’s first novel, Let The Right One In, was first published in English by Quercus. It’s a ten-year-old book that has […]