I’m now a third year English student (!) studying at Queens University, Belfast, and hoping to do my masters in Creative Writing. I (still) love the works of Neil Gaiman and Diana Wynne-Jones and generally spend my student loan on armloads of books, mostly by American authors. I’m inspired by Tori Amos’ music, Hayao Miyazaki’s movies and any poem that capture’s my imagination.
“Twenty-two minutes later, he realised it was like time had stopped.” How Not To Write A Novel.
Stories
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Fly The Palace
“This is undignified!” Mira said as her most trusted aides tried vainly to hussle her into a hidden compartment in the underside of a hay cart. It was gone midnight and the moon was red with the blood of the fallen. The sounds of fighting w...
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New Skin
It was time. Sana stood naked in the moonlight, her pale skin made silver. Her long red hair spilled down her back. She remembered when she had seen it for the first time, how it had reminded her of autumn. She would miss that the most. As the moon nea...
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Going Places
“This is madness,” Sora said. She stood with her head craned back, looking up at the young man swinging between the rafters. “It’ll work,” Liev said. He scratched another arcane mark on the wood with his piece of chalk and...
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Facing The Dragon
Lena stood on the edge of the gaping black hole, her hair wiped across her face by the wind and rain. The ruins followed the curve of the arched entrance, glowing white against the dark night. She gripped the hilt of her short sword so tight her hand w...
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I Spy A Case Of Mistaken Identity
“And he just handed you this briefcase?” Lilly looked sceptical. Alice was sitting across the table from her roommate eating a piece of dry toast. The girls had paid their rent only to realise they had barely anything left for food. “...
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Man's Best Friend
A dog was barking. Maya ignored it. She was busy bandaging her ruined arm and trying not to throw up. But as the painful fog began to clear she realised the significance of the noise. A dog was barking. She hadn’t seen a dog in, well, damned if s...
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Here Comes Your Man
His footsteps thudded in the room beneath her. Elisa trembled and raised the gun, aiming at the door. If he knew she was in the house, if he knew she was hiding upstairs, she was done for. Her fingers shook so badly she was in danger of accidentally pu...
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Attack Of The Zombie Tuxedos!
“Are you sure about this?” Stacey said as Jason helped her over the gate. “What if we get caught?” “Come on, this is supposed to be romantic,” he said. “I know, I just wish we weren’t breaking and enterin...
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Do Not Press The Shiny Red Button
It was shiny. And red. What idiot could refuse? Marcus stared at the button like it was the key to the best brothel station in the eighth galaxy. He had to press it. He had to! “No.” Jen slapped his hand down and glared at him. “No bu...
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Blackberry Picking
It was a beautiful day in June. The sun was warm on Will’s back, the sky was blue as blue and the fields were green as green. He wandered alongside the bramble hedge, plucking ripe blackberries as he went. About half went in his basket, the rest ...
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Our Tradition
The wind teased at Jessica’s hair, drawing it across her tear stained cheeks. She sniffed and wiped at her eyes when she heard Ethan come up behind her. He didn’t say anything for a long time and eventually she turned to look at him. He was...
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Patrick and Nigel
“This whole pirates versus ninjas… thing… it’s all gotten a bit out of hand, don’t you think?” Patrick said. He and Nigel were sitting on a ledge overlooking the battlefield. The ground was covered with the bodies of...
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The Negotiations Didn't Work
Nadia de Barbec tried to hide her disgust as the servant girl led her into the mouldering banquet hall. The smell of rotten thatching almost made her retch. “Good evening and welcome,” sir Gerrick said, standing to bow to his guest. He stoo...
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Bargaining
The woman is head and shoulders shorter than me, her long black hair lit up by the headlights as she steps out of the car. I can’t make out her expression but I suspect it is one of caution, mistrust. She doesn’t know who I am. “Can I...
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No One Likes A Cliff Hanger
Teddy felt his grip slipping on the damp rocks. He tried to push himself up but his feet couldn’t find purchase. “Help me!” he yelled though he knew it was pointless. Nick was the one who had pushed him. He was hardly going to help hi...
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Past Life
“You can’t escape your past.” Those were the last words she said to me. I never saw her again but I remember the sound of her voice, the sound of sorrow as she said those words. She must have seen what was coming. I sure as hell wish ...
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The Old Gods Are The Worst
Moira pressed her back against the ruins of the old abbey. Her throat was burning as she gasped great gulps of freezing air. She was exhausted but she couldn’t afford to stop. Not with the Fairies on her heels. She held her breath at the sound of...
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Sit With The March Hare And The Mad Hatter
The Mad Hatter, looking at you with a mad glint in his eye, exclaims suddenly: “You’re not Alice! Alice wears a bigger bow in her hair!” Surprised by how sensible a statement this sounds you decide it’s time to leave (when the M...
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Take a slice of wedding cake
You take a slice of wedding cake. Well that wasn’t very interesting now was it? You can: Explore outside the church Open one other present at random Stick around and eat the rest of that damn cake
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Steal All The Wedding Supplies
You decide she’s too plain to run after and start stealing all the wedding presents. But you only get as far as three presents before the runaway bride’s older brother comes after you. He looks mad. One of the presents is bound to help you ...
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The Body In The Space Station
The Detective grudgingly boarded the Imperial space station. He dug his hand deep into his pocket as a pair of green crewmen led him to the lower decks. They couldn’t have been older than seventeen. At this rate Command would be recruiting them f...
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Not All Dragons Have Scales
Nadia had been warned about dragons but it had been a long time ago, when she was a child. Her grandmother had told her about them and for a while she had hung on the old woman’s every word. That was until her mother found out and scoffed at the ...
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The Raven And The Writing Desk
The Raven and the Writing Desk, covered in little ink blots from years of use, were the very best of friends. They never quarrelled and where one went the other gladly followed. All those who met the pair marvelled at their unusual friendship. “I...
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29: Second Sight
Lissa stood at the security gate, trying to be patient. “I’m telling you Ollie, everything’s going to be fine,” she said. “I’m only going to be gone for a couple of days. I’ll be back before you know it.”...
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28: All Intertwinning
Cara wasn’t really looking at the class list in her hands. She was at that age where she could choose what she wanted to study. She could go with her strengths if only she knew what they were. She could pick subjects that would help her into univ...
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27: Still Missing
Delta sat with her nose inches away from the music box, staring at it, as if sheer force of will could make it open. She should have known that Carl would have rigged it with some ridculous locking mechanism. Perhaps she had been a little hasty in kill...
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26: Death Of A Detective
The clue had seemed innocuous at the time. Which was exactly why he had ignored it. Now he realised what a mistake that had been. Arthur Montague looked along the length of the pistol and into the grey eyes of Lord Percy. “It was the horse hair,&...
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25: Be Prepared
Trina woke up and sat bolt upright. She blinked at the girl perched on the end of the bed. Her frizzy hair was bright pink and she was grinning at Trina in a most alarming manner. “All right?” said the pink haired girl. Trina blinked again....
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24: Fast Talk
So far as super powers go, mine isn’t what you’d call exciting. But it comes in handy every now and then. A Fast-Talker like me can talk the team out of any situation. Take this one for example: Professor Pyro thinks I’m the weakest m...
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23: A Night Of Poetry
Eric grabbed his knees, gasping for breath. Behind him, Lewis slumped to the pavement. He was holding his sides he was laughing so hard. “That… was not… funny,” Eric said. “No man, it was hilarious!” “We could ...
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