It took a lot longer than planned, but with some learning curves, I can finally announce it. Silhouettes, my first-ever short story and poetry collection, is out and ready to buy!

It’s finally here. After a year of active work, I released Silhouettes today, Sunday 16 November. We were meant to be having this conversation about six weeks ago, but there were some bumps along the road. Learning curves, certainly, not least because we published with IngramSpark for the first time. There were unforeseen timing-related issues, the purchase of an ISBN, a lost print proofing copy and more. But I’ve noted all these down — a separate blog post on this subject will arrive in the coming weeks — and I’ll take them forward for the next time I choose to self-publish.

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, Silhouettes is my first-ever collection of short stories and poems. An anthology of ideas, some of which I entered into contests etc. with little success; others were brand-new pieces I wrote specifically for the collection. Also for the first time ever, I will reveal the full list of titles included in the anthology.

Short stories

• A Manuscript to Mattox Street: A literary agent’s secretary wonders how to approach her boss when he suddenly breaks down after receiving a particular manuscript.
• Of Monocles and Maltesers: A young man has questions for his grandfather when he discovers an unexpected item in his newly inherited house.
• The Vampire of Allouaine: A burglary attempt leads petty criminal Jean-Loras Eragraire to discover a horrifying secret at his local café. Draws inspiration from my first-ever piece of fiction.
• War Fabric: A psychological drama following Jim Crampton and an encounter on a bus that conjures back some buried demons.
• No Girls After Eleven: Jay’s grandmother tells him a ghost story at dinner, set in the very hotel where he’s about to start work.
• Last Train to London: Actress and socialite Lynn muses over reading her jilted lover’s diary, on the way home from their would-be honeymoon. Draws inspiration from the songs of Electric Light Orchestra.
• Wednesday Mums’ Club: Two hotel bartenders prepare for another visit from a group of regular rude customers. Inspired by a true encounter.
• Learning to Live with Lukasz: Solicitor Matthew Spreckley grows concerned about his grandmother’s closeness to her new carer, especially when she names him as a beneficiary in her will.
• Sunday on the Boulevard (with my pet lobster): A fan favourite — follow a bon viveur on a memorable Sunday adventure with his pet lobster, with whom he shares a love of Montecristo cigars.

Poems

We split the poems into two chunks in the anthology.

• Poems I contains: My To-Do List, Three Horsemen, O To Be Bubbleless, Gold and Black, The Platform and Clappy Sam.
• Poems II features: Chapter Ten of an Abnormal Book, Blood and Apple, A Walk at Dawn, Haikus, The Credit Card Makes Charlie Dance, The Dragonfly and Ballad of a Godless Man.

As promised, there’s no one defining genre or theme throughout these stories. A good mix between tragedy and comedy, surreal and psychological. I’ve referred to it before as an indictment on human nature. A collection of love and lobsters, grief and greed, robbery and snobbery. Some readers may find some of the content triggering — most notably the references to suicide, which crop up more often than I realised at first! But I planned for there to be something for everyone in the collection.

Where can I buy Silhouettes?

Silhouettes is now available from IngramSpark and Amazon. Kindle and audiobook editions are due for release in the coming weeks.

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