Dale Hurst – Author - Novelist news and other titbits
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Get In Touch
Home
About Me
Get In Touch
Dale Hurst – Author - Novelist news and other titbits
  • Home
  • About Dale Hurst
  • Blog
  • Writing
    • Lust & Liberty
    • Sin & Secrecy
    • You Can Hear Chopin
    • Short Fiction
      • Ballad of a Godless Man
    • Poetry
  • Podcast
    • Season 1
    • Season 2
  • Get in touch
Browsing Tag
flash fiction
Travels Writing

What Florence Did For Me, Mr. Grimstead

April 9, 2019 No Comments

Been getting a bit of positive attention on Facebook (a lot of negative on there too, but we’ll save that for another post) and Instagram since Sunday evening, where I announced I had had a little something published.

It was in the literary journal run by the MA Creative Writing students of the University of Westminster – namely, the Wells Street Journal. An example of, what we call in the business, Flash Fiction. Basically a story written in fewer than 1,000 words. Something I amazed myself at being able to do. If you’ve read The Berylford Scandals: Lust & Liberty, you may have noticed I’m not a fan of short-form.

One of the best Flash Fictions, oddly enough, was written by the guy who got me into the Wells Street Journal in the first place – an old school friend, Dale Hall. A tale depicting the final thoughts and struggles of a mentally-disturbed person who, in the end, “tried to fly”. This was in our A-Level days and I, a media student, liked the story so much I adapted it into a short film we needed to make for coursework. A shame, really, that that film doesn’t survive anymore.

That was one heck of a tangent — back to the story I contributed. It had to be thrown together within a couple of hours, since I had only found out I could submit anything literally on the deadline day.

The theme was “The Liminal”; more specifically, either how a city changed you/your character or how a city has changed in your/your character’s eyes. With no time to lose, it seemed to make sense to base it on true events, and I recalled the time I had spent in Florence when I was at college. The first night ended in drunken disaster with the lower drinking age over there – a number of sixteen-year-olds who couldn’t hold their liquor. My opinion at the time in real life was only so caustic towards a couple of the party who I felt deserved it, while I was very fond and sympathetic to the rest. Made more sense in this story to show a complete change of opinion, to fit with the theme.

It is in letter form, since that’s the only way I think I could produce something in fewer than 1,000 words. That, along with the identities of the writer and addressee is based on a joke I saw comedian Frankie Howerd tell. When entertaining troops somewhere, he read a letter as follows: “Lieutenant Colonel Cecil Naunton – if you see him – Lt. Col. Naunton… Dear Cuddlebunch. Come home – all is forgiven. Yours, Geoffrey.” Obviously told at a time when homosexuality and the legality thereof were still novel ideas, alongside Howerd’s impeccable comic timing, this received a wealth of laughs. And in my story, I thought I could extend the ambiguity of the writer’s gender, sexuality and the nature of his relationship with the addressee, Mr. Grimstead.

The other changes I needed to address were more autobiographical. It is true that I was once so unconfident and anxious I could barely leave the house to get on a bus. On planes, I was better – especially in company; I still find the build-up to a flight stressful even now, regardless of who I’m with! In the story, I thought I would make Geoffrey, the writer and narrator, also an unconfident traveller who discovers he loves it while in Italy. It dresses him up as vulnerable on the one side, while assured on the other in terms of his opinions of other people. Gives a much-needed duality to the character.

Other little autobiographical tidbits that made it in there include the Lobster and Linguine – my soon-closing food and travel blog was born in Florence – plus also a woman whom I dubbed Lady Hitler, renamed Lady Fรผhrer for this story. Actually a lovely girl named Jade.

Without delay, I suggest you take a look at Issue 11 of the Wells Street Journal. Obviously read the whole thing if you want, but my story – What Florence Did For Me, Mr. Grimstead – is on pages 82 and 83. Have a read; hopefully you’ll have a chuckle.

Thank you for reading. If you haven’t already, check us out and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Continue reading
Reading time: 3 min
Written by: Dale Hurst

Newsletter

About me

This isย Dale Hurstย here. Novelist and journalist. Subscribe above to receive all updates.

Popular Posts

ANNOUNCEMENT: New Book in Progress

November 15, 2018

No Time Like the Present…

July 1, 2018

“To Err is Human…”

August 4, 2018

You Can Hear Chopin from the Attic: A Brief Overview

January 24, 2019

Categories

  • Ballad of a Godless Man
  • Blog
  • Characters
  • Food Writing
  • Journalism
  • Lifestyle
  • Lust & Liberty
  • Poetry
  • Short Fiction
  • Sin & Secrecy
  • Travels
  • Writing
  • You Can Hear Chopin

dalehurst_author

The Berylford Scandals (1. Lust & Liberty, 2. Sin & Secrecy) ๐Ÿ“š
Podcaster | The Dale Hurst Writing Show๐ŸŽ™๏ธ

Dale Hurst | Author
Are you tempted? ๐Ÿ˜† . Jump into The Berylford Sc Are you tempted? ๐Ÿ˜†
.
Jump into The Berylford Scandals the right way โ€“ at the beginning! This is the first instalment, Lust & Liberty Prices are still slashed, so grab a copy from Amazon while the getting's good ๐Ÿ˜˜ read more about the books on my website (#linkinbio)
.
๐Ÿ“ธ @jkw.media 
.
#bookstagramuk #amreadingmystery #amreadinghistoricalfiction #amreadingromance #booksofinsta #readersgonnaread #readingcommunity #histfic #theberylfordscandals #lustandliberty
While it's too drizzly to enjoy a Sunday on the Bo While it's too drizzly to enjoy a Sunday on the Boulevard down here in Bournemouth at the moment, I've instead reflected on my most recently published piece 'Sunday on the Boulevard with my Pet Lobster' and chucked it all in a new post on my website. Have a read if you want to find out more about what inspired this bizarre little tale (#linkincomments)๐Ÿฆž๐Ÿšฌ๐Ÿ–๏ธ๐Ÿ“–๐Ÿ“šโœ๏ธ๐Ÿ–Š๏ธ
.
๐Ÿ“ธ @jkw.media 
.
#bournemouthwriters #bournemouthwritingprize #comedy #amwritingcomedy #sundayontheboulevard #surrealism #writingcommunity #writerscommunity #authorcommunity #authornetwork
And with that, he was 30... ๐Ÿฅณ I was going to do And with that, he was 30... ๐Ÿฅณ
I was going to do a huge carousel post with some of my favourite photos taken across my 20s. But having done two degrees, practised and retired from journalism, independently published two novels, hosted two podcasts, and met countless amazing people in that time... to sum that all up in 10 photos would be impossible ๐Ÿ˜† so... more of the same in the next 10 years? Why not? ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿ˜ฑ๐Ÿง In the meantime me and my MVPs right here 
.
#ladsladslads #crimefamily #writersofinsta #ignovelist #authorcommunity #writingcommunity #30thbirthday
2022 was a funny old year... new job, new home, pu 2022 was a funny old year... new job, new home, published something new, lost someone dear, and saw two of my oldest and best friends get married... Not sure about you but I'm a bit knackered ๐Ÿ˜† anyway, Happy New Year everyone ๐Ÿ˜˜๐Ÿง
.
#happynye #nye2022 #writersofig #igwriters #ignovelists #authornetwork #writingcommunity #novelists
The listener favourites of Season 2 of #thedalehur The listener favourites of Season 2 of #thedalehurstwritingshow have been totalled up. The following episodes are evidently NOT to be missed!
โ–ช๏ธThe most-listened episode of Season 2 was our spooky special Episode 17, featuring author @alex_colvin_ 
โ–ช๏ธSecond-most was Episode 12, featuring crime novelist @jasonrvowles 
โ–ช๏ธThird was Episode 19, which featured actor and playwright @conor_jquinn and director @tazy_hm 
โ–ช๏ธAn honourable mention goes to our somewhat different Episode 11, starring singer-songwriter @calum_lintott 
.
Listen to my podcast now on Spotify and Google Podcasts๐ŸŽ™๏ธ๐Ÿ“š๐Ÿ“–๐Ÿ–‹๏ธ๐ŸŽง
.
#writingwisdom #writingpodcast #podcastsofig #podcastlife #podcastersofig #writerslife #novelist #creativewriting #authornetwork #writingcommunity
2022 has been eventful to say the least... I won't 2022 has been eventful to say the least... I won't go into the personal stuff, but my latest blog post - link in comments - sums up my professional updates for the year (in case you missed them ๐Ÿ˜‰) ๐Ÿ“š
.
๐Ÿ“ธ @jkw.media
.
#authorsofig #amwritinghistfic #amwritingthriller #amwritingcrime #podcastersofig #igpodcasts #writercommunity #authornetwork #writersofig #ignovelist
To all friends and family, personal and profession To all friends and family, personal and professional, domestic and international, I wish a wondrous Christmas ๐ŸŽ„๐Ÿฅฐ๐ŸŽ„ 
.
#merrychristmas2022 #christmaswishes #elegantchristmas #bookstagram #amreading #amwriting #authorsofig #writersofig #ignovelist
I'll say thank you again to everyone who guested a I'll say thank you again to everyone who guested and listened to Season 2 of The Dale Hurst Writing Show. If you haven't caught it yet, it's on Spotify and Google Podcasts. Swipe ๐Ÿ‘ˆ๐Ÿ‘ˆ๐Ÿ‘ˆ for a snippet of each episode ๐Ÿ˜‰๐Ÿ˜‰๐Ÿ˜‰ ๐Ÿ“š๐ŸŽ™๏ธ
.
#podcastaddict #thedalehurstwritingshow #writingwisdom #writingpodcast #podcastsofig #igpodcasts #writingcommunity #authornetwork #writerslife #igwriters
Load More… Follow on Instagram

Dale Hurst

  • About Dale Hurst
  • Get in touch

Recent Posts

  • Behind the Writing: “Sunday on the Boulevard with my Pet Lobster”
  • A 2022 End-of-Year Progress Report
  • 5 Writing Rules You’re Likely to Break (Without Even Meaning To…)
  • 5 Ways to Find Inspiration for Character Names
  • 5 Things to Know About Your Main Character (s)

Dale Hurst

  • Email
    dale.hurst93@gmail.com
  • Address
    Poole, Dorset
ยฉ 2020 Copyright Dale Hurst // All rights reserved