These days, our newsletter is sent via our forums, so if you'd like to receive a copy, please visit the forums and register.

Danny Rhodes lives in Canterbury and teaches English in a school by the sea. He writes for children and adults and tries to do something to further his writing career every day...

Excerpt.....'White light, white pain. Nothing else. Then voices at the edges.
“This one’s a priority…”
“Take him right through to theatre…”
More voices. Blurred faces. A sharp pricking sensation in the forearm and then a feeling of relief coursing through the body....'

Nathan Meyer is a 33-year old father of two living and working in Las Vegas. He has previously been published in Leumurian Dreams, Adventure Fiction Online, and a young writers' anthology. "Like a lot of stories, Malfeasance came about in my head fully formed. There has been a lot of great dark fantasy written in the shadow of Ann Rice with the vampire cast as brooding, sensual, demigod. I wanted to dwell on vampire as monster a little bit more.", says Nathan, "My intention was to try and create a good, fast read, invoking suspense and ultimately paying homage to the cynical world outlook that drives horror fiction. I hope you have as much enjoyment reading it as I did in writing it."

Excerpt.....'At twilight the brigands took him. They caught him along the old abbey road shortcut trying to beat the coming dark. Even as they leapt out of the woods and started clubbing him the sun was slipping red down the horizon. Tying his hands in front of him and pulling him along behind them through the trees the motley crew laughed and jeered while behind them the setting sun was quickly disappearing......'

Excerpt.....'A foggy night on the waterfront doesn’t get a lot of fast cars, usually just trawlers looking for something they’ll never brag about to their buddies. Solos, mostly boys, stood here and there, legs shaking, eyes seeking. Only one was being talked up by a potential customer. “How about that one?” Shyla said......'

Liz Williams has had around 28 pieces of short fiction published in Asimov's, InterZone, Realms of Fantasy and various other publications, including the '16th World's Best SF.' She has 4 novels published by Bantam in the US and Tor Macmillan in the UK, and has been nominated twice for the Philip K Dick Award.

Excerpt.....'On the day that the box was brought aboard, the first mate told me that it would be the cause of all our deaths and I felt a great happiness at the notion. None of us, of course, knew what the box contained, although there were plenty of rumours. One man said that it held a suit of armour, brought all the way from China and encrusted with rubies like drops of bloody fire.......'

The author of this story moved to Florida, USA just in time for the landfall of four hurricanes. He lives in a dark corner of a dark house on a dark street. When the sun does shine between storms, he hides in the closet waiting for nightfall and the safety of creating a world on the page.

Excerpt.....'“Misty, this is Officer Rockford, come in.” “Hey there, Angus, are you there yet?” “Misty, I thought we agreed to keep things official while I’m on duty.” Angus took out a yellow-stained handkerchief, pushed his hat up from his dusty forehead, and dabbed at the sweat there. He eased the old cruiser to a halt about thirty yards from the abandoned cars along the sides of the road. Angus tried to get a quick count of the disabled vehicles, but there were too many. Perhaps a dozen or more, at least from this distance......'

Eric Christ is a lifelong resident of Phoenix, Arizona and graduated from Ottawa Univesity in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Composition. He currently works as a business analyst and technical writer, and in his spare time writes short stories, reads countless books, and sings along with his karaoke machine (please do hold that last item against him).

Excerpt.....'She sat on the cushioned chair in her bedroom and laid the apple on the dresser. Using a slender paring knife, she sliced the apple into nine pieces. Staring at her reflection in the mirror over the dresser, she balanced the first piece on the side of the knife and placed it in her mouth. She watched herself chew the sweet fruit.......'

Amsel von Spreckelsen is a Sales Assistant from Brighton. Before that he was a schoolboy from Lewisham. One of the things he's good at is baking pies. He has a degree in Philosophy, but he doesn't like to talk about that. He prefers to talk about the pies. When not selling discount books he writes for the Brighton based comics company Underfire Comics or works on his own prose.

Excerpt.....'-- The Day-to-Day Life of a Faceless Man -- ‘The day-to-day life of man is repetition and cliché. Does this then mean that in your usage cliché is cliché? Over-used to the point of meaningless. Or did it never really fit in the first place?......'

Denise Sodaro writes short stories, novels, and is currently concentrating on screenplays, several of which have won awards.

Excerpt.....'Tiffany tossed her blonde hair so that it cascaded in front of her, over her right shoulder. She combed her fingers through it and examined one end closely. Split ends. She decided that she would have to have a treatment. Split ends always led to the frizzies on a humid day. Next she examined the nails on her left hand. She held her hand out in front of her, turning it over, bending her fingers towards her. Her nails were still in good condition and the bright red polish wasn't chipped. Satisfied, she decided that she could wait a few more days for a manicure.......'

Joshua Alan Doetsch currently studies for his Masters in Creative Writing at the University of Illinois in Springfield. He fell back on writing ever since that heart wrenching day the high school guidance counselor informed him that “Spiderman” was not a viable vocation. Joshua’s first published story, “Varmints,” appeared Bloodlust UK – “Teddy Bear Rex” will see print in Eureka Literary Magazine in the Spring of ’05 – and his poem “Poe Goes to the Singles Bar” is to be published the February issue of the men’s magazine, Raven. He’s on his final Grad year, writing his thesis, a modern epic poem called Souls Unsure. Meanwhile, he stays up late with his pet serpent, Lenore, and writes the things that come to him in the wee hours. He also enjoys writing bios in the third person. “For Poor Lucy” is an answer to the question, What’s so scary about being the vampire? It’s an apologetic love letter to an overlooked character from vampire literature who got a raw deal.

Excerpt.....'Where am I? 'Sleep has no place to call its own.' Who said that? I wake in my wedding dress, my white, white dress, clutching dead flowers. I lay on a cold slab with the dead in the sepulcher of my ancestors. I can hear scuttling beetles stomping like elephants on the tombstones outside. What happened?......'