My short story, Kumi’s Cake, was shortlisted for the 2020 Bridport Prize International Short Story Competition and I am still amazed, overjoyed and dumbstruck in equal measure (if you can imagine that expression, please send me a drawing). I’ve been… Read More ›
Strays
The non-writerly things I burble about…
#LockdownLit: The Therapist
She said, it had been traumatic. She said, not traumatic like explosions or being in a war. She hadn’t been buried alive or anything. It wasn’t that sort of traumatic. She said, if she didn’t talk about it she’d go… Read More ›
#LockdownLit: One Hell of an Evening
Max thumped his steering wheel. “Come on.” In the distance, the traffic lights changed from red to amber to green but the line of cars barely moved. They were backed up as far as he could see, in front and… Read More ›
#LockdownLit: Early Days
Andrea said to me, our life is too shallow. I said, define shallow. She said, when you wake up what do you think about? I said, what shirt to put on. She laughed. See? I said, okay, let’s talk deep…. Read More ›
#LockdownLit: The Beast
Before dishwashers became a standard feature in most people’s kitchens, every town had at least one crockery cleaning kiosk located near a car-park or taxi rank, or within easy reach of public transport. In those days it was common during… Read More ›
#LockdownLit: The Fire-Diver’s Assistant
The fire-diver was called Gregory, and I assisted him by chalking arrows on the walls of seaside towns; writing things like This Way To See The Great Fire-Diver – Three O’Clock, or, It’s The Greatest Show On Earth – Don’t… Read More ›
Facebook school friends: let’s move on
I am in contact with only two of my schoolfriends. By contact, I mean we actually meet face to face – until COVID, that is. With everyone else, either the bonds weren’t strong enough or I was too lazy to… Read More ›
A few comments on your response to my complaint
From: James Ellis To: <Customer Care> Subject: Re: Complaint – unused deposit taken [ref:_99DFT6200_gtDDS529:ref] Date: 10 Mar 2020, at 08:27 Dear <Customer Care> – a few comments on your response to my complaint. From one writer to another. Best, James…. Read More ›
Don’t rush a good thing
Watch out, many of the baby boomers’ final cohort will be turning 60 this year – those born in the satisfyingly neat year of 1960 (it is so easy to work out how old one is, when there’s a zero… Read More ›
A bone is born
I’ve broken my elbow. To be precise, I’ve fractured it. To be utterly accurate, the end of my funny bone has been chipped off. I’ll leave the gags to you. I was knocked over by a group of charging youths… Read More ›
JAMES ELLIS in words 