I'm not a particular fan of rules and guidance when it comes to writing fiction i.e. "show don't tell", "a story needs a beginning, middle and end" etc. There are multiple ways to construct a narrative and tell a story; I don't see why we should restrict ourselves. Having said that, in reading Robert Seethaler's … Continue reading “The Café with no Name”
Category: Fiction
“Red Sky in Morning’
Simply excellent. In Red Sky in Morning Paul Lynch has woven an authentic and engrossing tale of desperate men, one who strives to escape, the other bent to do the catching. This is a brutal tale of misplaced men in a country that doesn't want them. Lynch's portrait of Faller is magnificent, n animal for … Continue reading “Red Sky in Morning’
“What We Can Know”
Oh dear. And I'm usually such a fan of Ian McEwan's work... What We Can Know was a real let-down. From my perspective, fundamentally flawed (and spoiler alert...) Setting the book in the middle of the twenty-second century: what was that all about? Not only completely unbelievable but distracting and unnecessary. The premise of the … Continue reading “What We Can Know”
IMPORTANT – FOR ALL INGRAM SPARK USERS
I have just discovered there is an opt-out to help prevent your books being sold to AI companies (which presumably means the default is ‘opt-in’…) You can find the opt-out link here (pass it on): https://www.ingramcontent.com/page/ai-opt-out
“The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories”
I venture to suggest that The Melancholy Death and Oyster Boy and Other Stories (1997 in the US) was only published because Tim Burton was already famous. [Yes, the Tim Burton of 'Beetlejuice', 'Batman', 'Edward Scissorhands', 'Mars Attacks!' etc.] While the drawings are proficient, whacky and creepy, the writing isn't. Very few of the poems … Continue reading “The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories”
“Seascraper”
Benjamin Wood's Seascraper is excellent. On reflection, I think I was most impressed by its authenticity: you could believe the character and - perhaps just as important in this case - the environment Wood was describing. And I liked the fact that the novel ended on an upbeat note, one which allowed you to mentally … Continue reading “Seascraper”
Writing to Gisella and Other Stories
We are delighted to announce the forthcoming publication of Ian Gouge's latest collection of short stories, Writing to Gisella and Other Stories, due out on the 3rd October, 2026. The collection opens with an updated version of the 2017 novella, Writing to Gisella. Writing to GisellaIn many ways it was the perfect summer break: taken on impulse, and … Continue reading Writing to Gisella and Other Stories
July’s Substack highlights
"when you see anything of mine that you don’t like remember that I’m sincere in doing it and that I’m working toward something." - Ernest Hemingway A selection of recent posts from my Substack site. Also, on the same site, don't miss the free serialisation of my magic realism novel, The Big Frog Theory. If … Continue reading July’s Substack highlights
“The Boy Who Belonged to the Sea”
Denis Thériault's The Boy Who Belonged to the Sea is, as one reviewer described it, "quirky and charming". It also requires a massive degree of belief suspension if you're going to navigate through to the end as the distance between reality and what happens in the novel is, at times, a chasm. I was thrown … Continue reading “The Boy Who Belonged to the Sea”
“Poundland Rimbaud”
I picked up Johny Fluffypunk's Poundland Rimbaud in the Waterstones' remainders section. And what a whacky thing it is: a mixture of stories, poems, jokes (kind of), and the text of a stage performance. If you're looking for something off-the-wall I doubt you'll get much more weird than this - but you'll have to find … Continue reading “Poundland Rimbaud”
Ian Gouge - Writer 