Dan Markowski is a fantasy and horror writer/reader and host of A Happy Moment Podcast. Today, he reads an excerpt from his dark fantasy tale, The Princess and the Spider.
Twitter @lefthandDan83
Podcast anchor.fm/ahappymoment
Wattpad @lefthandDan83
https://writersmastermindgroup.com
How far would a caring mother go for the love of her husband and child? Perhaps too far? Today, Charlotta Amato reads her unsettling story, Glass Eyes, from her home in Norway.
Instagram @charlies_livity
Read Il Ragazzo, a Short Story on Storgy Literary Magazine
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Sara Halabi reads from her short story, The Eyes of the Tower, a dark and creepy fairy tale that will leave you in a state of morbid dread. Sara is a storyteller and freelance writer who was born in Venezuela and lives in Lebanon.
Read Sara’s Writers’ Mastermind member interview here.
You can listen to Sara’s first reading here.
https://writersmastermindgroup.com
To continue our series of interviews with our short story contest winners, we talk to Sam Szanto, author of second place winner, If No One Speaks. Sam is an accomplished writer and poet, whose had nearly 40 stories and poems published and listed in competitions.
I’m originally from Eastbourne (known as God’s Waiting Room), a seaside town in South-East England. I’ve lived all over England but mainly (20 years) in London. Last April, my family and I migrated to the other end of the country and now live in Durham, a city where everyone knows everyone (except us).
I have a husband, two young children and an old tabby cat. Life has involved a number of jobs from (wo)manning an ice-cream kiosk to working at a girls’ private school to marketing for a national blind charity, and now writing as much as possible while freelancing as a copy-editor and English tutor. Much of my copy-editing is academic research for clients in Taiwan, although I also do novels, PhDs and whatever else anyone asks for.
I write stories and poems; some are political, some about love relationships and some combine the two. They tend to be realistic, although I do like to add in the odd ghost! I also write a lot about displacement and alienation, with a particular interest in refugees (I am from a refugee family who came from Hungary in the Second World War). I like to place my writing in a wide variety of settings: Mexico, Madrid, Thailand, Cambodia, Venezuela, Russia, Bangladesh, etc. If you can’t travel far in real life, you can in your mind!
I guess I haven’t read any other stories that sound as though I could have written them. But presumably every writer feels like that. I’m lucky now that I have the time to write, as I didn’t when I was younger – I have been reprimanded by a former boss for writing when I should have been working!
I was once told by a novelist that ‘Writers need to write.’ This is absolutely true for me; and the older I get, the truer this is. I need to write, and I want to write. My aim is to publish a short story collection, which I have recently finished and am querying.
So many. I’m reading Val McDermid’s ‘1979’ at the moment, and Carolyn Forche’s ‘The Country Between Us’. I also always have an audio book on the go. My favourite short story writers and influences are Tessa Hadley (I was lucky enough to have been taught by Tessa on my MA in Creative Writing) and Elizabeth Bowen. My favourite novelist is Kate Atkinson and favourite poet Simon Armitage (neither seem very original answers!) but I could go on listing all day…
I write as much as possible, when I’m not doing paid work, housework or school pick-ups (I do also sleep). I can’t write with music anymore, although I did all my A-level English coursework with happy hardcore bulldozing into my ears. I write in silence in a study, interrupted by my kids asking what’s for tea and my husband asking what’s for lunch. The study is a luxury and blessing, as I spent each of the lockdowns in London writing at a table while the kids bounced up and down in front of the TV at the other end of the room.
I exercise a lot, mainly at the gym at the moment although we’ve also just bought a rowing machine. I’ve also got into gardening so I know I’m middle-aged. I also like the theatre. And of course, reading! When I was younger, I was often to be found unwashed at a music festival.
I’m not sure I have one, but I am smitten with the poetry of Warsan Shire, who wrote the poem I wish to have written (‘Home’).
Fiction has so many important roles. I can’t remember a day of my life when I haven’t read a book. Escaping into different worlds has got me through all the problems and hardships in my life to date. I’ve also learned so much about different worlds and times. Writing also has a very important role in mental health: it certainly helps me with that.
Tessa Hadley. If only!
A story about a school reunion, featuring a ghost, entitled ‘Everybody loved Romy’.
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Sam Szanto lives in Durham, UK with her husband and two children. She has had almost 40 stories and poems published and listed in competitions.
In March 2022, her short story ‘If No One Speaks’ won second prize in the Writers’ Mastermind Short StoryContest; ‘Mikey’ was longlisted for the Bedford International Writing Competition (previously also highly commended in the Write by the Sea KQ Competition) and ‘The Thought of Death Sits Easy on the Man’ was published in WayWords, Issue 5 and ‘The Yellow Circle’ was published in Personal Bests Journal 3 (also published earlier by Storgy). In 2021, her story collection ‘Courage’ was a semi-finalist in the St Lawrence Book Awards; ‘Quiet Love’ placed third in the Erewash Writers Open Short Story Competition; ‘The New House’ was longlisted for the Crowvus Ghost Story Competition; ‘Rubbish’ was highly commended in the Glittery Literary Summer Competition and published in Anthology Volume 2; and ‘Don’t Refuse Me’ was listed in the Parracombe Prize Story Competition and published in the Parracombe Prize 2021 Anthology.
In 2020, Sam’s short story ‘Inaccrochable’ was published in Storgy; ‘125’ was a finalist in the 2020 Literary Taxidermy Competition and published in the Regulus Press anthology 124 Beloved – another of her stories in the 2021 competition also received an Honourable Mention; ‘Ferhana’ was published by Momaya Press in their Short Story Review 2020 and ‘Phil in Real Life’ was published in Secret Attic Booklet #6. ‘Making Memories’ was highly commended in the Michael Terence Publishing Winter Short Story Competition 2019 and published in the anthology The Forgotten. Also in 2020, Sam had stories shortlisted in the Writers Forum Competition, the 2020 Exeter Literary Festival Short Story Competition, the Doris Gooderson Short Story Competition and the 2020 Pennine Ink Writing Competition; and longlisted for the Flash 500 2020 Quarter One and the Cranked Anvil Short Story Competition.
In 2019, she won second prize in the Doris Gooderson Short Story Competition with her story ‘Letting Go’, which was published in the 2019 Chairman’s Challenges Anthology. Also in 2019, one of her stories was shortlisted in the Henshaw Press December Short Story Competition. Her flash fiction, ‘The Things that he Gave Me’ was published in Gold Dust.
Sam is also a poet and in 2022, three of her poems will be published in Europe Poetry Magazine and Horned Things Journal. In 2021, she was published in Alternate Route Zine. She won both the 2020 Charroux Prize for Poetry and the First Writers 12th International Poetry Competition. In 2019, she won second prize in the Hammond House International Literary Prize and was published in the anthology Leaving. Her poetry was shortlisted for the Grist Prize in 2019.
Sam is currently studying for the UK Poetry School / Newcastle University MA in Writing Poetry and also has an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University.
Sam Szanto
Twitter: sam_szanto
Facebook: sam.szanto
Instagram: samszantowriter
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Read Sam’s prizewinning story.
Last month, we announced our Writers Mastermind Short Story Contest winners. In this series, we interview each of them to discover the soul behind their story.
Today we talk to Tomas Marcantonio, who won third place with his story, Feathers. He taught English in South Korea for most of the past decade, and is now settling in England to finish his dystopian noir series. Learn about his experience abroad and what drives his writing.
Tomas Marcantonio is a writer from Brighton, England. He graduated from the University of Sussex with a BA in English Language and Film, and he spent most of his twenties teaching English while travelling and writing.
Tomas is the author of two travelogues, Gift of the Gap and How Not To Live Your Twenties, as well as the coming-of-age novel The Leap of Grebes. His dystopian trilogy Sonaya Nights is being published by Storgy Books, with first installment This Ragged, Wastrel Thing released on August 1st, 2020.
Tomas is also the author of numerous short stories, many of which have appeared in literary journals and speculative fiction magazines online and in print. He has placed in several short story and flash fiction competitions, and was the winner of the ‘Just Back’ travel writing competition in The Telegraph in 2017. In 2020, Tomas was also nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net.
When not scribbling about future worlds or his two beloved seaside cities, Brighton and Busan, Tomas is often writing obscure articles about Korean football. Otherwise, he is most likely getting lost in neon-lit backstreets somewhere, searching for new brands of makgeolli.
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I’m from Brighton on the south coast of the UK, but I spent most of the past ten years in South Korea, where in addition to writing I was teaching English. I recently moved back to Brighton to be closer to family and friends. It’s great being back, but I do miss the thrill of being abroad. I did a lot of travelling in my twenties, but now that I’m in my mid-thirties I’m trying my best to settle!
I love exploring alternate worlds, especially dystopian or futuristic societies. I also frequently write about anxiety, and coming of age through travel. I rarely write about mundane life – I love travel and adventure and diverse peoples and places.
I suppose my dream as a writer is to combine genre writing with literary fiction. As a reader I adore both, but I haven’t come across too many writers who write genre fiction with the poetic prose I enjoy. That’s the little corner I aim for.
I recently wrote a Writer’s Manifesto as part of my Creative Writing Master’s degree – I called it the Soul Tattooist’s Manifesto. The idea is to ‘tattoo’ your soul into history, to make a permanent record of your thoughts, fears, feelings, and inspirations. I love the idea of trying to capture your true self in your writing, and the possibility that future generations will be able to read it and have an insight into your identity.
It’s hard to narrow this down to a few! I adore the writing of James Lee Burke, one of the few crime writers I’ve read whose beautiful descriptions of places and people can take my breath away. In terms of prose I’m hugely inspired by the writing styles of the likes of Laurie Lee, Virginia Woolf, and Annie Proulx, but I also love the big ideas and imagination of fantasy and speculative fiction novels. Haruki Murakami is my go-to writer if I’m in need of a definite pleaser.
I tend to write better in cafés, so a little background music is welcome. In Korea my ideal writing routine was to get up early and head to a quiet café with sea views and spend the whole morning there. I haven’t found my perfect writing café since moving back to Brighton, so I’m still searching!
Apart from curling up with a good book, my favourite hobby these days is beach volleyball. There’s nothing better than jumping around in the sand on a sunny day – especially if there’s a cold pale ale waiting afterwards.
My biggest artistic muse of the past decade has been Busan, my favourite city in Korea. Sandy beaches, sprawling mountains, labyrinths of neon-lit backstreets, and don’t get me started on the food. A huge city bursting with personality, and inspiration in every little nook.
I want to avoid trying to give a deep, profound answer here, so I’ll just answer this from my personal point of view as a writer – it’s a release, a calling, a joy.
I’d love to read a Murakami novel of my life – he’d be able to side-step the boring parts by having me stumble upon a parallel world.
I’m tidying up Book 3 of my dystopian noir trilogy, Sonaya Nights, from Storgy Books. I’m also working on a fantasy novel, which is something I’ve always wanted to do. I love world building and letting my imagination run riot, so it’s been a joy so far.
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Thanks to Tomas Marcantonio for letting us into his world.
Website: https://tommarcantonio.wixsite.com/author
Read Tomas’s prizewinning story.