Confessions of a stamp murderer

30th May 1931.

An unremarkable date. The British Raj is still lording over the Indian populace even as revolts are cropping up like angry acne in pockets all over the country.

It is an unremarkable day in a small village in the remotest interiors of Cawnpore, the industrial capital city of the United Provinces in north India. On the main road pull-rickshaws ply to and fro, shrilly trilling cycles overbalance into pedestrians and bullock-carts sway along slowly. The cow scrunching on the footpath is placidly chewing the end of the lungi of an irate passer-by who is red in the face from trying to...

Read the full article in the Summer 2014 issue of Ducts
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1625 words
Drama
US publication

Sky's the limit

The aeroplane takes off like an arrow towards an unknown destination. The wind lifts the plane’s wings giving them the required thrust to gain altitude rapidly. Twin headlights cleave a path through the darkness as the dull roar of its engines carries clearly on the cold night air.

Five pairs of eyes are turned up towards it, watching the lights steadily climb higher. The dull eyes of a prostitute, lying motionless as a paying customer grimly goes to work on her to get his money’s worth in the dingy room of a brothel in a fashionable section of the city, see an unattainable escape to another life...

Read the full story in the February 2014 issue of Writing Tomorrow

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4025 words
Drama
US publication

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Words from the Wise

"I enjoyed reading this piece"

Valerie Polichar

Editor

Grasslimb

"We would be delighted to use your story."

Miranda Kopp-Filek

Editor

Writing Tomorrow Magazine

"I do enjoy reading your stories"

Ron Gaskill

Editor

Jerseyworks

"I can tell that the author has a good narrative sense and writes a lively story. Might I suggest that you rewrite this piece as a screenplay?  It seems a natural, due to your iconic presentation."

Michael Latza

Editor

Willow Review

"I enjoyed your story, sad though it is."

Sandra Costich

Fiction Editor

American Scholar

"Thank you for your intriguing piece. I have read your work previously and I must tell you that I always read it from beginning to end because you write so very well, and your subject matter, your protagonists too, are consistently much more than the ordinary. I do like this piece."

Gabrielle DePlancher

Fiction Editor

Total Quality Reading

The last tanga

The musty smell hits me as soon as my foot steps over the threshold. The horse barn is no larger than my kitchen. Its floor is made up of irregular slabs of cool stone from indigenous quarries and worn smooth with years of being trod underfoot. Its walls are of an indistinct shape and colour, lined with old and thread-bare tapestry. Holes peep out shyly from between the swells and folds. The entire space is lit up with a single bulb bravely trying to throw its weak light to the ends of the room. Even so, several nooks and crannies still manage to elude its flickering yellow glow to remain concealed in...

Read the full article in the January 2013 issue of Equus

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1000 words
Nonfiction/Real fiction
US publication

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Words from the Wise

"I just read some of your other stories online, which I enjoyed very much. Although we realize you don't have a lot of experience with horses, we would appreciate working with you again, should you have something in this vein."

Laurie Bonner

Senior Editor

Equus

"I very much like (this). I'm interested in it. It is a sophisticated piece of prose, beautifully and honestly written wtih vivid, detailed descriptions, and many wonderful lines. Some of my favourites are:

• There is a faint buzzing as a small swarm of bugs gather around under the bulb and attempt to put an end to their lives.
• A fresh bunch of lemon and chillies hangs from the doorway. This is our Indian version of the mistletoe, except that it is used to ward off spirits and keep out the evil eye.
• She is brown, with long tail hair cut into a stylish taper and long mane that is adorned with beads and plaits.
• Although she does not appear to be overly well-fed, her bearing is proud, as though she senses that this is her swan song.
• She will not get distracted by police whistles or shrill bicycle bells, nor will sharp motorcycle horns or shrieking ambulance sirens disturb her.
• Then she will be discovered lying dead in a ditch by the roadside, flies buzzing around her carcass, dogs sniffing and mooching about in packs.

It is an excellent piece. The qualities that make it outstanding... the keen eye for accurate and telling detail, the sense of honesty, and the attention to diction. (I like stories) that are more literary and have fresh and interesting details, like the ones I pointed to--especially that bit about the lemon and chillies hanging from the doorway--an Indian version of mistletoe. That was lovely! I looked at your articles on Writing World and I liked them a lot."

Pearl Luke

Editor

Page Forty-Seven

"I enjoyed reading your story"

Emily Trahair

Editor

Planet

The confession

When the series of bomb blasts rocked the railways that week, Suresh remembered the three men. Their expressions, their gestures, their words suddenly took on a different meaning. Hadn’t he curiously run into them again and again at different stations? Didn’t they always seem agitated, as though something they were planning had gone wrong? Or perhaps, because something was about to begin.

Conscientiously doing his duty, old Suresh was bent almost double as he stumbled along the platform, mechanically stroking his threadbare broom in front of him. He had a long peppery beard and wild...

Read the full story in the December 2012 issue of Writing Tomorrow

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3060 words
Fiction
US publication

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Words from the Wise

"Thanks so much for... such a wonderful, heart-wrenching story. I'd love to run The Confession for December. Fantastic ending! I think your new ending is absolutely brilliant...one of your strengths is describing the scene, and you did it fantastically. I hope you think so too. I love the "bereft of his beloved broom." Really sticks with us and brings us back to that moment we first met Suresh. ...This will be a great piece for you to add to your online/print collection. You've got a great, well-crafted story here! It's been a privilege to work on your piece."

Miranda Kopp-Filek

Editor

Writing Tomorrow

"Our editors enjoyed your piece; we feel it demonstrates considerable merit and skill."

Michelle Chitts

Editorial Intern

Griffith Review

"Some good images here"

Chris Heavener

Editor

Annalemma

"It's a distressing story told well"

Sandra Costich

Editor

American Scholar

"You have a knack for description."

Michael Latza

Editor

Willow Review

"You write with clarity, confidence, and a style that draws a reader into the unfolding tale wanting more of what you have to deliver. As soon as Suresh is introduced, the magic begins. (It) is a good story."

Gabrielle DePlancher

Editor

Total Quality Reading

An idol is forever, not just for Christmas

10th May 1979. Margaret Thatcher has just become the new prime minister of England. Pluto moves inside Neptune’s orbit for the first time ever since either planet became known to Science. The Sahara desert experiences snow for a period of thirty minutes.

In a small dusty village in the remote interiors of a large state of west India, a tall young man is anxiously pacing the floor outside his house. From time to time, he stops to glance through the open door, then resumes pacing as vigorously as ever. He is oblivious to the heat of the afternoon sun on his bare head, unaware of the scorching earth...

Read the full story in the May 2012 issue of Perceptions

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1090 words
Fiction/Drama
US publication

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Words from the Wise

"Very well written, and I liked the cycle being played out here."

Anonymous

Editor 1 (of 6)

Flashquake

"We love it."

Anonymous

Editor-in-Chief

Flashquake

"Terribly well written"

Geoffrey C Porter

Editor

Untied Shoelaces Of The Mind

"It is well-written, and the opening is particularly gripping"

Elizabeth Rosen

Essay Editor

Ducts

"I like your work."

Anthony Brown

Editor

Stickman Review

"It's a delightfully written story"

Penni Mitchell

Managing Editor

Herizons

"This is fine writing"

Valerie Polichar

Editor

Grasslimb

To right a wrong

I am going to die before the night is out.

I know it. I can feel it. There is a strange stillness in the air that heralds the end of life for me. Leaves rustle without wind. Wings of birds flutter ominously as they nestle amongst each other in sleep. A dog howls at the moon, it seems to me like it is baying for the dead. And I have just broken the vow.

In the remotest interiors of India, there exists an unremarkable village. It is not very large, is near neither the highway nor the sea, has neither natural scenic beauty nor historical importance, no popular film star has made a home in it, nor is it the haunt...

Read the full story in the March 2012 issue of Big Pulp

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3500 words
Drama
US publication

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Words from the Wise

"I think your story is excellently written. I enjoyed the details of life in a remote Indian village setting, and think you have done a great job of introducing this village and its people."

David Peters

Editor

Fried Fiction

"The opening line is quite good, portending the narrator's imminent demise. And the trailing paragraph, what in the old journalism game we call 'the bridge' is fantastic, too. It is, judging from the work's opening, a good night to die."

Theodore Q. Rorschalk

Editor

Total Quality Reading

"It has an original plot line. I love the setting too, and all the great cultural details you include. You're a very talented writer with good instincts for intriguing stories."

Paula Jolin

Manuscript Reader

The Sun

"I liked a lot about this story. The setting was spot on and authentic. The plot was unique; I've never seen anything like it. The piece had entertainment value and depth, which it's often hard to find both in a story."

A. Leonard Lucas

Fiction Editor

Fender Stitch

"We think that you have a very unique voice. The beginning paragraph is pretty much perfect. We were immediately drawn in"

Anonymous

Editor

Black Fox Literary Review

"I loved the opening few paragraphs... Amusing story... and the setting/atmosphere at the Indian village is well done."

Anonymous

Manuscript Reader

Antigonish Review

"We like your writing."

Ann Rushton & Kelly Shriver

Editors

Bound Off

"We enjoyed reading it"

Paul Barrett

Managing Editor

Mary Magazine

"We enjoyed reading it"

Bill Olver

Editor

Big Pulp

Affectionately yours

My dear friend,

I don’t know how you are or where, but I hope you’re doing fine. We may have lost touch with each other for some time now, but I haven’t forgotten you, I never will. I don’t know what keeps you from writing to me or calling me, but for both our sakes, I hope it is a good enough reason for breaking off that wonderful relationship we shared for a brief period of time in the past – our friendship.

I have come to realise now, that friendship is a burden more than anything else. Though I have been fortunate to include you in its folds, I think that the shoulders of all are not meant to be strong enough...

Read the full article on the Blog of Kansas City Voices

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480 words
Fiction/Drama
US publication

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Words from the Wise

"We really enjoyed your flash fiction piece"

Anonymous

Prose Staff

Rose & Thorn Journal

"I thought that (this was) intriguing"

Richard Rosenbaum

Associate Fiction Editor & Online Fiction Editor

Broken Pencil

Kalia

Kalia watched the dancing water gradually become calm, even as he readied to disturb it again. One rough callused hand fingered the smooth round flawless surface of the second pebble. His eyes, although still young and sharp, were red rimmed and hooded with crusty lids and small sparse eyelashes. At the moment they were narrowed and shielded by his shaggy eyebrows, puckered and closing ranks together against the blazing afternoon sun. With the other hand he brushed back the tail-end of his turban, now soggy with sweat and moisture of the humid air of Fatehgarh village, tucking a stray lock...

Read the full story in the Volume Nine, 2011 issue of Kansas City Voices

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1900 words
Fiction/Drama
US publication

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Words from the Wise

"We feel that it has a unique voice and that the description of the characters and setting are excellent."

Susan Peters

Prose Editor

Kansas City Voices

"The detail is good and the images are strong"

Melinda Selmys

Editor

Vulgata

"It’s a well-written story, and we were impressed with your craft. Clearly it came from a capable hand."

Luc Saunders

Editorial Associate

The Sun

"It is a pleasure to accept your manuscript... fine contribution."

Nathan Grant

Editor-in-Chief

African American Review