Its the characters innit? Sometimes a person or group of people come to life from the keyboard and demand more. Sometimes a set of characters can demand another book as in ‘Assured Attention’ the follow up to best selling ‘Our Best Attention’. Murrays, department store of distinction, simply couldn’t be shut down. Luckily, the books’ format of linked short stories meant that they could be read in any order. Basically, they consist of what amounts to 33 short stories some longer than others. Some characters run throughout the series of stories some don’t.

Writing short stories is an art. Its a discipline. They have to have a beginning, a middle and an end. There has to be internal coherence. Additionally, there has to be something else. Something intangible called satisfaction. The reader has to think ‘ah yes’ at the end.

Short stories are often a useful lead in to writing longer books but are valuable in themselves. Feedback from readers of my books so far often includes how much people like the format: they can read a chapter on the bus, or at night and don’t have to worry about ‘losing the thread’ of a longer narrative. They can be addictive too. One reader told me that she stayed awake all night just reading one more then another and by 6 am the book was finished- and so was she!

Magazines like the People’s Friend know the value of short stories and publish many of them every week as well as three weekly ‘specials’ and pocket novels. 200,000+ weekly readers around the world can’t be wrong! Luckily, I enjoy writing short stories for them and mine have included topics as disparate as call centres, grumpy policemen and gallus grans among many others. As ever, its the characters innit!