Sea Defences

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ll. 4-5) which sets the mood for the short story while it could also imply a foreshadowing of what is narrator. Not because he is necessarily lying about what happened but more so because of his mental

Rachel undergoes a crisis of faith during an exceedingly difficult moment in her life. I know that this reflects some of your own experience – is that why you wanted to portray a main character facing such questioning?

Your moving and beautifully detailed flash fiction story ‘Make Do And Mend’ recently won second prize in the Flash 500 writing competition. It feels as if this, too, could develop into a longer sequence of writing. Is that something you had in mind? From 1st July 2021, VAT will be applicable to those EU countries where VAT is applied to books - this additional charge will be collected by Fed Ex (or the Royal Mail) at the time of delivery. Shipments to the USA & Canada: There are snippets of the latter part of the story dropped into earlier chapters – I found it totally fascinating (but it also took me a while to work out what was going on). Could you explain how and why you decided to do that?

The most ambitious in terms of pure “Story” in that it felt this idea could work as the basis for a novel. Which makes it even more impressive that the author has crafted this into an excellent short, punchy stretch of writing… some wonderfully wry and playful writing helps make this an engrossing story with a quietly haunting note.” As a baker and theologian, Kendall Vanderslice has learned that bread is central to the story of God’s work in the world – it appears throughout scripture, calling us to explore what God wants to teach us through the tangible, embodied experiences of baking and breaking bread.

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The setting throughout the short story changes several times, and it feels like there are two storylines in the short story. The short story starts in medias res: “I’m in the police station. Again. But this time it’s different because of the shoe. And because Mumma’s not here. (p. 1 ll. 1-2). Utterly engrossing and atmospheric, Sea Defences is an extraordinarily accomplished debut novel with its bare but beguiling prose and poignant exploration of loss. I loved it!’ immediate impression of Michael’s immature way of seeing the world. There is also a consistent use of I’ve always looked on the wordcount limit as a friend. Cutting words tightens up the prose, and I find my stories are always better after surgery. It’s become a bit of a cliché, but do you need those adverbs, those qualifiers, those extra adjectives? In any writing, but particularly in short fiction, if you can make a word do several jobs, all the better. Words have more than a simple meaning. They have associations, sound, rhythm. They conjure up images, emotions, memories. Make them count – a new meaning to ‘wordcount’!