Short Story Time

Episode fourteen brings brief reviews for the latest Star Wars offering, The Rise of Skywalker, Greta Gerwig’s new take on Little Women, and The Witcher, a magical show that’s just flown onto Netflix. Timers at the ready!

Episode thirteen brings 60-second reviews for the latest Jumanji outing, Jumanji: The Next Level, an intriguing documentary all about Fiddler on the Roof, Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles and Ivy Pembroke’s second novel in her Christmas Street series, A Wedding on Christmas Street. Timers at the ready!

Episode twelve brings 60-second reviews for Rian Johnson's new murder mystery with an all-star cast, Knives Out, and Nora Roberts's final book in her The Chronicles of the One Trilogy, The Rise of Magicks. Timers at the ready...

Episode eleven brings 60-second reviews for Harriet Tubman biopic, Harriet, the long-awaited sequel we just can't let go, Frozen 2, and Chadwick Boseman's new film, 21 Bridges. Thank you to Hillary (@PetDocHill) for her 60-second take on 21 Bridges. Timers at the ready...

Episode ten brings 60-second reviews for Last Christmas, Marriage Story and the London West End version of Dear Evan Hansen.  Thank you to Sarah (@CookieNScreen) for her 60-second take on Marriage Story.  Timers at the ready...

Episode nine brings 60-second reviews for Doctor Sleep, Megan Phelps-Roper’s Unfollow and Brittany Runs a Marathon.  Thank you to Freda (@FredaTalkingPix) for her 60-second take on Brittany Runs a Marathon.  Timers at the ready...

Episode eight brings 60-second reviews for Terminator: Dark Fate, The Addams Family and Sally Thorne’s The Hating Game.  Thank you to Abigail (@Abby_Chandler) for her 60-second take on The Addams Family.  Timers at the ready...

Episode seven brings 60-second reviews for Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil, Peanut Butter Falcon, Farmageddon, Netflix's 'Living With Yourself' and Sophie Kinsella's latest novel, Christmas Shopaholic.  Thank you to Abigail (@Abby_Chandler), Victoria (@arrrgggghhhhhh) and Bianca (@ThefilmB) for their 60-second takes on Living With Yourself, Christmas Shopaholic and Peanut Butter Falcon. Timers at the ready...

Episode six brings 60-second reviews for two very different big screen offerings - Judy and Joker - along with Nicci French's new book, The Lying Room. Thank you, once again, to Hillary (@petdochill) and Victoria (@arrrgggghhhhhh) for their 60-second takes on Judy and The Lying Room, respectively. Timers at the ready...

Episode five brings 60-second reviews for Ready or Not, The Goldfinch (film), episode one of the new series of The Good Place and CL Taylor’s novel, ‘Sleep’. Thank you, too, to the marvellous Sarah (@CookieNScreen) and Victoria (@arrrgggghhhhhh) for their 60-second takes on The Goldfinch film and Sleep, respectively. Timers at the ready...

Episode four brings 60-second reviews for The Kitchen, Ad Astra, The Farewell and Colson Whitehead's new novel, The Nickel Boys. Thank you, too, to the marvellous Hillary Butler (@petdochill) and Bianca Garner (@TheFilmB) for their 60-second takes on The Kitchen and The Farewell respectively. Timers at the ready...

Bit of a bonus episode here, but when you binge a whole Netflix series in 24 hours and get a world exclusive look at a new short film from Colin Trevorrow, what other choice is there? Here are my 60-second takes on the Netflix film, Tall Girl, and the 8-part series, Unbelievable (two very different Netflix offerings!), along with short film Battle at Big Rock. Timers at the ready!

Episode two brings 60-second reviews for Downton Abbey's foray onto the big screen, Lorene Scafaria's film, Hustlers, and fantasy novel 'The Ten Thousand Doors of January' by debut writer, Alix E. Harrow.   Thank you, too, to the marvellous humans, Katie Smith-Wong (@Guitargalchina) and Amon Warmann (@awarmann), for their 60-second takes!  Timers at the ready...

Episode one of series 2 brings 60-second reviews for horror film It: Chapter Two and assassin/family drama/comedy novel The Nursery by Asia Mackay. Timers at the ready...

I’m changing it up a bit for series two. Instead of talking about my stories, I’ll be talking about other people’s stories, be they books, films or tv shows. But I’m trying to stay on theme so the reviews will be limited to 60 seconds. Let’s see how much info I can pack in to a minute!

For National Writing Day, my work asked people to try a writing challenge, to use 'In this place...' as a starting point and write without stopping for seven minutes. I gave it a shot and this story is the unexpectedly profound result! The story also won me a work prize and I was able to donate money to two charities of my choice as a result: the MND association and Shelter. So it was certainly worth those seven minutes! Thank you to Sarita Jairath for reading it so beautifully for this podcast.

Jumping Jack loves to jump as high as he can. But when he jumps reeeeally high one day he lands in a different time - a time when dinosaurs walked the planet. And a large creature is stomping his way over who's not very happy and might just need a friend. Jumping Jack Makes a New Friend is a children's story (ages approx. 3-7) and is one of many Jumping Jack adventures inspired by my American nephew Jack. It's written by me and once again performed and produced by the very talented Chris Eastwood (check out his improv group @BattleActs on Twitter).

Bored housewife Meredith Jayne Golaria is used to living a dull and ordinary life with her grumpy but nice-enough husband. That is, right up until she has a chance encounter with a woman hiding a secret criminal identity – an identity that might just add a touch of sparkle to Meredith's otherwise mundane existence . . .  The woman is none other than The Jewel herself, a notorious thief so charming that her victims are left unable to say anything bad about her, despite her numerous crimes. But what is the truth behind The Jewel? And will Meredith find her shine once more...?

In this new adventure, Jumping Jack's mummy tells him that you get to the moon using a spaceship or if you jump really really high. You can guess what Jack does next... Jumping Jack's second adventure is certainly out of this world! (For kids around ages 3-7.)  The story is one of many Jumping Jack adventures inspired by my American nephew Jack. It's written by me and once again performed and produced by the very talented Chris Eastwood (check out his improv group @BattleActs on Twitter). Musical maestro Andrew Evans (@AndrewDEvans on Twitter) is back with some brilliant music, too.   (This podcast cannot be held responsible for your little ones suddenly trying to jump to the moon - sorry!)

Jumping Jack Goes to the Zoo is a children's story (ages approx. 3-7) and one of many Jumping Jack adventures I wrote for my American nephew to bridge the gap between us. He loved the way his British Auntie spoke and so I wrote him a story inspired by our trip to the zoo in D.C. And then I wrote a few more... (Stay tuned for those, coming soon!).  As Jumping Jack deserves nothing but the best I also managed to rope in the brilliant Chris Eastwood (check out his improv group @BattleActs on Twitter) to voice and produce it with music from the very talented Andrew Evans (@AndrewDEvans on Twitter).

In The Kiss, a married woman goes to confront the woman she believes is trying to break up her marriage. But the encounter doesn’t go quite as planned...  I wrote this one a few years back, before the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements had become a huge thing, though they're certainly related to it now! The story grew from the notion that women must compete with other women if they are going to succeed in life - a notion with which I whole-heartedly disagree. Themes: infidelity, #MeToo. (And yes, it contains swears.)

This short film follows a man as he faces his fear of the sea and finally battles the demons that have plagued him for so long. I wrote The Sea and His Wife for a Jameson short film competition that would have starred Dominic West had I won. Ah well, it was fun to write. I tweaked the script for the podcast but it was written for a visual impact - one I hope you can imagine as the majority of the script is dialogue-free. 

A quirky YA romance, The Cyclist follows a young woman as she is walking home, only to have a bug fly in her mouth, causing her to spit violently into the street - right onto the neck of a passing cyclist, who looks a little familiar...  It was inspired by an idea I had to put a short story collection together that involved somebody spitting in each of the stories. An odd idea, I grant you, but it was to publicise the brilliant work done by one of my favourite charities, The Anthony Nolan Trust. When I was a kid, my mum organised blood drives for them - as the only way you could join the register was to donate blood. Now, you just need to spit into a little vial. Easy as that! Check out their brilliant work at www.anthonynolan.org.  The Cyclist was performed by the brilliant Sarah Louise Dean of Beyond Bechdel (@Beyond_Bechdel).

She Must Get Out of Bed takes a look at a woman struggling to get through the most ordinary of days because her depression makes everything a challenge.  The story was inspired by the daily struggles I had while I was dealing with my depression. I knew, even then, that mine was not as severe as others but I really struggled with social interaction and just mustering the energy and enthusiasm for basic tasks was a constant challenge that left me exhausted. Thankfully, with anti-depressants and therapy - and friends who knew to gently push me, not make demands - I got much better.  If you're struggling, there are people to call. I started with a visit to my GP. Here's to great mental health.