My first longlisting in a short story comp, and I’m pretty pleased!

You may know me as the author of novels like Cairo Mon Amour, Bury me in Valletta, The Sunset Assassin, An Englishman’s Guide to Infidelity, and The True History of Jude (which was featured in Independent Book Review’s ‘The Best Books We Read This Year 2022′).

For the last year I’ve been writing short stories. I’m working hard to master the form, but I’m especially interested to hear your views on what works and what doesn’t – and to use this feedback to make improvements to my stories. I’m very grateful for the feedback I received on a couple of stories from the Northern Beaches Writers Group in Manly, Australia.

I’m pretty pleased to be on the first rung of the short story ladder!

I’d gladly post samples of my stories free on my website but for one thing: Most competitions won’t accept stories that have been published – and that usually includes publication on a blog or website.

That’s why I’m offering free email access to one of my stories each month for a year starting in January 2024. You can see the list of stories below.

At the end of the year I’ll publish an anthology of the stories on Amazon, Kobo and Apple, hopefully with more competition plaudits under my belt.

Look out for my January story announcement later in the year. All you’ll need to do is email me at stuartcampbellauthor@gmail.com to request the January story. Even better, email me today and I’ll put you on my list.

I’m sure you hate spam as much as I do, so I won’t put your email into a mailout program without your consent.

A year of stories:

January 2024	Your Own Luck: A man with a past stows away on a cruise ship to Brisbane.
February 2024	An Afternoon under the Paperbark: A hidden observer witnesses a family drama on a hot afternoon in Sydney.
March 2024	The Unmasking of Mr French: A new neighbour in a luxury apartment block is not what he seems.
April 2024	Ninety-nine Names for Rain: A nineteenth century scholar discovers a deadly Shangri-La.
May 2024	The Afternoon of the Jackal: Uncle Christopher’s Boxing Day BBQ doesn’t go to plan.
June 2024	Birdbrain: A lonely woman prefers to be a bird.
July 2024	Thanks Dad: The Vice Chancellor of a university struggles with Imposter Syndrome.
August 2024	Belfast: When an Australian searches for his roots in Belfast, things get complicated.
September 2024	Fireworks: A man loses his memory in an accident, so his wife tries to redesign him.
October 2024	Lawrence of Arabia’s Box: An update on the fate of the lost manuscript of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
November 2024	Happy Days: History is rewritten at a school reunion. (Longlisted in the UK’s Creative Writing Ink Short Story Competition 2023)
December 2024	Balti Lamb: A dinner date at a Heathrow Airport restaurant goes pear-shaped.

If these look like your kind of stories, email me at stuartcampbellauthor@gmail.com .