You might 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′).

I’ve been writing short stories this year, and my story Birdbrain has just been ranked Highly Commended in Short Story Unlimited’s Rural Themed Story Competition (Australia). This comes after my story Happy Days was longlisted in the UK’s Creative Writing Ink Short Story Competition 2023 earlier this year.

I must be doing something right!

Because I’m entering these stories in competitions, I can’t publish them yet because most competitions don’t accept published stories. However, 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 work. To this end, I’m offering free email access to one of my stories each month for a year starting in January. You can see the list of stories below.

And as I announced in September, I’m planning to publish an anthology of these short stories on Amazon, Kobo, Apple and Smashwords at the end of 2024 – hopefully with some more competition plaudits and the benefit of reader feedback.

All you’ll need to do is email me at stuartcampbellauthor@gmail.com to request the January story.

I’m sure you hate spam as much as I do, so I’m planning to send bespoke emails – no bcc emails or automated email lists. Happy reading!

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. (Highly Commended in Short Story Unlimited’s Rural Themed Story Competition, Australia, 2023)
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 .