Tag Archives: short story

At the Printers

Posted by Eric Nash on

There’s a little something spiritual about being in the vicinity of a working piece of machinery: its heat radiates; its smell permeates; the clattering, chugging, almost orchestral clanking of metal on metal, drive and punch initiates a settling hypnotic calm.

We were at Dean Press today enquiring about printing choices for the chapbook, Rewilding, when we were treated to the impromptu operation of this renovated 1975 Heidelberg letter press machine. What a piece of kit!

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We’re now deciding on a selection of papers and weights, covers and colours, and giving a little extra thought to the limited edition print run. Keeping the materials used in the production in-line with the thematic undercurrent of the story is important to us, and this includes having a natural feel to the product.

Bos will be designing the cover plate, and there’s a good chance this Heidelberg will have a part to play in the production of Rewilding.

If you would like to see footage of the Heidelberg in operation, then please go to my Facebook page (link in the margin).

 

Holding Hands Uncovered

Posted by Eric Nash on

mythic3With Mythic, a new quarterly SF&F magazine publishing my piece of short fiction, Holding Hands, next month, I wanted to give you a little back story about this rather personal tale.

A while ago my son and I were having some difficulty getting on. After around six months of very little communication between us, either verbally or physically, we happened to be walking back from town, him trailing behind in silence like usual. As we did so, I felt his hand slip in mine. It was wonderful, brief, and a beginning.

It was that moment which I attempted to capture in writing, and from that, Holding Hands developed. I’m not proficient enough as a writer yet to have done that, but I’ve tried. I hope you enjoy the story.

Hypnos

Posted by Eric Nash on
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Nyx, Night Goddess by Gustave Moreau (1880)

 

There has always been Night, then Man came with his fear and Darkness was born.

Hypnos is one of the stories found in the anthology, Monsters Amongst Us, published by Oscillate Wildly Press.

“The monsters we have come to know and love take a backseat as we delve into the darkest, most hideous depths of a monster that has taken centre stage as of late–HUMANS.”  – OWP

Available on Smashwords. mau-cover

 

Posted by Eric Nash on

The late William Trevor on short story writing: “I think it is the art of the glimpse. If the novel is like an intricate Renaissance painting, the short story is an impressionist painting. It should be an explosion of truth. Its strength lies in what it leaves out just as much as what it puts in, if not more. It is concerned with the total exclusion of meaninglessness. Life, on the other hand, is meaningless most of the time. The novel imitates life, where the short story is bony, and cannot wander. It is essential art.”

(source: The Guardian)