I've just seen an email saying that 7th-13th November 2011 is National Short Story Week in the UK. The website associated with that email has a list of recommended reads for National Short Story Week. The list is, frankly, predictable and boring (sorry). It includes 'classics' and books published by big publishing companies. In my opinion, those books have enough publicity; we don't need a Short Story Week to promote them. We do, however, need to have a Short Story Week that celebrates up and coming talent, and hard working Independent and self-published writers. Those writers DO need extra publicity because their books are often ignored.

Here's an alternative list of short stories and anthologies recommended by me. I urge you to read these authors. Many of them have now become good friends of mine, but that is NOT the only reason I am promoting them. I simply LOVE their writing, and I only got to know them AFTER reading their work. There are some seriously good stories here. Click on the book covers for more details:















The following are my own short story collections: