Bedlam

by Mark Fleming

Description Mark Fleming's debut novel 'BrainBomb' was published as a Chipmunka paperback in the summer of 2009, to rave reviews. Semi-autobiographical, it weaved a lurid diary of bipolar illness against a backdrop of historic fantasy and Edinburgh's punk scene. The short stories collected in Bedlam paint a broader picture. There are bipolar characters. There are others living with post-traumatic stress disorder. Or post-natal depression. Most cope with the stresses and shocks life throws at them. Some don't, resorting to drugs, even contemplating suicide. There is violence in these tales but it is not connected to any medical condition. It is there, in society, and the perpetrators are far more likely not to have a mental condition. What all the characters have in common is that they are ordinary people in sometimes extraordinary circumstances. If they have mental issues, there is nothing abnormal about them. It is simply because they are human.

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2010

About the author

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, my most recent book is a short-story anthology, Big Bang Over The Western General.

Written in a terse style reminiscent of the American genius of short fiction, the late Raymond Carver, these 19 stories focus on everyday situations which can suddenly spiral out of control. The timescale of the opening story, Apples, is the two minutes of the silence commemorating the war dead. The protagonist, a decorated veteran, flashes back to a terrible incident from 1945 which has plagued him every since. This is the tip of a veritable iceberg of drama, tension, sex and violence, the remaining 18 stories touching numerous bases, from Goth parties to house fires, post-club sex to horrific gang initiations. Not for the feint-hearted, these stories are nevertheless life-affirming in consistently revealing the humanity at each core.

My two fantasy novels, Wolf Warriors and Wolf Slaves, go off on a crazy tangent. Set in Dark Ages England, if I were to sum their storyline in three words it would be 'druids versus werewolves'. Inspired by the blend of strong violence and powerful female characters introduced by the Underworld series or Game of Thrones, they allow me to unleash my imagination – although some of the situations portrayed in Big Bang Over The Western General can be just as horrifying!

I also write short horror stories, and have contributed to bestselling Horror Shorts collections edited by Kevin J Kennedy, Collected Easter Horror Shorts, Collected Christmas Horror Shorts II and the forthcoming
Carnival of Horror: A Carnival Themed Horror Anthology.