This is my latest short story, a competition entry written on the theme of ‘Lockdown’. Based on the previous year’s competition winning stories, the judges were expecting an uncompromising literary sign of the times.

This story is not that. Not one bit.

After a year of Covid-19, the last thing I wanted to do was write something important. As always, I wanted to do something that brought a little joy and I already had a fun idea that I wanted to write, so I did.

Now, I was under no illusions about my chances of success when I entered, and it will surprise no one to hear My New Routine was not a prize-winner. The top three stories were all excellent pieces of literature. Dreamy, poetic, hard-hitting, emotional, frightening. One came with trigger warnings for suicide and domestic violence. In a word, they were important.

My little story didn’t stand a chance.

But all is not lost! It’s getting another lease on life now with you, dear reader. I can already hear you thinking, ‘He’s a sore loser foisting his sloppy seconds on me’… But might I instead suggest, ‘waste not, want not’? Hah! Anyway, if you’ve enjoyed my books or other short stories, I think you might enjoy this too. And if you haven’t read anything of mine, it’s a perfect place to start.

My New Routine is 1500 words, with a reading time of 5-7 minutes.

It’s already gone out to my mailing list subscribers, and I’m offering it for free to any new subscribers too. You can join here (also for free!) and get it in your inbox right away.

Of course, you can join, read the story, then unsubscribe – totally fine! But subscribers will always be the first to get new short stories, book updates, and other fun stuff twice monthly. Hope to see you there 😘