I don't know how others feel but I just think that the short story has become a forgotten art.
Now, I'm no great fan of Kindle or e-book readers but over recent months I've found a good use for one.
Anyone who saw John Craven on 'Room 101' give his reasons for dumping e-readers because books couldn't be replaced. Great idea, I mean the feel and the smell of a book. Hold it - yeah, but out there in Kindle world are a bunch of short stories that may never see the light of day on the printed page.
Lee Child, for one, has a bunch of short stories out there that may or may not make their way into an anthology.
Now me, I love a good short story and that's why I've got a Kindle now.
Over the past few years I've come across some good anthologies and a pretty good online site.
The ones I like the best are one edited like 'First Thrills' edited by Lee Child, another is a western anthology 'A Fistful Of Legends' and 'Beat To A Pulp' that is both an online magazine with two recent anthologies both in paperback and Kindle editions.
What I like about these is that they are encouraging - encouraging new writers to write and, hopefully, draw in readers.
The good thing about this type of short story anthologies is that the first time writers are up there with the big names. Hopefully, some of them will become household names with a few novels to their name and some more short stories.
Once upon a time you couldn't pick up a magazine or a newspaper that didn't have a short story. There were magazines like Argosy and the like that were full of short stories. Great to read on the daily commute - not like today when you reach the exciting bit in a book and its time to get off the train.
No comments:
Post a Comment