My thirteenth collection of short stories, "Somnambulant Hearts", was published last month by Black Shuck Books. The collection contains seventeen short stories, mostly centered around the 'liminal space of the in-between' (or however slipstream is being defined nowadays). In keeping with most of my short fiction, much is alluded to rather than fully stated. Out of those stories, fifteen have been previously published and two are original to the collection. For this blog post, I thought I'd focus on the two stories which are new. Story notes for the others would have appeared on this site when they were first published, should you wish to seek those out.
Onto the originals. "Sundowning" refers to the condition which those with dementia can suffer from, whereby heightened confusion, anxiety and agitation can occur later in the day, perhaps due to fatigue. My story depicts a relationship where one of the couple becomes less lucid as described, their dementia worsening to the point where recognition lapses. However, there is a framework to the story that indicates the relationship was not what it seemed. What is it like to understand something about your past but are no longer able to redeem the future? This is the crux of that story.
An extract:
We walked the seafront at Cromer. She leant into me. The warmth of our bodies connecting at this midway point, where Siamese twins might be conjoined. It was a burgeoning spring day, the 23rd March 20__. It was over a year and two months from our initial date. Midweek, out of season, the sea seemed aware. We stopped and leant against a railing, tiny traces of rust and flecked white paint transferring to our coats, and sought the horizon. Rose’s gaze held halfway, as if a pane of glass halted her vision somewhere within the view. My eyes were drawn to the pier: that wooden extension to the land which resembled a King Canute dare. Come and get me if you think you’re hard enough. But there was no battle to be won against the sea. I remember thinking how long it would take for the world to reclaim itself from mankind, should something ever happen to us. I pressed into Rose. A pressed Rose. Like something found within the pages of a journal. Nothing would ever happen to us.
The departure point of the second original story, "Inversion Layer", came whilst watching the TV show Bargain Hunt. There was a segment within the show where the presenter visited a model village which is an exact replica of the village in which it is sited (at Bourton-on-the-Water in the Cotswolds). The real village is replicated in detail, so much so that when businesses are renamed then the corresponding signs are changed in the model village. Inevitably that threw up a lot of story ideas, and coupled with a brother who doesn't exist, it became quite straightforward to move the story into an interesting direction.
An extract:
He could visualise his brother here. Perhaps he would have rented one of the rooms in the Old New Inn itself, unlike Ben and Gemma who were lodged in the outskirts. There was a ten per cent discount on lunches if you combined the village with the pub. He was sensible like that. Would have thought ahead. Ben wondered if the discount applied to those who stayed in the model village itself. In the miniature version of the Old New Inn there was also a model of the model village, and within that model another model. This was what fascinated him the most.
He dropped to a crouch. Gemma’s hand on his shoulder, steadying him.
“What have you seen?”
It was an odd question. One that didn’t deserve an answer. In each of the two churches, choirs were singing. Ben wondered whether in addition to changing shop signs the residents were also updated whenever someone moved in or out. It seemed unlikely, but the concept nagged.
I should mention that in both the stories above, and, thinking about it, in quite a few of the other stories, the main male characters are quite unpleasant and find themselves caught in realities not wholly of their own making; although in addition there are many stories with much more positive outcomes. The title of the collection comes from the story "My Somnambulant Heart", which seemed to fit the book's themes as a whole.
"Somnambulant Hearts" is available as a paperback or e-book from Black Shuck Books. Pick up a copy in either format here.
