Short Stories

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Exploring Cliche

How do cliches become cliched? Do cliches force us to take things on face value and not look for the truth within? The short story is an excellent form in which to explore cliche, and A.J Kirby's portfolio of tales all explore what lies beneath what we take for granted. A.J Kirby's stories are available in a variety of formats - in print, on the web, or on podcast.

Publishing History, Short Stories

  • ‘Day in the Life', published by Skrev Press in Texts' Bones journal: August 2007, ISBN-10: 0980133807/ ISBN-13: 978-0980133806
  • ‘An Army Marches on its Stomach', published by Graveside Tales in Fried! Fast Food, Slow Deaths anthology: October 2007, ISBN 978-1-904646-47-1
  • 'How to Kill an Hour', published in Nemonymous 8: Cone Zero anthology: July 2008 (ISSN1474-2020)
  • ‘Zombies do the funniest things', to be published in New Voices in Fiction Magazine anthology, ‘Where have all the good zombies gone?', due for publication early 2010, ISBN: 9780955063176
  • 'The Ninth Circle', published in Jupiter SF magazine issue 24, April 2009. ISSN 1740-2069 Purchase a copy here.
  • 'A galaxy far, far away', published by Legend Press in their 2009 anthology, 8 Rooms. Buy here. ISBN 978-1906558093.
  • Untitled story published by Megazanthus Press for Nemonymous 9: Cern Zoo (Story cannot be named for contractual reasons.) Available to purchase from here. 
  • 'Politicking', published on-line by Byker Books, July 2009.
  • 'The Game of World Domination', published in the Earlyworks Press short fiction competition anthology, Loretta's Parrot and other stories  available for purchase here. ISBN: 978-906451
  • ‘Jodie Foster and the art of ventriloquism', to be published in The Front View magazine from The View from Here, July/ August edition
  • ‘The One Wish Foundation', published on-line on Huddersfield Literature Festival website: March 2008 (Story was runner-up in the Creative Writing Competition 2008)
  • 'No two Snowflakes are the Same', features in the 'Sein, Cos, Tan' issue of Sein und Werden (Summer 2008) : to purchase your copy, please follow this link.
  • ‘The Allotment', published on-line by The Second Hand (US Literary journal), April 2008.
  • ‘Think Tank', published on-line by Sein und Werden: March 2008
  • ‘By Hook or By Crook', published in the first issue of Underground magazine, August 2008.
  • 'Distance', published on-line in the first issue of Pumpkin magazine, January 2009
  • ‘Skeleton in the Closet', accepted for publication as a downloadable podcast by Shortalk: publication delayed until October 2010; Print version published in The Thinking Man's Crumpet magazine, February 2009.
  • 'Ten years down the drain', published on 5th April 2009 by U.S website, Short Story Library.
  • 'The Sugar Footprint', published by Necrology magazine in September 2008 issue
  • 'The Sticky End of the Wrong', published in the New Voices in Fiction magazine anthology, Ten Nails. September 2008
  • 'Business as Usual', published in Word Weavers General Fiction Anthology 2008: Of Shadows and Substance Buy now
  • 'Survival of the Fittest', third place in the Golden Visions Magazine Freedom Writing Contest - (story published in the July 2008 print edition - ISSN1940-817X)
  • ‘Me and My Shadow', published in January 2009 in Champagne Shivers annual magazine.
  • 'Lip Service', published on-line on Wamack: A Journal of the Arts, August 2009
  • 'The Businessman's Redemption Song' published in Telling Tales Magazine from Meadow Publications, autumn 2009 issue
  • 'Last Chance Saloon' and 'Sleep's Slippery Tentacles', published in August-October edition of New Voices in Fiction magazine
  • 'What got Garry Gorman's goat?', published in November-January issue of New Voices in Fiction magazine 
  • 'Grant Mortar, Investigative Reporter'; Parts One, Two and Three published on the Home Defence UK website in March 2009.
  • 'Moore's Law of Relationships' published in Clockwise Cat magazine, June 2009.
  • 'The Pacemaker', short-listed for the Mere Literary Festival Short Story competition, October 2008 
  • ‘The Game of World Domination'; short-listed for the Cinnamon Press Short Story Award 2008
  • 'Second Prize', winner of third place in the People in Action charity 25th anniversary short story competition.
  • 'Plastic Baggage' published on-line by Blank Media, June 2009
  • 'Chewing the Cud', published on-line by Blank Media, June 2009
  • 'Too Many Cooks'; short-listed for An Ink Writing competition 2008
  • 'A Question of Trust'; short-listed for Writers' News magazine competition (March 2008)

    Sample Story: An Army Marches On Its Stomach

    This story appears in Fried! Fast Food, Slow Deaths, edited by Colleen Morris and Joel A. Sutherland and published by Graveside Tales. Meet a man who lives life at breakneck pace, a man who has inherited his father's fast food restaurant chain, but in making changes to the place, has quite literally trampled all over his father's grave. He's revamped a once charming little place as a soulless identikit plastic hovel which pokes fun at his father's old-time appeal. He was a war veteran, a hard-man...

    Meanwhile, something is lurking in the shadows behind the restaurant. Something which has murder on its mind.

    Could the two be connected?
     

Skeleton In The Closet

'Skeleton in the Closet' has appeared in print and as a podcast. Please visit the 'Catalogue 2' page in order to find out purchase information regarding its appearance in Sein und Werden's 2008 Summer issue, 'Sein, Cos, Tan'...

..if you can't wait that long, click on this link for a local radio podcast of 'Skeleton in the Closet'- which was given a 15 rating by the Bradford Radio station, BCB. And by the way, it's the author reading it... 

 If this doesn’t work, what you need to do is visit http://www.bcbradio.co.uk/, then click on the 'presenters' tab on the left hand side of the page, then look for someone called Joe Ogden, and it'll link you up to a local arts program called ACT Now. Click on this link, and you'll be able to download 'Skeleton in the Closet' from here. Be warned, it has a 15 certificate.