This website is intended to open up my short stories to as many readers as possible. The whole collection is called The Dark Nest, and the stories are about hidden or repressed phenomena. Many of them have elements of transformation in them: a student who changes into a bluebottle, a dog who learns to talk, a woman whose skin becomes transparent, a doll who comes alive. And others are preoccupied by surprise: finding a Martian in a wood, buying a collection of tin soldiers that reinterprets the past, finding prehistoric paintings that revolutionise our sense of who we are.
Many of the stories deal with a material world which rebels against common sense: hats, coats and frocks that turns against their owner, often with devastating results.
The stories can be characterised as Body Gothic. I have read some of the stories aloud on the website, and two of them ("The Connoisseur" and "The Shining Furrow") have films made by artist Alan Everatt. Each story has an accompanying image and a strap-line.
"The Dark Nest" hardback
book DETAILS HERE
PLUS - the book has a great review HERE
CLICK HERE to read Sue’s new essay “The Path Less Trodden”, which is about her own stories and their origin.
This will be published shortly by Budapest University Press, but in Hungarian!
Sue was Finalist of the 2023 LISP Prize
Full info HERE
Sue's new book!
BLOOD and COAL
Order paperback version for £9.99 or Kindle version for £6.99
BRAND NEW STORY
Sue Harper, 12th January 2025
SMALL INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS?
If you are looking for a fascinating collection of contemporary and unique short stories, then contact me, Sue Harper at sueharper77@yahoo.com I have completed my new collection, a themed novella called The Sarah Chronicles. My previous book (published by Egaeus Press) sold out very quickly. I can easily send you an abstract of the new book.
