Bookshop
On this page you can view our previous publications. All
books from the Short Story Society are priced at £9.99 each
including postage.
Order a copy now
by phoning us with your credit card details or send
a cheque for £9.99 made out to United Press, enclosing
a note with your name and address and to say that you want to order a copy of one of the below books.
This is purely a
promotional offer to introduce new visitors to our work
so it isn’t open to anyone who has submitted a
short story to us or United Press. Only one copy of each book per
household can be ordered at the promotional price and
the offer is only available while stocks last.
In The Cool Of The Day
ISBN 978-1-84436-955-3
Foreword
When we started the Short Story Society only two short years ago, we never expected the response we’ve had. We have received stories from hundreds of writers from all over the United Kingdom. Most of these writers have never even considered writing a short story before, let alone had the joy of having one published.
For us it’s a delight to help these people realise their dreams. Without the Short Story Society none of them would have even considered putting pen to paper and producing a short story. And many of these writers, having their work published in this way is just the first step. There’s no doubt that they will go on to even brighter and better things in the future.
For us, it’s wonderful to know we’ve been able to play some part in that journey which starts with having an idea for a story and ends when the author finally sees it published. We feel lucky and privileged that we’ve been able to help writers achieve their dreams.
Peter Quinn, Editor
Contents
Lydia by James Petrie
Killed In Action by David Heath
Orphans United by Lucy D Williams
Marching To The Beat Of A Different Drummer by Jonathan Pertwee
Disciple by Richard J Johnston
The House On The Hill by Mariana Zavati
The Child by Aphra Marshall
Girls’ Adventure by Patricia Gorvin
Double Trouble by Monica Cole
The Spirit Of The Cat by Grace Sochacz
The Dilemma by Julie Creaven
The Only Fault In Lake Oswego by Lisa Wright
First Day At School by Finton Barrett
Roman Frydman’s Chess Game by Guy Fletcher
W Somerset Maugham by Ronald Shephard
My Infant Teacher, Miss Leese by John Pegg
The Boy Who Became A Tree by Alan Withers
The Haunting Of Arkley Manor by Nicollette Foreman
An Urgent Reunion by Roy Smith
Ben Kilbreck by David Keevil
Memories Of My Childhood by Joan Lake
One Of The Many by Donald John Tye
My Name Is Kelly by Deanne Heron
Where Angels Cry by Peter Morriss
From The World's Edge
ISBN 978-1-84436-923-2
Foreword
In creating a new story, a writer has to go on a personal journey.
It’s very much a journey of self-discovery. To write a story you have to search within yourself and find all the ingredients. You don’t just have to find an idea for a story, you have to find a way to write it and a way to express it clearly. Different authors write in different ways. They even construct sentences in different ways and use different styles of vocabulary. Anyone who has made even a cursory study of literature will tell you this. Just compare something by Jane Austin with a book by Jackie Collins. It’s like looking at two totally different languages from two different worlds.
And to write a good short story isn’t just a case of finding your own style, you have to find a beginning, a middle and an end.
This last statement may seem simplistic, but if you ever try to write a story yourself you will appreciate the struggle that every writer has to go through to get words from his or her imagination and fashion them into something which can be understood and appreciated by readers. That’s why I feel that writing a story is like a journey From The World’s Edge.
Peter Quinn, Editor
Contents
Eight O’Clock by Bert Leitch
The Photographer by Pamelia Long
No Smoke Without Toast by Des O’Donnell
Judgement Day by Aphra Marshall
Escaping Reality by Kelly Van Nelson
Little Mo And The Strawberry Jam Thief by Karen Barnes
The Fine Line by Valerie Tedder
Grandad’s Oysters by Natasha Roberts
Power by Janet Erskine
Grey Can Become Gold by Mary Meadows
Sally And Stan Save Marvel The Magician by Dorothy Chadwick
A Change In Circumstances by John Lowe
Always Listen To Children by Joan Davenport
The Birthday Treat by Eunice Berry
The Shop-a-holic by Barbara Cleere
Jenny by Sylvia Davidson
Some Things Never Change by Joan Blundell
The Thrilling Three by Jacqueline Bain
Falling Down by Bert Leitch
A Young Man’s Dream by Philomena Malik
New Horizons
ISBN 978-1-84436-804-4
Foreword
New Horizons is a collection of short stories by talented writers from all over the UK. These stories look at life, examine it, then try to understand and define it. They are stories about the way that life changes, develops and surprises us with its complexity.
And no one is more curious about the way that life surprises us than a writer. For every one of these writers, producing a story is like finding a New Horizon in themselves.
Every time a writer sets out to create a new story, that writer is exploring New Horizons in the world of literature. That’s because each story which comes from the pen of its author is an excursion into uncharted territory.
This means that there are as many New Horizons in literature as there are people in the world and subjects for them to write about. And as well as writing about what we see, we also write about what we don’t see. We invent and create - we think “outside the box” and conjure up new worlds - new ideas. That’s one of the great gifts of writing. It takes us to places which our physical forms cannot reach.
And equally, as the reader, we hope that you can empathise with the feelings expressed within these pages, and that those feelings will open up New Horizons for you.
Peter Quinn, Editor
Contents
The Staircase by Ted Dilley
Rachel Davies by Terence Johnson
Priority One by Julie Creaven
A Walk In The Garden by Aphra Marshall
The Clydebank Blitz by John Norry
Mirror, Mirror by Susie Field
Dem Dry Bones by Paul Mount
Finders Keepers by Richard J Johnston
Ghosts, Gurus and Such by Inez M Pennock
Where Are You Now? by Phillipa Hastings
Well, What A Sunday by Mary Martin
Silent Witness by Vera Middleton
The Christmas Present by Victoria Simpson
Breaking Up by Bert Leitch
Storm by Dorothy M Norris
The Experiment On The Faraway Planet by David Walker
Brief Encounter Two by Hazel Morgan
Stranger In The Night by Valerie Hurlow
Croich Ferry by James Petrie
The Cuckoo by Malcolm Benson
Jimmy Bean And His Dog Jolene by Andrea Selina Bennett
My Life, Book Two by Lucy Williams
Killing Time by David Alabaster
The Weaker Vessel by Arlene Allen
