London torn. Night and day. Sinners and angels. Debut novel by Mark A. King, available now
“The Angry Hourglass is home to Flash Frenzy, a weekly flash fiction challenge where writers have 36 hours to create a story of up to 360 words (exclusive of title) based on the photo prompt.”
It is a place of wonderful stories and writers http://theangryhourglass.wordpress.com/
In a continuation of collating winning stories, podium placing and feedback, I've trawled through some of the old flash fiction competitions. This post is dedicated to the world of the Angry Hourglass, run by LadyHazmat/ Dr Rebecca, pathologist, writer and good friend to flash fiction. Angry Hourglass allowed longer word counts than many other flash …
Continue reading "Winning stories, podium places and feedback: Part two: Angry Hourglass"
Wall Art Berlin. China. Hadrian. Pink Floyd. Forget them all. The wall behind Greggs Bakers on the periphery of the M1 service station is the most famous and valuable wall of them all. But it wasn’t always that way… “Oi, watch wot ya doin’,” the man with the scruffy hair and spray-paint jeans …
Continue reading "“Wall Art” – Flash Frenzy Round 57 | The Angry Hourglass"
More judging. This time I was lucky enough to be asked to judge at The Angry Hourglass…
Hey all. Welcome back. I’d like to say a quick but heartfelt thanks to Mark A. King for acting as judge this round, and, as always, a great big thanks to you, the writers, for making Flash Frenzy a part of your weekly writing journey. You’ll find Mark’s comments below:
I just wanted to say a big thank you to you all. The prompt was a good choice and generated a wide range of stories. Each had elements I really enjoyed:
In mrmacrum’s “Bed Bugger”, we had a brooding tale of darkness and justice. The use of dialogue worked well in this piece as a tool to drive the story and bring life to the characters. I have to confess I’d never heard the term Bed Bugger before, I so looked it up – should I ever need moving services in the US, I’ll now be thinking twice before calling one of them…
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The White Tail of the Metal Dragon The little boy plays in the field outside the city. He tenderly touches his father’s hand, looking for respite from the gathering of the crops. It has been so long since he rested. “These are times of war, son. You know we have to gather the crops to …
Silhouette Sunday Religion never really died – it just moved on. Technology. Lust. Money. Fame. The religions of the first-world fed on the detritus of absconded gods. And so it came it be; Silhouette Sunday, once born of ancient Easter – a time of birth from death. In the sterile factories filled with embryonic stem-cells, …
Continue reading "“Silhouette Sunday” – Flash Frenzy Round 51 | The Angry Hourglass"
I was honoured and privileged to be chosen as winner at The Angry Hourglass for my story “The Soul Catcher”. Many thanks to judge Voima Oy.
The Soul Catcher
by Mark A. King
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A Photograph Captures the Soul – Traditional Indigenous belief
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I remember the first photograph. Yes, yes, how could I not?
My emaciated body ravaged over the centuries, gorged on that first image. I’d fed on the scraps of paintings, the reflections in mirrors and water. But this barely sustained me. I was a but a shell, a vessel, a husk.
They say John the Baptist consumed nothing but locusts and honey in the arid deserts and I have fed on worse.
The very first picture, low definition, grainy and monotone – was like the promise of manna.
Yet I was still hungry. Always hungry.
Later, through the lens of glorious Technicolor, I devoured the entire spectrum of a soul. The dry chalk of powder-puff blue, the bitterness of yellow, the tang of crimson and the spice of teal.
Oh, the souls…
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The Time Traveller Perhaps this is the thousandth time I have witnessed this. Yet, this is the final time. I am a time traveller without a DeLorean. This pitiful attempt to rewrite the past has eaten away at me like a parasite. I know it has destroyed me more than the growths which now suffocate …
Continue reading "“The Time Traveller” – Flash Frenzy Round 49 | The Angry Hourglass"
The Cherub Hitman of Cambridge Things got worse after he’d messed up the millennium gig. It was supposed to be… something much bigger. He’d been banished to Earth, and of all places, Cambridge. People tend to think of cherubs as porky and cute. Cedric was a carrying a bit of timber, sure, but to call …
Continue reading "“The Cherub Hitman of Cambridge” – Flash Frenzy Round 40 | The Angry Hourglass"
A Prayer on All Hallows Eve I am but a man of weakness, frailty and betrayal. I kneel before Him, my cassock rumpled up as a sea of fabric against the shore of my weekend knees. I adjust my dog-collar with my rosary beads hanging off my clasped hands, like a modern-day rapper’s bling. I’ve …
Continue reading "“A Prayer on All Hallows Eve” – Flash Frenzy Round 39 | The Angry Hourglass"
Metropolitan Dreams 