S.J.Budd

I stumbled across this awesome magazine whilst looking for places to submit my short stories to and instantly fell in love with it. The Wild Hunt magazine is an exclusively online magazine which publishes the very best fiction that celebrates the weird and the surreal and I was incredibly fortunate enough to be published by them. So if you grew up devouring fairy tales, old legends, old myths of magic beasts and adventures, ghost stories that leave you tingling then look no further than the Wild Hunt Magazine. The great news is that all their content is free and they have a great selection of stories to read at your pleasure so go on, enjoy. In here you'll find tales of dandy popinjays, super cute bunnies, strange plants, lost love, ancient magic heroic quests, intoxicating music and ethereal hippies. The Mound by S.J.Budd Overnight the garden had perceptibly shifted, even Marilyn with her city eyes could see that. Betwixt the falling of twilight and the lifting of...

Today is a special day for me as I've reached the milestone of having 13 short stories published in the two years I've been writing. When I first started out my tales were truly terrible but I feel that from an awful lot of rejection I've learnt a lot about the craft of writing and now I feel I'm starting to have something to show for it. I feel very honoured to have had just one story accepted and getting my work published is absolutely the best motivator to keep me tapping away at the keyboard. My latest tale, The Mound, is now proudly featured in the epic Wild Hunt Magazine. This is a great site and has some great fiction already published. They are a selection of beautiful haunting stories, best described as ethereal. Having read all the stories already published on their site I'm really chuffed to be included amongst them. The Wild Hunt is an online literary magazine that celebrates the weird, surreal,the other, and imaginary worlds. Its aim is to fea...

You've just finished your totally awesome and amazing first draft of your novel. You feel epic on the verge of literary stardom but then you glance down to the word count and see it is dangerously small. There just doesn't seem that many words for all your efforts. Unless you're Stephen King or J.K.Rowling the word count of  your novel is really important. If it's below 40,000 words it's a novella, nothing wrong with that, unless you want it published. The problem with having a very small word count/novella is that agents won't want to sell it to the big publishers as financially it's not worth their time and if you want to be published by one of the giants you'll need to have representation in order to get them to read your work.. So in short only novels will interest an agent. Word count requirements are different within the literary genres. Young adult fiction can get away with having a shorter word count of 55-70k  whilst fantasy novels can ...

Ten Tips For Surviving The Hungry Ghost Festival. 1.Do not interfere with any offerings. If done by accident, immediately apologise aloud 2.Do not open an umbrella indoors as ti may invite ghosts. 3.Do not marry, start a new business,or move home during ghost month. 4. Do not wander after midnight. 5.Chopsticks placed upright are a direct invitation for ghosts to partake in your meal. 6.Do not sleep facing a mirror or reflective surface. This may guide ghosts to you. 7.Do  not pat anyone's shoulder or forehead. It brings them bad luck and puts them at risk of being possessed. 8. Do not swim. Drowned evil ghosts seek victims for their rebirth. 9. Do not take photos,selfies or videos. Ghosts may appear. 10. Do not turn around if a voice calls you from behind. Lara and Ray have just reach their hotel in China, their first holiday abroad. The trip of a lifetime and beyond! They have arrived during the Hungry Ghost Festival. The streets are adorned with ...

As some of you may know, at the beginning of this year I stumbled across this quote from Ray Bradbury and set myself the challenge of writing 52 short stories during 2016. Ray Bradbury argued that; "When you start writing short stories, the quality doesn’t really matter; you’re practicing your craft. At the end of the year, you’ll have 52 short stories. It’s almost impossible not to have at least one good story among those 52. Writing short stories will teach you to be constantly looking for ideas. In addition, every week you’ll be happy, because by the end of each week you’ll have something to show for your efforts." And now suddenly it's August and over halfway through the year, and my challenge. So far at week 31 I've written 20 short stories. I don't think that's too bad and despite being a bit behind with the numbers I've felt that I've learnt a lot. It's not just honing the skills of my craft that I've experienced but also the ...

I'm not embarrassed to admit it but I love Young Adult fiction even though I'm in my early thirties and have two children. To me there's something really delightful in slipping into the mindset of a teenager like Rory Devereaux and pretending I'm young again. The Madness Underneath is the second instalment of The Shades of London series by Maureen Johnson. I've previously read the first book of the series, The Name of the Star and thoroughly enjoyed it. Now I think I'm a bit hooked and this book The Madness Underneath, ended on the highest cliff hanger I've ever come across in a book and I'm  now experiencing painful withdrawal symptoms. I think the reason why I like these books is because of Rory Devereaux, the sassy teen from Louisiana U.S.A  who's come to study at college in London. There's something quite adorable about her but she's also feisty and wise for her age.  She's really interesting because she is real and has flaws...

Morpheus Tales is a  top independent UK publishing company that has been running since 2008. They publish a quarterly magazine celebrating the top new horror  and weird fiction around. You can purchase many of their back issues and special themed issues from their website  http://www.morpheustales.com/  for next to nothing. In this Anthology  Morpheus Tales, The Best Weird Fiction Volume 5 (Edited by Adam Bradley) you'll find a dark hand picked selection of the finest macabre stories. In here we learn of the strange machinery capable of ripping apart the very fabric of reality. What it is that waits for us on the other side? You'll hearts will be warmed by romance that doesn't go according to plan, of friendships turning sour and strange creatures that like to play with their prey. Enjoy! The Cherry Tree by David Lear "Thirty Chimes Avenue is a ramshackle, with it's rotten front door, broken and boarded windows, and skate tiles missing from the r...