Newsletter #20
Something a Bit Different
January 2024
Not everything I write ends up as a chapter in the novel. And not all of it goes out under the name of Paul C. Mercer.
The South East London Writers’ Group gave me a lot of help and support when I launched this project. They’re also a very decent bunch of human beings, and a not-half-bad bunch of writers.
Today, we publish an anthology of our work, Tomorrow’s Ashes – ten short stories of apocalypse and rebirth. The book includes one of mine, written under my real name. It’s called Ping.
Nearly a kilometre below the surface, in a physics lab built into an old salt mine, Duncan (PhD researcher, and all-round loser) makes the greatest, and quite possibly the last, scientific discovery of the age.
It was fun to write – a bit more relaxed than anything in Chloe. And it comes, beautifully illustrated, alongside nine other brilliant stories…
Ten short stories of apocalypse and rebirth, written by members of the South East London Writers Group. From a nomad surviving day by day in dystopian Britain, to a writer unable to stop the deluge created by his own imagination, each short story delves into destructions, from the intimate to the global. Nihilistic young artists, god-like AI guardians and post-human hiveminds come together in one illustrated volume to pose the question: What happens when the end comes?
You can, of course, purchase this marvellous volume in just a couple of clicks…
As always, if you’ve enjoyed this Newsletter, and if you have like-minded, book-reading, story-loving friends who might enjoy it too, please do pass it on to them. They sound like just the kind of person I’d love to share this journey with.
Let’s sign them up at subscribepage.io/paulcmercer.
All the best
Paul C. Mercer 