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David Porter » Entries tagged with "short stories"

The Scapegoat Keeper

February 4th, 2021 | Comments Off on The Scapegoat Keeper

The Scapegoat Keeper and other short stories is my third self-published anthology in both print and Kindle versions  It’s an album of short stories, some from old and reborn writing and novel ideas. It also publishes more recent work, particularly tales inspired by the Covid lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. Like the stories in my earlier collections, Wild Beasts and Plague (2018) and Scoffers Will Come (2019), these yarns are often dark with unexpected outcomes. They emanate from what people do to each other, how they perceive others and value themselves. Or not. The title tale, The Scapegoat Keeper, is a dystopian, futuristic story in the remains of a city. Here shadowy powers maintain order by periodically sending out human scapegoats to the desert around, bearing people’s sins and sacrificing themselves – all … Read entire article »

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Scoffers Will Come

February 21st, 2019 | Comments Off on Scoffers Will Come

Scoffers Will Come is the second collection of my short stories. They draw on my experiences as drama student, children’s theatre performer, drama teacher, examiner/assessor, political organiser and Member of Parliament. There are also ideas from elsewhere. As I self-published my first anthology, Wild Beasts and Plague (2018) I had more stories than I could accommodate in one volume. So, Scoffers Will Come is the vehicle for new stories and re-dreamed tales from the 1960s to the present day and beyond. These tales play through both strange and normal times. They sit in absurdity and surrealism, dark humour, tragedy, revenge, suffering, thwarted personal plans and growing old. All the lot of human life. Through life’s quirks and character idiosyncrasies they reflect the voice I’ve developed over a lifetime of writing, public speaking, performing and presenting. Besides the title story, … Read entire article »

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Wild Beasts and Plague

March 17th, 2018 | Comments Off on Wild Beasts and Plague

Wild beasts and plague were two of the four dreadful judgements warned about by the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel in the Bible – sword and famine and wild beasts and plague. It inspired the title of one of eighteen short stories in my collection, Wild Beasts and Plague, self published under my imprint Walk in My Shoes Publications and available on Amazon, in paperback and Kindle versions. Wild Beasts and Plague is an eclectic mix of short stories set in the 1960s to the present day and beyond exploring issues around life’s recurring and challenging themes including revenge, jealousy, growing old, inadequacy, thwarted ambition, memories, death and the dark side of life. Herein lies madness, humour and absurdity, the past, present and future, surrealism, fantasy and ideas whose time may have been and gone. Or not. As … Read entire article »

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