Trusted by 500+ fans to find the fun in the funereal, the absurd in the macabre, and delight in the darkness. Join fiction author Morgan Delaney three times a week for genre-bending stories of cozy horror, dark fantasy and a brain with mind of its own...
All Birds Must Go!
 You think you’ve seen it all… I’m friends with the stray dogs in our local park. The people working in the park feed the dogs, and I supply the tickles (and additional treats). Then the bloody birds ruined it. What should have been a win-win situation has turned into a catastrophe. The dogs get food – and tickles. The blackbirds get whatever’s left. But the birds wanted more. So they started pecking at the oldest dog, who only has three legs, to hurry him on before he’s finished. They sneak up behind and peck his bum. Wait. It gets worse. They realised I also bring treats, so they started arriving as soon as I showed up. But this week they reached a new low. It was well past breakfast time, and I had stopped to dispense tickles to the deserving on my way home from bringing Nadine to work. The three-legged dog was enjoying the sun. And an ugly blackbird – I’ll admit I’m not impartial – plonked down and started pecking the three-legged guy for no reason! He – or she – stopped when I gave them my honest opinion of their behaviour in a loud voice laced with plenty of, er, French. What’s next? At this stage, I fully expect them to kidnap my pals and turn up disguised as dogs themselves by the end of next month. And if you stop receiving these emails shortly after that, you’ll know they’ve come for me… And that’s birds. Imagine how terrified the people of Hawkinge-by-Hythe must be when a plague of rats descends upon the town in answer to a dead witch’s 400-year-old curse. Or just read about it here! Chat soon, Morgan P.S. More Morgan? Get 2 of my books free here: morgandelaney.info/newsletter |
Dark, Strange and Fantastic Fiction
Trusted by 500+ fans to find the fun in the funereal, the absurd in the macabre, and delight in the darkness. Join fiction author Morgan Delaney three times a week for genre-bending stories of cozy horror, dark fantasy and a brain with mind of its own...
Raise your glasses to the masses! This week I smashed past a massive 100,000 words of the latest Alumière adventure, The Cat Wore Black! 100,000 words is about the length of To Kill a Mockingbird. And I’m only about 80-ish% through the book. Don’t worry, though. I’m a messy writer, and this is the first draft. Once I pull out the Red Pen and start deleting, that word count will come right back down again. I reckon the finished Cat will clock in at a respectable 75,000-80,000 like the others....
We want to try every restaurant in Tbilisi before we leave this summer. I can’t recommend last night’s restaurant. The food tasted fine, but the decor included a film projector projecting some old Georgian film. I know it’s Georgian because 90% of the action was people eating and drinking. The walls were stuffed with pictures, paintings, and various vintage bits and bobs, so they projected the film across the top of one wall and part of the ceiling. To be specific, the actors – mostly sitting...
a good friend called me crazy this week. He meant it in a good way after seeing my “history” videos for the first time. But he’s wrong. Consider: This weekend we celebrate the crucifixion of a man-god (celebrate!?!) with bunnies and chocolate. I mean crucifixion? You can’t buy full-size crosses now, and you couldn’t buy them back then. Somebody had to make them to order each time. Why not stick the condemned in a big hole full of water (or olive oil, or whatever is available) with his hands...