The Sudden Walk
On this page you will find three things.
Original Short Stories.
A timeline of my personal road to getting published.
Occasional observations on the craft of writing (but I will preface, I am not here to teach you how to write. There is enough of that cluttering the signal here on Substack already.
If you’re here strictly for my fiction writing, this glossary is a great starting point.
Short Stories
I write literary short stories, experimenting with the styles of authors I admire as I develop my own voice.
Among these names I include: Joseph Conrad, Kazuo Ishiguro, James Baldwin, Claire Keegan, Cormac McCarthy, John Cheever, Bao Ninh (and I’ll preface, this isn’t necessarily a comprehensive list of my favourite authors, these are simply writers whose style jumps out at me as something to be emulated and integrated).
In saying this, I’m not afraid to dip into genre.
Some of my writing falls under speculative/philosophical often erring towards darker themes but typically grounded in reality. i.e. space/hard fantasy don’t tend to crop up in my work, though I’ll include hallucinatory elements that may cross over these lines.
I am using this page to experiment with ideas and develop my craft as a writer.
My fiction is released in seasons (which can be found on the Sudden Walk Homepage)
When a season is live I release brand new short story every two weeks.
But again, they’re broken down by genre in the following glossary.
The Road to getting published
Two and a half years ago, I moved from New Zealand to London pursuing my ambition to become a published author.
This was never going to be an overnight pursuit. Under this tab I’ve logged my ups and downs along the way. While my work has featured in small literary journals and in print collections, I’m yet to secure an agent and major publishing deal.
Eventually, I hope this page will serve as some type of road map (or cautionary tale) for future aspiring writers to look back on and hopefully save themselves a bit of time while chasing the same dream.
To make this section a bit easier to navigate, I’ve included headings such as “milestone” and “course correction” to signal points where I’ve deviated from my original plan. It’s all an experiment after all, so hopefully this helps those coming behind me straighten their path here and there.
Why the Sudden Walk?
The name comes from a short story by Franz Kafka of the same title. The story--which reads as one long sentence--depicts a man who is sitting inside his cozy home on a rainy day. Although he is completely justified and even expected to stay at home, the man chooses to take a walk. Immediately the choice to go against instinct infuses him with an energy that he didn’t realize was there.
For me, starting this Substack page holds certain parallels with that story. So here we go, the Sudden Walk.
Who am I?
I’m a New Zealand writer, raised among the back hills of Raetihi.
My first writing gig was a monthly column in the local newspaper at ten years old. I haven’t been able to find any relics from that era, but I’m sure all my articles were full of deep agricultural analysis and educated takes on local council affairs.
Like too many people I know, I receded into a cloud of naughty teenage years for a stint after that. The only thing I read during that stretch of mental hibernation were Rockstar biographies and snowboard magazines.
But my natural knack for writing got me by academically until I returned to the craft at university where I studied English Literature and History.
For the last decade I’ve been chasing the writing dream. I’ve been targeting publication seriously for the last five; making time for writing outside of my day jobs, doing my best to keep the vehicle that’s financing my work from getting in the way of it. A six year stint in the property industry was great for the bank account but not for the spare time. Following the pandemic, my partner and I left the country as soon as the borders opened up and moved to London.
With a small buffer of savings and a heavy dose of delusion, I planned to finish the novel I was working on and get it published before my money ran out.
The money ran out and so has the delusion. But I’m further along than I would have been if I’d never left.
Here we are
My credits to date:
I’ve completed two full length novels, the first of which I’m seeking agent representation for, the second of which I’m still in the editing stages.
My shorter works have featured as a finalists in the Bridport Short Story prize and the NYC Midnight Short Story prize.
One of my short stories has been published in the Wells Street Journal. You can read that here.
My story The Man in the Hat is due to be published in a hardback collection Take a Breath via Xpress Publishing later this year.
My poem World War Three was included in Blackmail Press’ 46th poetry collection. You can read that here. For more context on how I ended up writing a poem at all, you can find that here.
A prize winning story of mine also featured in The Vexed to Nightmare Anthology. You can read that here.
Outside of all the above, I hold a Purple Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and am very passionate about music.
If this wasn’t detailed enough I’ve done a couple of interviews:
Here : Atmosphere Press
and
Here : Meet the Maniac
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