Morning folks,
a salt-sprayed piece of mine called ‘Foundering’ has been picked up by the fine folks at Flashback Fiction. If you’ve got a historical story of less than five-hundred words that’s looking for a home, Flashback will provide a great platform for your work.
They also like their authors to record a reading of their stories, meaning you’ll get to hear my dulcet tones reading a tale of groaning planks and shivered timbers.
Read it here.

*Thanks for reading, folks. Image courtesy of Wikipedia. Recent short stories include ‘Panning Out‘ and ‘Traitors’ Gate‘.*
Matthew Richardson is a writer of short stories. His work has featured in Gold Dust magazine, Literally Stories, Near to the Knuckle, McStorytellers, Penny Shorts, Soft Cartel, Whatever Keeps the Lights On, Flashback Fiction, and Shooter magazine. He is a doctoral student at the University of Dundee, a lucky husband, and a proud father.
Not necessarily in that order.
Simply loved the story, brilliantly short and to the point, bringing out emotions just the right way. Thanks for this lovely piece, loved reading every bit of it.
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Thanks so much. Very kind of you!
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Wonderful, Matthew. That’s a great piece. I do like being read to and you have a great voice for it ๐
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Thanks Chris! An odd wee project but one I enjoyed!
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A great tale and brilliantly read. Brought back memories of stories told by the old folk in my village when I was child; and, that’s a long time ago.
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Thanks Goff, glad it had a ring of authenticity!
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Very much so. Best Regards.
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Another great piece, Matthew. Always such undercurrents in your writing, no pun intended. A pleasure to read such carefully crafted work. Cheers
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Quality pun mate so I think you should have intended that one ๐ Thanks for your kind feedback as always!
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๐
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Brilliant submission of an old classic of yours, mate! Enjoyed both your original story and your new audio of it. Congratulations on finding a new home for a cracking story!
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Thanks Tom. Glad it found a good home!
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a beautifully realized piece, made all the poignant for us at Port Willunga where ‘The Star of Greece’ foundered in July, 1888 with the loss of seventeen lives. The horror and helplessness of the onlookers is captured well
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Just had a quick look into the ‘Star of Greece’ sinking. So tragic, and not an event that I had heard if before.
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So very vivid and poignant, Matthew. I felt as though I was there with the family. Your reading was super, and it was nice to hear your voice.
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Thanks so much! I was trying for my ‘reading by the crackling fire’ voice! ๐
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You achieved your aim!
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If youโd ever consider submitting some of your work for publication, Dixie State University has an online literary journal and is currently open for submissions.
You can check us out at https://www.r7review.com/. The deadline to submit this year is November 6th.
We are in dire need of fiction and nonfiction submissions like this. We also accept memoirs, audio recordings, visual art, book reviews, multimedia (video/audio), photography, etc.
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Thanks very much for the offer. I’ll check it out!
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Matthew, I am freaking out right now. Your voice!!! Is so so awesome. I should be writing something very serious and literary here but I’m still busy freaking out. :)) Though as you know I scare (both myself and others, haha) easily, I loved your spooky tale, but most especially as told in your voice. The childish detail of the narrator trying to steal the sister’s shawl lent realism to the character, and the hinting toward the village people’s actual possible sinister motives gave a real eek factor. You and your endings with a twist! I love the subtlety of this one. Lovely work. :)) Congrats on the publication too!! Very inspiring, all of it. ๐โค๏ธ๐ท
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Thanks so much, Nadine. They were initially thinking about a video reading but just went with audio in the end. Not sure I had somewhere sufficiently spooky to read it tk be honest!
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Excellent! Love the last line, which was perfect.
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Thanks so much. Appreciated!
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