Darker Times Collection Volume Two

by Jessica Grace Coleman (Editor), Laurence Sullivan (Contributor), N.O.A. Rawle (Contributor)

The terrifying tales in this volume are the results of monthly writing competitions that are run by Darker Times Fiction at www.darkertimes.co.uk. Each month, there is a winner, three or more runners up, and the opportunity for some honourable mentions. This first collection includes entries from May 2013 – Feburary 2014 and is separated into a Flash Fiction section (for this, writers were given a limit of approximately 500 words) and a Poetry section (with a limit of 1000).

So, what can you expect from this collection? The aim of the competition is to write about the theme of 'darker times'. This can be interpreted in any way the author sees fit, and this is where it gets interesting. This is where we delve deep into the minds of our writers, where we see what secrets they've been harbouring, where we come to the main question that this volume is based on: what scares us the most? Given the opportunity to explore the subject of 'darker times', what did our authors decide to write about? What would you write about?

The poems and pieces of flash fiction here range from the plain gruesome to the psychologically sinister, black comedy to gritty drama, the playfully spooky to the downright disturbing. The winning pieces were picked for their style, their technique, their originality, or their ability to invoke something 'dark' within the reader: fear, despair, doubt, regret, loneliness, pain. These aren't just stories that will have you wondering what's lurking under your bed or hiding in your closet; they'll have you looking into your own life, peering into your past, glancing at your own personal ghosts. When you start delving into the darker times, it's hard to get back to the light.

So take this as an introduction and a warning. If you'd rather avoid the gloom and doom of our writers' darkest thoughts, then you'd better put this book down now. If, however, you dare to read the following tales and risk opening the door to your own personal darker times, then read on, please, read on...

178 pages, Paperback

First published March 16, 2014

About the author

Jessica Grace Coleman was born in Stafford, England and raised in the nearby village of Little Haywood, a quaint English location that would later be remodelled into Beth Powers’ home village in the Little Forest novels.

She studied Film Studies and American Studies at the University of Sussex in Brighton, and attended the University of Colorado at Boulder for a year as part of her course. A big fan of travelling, she has road tripped around North America and backpacked across China, South East Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

Jessica has so far self-published five books in the Little Forest series: The Former World, Memento Mori, The Exalted, Carnival Masquerade and The Gloaming. She has also released her first short story collection, Grown By The Wicked Moon, featuring 14 weird and wonderful tales, as well as her non-fiction titles, Creative Ways To Start Creative Writing, Volumes 1, 2 & 3. The Downfall is the first book in The Downfall Trilogy, and the sequels, The Rebellion and The Revolution, will be released soon.

Jessica also runs her own proofreading, editing and ghost writing business, Coleman Editing, working for clients all over the world. You can find out more about Coleman Editing at www.colemanediting.co.uk. In her spare time she also now runs the ‘Truth Not Terror’ charity campaign by selling wristbands at http://truthnotterror.blogspot.co.uk.

You can also find out more about Jessica, her available books, and her works in progress at her website: www.jessicagracecoleman.com and you can contact her at jessica.grace.coleman@gmail.com. You can also sign up for her mailing list – where you’ll be the first to hear about her new releases and reader competitions – at www.jessicagracecoleman.com.