Martin McGrath
Welcome to my website. I intend to use this space to hold forth on things like politics, books, technology, films and anything else that interests or irritates me.
You can also use this site to see examples of some of the work I've done as journalist, writer and designer. I'm available for freelance work and my rates are competitive and negotiable for good causes.
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Category Archives: Flash Fiction
TALES FROM TURKEY CITY: PUSHBUTTON WORDS
From issue 59 of Focus the fourth of my pieces of flash fiction “inspired” by the common writing errors and bad habits catalogued in The Turkey City Lexicon. This time, it’s all about pressing buttons with clichés. Words used to … Continue reading
Posted in Flash Fiction, Focus
Tagged bsfa, flash, Focus, turkey city
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FROM TURKEY CITY: “BURLY DETECTIVE” SYNDROME
From issue 58 of Focus the third of my pieces of flash fiction “inspired” by the common writing errors and bad habits catalogued in The Turkey City Lexicon. This time I go toe-to-toe with a “burly detective”: This useful term … Continue reading
Posted in Flash Fiction
Tagged fiction, flash, Focus, turkey city, Writing
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FROM TURKEY CITY: DISCHISM
Since issue 58 of Focus is now off to the printer, I thought I’d put up this from issue 57 – the second in what appears to be an ongoing series of flash fiction pieces inspired by common writerly errors … Continue reading
Posted in Blogging, Flash Fiction
Tagged fiction, flash, Focus, turkey city, Writing
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FROM TURKEY CITY: CALL A RABBIT A SMEERP
Half term means I’ve not had much time to blog this week – but it does means I got to spend time with my daughter watching The Muppets, swimming and letting her thrash me at ten pin bowling (ahem!). Anyway, … Continue reading
ABIGAIL
Every night, at 10:30, Abigail’s father closes the front door, climbs into his rusty Toyota and drives away. Every night, before he goes, he strokes his daughter’s hair, reminds her not to open to door to anyone else and kisses … Continue reading
KING ROOK
I was born in a housing estate at the foot of a steep hill. The top of the hill is ringed with trees, ancient sessile oaks, wych elm and horse chestnut. The rooks owned the woods. These were big birds … Continue reading
THE SPITFIRE
The Spitfire was a sleek metal thing with a space for a battery underneath that made the propeller spin. I had coveted it for months as it had sat in the window of Morrow’s toy shop – the tiny moulded … Continue reading
LEAVING THE WORLD
Sept sat cross-legged in the centre of an ordinary living room and pulled The World from his head one wire at a time. Blood ran down the pale skin on his back, staining the blue shorts that were the only … Continue reading
RUM AND SLAVES
The colour of the money passing through the accounts of DeGris and Languedoc may be as green as in any other bank, but the colour of its customer’s blood is invariably blue. The company began life as a goldsmith’s and … Continue reading
THE DECISION THAT CHANGED THE LIFE FABRICE COLLISEO
A life does not flow evenly from spring to the ocean, its passage is broken by rapids and falls, twists and turns. The choices we make define a life’s course. Some decisions take us over a threshold where the effort … Continue reading
Posted in Flash Fiction
Tagged fiction, flash, sf, Writing
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