The characters in Dave Pescod’s stunning first collection are united by their desire to find love. A lonely woman has developed an ingenious way to steal embraces from strangers, an immigrant struggles to find exactly the right words to say to his new girlfriend in a foreign tongue, and a wife is convinced that finding the perfect joke will cure her husband’s depression. The writing style is deceptively simple but deeply moving and the truth of these stories lingers long after the reading is done.

‘Shining a tender light on the human heart, these stories capture the dignity of ordinary individuals and the wonderful everydayness of love. A delight to read.’ – Michelle Spring, Royal Literary Fellow, Magdalene College, Cambridge.

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Presenting twelve bedtime stories for adult reading that capture those moments of deep emotional significance which return to us in our dreams. This nocturnal collection reveals intimate insights into individual fantasy, the pursuit of our deepest desires, the urge to escape, the pull of love, the debris of days.

Book at Bedtime is a title in the Route series of contemporary stories.

‘Adult bedtime books don’t come much better than this. The manner in which each story carries such bountiful emotion over only a few pages makes this an ideal bedtime companion.’ – The Big Issue in the North

‘A twilight dreamscape of hopes, fears, love and loss, The Route Book at Bedtime contains twelve highly individual, contemporary tales, all of which are a reflection of life and truth. A highly enjoyable read.’ – The Short Review

‘If you’re still yet to experience the joys and growing significance of the short story, you’d struggle to find a better place to start.’  – James Hogg

Click here if you prefer to buy The Route Book at Bedtime on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions

*Ebook format is epub, suitable for Sony reader, iPhone and most ebook readers.
Read them on your computer with the free Adobe Digital Editions This book is also available for Kindle

Click here for more about ebook formats.

Stories from our so called generation.

Up close and personal, Born in the 1980s tells the story of a generation coming of age. As the reality of the adult world begins to bite, love and lust, broken dreams and heartbreak and emotional take the place of teenage hopes. This is a generation finding its feet and carving out its place in the world.

Born in the 1980s (Route 21) is a title in the Route Series of Contemporary Stories.

‘If you were born in the 1980s and want to reminisce abolut “growing up”, are twentysomething and want to show your feelings instead of telling them, or not twentysomething and just want to learn something about the “next wave”, this is the book for you. It definitely captures the spirit of a generation up and coming.‘ – The Bloomsbury Review.

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Nature’s Magician is a specially commissioned collection which seeks to ask the simplest of questions. Why does ice float? When do birds sing? What do children dream of? These ten stories touch on the beautiful innocence of youth, the spellbinding tension of friendship and the dynamic nature of love. With fiction, as with magic, anything can happen.

Do daughters step into their mothers’ shoes? How does this central relationship colour women’s lives? The tales in this anthology address these questions with honesty and vigour, weaving humour and warmth into the telling of small but significant tragedies.

Celebrated poets, the writers showcased here explore daughterhood and motherhood in their own unique styles and offer a distinct set of insights. They speak out in prose that fizzes and crackles, throwing light on this most formative of relationships. You’ll find plenty to uncover in this irreverent but heartfelt take on an age-old subject.

Some Girls’ Mothers have a Facebook page. Click here to become a fan.
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⁺Audio book is unabridged and all stories are read by the authors. Downloads as a zip file with all component stories as Mp3s

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Bonne Route is a book of stories that wander off the beaten track. Short, sharp and full of surprises, these stories reflect on moments which change people’s direction in life.  Heart-warming and spirited, this collection of modern tales illustrates that it is often the smallest of things that lead us on to a different path – a joke, a letter, a photograph, a drink, a dream.

Bonne Route (Route 19) is a title in the Route series of contemporary stories.

This book is also available for Kindle

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Someone is waiting for a train, or it could be a bus or an aeroplane. They are alone. For company, in their coat pocket they are carrying a book of stories. They sit down and take out the book. It falls open on the first page. What would be the perfect read for them to find there?

Ideas Above Our Station (Route 18) is a title in Route Series of Contemporary Stories.

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The Wonderwall is a spy hole into the world of other people. Meet Bradley, with his pointy shoes and his cloak; witness what transpires with Vernon, the pools-win baby; find out which coffee-shop serves the best scrambled eggs in Antarctica; see George measure his life in terms of how many biscuits he might eat; travel to the beach of the cocco-bella man. A baker’s dozen of wondrous stories that point a finger to the magic that exists within our day-to-day lives, and to the people who matter most, those close at hand.

Wonderwall (Route 16) is a title in the Route series of contemporary stories.

At the heart of the modern city we find stories of lovers, stories of people with a desire to connect to someone else, something else. This collection reveals the experience of living through changing times, of people shaking the past and dreaming of better days, people finding their place, adapting to new surroundings, laughing and forgetting, living and loving in the grip of the city. Perhaps there are eight million stories in the naked city. Here are just a few of them. Included are a series of naked city portraits as seen through the lens of photographer Kevin Reynolds and a selection of the very best in new short fiction in a bonus section, This Could Be Anywhere.

Naked City (Route 15) is a title in the Route Series of Contemporary Stories. First published in 2004.

Note: the paperback book contains prints of nude photography.

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Light Transports is a set of three collections of short stories designed as pocket books for the commuter. The books are compiled with a series of stories that reflect differing lengths of journeys – A Couple of Stops, Commutes and Intercity – and are pulled together by editor Steve Dearden. The books are availble as pocket paperbacks (all 3 books in one package) or can be downloaded individually as eBooks.

For more information visit www.light-transports.net

The three featured books are:

A Couple of Stops
Featured authors: Winifred Holtby, Tom Spanbauer, Mandy Sutter, Steven Hall, Ellen Osborne, Chenjerai Hove, Kath McKay

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Commutes
Featured authors: Alecia McKenzie, M Y Alam, Jack Mapanje, Sumeia Ali

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Intercity
Featured authors: Storm Jameson, Mark McWatt, Patricia Duncker, Aritha van Herk

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These titles are available individually for Kindle: A Couple of Stops, Commutes, Intercity