Gemini by Rob Mimpriss

Today we present to you Gemini, a short story of loss and familial bond in the Balkan Peninsula by Rob Mimpriss.

Gemini
Rob Mimpriss

When women asked Derek Roberts about the scar on his shoulder, he would say that he had born with three arms and the doctor had left him two. If they laughed too loudly or demanded the truth he would explain that he could have been born one of identical twins, but this second twin had never separated or matured, developing only as a nerveless excrescence that the doctors had removed. And he might also say that the loss made him sad: sad that he could have had a brother, could have been twice the man he was in the world, sad also that but for chance he would have been the stunted one, the spare limb.

Advertisement

Lady Sword Swallower by Nick Murray

You might have heard that Annexe editor, Nick Murray, also does a little writing of his own. Here’s one of his short stories. It was published earlier this year in Inc. Magazine #3. The reader is the magician Lee Warren.

The fantastic illustration is by the Brighton based illustrator and fellow writer, Hannah Bailey.

An Interview with Hamish MacDonald (also a brief review of his book The Willies)

Today we have a feature on Canadian born, British based author Hamish MacDonald.

MacDonald is a champion of self-publishing. He writes, typesets, prints, binds and publishing his work singlehandedly. No mean feat by any stretch, but an astounding skill given the sheer magnitude of the work he puts out. I stumbled upon his books at the Alternative Press Fair this year. Nestled in amongst the zines and prints on show that day (beautiful pieces in themselves, but nowhere in the same league) MacDonald was presenting his novels. The massive benefit of the self publishing trade, for the potential reader at least was that I had the chance to speak with MacDonald about his books and after a lovely chat about the whole writing and binding process I bought a copy of The Willies. Set in the near future, The Willies starts out as clever speculative fiction set in a world where bioengineering is at its peak, animals are created in labs and the prospect of creating humans is a very real possibility. Ethical and moral conflicts run rampant. Within the first thirty odd pages, the action (quite literally) explodes and what ensues is a fast paced romp through espionage drama, survival thriller and existential crisis. While that would be too much for most other writers, MacDonald easily turns the multitude of angles into one tidy story that draws the reader through to the climax with no hint of drag or filler.

Recently I caught up with Hamish and asked him a few questions about his writing. Read the interview after the jump.

Annexe Travelling Library: The Little Prince

Today, we’re letting a copy of one of our favourite books loose into the wild. It’s The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry. A tale of discovery and never growing up. If you haven’t read it before, I urge you to get out there and grab a copy. Maybe you’ll stumble across the one we’ve left in town.

We want the book to travel from hand to hand among curious readers. If you’ve found it, please do leave a comment here to tell us what you think of the story and where you found the book.

What does National Geographic Know Anyway. A short story by N.P. Murray

What does National Geographic Know Anyway.
A short story by N.P. Murray

I dreamt I was falling.
Not the usual dream of falling.
I wasn’t plummeting, thousands of feet a second, through the air that would neither hold me nor help me. In that dream you can see the ground miles below you. It is very much there and very much an impending solid. You’re waiting for it to meet you with the sound of raw meat smacking a tabletop. Or you would be if your mind wasn’t so preoccupied with the whole falling thing.

In this dream I was falling through the ocean. Quite slowly. My feet were strangely heavy and it was them that pulled me down. My arms trailed above me like the streamers on a kite. A kite underwater. As I fell, fish of all kinds would swim past me and around me, satisfying their curiosity. Fish, I knew as it was a dream, were naturally curious and couldn’t help but investigate my unexpected presence in their grand home.

Continue reading after the jump.