Self praise is no praise, so here are a few kind comments from writers, editors and judges who have read my stories.
Re. Things Grown Distant (short story collection, Confingo 2024)
The Reality of the Moment
Posted on October 15, 2024 by manchester review of books
Mike Fox – Things Grown Distant (Confingo, 2024)
Just because an impression only lasts a moment doesn’t mean it’s not real.
That’s the recurrent theme of Mike Fox’s short story collection. Not only is it poignant, and true, but the variety of scenarios from which the conclusion emerges began to make me question whether I was reading fiction here, or philosophy.
Certainly there is something of satori – the moment of Zen awakening – about this collection. Its slow, languorous, sensual pace of reading, unafraid of describing the unfolding of love affairs, the details of a woman’s body, the slow coming-on of inner visions; all serve to lull the reader into a state of gentle receptivity.
This despite a sparse page count (only 77) and the quiet interludes offered by Nicholas Royle’s uncanny photography.
You cannot read this book on the bus or a train. It won’t translate to audio book. Don’t expect film adaptations. The very act of reading is part of the enjoyment here: engaging with the slim volume, its beautifully laid out pages, at their own pace and in their own time.
Fox’s writing is carefully crafted. You feel like you are reading a mature writer, at the height of his powers. There is skill and craft in the construction of these stories. Even the more mannered moments – encounters with a generous heron, a trip at a hippy happening – are naturalistically presented.
At times, these scenes seem to twinkle. There’s a kind of twilight power in the prose. It is refreshing to read. Satisfying.
It is therefore hard to write about this book without doing it an injustice. Summarising the stories, reducing them to plot, would flatten them beyond recognition. To try and pick out samples of the prose and present them like baroque jewels, however, would also miss the point. The final effect is not to be found in a sample, but rather as a result of the whole process of reading. One has to engage with the whole book to feel it working.
Of all Confingo’s very short short-story collections, this one, to my mind, is the first one to perfect the form; its content and mode of presentation exist not in dialogue but as a unity.
That momentary impression – the one that is still real, despite its immediacy – is both the revealed subject of the stories and an apt description of the book’s impact upon the reader. Fox is making these very moments he describes: and they are moments well worth experiencing.
– Joe Darlington
Posted on October 15, 2024 by manchester review of books
Mike Fox – Things Grown Distant (Confingo, 2024)
Just because an impression only lasts a moment doesn’t mean it’s not real.
That’s the recurrent theme of Mike Fox’s short story collection. Not only is it poignant, and true, but the variety of scenarios from which the conclusion emerges began to make me question whether I was reading fiction here, or philosophy.
Certainly there is something of satori – the moment of Zen awakening – about this collection. Its slow, languorous, sensual pace of reading, unafraid of describing the unfolding of love affairs, the details of a woman’s body, the slow coming-on of inner visions; all serve to lull the reader into a state of gentle receptivity.
This despite a sparse page count (only 77) and the quiet interludes offered by Nicholas Royle’s uncanny photography.
You cannot read this book on the bus or a train. It won’t translate to audio book. Don’t expect film adaptations. The very act of reading is part of the enjoyment here: engaging with the slim volume, its beautifully laid out pages, at their own pace and in their own time.
Fox’s writing is carefully crafted. You feel like you are reading a mature writer, at the height of his powers. There is skill and craft in the construction of these stories. Even the more mannered moments – encounters with a generous heron, a trip at a hippy happening – are naturalistically presented.
At times, these scenes seem to twinkle. There’s a kind of twilight power in the prose. It is refreshing to read. Satisfying.
It is therefore hard to write about this book without doing it an injustice. Summarising the stories, reducing them to plot, would flatten them beyond recognition. To try and pick out samples of the prose and present them like baroque jewels, however, would also miss the point. The final effect is not to be found in a sample, but rather as a result of the whole process of reading. One has to engage with the whole book to feel it working.
Of all Confingo’s very short short-story collections, this one, to my mind, is the first one to perfect the form; its content and mode of presentation exist not in dialogue but as a unity.
That momentary impression – the one that is still real, despite its immediacy – is both the revealed subject of the stories and an apt description of the book’s impact upon the reader. Fox is making these very moments he describes: and they are moments well worth experiencing.
– Joe Darlington
Loved this mini-collection - the stories are beautiful, complex, exact - Livi Michael, author of Reservoir
Re. Inhabiting the Present - Fragmented Voices: 'The first person voice in this story is so authentically rendered that it feels like I am reading my own thoughts. Love the immediacy and delicacy of this tale. Genuinely think it’s one of the best first person narratives I’ve read in a long time.' Georgia Hilton, author of the poetry collections Swing, and I Went up the Lane Quite Cheerful
Re. The Violet Eye: 'A beautifully written and powerful work' - Laura Black, Fictive Dream
'The perfect Story' - Stephen Volk, BAFTA winner, author of The Dark Masters Trilogy
'A quietly powerful unfolding of what we send out into the world and what is returned' – Tania Hershman
'A poignant nine-pager.... The outcome of the marriage and its implications will not be easily forgotten by anyone who reads this story' - Des Lewis, Gestalt Real-time Reviews
'The perfect Story' - Stephen Volk, BAFTA winner, author of The Dark Masters Trilogy
'A quietly powerful unfolding of what we send out into the world and what is returned' – Tania Hershman
'A poignant nine-pager.... The outcome of the marriage and its implications will not be easily forgotten by anyone who reads this story' - Des Lewis, Gestalt Real-time Reviews
'[A Soul's Lament] took a hilarious approach to a somewhat sombre topic [with a] satirical and observational edge. Reincarnation is an excellent take on the theme!' - The Here Comes Everyone Editorial Team
'The Forest Man gave me a whole world in miniature. The story reads as a parable about kindness, faith, lack of mercy' - Toby Litt, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Birkbeck University, award winning author
Re. The Healing Tongue: 'An absolute beauty of a piece' – Jacob Denno, Editor, Popshot
Re. The Homing Instinct: 'Vivid, poetic: an inspired piece of writing, with a perfectly judged, word-perfect ending' – Tim Shearer, Editor, Confingo
'These stories are highly accomplished' – Kevin MacNeil, Lecture in Creative Writing, University of Sterling, author of ‘The Brilliant and Forever '
Re. Fergal's First Gig: 'This story gives me the shivers. It’s elegantly told and subtle in execution' – Poetic Republic
'A Fantastically talented writer' – Leigh Russell – author of ‘The Geraldine Steele Mysteries’
Re. Fascination: 'This is a great story; perfectly succinct' - Phillip Elliot, Editor in Chief, Into the Void
