Honest Publishing Blog

Articles, news and latest writings from alternative, original voices.

Atavistic Elf – Meg Tuite

Sunday, August 11th, 2013

She was gamey, ossified in my being, with a tattoo of a cockroach on her right arm and bagpipes on her left. I sat across the cafe from her every morning and tried not to gouge out my eye from lust for her musk. She permeated my wail that I tucked under my wretched self so I wouldn’t have to flog myself at home again.

I was an unkempt skull she twirled by and nodded at. Someone like a flowerpot seen everyday and barely noticed. I hoped there were blooms that dripped like a rosary in my wake. (more…)

The Vorrh: Extra Special Editions – B. Catling & Alan Moore Signed

Friday, August 9th, 2013

UPDATE: Sorry, folks – the super special edition (signed by both B. Catling and Alan Moore) has now SOLD OUT. Please see The Vorrh book page for the regular editions. For further queries, please email [email protected].

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Can you spot the pattern in these numbers?

We can. Honest Publishing would like to smugly announce that we have retained 30 (of 300) Special Editions of The Vorrh, signed and numbered by B. Catling himself, and to those Special Editions we have added the signature of…Mr Alan Moore. (more…)

Selected Works – Pepe Arroyo

Wednesday, August 7th, 2013

Pepe Arroyo carving

back to the barter system

i finally put an ad up in The Pennysaver.
for months, i’ve been trying to come up with
a good company name and after much deliberation
finally settled on one. so, my ad read:
Metaphysical Heating + Air Conditioning,
Artistic Craftsmanship at Reasonable Prices.
Ask For Pepe. (626)390-7765

and yesterday i got my first call. the voice
on the other end, a woman’s, sounded sexy
and desperate. maybe it sounded sexy because
it sounded desperate. a hairdresser in Covina
complaining that her recently-installed a/c
ain’t cutting the mustard and wanted to know
if i can go by and take a gander at it. (more…)

Braving the (new) New World

Saturday, August 3rd, 2013

“If I’d learnt one thing from travelling, it was that the way to get things done was to go ahead and do them. Don’t talk about going to Borneo. Book a ticket, get a visa, pack a bag, and it just happens.”― Alex Garland, The Beach (more…)

Graham Allison – New Poems

Friday, July 26th, 2013

Skeletal Manoeuvres

To be presented with the skeleton
when you were expecting
a living breathing beast

can be disconcerting

but it makes an impression

brings with it a stripped-down stylishness
of thrill and immediacy

which wanes

with repetition and your own aging

after you reach a certain point

the bones of a beast
are
the bones of a beast

they do not provide a full feast for all the senses (more…)

Dear Jo,

Sunday, July 21st, 2013

I have a cracking new idea for you. No, you don’t need to write Harry Potter: The Wasted Years.

First off, here’s a name: Robert Galbraith. This is now your name. And here’s a small independent publisher that’s totally unrelated to Little, Brown for you: Sphere. They will publish your detective novel. I hear Sherlock is back in fashion.

I know what you’re thinking, but let me reassure you that the millions of Harry fans, and those random other millions who happen to have heard your name or seen your picture, will love the intrigue. Why did Jo hide as Rob? What could the book be about? Etc etc they’ll buy it, Jo, they’ll talk about you, and the shitty little authors out there will bite their collective purple tongue.

How are the rabbits?

Yours,

Bertie Knox
Agent Extraordinaire

Building

Sunday, July 14th, 2013

The building is old. It smells a little musty from every aspect, every corner. Dust settles on vertical windows and mould creeps into not-quite-right-angled corners. It creaks and sighs. The building is split into flats. Doors face forwards and sideways and backwards. Letters are put in holes. Fragile connective strands hang, taut in the air. Two, three, four, five, six flats. One is underneath. One is forgotten. Inhabited by silence, except the odd mouse you hear if you go to check the gas meter in the basement and put your ear to the letterbox. Maybe two mice. No point in one mouse squeaking alone; everyone needs someone to communicate with.

(more…)

Decency in the 21st Century

Monday, July 8th, 2013

decency

I may sound like a grumpy paranoid loon, but there’s no decency left in the world. None. To illustrate my point, I will list one hundred and seventeen thousand examples.