Sam Derby
@samderby.bsky.social
Writer - short fiction, mostly dark: horror, ghost stories, fantasy, sci-fi and historical.
HC Manchester Fiction Prize 2019, LL Bath Short Story Prize 2019, 3rd ChipLitFest 2019.
https://samderby1975.wordpress.com/
https://www.instagram.com/samderby75
HC Manchester Fiction Prize 2019, LL Bath Short Story Prize 2019, 3rd ChipLitFest 2019.
https://samderby1975.wordpress.com/
https://www.instagram.com/samderby75
Here it is - #82 of NOT ONE OF US ft my story "Exstasis," plus @asakiyume.bsky.social, @jordanrhirsch.bsky.social, @gwynnega.bsky.social, @writerjencrow.bsky.social, Gretchen Tessmer, Rachel Cordasco, David Closs & Ed Ahern. legacyliteraryservices.com/not-one-of-us
April 13, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Here it is - #82 of NOT ONE OF US ft my story "Exstasis," plus @asakiyume.bsky.social, @jordanrhirsch.bsky.social, @gwynnega.bsky.social, @writerjencrow.bsky.social, Gretchen Tessmer, Rachel Cordasco, David Closs & Ed Ahern. legacyliteraryservices.com/not-one-of-us
Looking forward to getting my hands on #82 of NOT ONE OF US ft my story "Exstasis," plus @asakiyume.bsky.social, @jordanrhirsch.bsky.social, @gwynnega.bsky.social, @writerjencrow.bsky.social, Gretchen Tessmer, Rachel Cordasco, David Closs & Ed Ahern. legacyliteraryservices.com/not-one-of-u...
Latest Issue Table of Contents
Not One of Us #82 Published April 2025 Theme: After the End “Our latest issue looks at what happens after the end. We have a stalker trapped as still life, a man outside himself, soft tears of regr…
legacyliteraryservices.com
March 21, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Looking forward to getting my hands on #82 of NOT ONE OF US ft my story "Exstasis," plus @asakiyume.bsky.social, @jordanrhirsch.bsky.social, @gwynnega.bsky.social, @writerjencrow.bsky.social, Gretchen Tessmer, Rachel Cordasco, David Closs & Ed Ahern. legacyliteraryservices.com/not-one-of-u...
A good start to the writing year. My story “If on a lonesome road a traveller’ will be broadcast Thursday 2nd Jan on BBC Upload - on BBC local radio in Oxford, Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Berkshire and Solent - at 6-8pm on 95.2FM, on Digital, BBC Sounds and
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p... #writingcommunity
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p... #writingcommunity
January 1, 2025 at 11:16 PM
A good start to the writing year. My story “If on a lonesome road a traveller’ will be broadcast Thursday 2nd Jan on BBC Upload - on BBC local radio in Oxford, Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Berkshire and Solent - at 6-8pm on 95.2FM, on Digital, BBC Sounds and
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p... #writingcommunity
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p... #writingcommunity
By the blazing fire some of our best stories are told. #oxford #writingcommunity
December 19, 2024 at 10:49 PM
By the blazing fire some of our best stories are told. #oxford #writingcommunity
At the Museum of the Future in Dubai, an imaginary DNA archive.
November 25, 2024 at 10:58 PM
At the Museum of the Future in Dubai, an imaginary DNA archive.
Is the night chilly and dark?
The night is chilly, but not dark.
The thin gray cloud is spread on high,
It covers but not hides the sky.
(Christabel by Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
Oh to be able to generate this kind of atmosphere in a story.
The night is chilly, but not dark.
The thin gray cloud is spread on high,
It covers but not hides the sky.
(Christabel by Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
Oh to be able to generate this kind of atmosphere in a story.
October 20, 2024 at 10:47 AM
Is the night chilly and dark?
The night is chilly, but not dark.
The thin gray cloud is spread on high,
It covers but not hides the sky.
(Christabel by Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
Oh to be able to generate this kind of atmosphere in a story.
The night is chilly, but not dark.
The thin gray cloud is spread on high,
It covers but not hides the sky.
(Christabel by Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
Oh to be able to generate this kind of atmosphere in a story.
Show me a picture in your phone that has your energy; not a selfie.
September 22, 2024 at 6:48 PM
Show me a picture in your phone that has your energy; not a selfie.
Reposted by Sam Derby
I've made two starter packs with speculative fiction publications - magazines and podcasts - on Bluesky. I hope they make it easier for people to find & follow a whole bunch of great spec-fic venues. I'll keep adding as I go.
Starter pack 1: go.bsky.app/4FbEmZU
Starter pack 2: go.bsky.app/ASWSvfZ
Starter pack 1: go.bsky.app/4FbEmZU
Starter pack 2: go.bsky.app/ASWSvfZ
August 28, 2024 at 3:32 AM
I've made two starter packs with speculative fiction publications - magazines and podcasts - on Bluesky. I hope they make it easier for people to find & follow a whole bunch of great spec-fic venues. I'll keep adding as I go.
Starter pack 1: go.bsky.app/4FbEmZU
Starter pack 2: go.bsky.app/ASWSvfZ
Starter pack 1: go.bsky.app/4FbEmZU
Starter pack 2: go.bsky.app/ASWSvfZ
Reposted by Sam Derby
My August Speculative Flash Roundup!
@nightmare-magazine.com
@naturefutures.bsky.social
@flashfictiononline.bsky.social
@apexmag.bsky.social
@molotovlitzine.bsky.social
100-Foot Crow
@fracturedlit.bsky.social
@apparitionlit.com
@smallwondersmag.com
@translunartl.bsky.social
@havenspec.bsky.social
@nightmare-magazine.com
@naturefutures.bsky.social
@flashfictiononline.bsky.social
@apexmag.bsky.social
@molotovlitzine.bsky.social
100-Foot Crow
@fracturedlit.bsky.social
@apparitionlit.com
@smallwondersmag.com
@translunartl.bsky.social
@havenspec.bsky.social
Flash Roundup * August 2024
A gathering of recent speculative flash & micro fiction, each presenting a tiny-yet-powerful universe. How tiny? About one-thousand words for flash; four-hundred words for micro. The word count isn’t ...
mynachang.com
August 23, 2024 at 5:42 PM
Great summary of a story I am really proud of - check it out along with the other stories below.
#writingcommunity
#writingcommunity
"Of Death In Battle" by @samderby.bsky.social is a tender, haunting story which spans a thousand years in a moment of empathy.
sarah-i-jackson.ghost.io/inner-worlds...
#SpeculativeFiction #HistoricalFiction #ShortFiction #FlashFiction
sarah-i-jackson.ghost.io/inner-worlds...
#SpeculativeFiction #HistoricalFiction #ShortFiction #FlashFiction
June 6, 2024 at 3:47 PM
Great summary of a story I am really proud of - check it out along with the other stories below.
#writingcommunity
#writingcommunity
So excited to see this edition of @innerworlds.bsky.social published and to see my story Of Death in Battle in such good company. Looking forward to reading every story - do check it out including the subscription option.
Issue 3 is here! 🎉 14 speculative stories spanning fantasy, horror, and science fiction, all revealing aspects of our inner lives ✨❤️🧠✨
sarah-i-jackson.ghost.io/inner-worlds...
#SFF #Horror #SpeculativeFiction #SciFi #ScienceFiction #Fantasy
sarah-i-jackson.ghost.io/inner-worlds...
#SFF #Horror #SpeculativeFiction #SciFi #ScienceFiction #Fantasy
June 2, 2024 at 9:43 PM
So excited to see this edition of @innerworlds.bsky.social published and to see my story Of Death in Battle in such good company. Looking forward to reading every story - do check it out including the subscription option.
This is such a great story. It’s late in the evening as I post this and I can’t say I am sure if it’s brilliant sci fi or actually true. Time distribution company, London, 1908. The woman who sold time - and the man who tried to stop her www.bbc.com/news/article...
The woman who sold time - and the man who tried to stop her
The story of the woman who sold the time to businesses - and the man who tried to thwart her.
www.bbc.com
May 27, 2024 at 9:52 PM
This is such a great story. It’s late in the evening as I post this and I can’t say I am sure if it’s brilliant sci fi or actually true. Time distribution company, London, 1908. The woman who sold time - and the man who tried to stop her www.bbc.com/news/article...
Really delighted that my short story 'Of Death in Battle' will be published shortly by the excellent @innerworlds.bsky.social magazine. Inspired partly by Old English poetry, partly by D&D nostalgia, partly by Time Team...
Photo by Sara Gacic on Unsplash
Photo by Sara Gacic on Unsplash
May 17, 2024 at 10:45 AM
Really delighted that my short story 'Of Death in Battle' will be published shortly by the excellent @innerworlds.bsky.social magazine. Inspired partly by Old English poetry, partly by D&D nostalgia, partly by Time Team...
Photo by Sara Gacic on Unsplash
Photo by Sara Gacic on Unsplash
Great looking writing event in Oxford this August featuring George RR Martin in conversation with Philip Pullman courtesy of Oxford Writers’ House. www.oxfordwritershouse.com/events #writingcommunity
Events and Speakers — Oxford Writers' House
www.oxfordwritershouse.com
May 12, 2024 at 10:32 AM
Great looking writing event in Oxford this August featuring George RR Martin in conversation with Philip Pullman courtesy of Oxford Writers’ House. www.oxfordwritershouse.com/events #writingcommunity
I was really delighted to get a story in the beautifully illustrated and typeset fantomeszine.com. "Susannah" is a ghost-POV story and looked great on the printed page.
Fantômes
Fantômes is a collaborative ghost story zine, bringing together story-telling, poetry, folklore, illustration and photography in small cobbled-together publication.
fantomeszine.com
May 10, 2024 at 12:49 PM
I was really delighted to get a story in the beautifully illustrated and typeset fantomeszine.com. "Susannah" is a ghost-POV story and looked great on the printed page.
This story, The Hunting of the Masu'wa, is a (fond) pastiche of the M. R. James style of ghost story. Longlisted for the Bath Short Story Award 2019 it was then published in Ghosts and Scholars, the M. R. James newsletter, issue 41.
May 10, 2024 at 12:47 PM
This story, The Hunting of the Masu'wa, is a (fond) pastiche of the M. R. James style of ghost story. Longlisted for the Bath Short Story Award 2019 it was then published in Ghosts and Scholars, the M. R. James newsletter, issue 41.
Gardening/horror is a wrongly-overlooked subgenre. Change my mind.
thequietreader.com/magazine/blo...
thequietreader.com/magazine/blo...
May 10, 2024 at 12:43 PM
Gardening/horror is a wrongly-overlooked subgenre. Change my mind.
thequietreader.com/magazine/blo...
thequietreader.com/magazine/blo...
The rather brilliant and brilliantly-named Coffin Bell Journal published this story, Five Per Cent, a few years ago. coffinbell.com/five-per-cent/
Combining polar isolation, experimental physics and the infrasound theory of ghosts.
Combining polar isolation, experimental physics and the infrasound theory of ghosts.
Five Per Cent - Coffin Bell
sam derby “We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.” HP Lovecraft “This is the voice of Dr Andrew Kneal…
coffinbell.com
May 10, 2024 at 12:41 PM
The rather brilliant and brilliantly-named Coffin Bell Journal published this story, Five Per Cent, a few years ago. coffinbell.com/five-per-cent/
Combining polar isolation, experimental physics and the infrasound theory of ghosts.
Combining polar isolation, experimental physics and the infrasound theory of ghosts.
The excellent Oxford Writing Circle published this story, Rook, in its anthology Departures and Arrivals. www.waterstones.com/book/departu...
Oxford is a city with a highly transient population and this was my attempt at capturing some of that.
Photo by Chase Clark on Unsplash
Oxford is a city with a highly transient population and this was my attempt at capturing some of that.
Photo by Chase Clark on Unsplash
May 10, 2024 at 12:39 PM
The excellent Oxford Writing Circle published this story, Rook, in its anthology Departures and Arrivals. www.waterstones.com/book/departu...
Oxford is a city with a highly transient population and this was my attempt at capturing some of that.
Photo by Chase Clark on Unsplash
Oxford is a city with a highly transient population and this was my attempt at capturing some of that.
Photo by Chase Clark on Unsplash
The story 'Follower' is a very creepy riff on a common horror theme, the pursuer who won't be shaken off. Published on Horla.
Photo: Taofeek Obafemi-Babatunde on Unsplash
Photo: Taofeek Obafemi-Babatunde on Unsplash
May 10, 2024 at 12:36 PM
The story 'Follower' is a very creepy riff on a common horror theme, the pursuer who won't be shaken off. Published on Horla.
Photo: Taofeek Obafemi-Babatunde on Unsplash
Photo: Taofeek Obafemi-Babatunde on Unsplash
A rare, pure ghost story for me; though I love reading them I rarely write them. Dead End was highly commended in the Manchester Fiction Prize 2019 and then published on the now defunct Horla.
May 10, 2024 at 12:33 PM
A rare, pure ghost story for me; though I love reading them I rarely write them. Dead End was highly commended in the Manchester Fiction Prize 2019 and then published on the now defunct Horla.
Why do we wander, where can we turn?
Under the moon where the dark flames burn.
Why do we wander, who shows the way?
Come to the wood on the eve of May.
"Sold" - a folk-horror tale, of a sacrifice made in return for, well, give it a read: published in Schlock webzine or via my website.
Under the moon where the dark flames burn.
Why do we wander, who shows the way?
Come to the wood on the eve of May.
"Sold" - a folk-horror tale, of a sacrifice made in return for, well, give it a read: published in Schlock webzine or via my website.
May 10, 2024 at 12:25 PM
Why do we wander, where can we turn?
Under the moon where the dark flames burn.
Why do we wander, who shows the way?
Come to the wood on the eve of May.
"Sold" - a folk-horror tale, of a sacrifice made in return for, well, give it a read: published in Schlock webzine or via my website.
Under the moon where the dark flames burn.
Why do we wander, who shows the way?
Come to the wood on the eve of May.
"Sold" - a folk-horror tale, of a sacrifice made in return for, well, give it a read: published in Schlock webzine or via my website.
A favourite of mine: The Librarian. Placed 3rd at the 2019 ChipLitFest short story competition judged by Nicholas Royle, it's a weird fiction tale of books left unopened.
Photo by 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič – @specialdaddy on Unsplash
Photo by 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič – @specialdaddy on Unsplash
May 10, 2024 at 12:05 PM
A favourite of mine: The Librarian. Placed 3rd at the 2019 ChipLitFest short story competition judged by Nicholas Royle, it's a weird fiction tale of books left unopened.
Photo by 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič – @specialdaddy on Unsplash
Photo by 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič – @specialdaddy on Unsplash
Two travellers on a lonely road - this story, Hurry Up Please, It's Time, was published by Horla in 2020. Horla has now folded as far as I can make out. The image was sourced by Horla from Flickr flic.kr/p/29Jtu3v.
There's something about a dark road on a dark landscape that gives me liminal feels.
There's something about a dark road on a dark landscape that gives me liminal feels.
May 10, 2024 at 11:00 AM
Two travellers on a lonely road - this story, Hurry Up Please, It's Time, was published by Horla in 2020. Horla has now folded as far as I can make out. The image was sourced by Horla from Flickr flic.kr/p/29Jtu3v.
There's something about a dark road on a dark landscape that gives me liminal feels.
There's something about a dark road on a dark landscape that gives me liminal feels.
The Wrathful Sky - a five-act short story that captures the alienation of the long-distance traveller - was published by Storgy in 2019; rights have now reverted to me so get in touch...
Photo by KAL VISUALS on Unsplash
Photo by KAL VISUALS on Unsplash
May 10, 2024 at 10:54 AM
The Wrathful Sky - a five-act short story that captures the alienation of the long-distance traveller - was published by Storgy in 2019; rights have now reverted to me so get in touch...
Photo by KAL VISUALS on Unsplash
Photo by KAL VISUALS on Unsplash