Take a Break fiction magazine

Take a Break fiction magazine has given its writers their marching orders and now uses AI. 

 Short stories appearing in the title credited to the in-house team are 100% AI generated. You are not obliged to buy this publication which has replaced writers with machines. 

 

George Orwell predicted this in 1984. #ai #takeabreak #bauer

 

 

Right to Live

As every MP knows Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with ALS in 1963 and was initially given just three years to live, but he survived for 55 years after that diagnosis, living until 2018. 

Will doctors stop making simplistic predictions in response to politicians legislating for the ‘right to die’ for people with ‘only six months to live’?

All Your Stories 2026

https://allyourstoriesandpoems.com/all-your-stories-anthology-magazine/

 

"All your Stories" have had the good taste to include two of my stories in this edition. I am very pleased!

 

Review of Clown Town

If the Secret Service should last for a thousand years, people will still say, this was Jackson Lamb's finest hour. Jackson Lamb is very entertaining on the page but nobody would want to have him as a boss in real life. 

The other stand-out character for me is Roddy Ho. The Rodster is not the doyen of self-awareness.

Amazon are quite peculiar. They have also asked me to review my own book which would look a little odd.

Everyday Fiction

https://everydayfiction.com/?s=derek+mcmillan

Everyday Fiction has not been online since June so I have here my previous contributions.

An interesting fact

This is a good quiz question because anyone who watches the BBC or indeed reads the Daily Mail would refuse to believe the facts.

General election	Labour leader	Labour votes	Vote share
2024		9,708,716	33.7%
2019		10,269,051	32.1%
2017		12,877,918	40.0%
2015		9,347,324	30.4%
2010		8,609,527	29.0%

Story in Drablr

100-word stories are called "drabbles" in America but don't let that put you off.

Here is an example.

https://drablr.com/story/32382-do-not-resuscitate-dnr

E mail from Antipodean Sci Fi

Email from Antipodean Sci Fi

Hello AntiSF authors and narrators,

Just a quick email to let you know that you have a story coming up on an episode of the AntiSF Radio Show soon.

713 Brunsia

Ache - by Charles Sartorius - narrated by John Dee

Gossamer - by John Doriot

Antari Girls Go Hard - by Cameron Scott Kirk

Awkward Customer - by Derek McMillan

30/08/2026

You can grab the audio from here <antisf.libsyn.com>, once the show is published as a podcast (usually around noon on Sunday, a little before the broadcast on 2NVR.

Ooroo for now,

Ion. Antari Girls Go Hard - by Cameron Scott Kirk

Awkward Customer - by Derek McMillan

30/08/2026

You can grab the audio from here <antisf.libsyn.com>, once the show is published as a podcast (usually around noon on Sunday, a little before the broadcast on 2NVR.

Ooroo for now,

Ion.

Audio version of Ragamuffin's Boot

https://youtu.be/b1CkIMuIh9U

In the Mirror of Eternity audio

https://youtu.be/5uX1kVcQEFQ

Audio version of "A Likely Story"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoX-Wb9r7gk

This was first published in Northern Flash Fictiion and this is the audio version.

Audio version of "The Project" on YouTube

https://youtu.be/IW0gNLNAO8w

Signs on YouTube

https://youtu.be/TkIE-Xrfzak

I do not believe in horoscopes. Friends tell me that makes me a typical Capricorn.

Audio version of "Robbers" for youtube

https://youtu.be/0C1KOJlI1io

Audio version of "Dave's Contraption" on youtube.

Audio version of "Dave's Contraption" on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VLMsKGuNmU

Abigail's Party

This review contains a spoiler.

Ferring Amateur Dramatic Society presented a production of the Mike Leigh play "Abigail's Party" which was originally a 'Play for Today' on the BBC.

The play is very representative of its time, right down to a lava lamp centre stage.

The Abigail of the title never appears. The party is next door to Abigail's house and includes a very worried Abigail's mother played excellently by Lina Grinstead.

A neighbour, Angela played by Julie Cleasby, adds humour to the production, especially with her unforgettable dancing. Her monosyllabic husband, played by Steve Baker, finds her such an embarrassment he allegedly suggested she could do with sellotape over her mouth.

The man of the house, played by Niall Conlan, is a local estate agent who is worked to death, quite literally.

The star of the show is Beverly, the excruciating host, played superbly by Sue Burroughs. A seventies' suburban party which starts out moderately dreadful deteriorates and deteriorates under Beverly's influence.

This is a first class production. 

Audio version of "The Twittens of Durrington".

https://youtu.be/_fcSNTTa2kk

Audio version of "The Twittens of Durrington".

Things not to do

When submitting work to a magazine, which I do all the time, do not include the phrase "No AI was used in this writing. My robot told me to say that. :)"

They have no sense of humour about this.

Quiz Answers

1 Which planet is furthest from the sun?
Nobody knows (many planets are outside the solar system) but I will accept Neptune as an answer!

2 It takes five men six hours to dig seven holes. How long does it take one man to dig half a hole?
You can’t dig half a hole

3 The straits of Gibraltar are between the Atlantic and ?
A The Mediterranean

4 A yellow ball in snooker scores?
Two

5 Which sport uses a foil?
Fencing

6 What does a dosette box contain?
A Pills

7 In Thomas the Tank Engine, Henry is which colour?
Green

8 The Aran islands contain how many islands?
Three islands

9 Where is Wadebridge?
A Cornwall

10 Which planet is famous for the Great Red Spot?
Jupiter

11 What is Cafe au Lait?
A White coffee

12 Joe Davis was a world champion in?
Snooker

13 Who wrote the book “Tom Jones”?
Henry Fielding

14 What is a penstemon?
a flowering plant

15 Which was Daniel Craig’s first James Bond film?
A Casino Royale

16 Marzipan is made from?
Almonds

17 Where would you find seas with no water?
On the moon.

18 The chemical element with the abbreviation Br is?
A Bromine

19 The Hoover Dam is on which river?
A The Colorado

20 What is a Manx Shearwater?
A bird

And the ever-popular grid. You need to find groups of four. All words have capital initial letters by tradition.

Police	Trouble	Jeopardy	Ponce
Lear	Christmas	George	Top
Phantom	Paul	Poor	Bed
John	Water	Jump	Money

Box – Police, Christmas, Poor, Money

Double – Trouble, Jeopardy Top, Bed

Saint = John Paul George Ponce

Jet = Lear, Phantom, Water, Jump

Rage

I notice that after calling for people to "rage", millionaire Nigel Farage made sure he was well away from the racists who were raging in the streets with bricks and bottles.

It would have spoilt his suit. 

Quiz

1 Which planet is furthest from the sun?

2 It takes five men six hours to dig seven holes. How long does it take one man to dig half a hole?

3 The straits of Gibraltar are between the Atlantic and ?

4 A yellow ball in snooker scores?

5 Which sport uses a foil?

6 What does a dosette box contain?

7 In Thomas the Tank Engine, Henry is which colour?

8 The Aran islands contain how many islands?

9 Where is Wadebridge?

10 Which planet is famous for the Great Red Spot?

11 What is Cafe au Lait?

12 Joe Davis was a world champion in?

13 Who wrote the book “Tom Jones”?

14 What is a penstemon?

15 Which was Daniel Craig’s first James Bond film?

16 Marzipan is made from?

17 Where would you find seas with no water?

18 The chemical element with the abbreviation Br is?

19 The Hoover Dam is on which river?

20 What is a Manx Shearwater?

And the ever-popular grid. You need to find groups of four. All words have capital initial letters by tradition.

Police	Trouble	Jeopardy	Ponce
Lear	Christmas	George	Top
Phantom	Paul	Poor	Bed
John	Water	Jump	Money

Cash machine

Self-explanatory

Second Hand Books

It is most gratifying that World of Books and other second hand booksellers are selling my books. I don't make any money out of it but people do get to read the books.

If you are a writer, I suggest searching on eBay for your books. You might surprise youself.

Murder from Beyond the Grave

                                                   Space Dog Alfred

                                                         In the Mirror of Eternity

                                                                The Miranda Revolution

The whole eBay list is here

May the Fourth be With You

Worthing Symphony Orchestra is 100 this year. This is amazing as many of them don't look a day over ninety.

They celebrated Star Wars Day (May the Fourth) with a spectacular concert of music from the movies.

This included a medley of James Bond themes featuring the work of Monty Norman and John Barry.

The most evocative and memorable themes were from Jaws by John Williams and Psycho by Bernard Hermann.

There was a lot to enjoy in this programme.

The finale was a performance of the Star Wars music. A volunteer taking the role of Princess Leia appeared during her theme but the best and most dramatic theme is that of Darth Vader. At the end a player representing the man himself appeared with a red lightsabre and bowed to the audience.

It was a great evening.

The Call of the Wild

Jack London made a fortune from the Klondike gold rush. He didn't find any gold but he wrote many successful stories instead. "The Call of the Wild" is an example. It is the story of the evolution of a dog (Buck) from the south lands who learnt the harsh lessons of life in a dog team.

It goes on to talk of the dreams which take Buck back to a primordial age.

Jack London's sense of humour is fierce and there is more than a little schadenfreude about his depiction of some of the quite unsuitable people who wound up out of their depth and frequently died from ignorance during the gold rush.

Compare

Murder from Beyond the Grave (hardback)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/168278555319

The hardback edition of "Murder from Beyond the Grave" came out today.

Nell Gwynne by Ferring Amateur Dramatic Society

The play opened with a messenger reading from a scroll. By Royal Command, the audience were forbidden the use of mobile phones. This set the tone for the production. You name it, this play ridiculed it.

Women were not allowed on the stage. Their roles were taken by men and boys. It was only in the reign of Charles II that this changed and the actors who had been sarcastic and unpleasant about Nell Gwynne ( played by Julie Cleasby) were forced to change their tune when they realised she not only attracted the hoi polloi to the theatre but also earned them royal patronage.

To say that Charles II (played by Roy Stevens) was a bit up himself would be an understatement. However, Nell Gwynne knew exactly how to bring him down to earth. He was not used to people who were not flattering him and that was the last thing she would do.

Credit must go to Martin Hoskins whose role of John Dryden ridiculed the writer's dependence on plagiarising Shakespeare and his inability to complete his work in time.

The fatal game of Pell Mell (a predecessor of Croquet), which put an end to the reign was depicted using mallets provided by Worthing Croquet Club. On his death bed, the king insisted, "Do not let poor Nelly starve."

The conclusion sees Nell return to the theatre and even take over the role of Dryden by writing an epilogue to the play.

It was a fun evening for all concerned.

Places to submit work

Places to submit work

http://newpages.com/

https://www.newpages.com/writers-resources/young-writers-guide

http://www.pw.org/literary_magazines?&perpage=*

http://www.everywritersresource.com/literarymagazines/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/35517751475/

https://discover.submittable.com/

https://publishedtodeath.blogspot.com/

https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/

https://chillsubs.com/

https://heavyfeatherreview.org/calls/#journals

https://www.clmp.org/programs-opportunities/calls-for-submissions/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/35517751475/

https://discover.submittable.com/

https://publishedtodeath.blogspot.com/

https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/

https://chillsubs.com/

https://heavyfeatherreview.org/calls/#journals

https://www.clmp.org/programs-opportunities/calls-for-submissions/