Story Calendar

Every month, a new piece of writing by Alexander will be posted here on this site making up a calendar of stories every year. Some will be short stories, some will be articles, and some will be sneak previews from books not yet released. Perfect to read with your morning coffee!

Check back to this page regularly to see what has been added or sign up below.

Latest Stories

A Letter for November

Dear Readers, I think we might all be forgiven for thinking that the world at the moment is a somewhat difficult place. And there are many, I suspect, who would feel that is putting it mildly! This year has not been the most peaceful year for many, but – and this is an important but […]

A Story for October: On Food and Friendship

When I wrote the opening chapter of the first 44 Scotland Street novel, I had no idea how the book was going to develop or how long it would turn out to be. I had responded to an invitation from the then editor of The Scotsman, Iain Martin, to write a serial novel for daily […]

A Story for September: A Labourer in the Vineyard of Love

September 2023 They were sitting in the office of the Perfect Passion Company, Scotland’s only non-virtual dating agency, as the local paper had called it, or, in the words of an article in a lifestyle magazine, ‘a place where you go if you want to meet other people who don’t know how to use a […]

A Poem for August: The Sun on Princes Street

The Sun on Princes Street On Saturday we stopped and gazed On Princes Street, on Princes Street, As unexpected came the sun And kissed the stone of Princes Street, And up above us, all the flags Fluttered brave on Princes Street, In semaphore they made the claim Of freedom there on Princes Street. And somewhere, […]

A story for July: An Extract from The Discreet Charm of the Big Bad Wolf

July 2023 Ulf looked at his in-tray and sighed. This was not because it was piled high with pressing matters; it was not – it was empty, apart from a memorandum about micro-aggressions in the workplace that the Human Resources department had recirculated. Ulf had heard that they felt people were not paying sufficient attention […]

A Story for June: ‘Homecoming’

An early summer treat. Alexander says of this poem, ‘Every journey must end, and that may be at home – the most glorious ending of all.’ Homecoming If there is one story that we, in our need for narrative, Persistently ask for, it is a tale of homecoming; The journey of a classical hero coming […]

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