New story: ‘In Your Arms’

“Like the flickering illusion of hot tarmac, a sorcerer’s jape ... An octopus, with such chameleonic skills as to appear like the devil out of a puff of smoke.”

I'm delighted to share that my short story, ‘In Your Arms’, has been accepted for publication by the fantastic Interpreter's House.

The independent IH mainly publishes exceptional poetry, which I hope is something you like to read too, but usually features some short stories.

You can read ‘In Your Arms’ without subscription in issue #79, here.

I don't have much background to this story. It was good to write about the British coast. I wonder if being underwater or being undergound is something of a theme of mine, and what that might signify.

This story guest-stars an octopus alongside the human characters.

I'm a big fan of octopuses. They predate dinosaurs. Although they usually die after reproducing, they can regrow lost tentacles, have three hearts and nine brains (a central brain, plus an extra one for each independently-thinking limb) - with as many neurons as a dog. They can solve mazes and other puzzles, use tools and trickery to catch their prey, and employ astonishing camouflage or lightshows to evade predators. Plus, some species have fantastic names, like the ‘paper nautilus’ and ‘star-sucker pygmy’.

There are plans to farm this intelligent and charismatic creature for food. You can donate to help protect the octopus here.

If you have any thoughts on this story, please do share them on this page, or say hi on my Twitter account @davidbrookesuk.

—db