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    Deus Ex Insomnia
    Deus Ex Insomnia
    Deus Ex Insomnia
    Ebook96 pages48 minutes

    Deus Ex Insomnia

    By Mark Cantrell

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    About this ebook

    Deus Ex Insomnia is the début poetry collection by journalist and novelist Mark Cantrell. The collection pulls together 80 examples of his writing, with the added sweetener of prosaic essays pondering the mysteries of the written word. He has a reputation for darkness in his writings, so taste his night-life for yourself – and discover that life isn't all in shadow.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMark Cantrell
    Release dateJan 2, 2011
    ISBN9781458043771
    Deus Ex Insomnia
    Author

    Mark Cantrell

    A coffee-guzzling journalist turned author, Mark Cantrell has chased the literary dream for years. Somehow, it's always managed to stay one step ahead, but Mark perseveres in his pursuit all the same. There are worse ways to kill time, after all. Mark is the author of two novels (so far), both released in paperback and digital editions by the indie press, Inspired Quill. Both his novels haunt dystopian ground, but aside from their dark tone they remain very different beasts. While CITIZEN ZERO (2017) runs towards political science fiction thriller, SILAS MORLOCK (2013) ventures into the shadows of dark, urban fantasy in homage of literary culture. For want of comparison, in CITIZEN ZERO The Matrix meets V for Vendetta with a touch of I, Daniel Blake. SILAS MORLOCK, though, is more a macabre melding of Fahrenheit 451 and Nosferatu. Away from novel-length works, Mark has written plenty of short stories and novelettes in his time. He's even been known to dabble in poetry. Over the years, his stories have appeared in a variety of small press journals both in print and online. Way back in 1998, two of his stories were featured in the Clover Books horror anthology, Spirit of Darkness. In 2001 there was Love, Sex, Death & Carrots. More recently, his work appeared in Bards and Sages Publishing's The Society of Misfit Stories Presents, Vol 1, Issue 1 (February 2019). Between times, his fiction has appeared in publications such as Sci-Fright, Alternaties, Asphalt Jungle, Writers' Muse, the Writers' Compass, and more. He's even self-published some of these works, individually as 'digital shorts', and in his collection of short fiction, ISOLATION SPACE (2009/2011). Available through Smashwords, you can find more details of these works below. Broadly speaking, Mark's work fits into the science-fiction-fantasy-horror spectrum, but he tends to write to the story and worry about the genre later. It seems to work, more or less. Certainly, he's happy (flattered) to be called a science fiction author even if he frequently feels unworthy of the accolade. By trade, Mark is a journalist. This is reflected on his author blog, where he writes articles about politics, society and current affairs, along with regular excursions into science, culture and literary life. Well, it keeps the 'blog-beast' fed. As a jobbing B2B hack, Mark has mostly written for trade mags. He worked in Manche...

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      Book preview

      Deus Ex Insomnia - Mark Cantrell

      Deus Ex Insomnia

      A Collection Of Poetry & A Little Prose

      By Mark Cantrell

      Published By The Author Through Smashwords 2010

      Copyright (c) 2007/2010 Mark Cantrell

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this ebook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Mark Cantrell,

      Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK

      tykewriter@supanet.com

      www.mark-cantrell.blogspot.com

      ###

      "If religion has something to say about living my life, then I shall listen to advice sincerely given though I cannot promise to take heed.

      "I shall not listen to instructions on how to live and think, be they from any servant of a God or the God himself. I shall not be ordered to obedience, I shall not be told to fear. I will not accept instructions on how to correctly bend my knee before any Deity.

      When the time comes, and there should be such a being, then I shall account for myself in my own way and he will account for himself to me. I shall bend neither neck nor knee but stand tall before this entity, Being to Being – as one equal to another.

      ###

      Deus Ex Insomnia: Contents

      Introduction: Greetings Insomniac

      1: POETRY

      2: PROSE

      About The Author: A Few Things Said

      Introduction: Greetings Insomniac

      THE walls are whispering; a million sibilant voices strive to be heard at once. Shadows dance on the edge of vision. It's dark, and I sit at my desk bleary-eyed and weary but incapable of sleep.

      My muse has called me from slumber, or rather stopped me from finding that realm of peace. Now I sit and listen to those ghostly voices resonating within the walls.

      There's no sense to the voices. Too many struggle for my attention, so all I can hear is a maddening buzz. Why listen to them anyway? I know that they are the product of too little sleep; of a mind teetering on the edge of hallucinogenic revelation.

      Paper rests on my desk, a choice of pens, tobacco and steaming coffee, but no words arise through the fog drifting through the portal of perception that is torn in the fabric of consciousness. Maddened, I rise and pace.

      Through the window, a city slumbers. It's quiet. Peaceful. Bereft of the rage and the soulful darkness that is Bradford.

      There is only the shade of the night, hugging the streets and houses as though itself afraid of the city, except it appears to be mugging the sickly street lamps, pushing and bullying the light back into its maker. The night is sullen and afraid; perhaps it has suffered from too many sleepless nights too.

      Towards the horizon, the neon beacons glow: dim fireflies dreaming of becoming stars. Don't we all.

      And above it all, on this clear night, the white dots of the real cosmos shimmer in the velvet sky. A sickle moon watches indifferent.

      Return to the desk. The green glow of the clock tells me it is 3.30am. Back to the paper gleaming clean in the bubble of light.

      Ignite a cigarette, stare at the glowing tip, shut out the whispering voices and seek my own. There they are. On the other side of the quantum gate in my brain, I find the things that tell me what to say. They look like the works of H R Giger on a bad day, huddled there in the shade, whispering things

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