It’s National Storytelling Week this week. It’s also the week my Mum turns 70 (gulp - how old does that make me?!). I find that quite fitting. After all it was my Mum, like many mothers before her and since, who introduced me and my three sisters to the magic of stories. My Mum -… Continue reading Here’s to Magic Mums
Published Fiction: The Whispering Woods & Let Me Go – The Sirens Call – Issue 42, Dec 2018
The Whispering Woods They told me not to go in there. Into the woods where the you-know-whats lurk. Huge hulks of brown fury, all claws and teeth and menace. They said terrible things would happen to me if I did. I weaved a finger into my locks as I listened... Read more here. Let Me Go She… Continue reading Published Fiction: The Whispering Woods & Let Me Go – The Sirens Call – Issue 42, Dec 2018
Chalk It Down (Friday Fictioneers)
I remember the time you stepped on a shell and your big toe burst open all bloody. 'That's your fault' you spat at me, as Mum bent to nurse your wound. 'I'm sorry' I said, confused. You said it again with a mouthful of teeth, your bike strewn on the pavement behind you. 'I'm sorry'… Continue reading Chalk It Down (Friday Fictioneers)
Boy
Who knew such joy could come from the sound of you chewing a banana. Your nose is a little stuffed and you breathe heavily between chews, sucking the air in through your mouth and out again. You’ve chosen my knee as your dining spot, and like a chair I cocoon you as you munch. Who… Continue reading Boy
PUBLISHED FICTION – Shatter the Silence – the Same Online Journal – Issue 12.1, August 2018
I remember peering around the doorway watching each plate shatter, splintering into a ceramic snowstorm at the hands of my mother. For some reason my memory has omitted the sound. I see her mouth open wide, her eyes and nose dripping. I see the droplets merging with the flying debris as she furiously throws her… Continue reading PUBLISHED FICTION – Shatter the Silence – the Same Online Journal – Issue 12.1, August 2018
PUBLISHED FICTION – Status: Vulnerable – the Same Online Journal – Issue 10.2, June 2018
"Her green eyes close and sleep follows. Her favourite time of day, or rather night. At night she escapes her diagnosis, her ageing bones and the tang of disinfectant that pervades this ‘home’. At night she ..." [Read more here] Published in the Same online literary journal, Issue 10.2, 11th June 2018
Quite the Exhibition
PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot Eva stopped for a moment, leaning back against the cool stone of a vast pillar. Droplets of sweat tickled at her temples as they began their descent down her cheeks. She sucked air into her aching chest, her thoughts racing like the beating of her heart. Mere seconds and she… Continue reading Quite the Exhibition
Hush Now (Friday Fictioneers)
My heart seemed to stop, up high in my rib-cage where it had leapt and then frozen. I grasped desperately at the air, as the intricate glass bowl plummeted beyond my reach toward the harsh tiles of the kitchen floor. The sound rang out like a million tiny bells tolling, calling out into the silent… Continue reading Hush Now (Friday Fictioneers)
Book Review: The Girl with the Dragon Heart by Stephanie Burgis
RATING: 5/5 Oh my goodness…another book that had me welling up and smiling through life affirming heart surges! The Girl with the Dragon Heart is a truly magical book, in all senses of the word, and it caught me in its spell. BLURB: Once upon a time, in a beautiful city famous for chocolate and… Continue reading Book Review: The Girl with the Dragon Heart by Stephanie Burgis
Book Review: The Songs of Us by Emma Cooper
RATING 4/5 This is one of those books that you can't read in public without drawing attention to yourself. A bit like the main character Melody who involuntarily bursts into song at inappropriate moments, I had a fair few occasions of bursting into public laughter and a good few sniffles and sobs as well. BLURB:… Continue reading Book Review: The Songs of Us by Emma Cooper