The olive men came today with their nets and their chainsaws, rupturing my Sunday with loud buzzing, shouted instructions and much laughter. Not before time, as the the ripe olives have been silently dropping with purple thuds, staining stone and plastic alike for a week or so now. Where do they come from, the olive men and women, and who calls them? How do they know it’s the right time for this tree or that? Perhaps there is a secret schedule they follow, hundreds of years old, arriving … [Read more...]
Write Club The Podcast | Episode 001
A weekly show for writers (and readers!) everywhere. Join Steph, Theresa, Heather, Linda, Pat & Nicola each week where they'll share guest interviews along with what they're reading, what they're writing, what it's really like to be a writer, then you can join in the weekly Name the Novel quiz and find out "What's On The Bedside Table?" and more. In Episode 1, you get to meet our Write Club members and find out what gets Linda all riled up! … [Read more...]
Choosing A Book
Sighing in exasperation, Nicola realised she'd read everything in the "Starting A Business" section in Books Etc, Oxford St. She'd either read them all or didn't like the look of them, titles such as "How To Incorporate Your Business" being too dry, by far. She was looking for the secret you see, the secret of success in business, the one thing that had eluded her thus far. Little did she know that she was making a fundamental error about businesses, every time she set up a new one. A … [Read more...]
The Wooden Box
Madeline saw the wooden box in the window of the junk shop and was drawn to it immediately. She opened the door and jumped slightly as the old fashioned bell tinkled above her head. "Hello dear!" said the tiny, old lady who appeared from behind the ancient lace curtain hanging between the shop and the sitting room behind. "Hello" replied Madeline, envying the old lady her roaring fire which looked very cosy on this cold wet day in November. "I really like that wooden box in the window, … [Read more...]
The Break Up
You really did it this time. We’ve broken up before but never like this. This is the big one. Before, I knew you were always at the end of a text, or skype or FB messenger even when I’d blocked you on all those things with stabbing, vicious, angry fingers. I always knew that in a family emergency or if one of the teens needed you, if I really needed you, you would answer the call or the door even when all your instincts were screaming not to. Remember the time you went to bed after one … [Read more...]
Diet Club
We all looked down as Penny sobbed as though her heart was breaking. Diet Club was like that, you never knew when the emotional storm clouds would roll in like twisters from the sea. Confessing you had "lapsed" from the strict "shakes and bars" 500 calorie a day regime always elicited gentle but probing questions from Val, our group leader and expert in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). We were all emotional eaters, either packing it in or drinking it down in a vain attempt to fill up … [Read more...]
Shopping
There are several clues that I'm a man in disguise and shopping is the biggest of those. I absolutely hate it. From growing up poor in a house where every penny was spent on doing up the latest old wreck my mother had bought in her endless search for upward mobility, via property, to being a poor teenager (at least until I could get a part time job myself), I'd never been able to shop carefree. It was never a pleasure, always a guilt trip. As a more affluent adult, I'm simply not a … [Read more...]
Train Rage
He smelled awful and I immediately felt sick. I looked around for another seat but he'd got on at Hove and it was standing room only to Victoria now. Breathing through my mouth, I realised that he was dressed in cycling gear and his helmet was on the table where a book or laptop belonged. I felt a surge of anger wash over me at his hypocrisy; how dare he cycle to the station, presumably for his health then puff on fags, endangering my health with his second hand nicotine and body … [Read more...]
Shoes
Opening her eyes slowly, she felt the now all too familiar thrum of the engines, the vibration a constant companion for the last twenty-four hours, before realising that it was dawn somewhere in the world. The deep, eerie orange glow came in low through the open blinds of the more wakeful passengers, highlighting the figures of the cabin crew as they slowly moved along the aisles dispensing water, juice and the vegetarian breakfasts (the vegetarians always got their food first). The scene … [Read more...]
Happiness & Hope
It creeps up on you, Happiness, it taps you on the shoulder and catches you by surprise. Especially when you haven't seen it for a while, when you've forgotten what it looks like, what its company feels like. At first, it arrives solo, but more often lately, it arrives with its best friend, Hope. That feels good. It's been so long since I met Happiness and even longer since Hope came along for the ride; every event, every thought, every moment since that day in March 2016 having being … [Read more...]