Tag: kindle

The Fathers, the Sons and the Anxious Ghost – Story Extract

Here is another extract from my dramatic little book that explores relationships, teen angst and mental health. I hope that you find this part somewhat intriguing.

The weather seemed a lot more bleak the next day. I took the dog for a walk after dropping Max off at school. I had called work and taken a day off because I wanted to clear my head and they owed me a few days so it really made no difference anyway. I could not stop thinking about the mysterious death of Alex’s wife or the horrid reality of my own sinking marriage. It was a train wreck. It had been for quite some time. After these recent events it seemed to have come to the point where I had to really think carefully about my future, and how that future could impact on Max. In these situations, the only person I could turn to was my brother, Jamie. He would listen to me rant and not judge me but he would also make me see sense. As I found myself edging towards his street, I suddenly had the urge to direct message the teacher again. I could not help myself. ‘Hi, please keep an eye on Max for me. Thanks. Matt.’ I left it at that but hoped he would at least give me an update on how the boy was doing at school. It was only yesterday that Max was in a fight on stage, and they still had another performance of their play this afternoon. His mum swore on her mother’s life that she would go to this show, but I knew he was not bothered either way as he was used to no shows when it came to her.

 

The wind was howling now and really blowing me about, causing the dog to get excited and my hair to break through the crust of fixing gel and start flailing around wildly. I knew I should have bought a ‘Super-hold’ version of gel rather than the light touch one. Aesthetics went out of the window for a minute as I tried to reclaim my balance. I had lost concentration for a second and walked over a hole in the footpath, stumbling slightly and letting go of the dog lead, momentarily. The stupid dog legged it at his first chance. He was always a runner. I cannot believe I had let go so quickly. Fego was gone in an instance and now I would spend the afternoon trying to hunt him down once more. Could this day get any better? I started to turn back for the car, when a friendly face appeared in a vehicle which had pulled up beside me. It was Nicole, my cousin, and she was eager to tell me that she had just seen what she thought was my dog racing down the high street. I hopped into her Mercedes and we did a three sixty. The dog was my mission but my head was telling me to offload a bit to Nicole while I had the opportunity. The only problem is, she would judge me. She had always seen the good in everyone. She would not make it easy for such a conversation. I decided to rein it in and chat about the suicide. A safer topic, ironically.

 

Nicole had to have the window open as we drove, which to me seemed crazy, as not only did it make it very cold inside that car, but it made it even harder to hold a meaningful conversation over the howling noise of the encroaching wind. Her hair swept back freely as we negotiated several bends in the street and she had always got her radio on in the background. This meant I had to literally yell whatever I was going to say to her out loud.

She looked carefree as she drove.

‘So how did Fego get away from you this time?’ She shouted.

‘I fell over a broken bit of kerb.’

‘I swear he was just round here about five minutes ago.’

‘He will come home eventually. He usually manages to.’

‘You seem like something else is puzzling you,’ she screamed happily.

‘Well yeah, this whole suicide thing. It doesn’t make any sense. It just all of a sudden…’

‘I know what you mean,’ she interrupted mid-sentence, ‘but you know she was never really happy. Their marriage was probably a sham.’

‘What makes you think this?’ Now my curiosity was growing exponentially.

Nicole took a moment to clear her thoughts and compose herself before she replied.

‘Are you kidding? She was a nervous wreck.’

‘How do you know? I mean I never really noticed anything unusual,’ I shouted back doubtfully.

Nicole slammed on the breaks and pulled into a little lay-by. She turned off the engine and wound up the window. I could tell she was more concerned about people hearing this part but I could see no sign of anyone around us. She moved her head closer to me and took a deep breath.

‘You are not exactly the observant type, cous!’ she snapped.

‘What do you mean?’ I replied with a defensive whine.

‘You spend your whole life wrapped up in a bubble. Wrapped up in yourself and your world.’

‘How dare you! I have never done anything to cheese you off. I notice stuff!’

‘But you don’t! You go from place to place. You have earphones in most of the time. You unplug yourself from what is really going on on your own doorstep. I mean I am not trying to upset you but wake up and smell the coffee.’

AD – Thank you for checking it out. There is a link to the book below if you feel like reading more. For an extract of another shorter story, click here.

Back to reading YA – Simonverse Books

AFF – There is a book link for which I would get a cut if you purchased this book (at no expense to yourself).

When I set up this little blog it was to share book reviews and write about the environment. This year I want to make sure that I spend a lot more time doing what I love best – reading books. Today I thought I would start with the first kindle book that I have finished this year, ‘Love, Creekwood’ by Becky Albertalli. Let me take you into the world of the Simonverse books.

I fell in love with Becky’s style of writing when I first read her brilliant LGBTQ story which was turned into a cool movie – ‘Love, Simon.’ I previously mentioned how amazing Becky was in this post about my fave YA writers.

Following on from the Simon novel I was pleased to see that his best friend, Leah, got her own story told in the very entertaining ‘Leah on the Offbeat’ (reviewed here). The writing in this book was chatty and inclusive, making me feel as though as I was one of her friends, totally involved in the storyline. It revealed her own insecurities about being bi and the dilemma she faced when posed with two potential suitors.

Love, Creekwood

It is fair to say that as soon as I saw ‘Love, Creekwood’ available on Apple Books I snapped it up straight away. I cannot get enough of Albertalli’s clever, cool writing style and so this was a no-brainier for me to get into. At 70 pages long on kindle, it is a quick but highly satisfying little book.

Becky chose to write this story as a series of back and forth emails between the main characters from the Simonverse. I just just mention that the Simonverse is the environment that was created for these stories, centring around a secondary school called Creekwood High. This same surrounding was used in the ‘Love, Victor’ TV series which continues to explore all sorts of issues with reference to Simon and his legacy. In fact, the actor who played Simon in the movies, Nick Robinson, is a producer of the show alongside Becky.

Finding out how Simon and Bram manage a long distance relationship whilst at different universities is interesting. Similarly Leah and Abby are exploring their relationship whilst being roommates at their university. The other friends come into the story too and we find out more about their journeys after leaving their home towns, whilst often returning for catch-ups.

For some, the idea of reading a load of emails might seem weird but believe me, you will love it. The anecdotes, tribulations and funny general banter make this gem unmissable. I totally recommend trying one of her other books first or checking out the movie, but you can probably appreciate this also as a stand alone novella. Once you have tried Becky’s Simonverse books I am sure you will be a fan.

Christmas Gone Crazy – Extract Five

This time the music was more familiar. ‘Simply having a wonderful Christmas time’ was played as we jolted our way across the beautiful Swiss countryside. Initially we passed a large lake, that was so vast, it could well have been an ocean. Soon, we came to woodland. The evergreen trees were scattered with flakes of crisp snow and it wouldn’t have been hard to imagine Santa popping out from between the branches or ushering us into his workshop nearby. The whole place looked dreamy and Fiona was in good spirits.

 

“Just had a text from Lauren,’ she said as I tried hard to get a good shot of the surrounding trees, always looking for a perfect Instagram post.

“Is she chasing us?” I asked. “Does she want us to turn round and go after something else instead?”

“No. She just wanted to know if we had an angle yet. I must admit, a few tag lines have been going through my head.”

“Like what?”

“Party Jesus performs miracle of riding a reindeer in the buff.”

I had to look her in the eyes to see whether or not she was being genuine. Apparently she was.

“Erm. Anything else? Maybe something slightly more appropriate?” I jested.

“Jesus reappears in Santa’s backyard, surrounded by hippies?”

I snorted this time. Now I was glad she was the camera girl and not the journalist.

 

I looked at my own notes on my phone and realised that I had nothing better to offer but quickly she urged me to make a suggestion or two.

“Switzerland’s messiah promotes countryside living…?” I said feebly.

“Well we really are clutching at straws,” she said as she began to check through her camera bag.

 

Seeing her lovingly check each item in her bag and gently clean one of her lenses with a cloth, I could tell that she was serious about her work. Her smile was sweet and I found myself drawn to her. She was so intriguing and seemed to be honest as well as incredibly clever. She started to tell me random facts about Switzerland as we carried on our journey and the train continued through tunnel after tunnel, crossing lakes and sweeping past enormous mountains.  She knew everything there was to know about the country’s history as a famously neutral country and about its wildlife. I was learning lots and time seemed to fly by. Before long we were getting off at a station which was situated in the heart of a small village, sidled alongside a steep mountain.

 

Apparently the only way to get to Jesus’s village from here was by bus and then funicular. His village was not approachable by road as it was high up in a ski resort. We both shivered as we left the station and walked around looking for the relevant bus. Finding it, we were able to sit on it for a while before it departed, warming ourselves by rubbing our hands together and taking small sips from coffee cups, trying to make them last as long as possible. Fiona wanted me to play a game of impressions. Each of us had to try and do a different accent and the other must guess where it came from. Three guesses was the limit. The winner was the first person to guess five accents. I was right in the middle of trying to sound Welsh when the bus started off and we became aware of the thick layer of snow that was blanketing the village roads.

AD – If you enjoyed this, keep looking out for the next instalment or check out my book below. This book of short stories is about first impressions being often misleading.