Tag: novella

My Dramatic Book – An Extract

In celebration of the fact that my book has now gone on sale at a cheaper rate on Amazon, I wanted to share another snippet. The Kindle version is approximately half price for the next month and I would love some new readers. Check out my dramatic book and maybe snap up an ebook if it takes your interest.

At the time of me writing this the UK version is £1.75 and the US version is $2.18.

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The Fathers, the Sons and the Anxious Ghost

Extract from Chapter 19 (Max)

Today we all sat around a table, going through every line and discussing possible staging. The director, Mr Simmons, was very helpful and guided us kindly through each scene, suggesting ways we could alter our tone and bring out the characters appropriately. He was a legend in school, and we all took what he said very seriously, often taking time to note down his suggestions. My scripts ended up covered in copious notes, which I would probably have to type up later in order to make sense of them. The reviews for last year’s play were outstanding, and none of us wanted to let the others down. We all badly wanted to pull off a masterpiece and the concentration on our faces must have looked intense.


My phone vibrated and I caught it in time to send it to voicemail, but everyone seemed to glare at me as I tried to play it down. Dad then texted me, and I could see that it flashed up with the words ‘pizza later?’ This brought out a smile, which distracted me from what I was about to say.
“Keep up, Max,” Mr Simmons nudged, supportively.


Lisa repeated her cue to me and I managed to get through a few sentences correctly, even pausing for effect whilst showing a concerned expression on my face. A small clap came about as I completed the monologue, and a few more people read their lines before we were stopped and told to get a drink or use the washrooms.


Taking the opportunity to message Dad back, I agreed a time and he said he would pick me up. It was great because I hadn’t seen him for over a week now. I wondered if he had been around Sam’s house, but he hadn’t mentioned it and I hadn’t bothered to ask. With Sam and me, the less said about our two dads at the moment, the better.

Since we both discovered them together, we had been a bit emotionally scarred. I mean, I love gay people. I love my dad. I always thought Sam’s dad was great. But putting all of those elements together at the same time freaked me out. It would just take some getting used to I supposed, and the last thing I wanted was for it to drive a wedge between Dad and me.

It was partly my fault though that Mum found out; as in my distress I had messaged Chloe for support and she had told her nan, who just happened to be my neighbour, old Ruby. So taken aback, Ruby had gone straight around to tell my very surprised mum, who immediately flipped out, threw a toaster across the room, nearly hitting me and chucked everything that Dad possessed into bin bags, dumping them in the driveway.

Anyway, that was over with; the dust was settling, and it was important that Dad and I got to spend some quality time together. When he came to pick me up after rehearsals, he nodded at me to get in the car and drove off quickly, hardly speaking all the way there. When we sat down in Pizza Bob’s, I made the first move and asked him what he had been up to.

He was friendly and relieved that I was still speaking to him. I was, of course, likewise pleased that he was not holding a grudge. We managed to make some small talk and he mentioned how bad the football game had been the previous night and how our favourite team’s manager was appalling and should have been sacked. We definitely agreed on that. It made him laugh when I did an impression of the ignorant goalie who was basically not even paying attention when the striker came by and scored from up close. Dad seemed at ease with me, so I considered bringing up Josh, my old teacher.

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Thank you for checking out an extract from my dramatic book – ‘The Fathers, the Sons and the Anxious Ghost’. I hope that you enjoyed it and maybe even found it intriguing. Check out Another Book Extract here.

My First Published Book – An Extract

Here is an extract from my published book, ‘The Fathers, the Sons and the Anxious Ghost.’ I hope that you enjoy it and consider checking out the kindle version of it.

How could I keep everything as normal as possible? How could I hold my head up high? Nothing made any sense to me anymore. I was overwhelmed, bewildered and out of painkillers. My head pounded slowly as it had for the past ten hours. A night spent at my mum’s house was needed but I really ought to go back there, to the home I had shared with Michelle. My heart was sat throbbing gently in the soles of my shoes. My ears quietly rang. My nose ran tirelessly. I felt as though reality had subsided and everything was a mix between chaos and sublime fantasy. My children needed me. No doubt about that. But what could I say? What should I do? Who could I turn to? Why didn’t I see any of this coming? I was not one to cry but tears fell out of my eyes like rain from an overloaded storm cloud suddenly offloading. Like daggers, they seemed to cut across my cheeks and dig into my jaw, carving faint yet permanent etchings across my face and staining me forever like ageing creams dissolving the past and dripping poignantly onto the floor as if flooding and muddying the future and any chance of escape.

 

I had put a few clothes in a bag last night and got out of there as the police had urged me to. They wanted to examine the house and take finger prints and find out exactly what she did. I had accidentally taken her jumper with me. As I picked it out of the bag I thought about the last time I had seen her in it. Just the other evening. She had been cooking salmon and I recalled her taking it off because she said it stank of fish. I sniffed it now and it was clean and fragrant. It reminded me of spring and the strolls we took through the hills. My heart sank back down into those soles and I gathered myself together. My kids were stood either side of me as they saw me caress her jumper. They leant into my shoulders and we stood in silence, looking out of the window, reflecting quietly.

 

I gathered up their stuff and we got in the car quickly. My mum asked if I would be alright on the road driving in this state. I tried to make her believe that I was capable and I started to drive off, without looking over my shoulder. I needed to face up to this. As I drove quite slowly through the mainly car-less roads, the usual warmth associated with going home did not reassemble and I was left feeling confused, uncomfortable and out of place. I noticed a glazed look in Alfie’s eyes and the sparkle of partly evaporated tears chalked into his face. I could not determine the way Tess felt exactly as she looked quite serious yet I sometimes thought I could see the beginnings of a smile, especially as we passed some of our favourite haunts, like the park, the duck pond and the place where she went to dancing lessons. I prayed to a god that I had never really believed in that she might get through this in one piece and have nothing but fond memories of her wonderful mother. Little did I know this day was going to resonate with her more strongly than anyone else. Alfie was the one with mixed emotions, so I largely anticipated him suffering greatly.

 

We turned into our street eventually and I could still see the police cordon wrapped around our garden. There seemed to be no sign of anyone though and I had been assured we could return home today. So we got out of the car slowly and were soon approached by our elderly neighbour who hugged us all in turn and gave me some stew in a little plastic pot. ‘It must be so awful for you,’ said Margaret as she squeezed Alfie tightly.

Book Review: Nine Perfect Strangers

As a big fan of both the book, ‘Big Little Lies’ and the HBO series, I thought it would be great to sample another book by Liane Moriarty. I started to read it and was soon drawn into this novel which centres around nine characters who venture out to a Health Spa in a remote Australian venue.

Liane is very capable of writing characters that are full of life and have incredible back stories that are not only relatable, but also fascinating. I love the fact that each chapter comes from a different character. In the third person, each character bounces back and forth with their takes on events that unfold.

The story is interesting as it really makes you think about mental health and the desire to make your mind and body better. Each person has a reason for needing some nourishment and mindfulness. Some are tormented while others are merely after time away from the mill.

I enjoyed the setup of the storyline and loved the modern references and context. It made me think about how much faith one can put into therapists and how we trust certain people purely because of their job titles. The situation seems intriguing early on as the visitors are banned from using phones and forced to remain silent for a few days. THEN things start to get weird.

Her way of outlining a tale is magical with a real prowess over the English language. This book will draw you in and I hope that you will pick up a copy and join in the discussion about the scenarios that unwind. This book deserves five stars and I cannot wait until Nicole Kidman turns it into a series or film.