Saturday, May 29, 2021

Brightly Coloured Horses

 

Twenty-seven tales of betrayal and loss, of dreams and hopes, of lovers, liars and cheats. Stories with a strong sense of place, transporting us from the seashore to the city, from India's monsoon to the heat of Cuba, and from the supermarket aisle to a Catalonian fiesta. We meet a baby that never existed, a car called Marilyn, a one-eyed cat, and a boy whose kisses taste of dunked biscuits.

These stories all have something in common; each is a glimpse of what it's like to be human. We make mistakes, we do our best, and most of the time we find hope.

RRP £6.00

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This is Huggins’ first anthology, but these are not the stories of a beginner. She is a talented writer of the human state of mind who chooses every single word with care, and makes every single word work hard to convey its meaning. It has to in a flash fiction story; there is no space for indulgence on the part of the writer.
 
magine opening a box of luxury chocolates. There's enough to pick and mix to suit everyone. There's so many choices of times, places and emotions for any mood. Yet here are my absolute favourites. Your Own Children for its wistful sadness, Junk because it shows me how motherhood can go off track, Flight Path because it is classic flash fiction, profound but fleeting and also Blood Red. Tomorrow my choice could be totally different. A stunning anthology. More please, Mandy.  
 
A mind blowing collection of flash fiction stories. So many great windows of life in it, I don’t know where to start. Perfect Word - loved it. Only the Best- brilliant, but sad. To be the Beach -great tension. Twenty Dollar Shoes - too sad. Blood Red - clever.
Sorry just believe me I could tell you my views of the rest but it would be more enjoyable for you to read them yourself.
 
ISBN: 9781910542194 
 

Thursday, May 27, 2021

So Now You're Published, What next?

 


 
 
RRP up to £2.13
  
Note, this is an affiliate link and a small portion of what you pay may go to Bridge House publishing.  
 
Brilliant book great read. Going to be very handy once my novel is published. 
 
I am using this as a step-by-step guide to marketing my first book. There is so much useful information. 
 
Informative and comprehensive. A must have for every writer who hopes to publish their work. Well written and easy to follow   
 
ISBN: 978-1-910542-32-3


 


Monday, May 24, 2021

To Be .... To Become

 

 

To Be… To Become is the theme of the 2018 Waterloo Festival Writing Competition. It is also the title of the e-book, which contains the sixteen winning entries. Some fantastic writing was offered and all of it was potentially publishable. We chose these because they told a good story, had a strong voice and were imaginative in their interpretation of the theme.

Entrants were asked to produce a short story or a monologue. Style was diverse and each story is completely different from the others.

This delightful English language anthology of literary fiction comes to you for under £2.50.

 

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Contributors

Gail Aldwin, RBN Bookmark, Christopher Bowles, J S Brown, Jenny Gibson,Linda Flynn, Katie Granger, Dawn Knox, Linda Morse, James Morton, Julia Norman, Daniel Paton, Alison Rayner,Paula R C Readman, Allison Symes, Marion Turner, 

ISBN: 978190733524
 



 

Sunday, May 23, 2021

Keepsake

 

Keepsake and Other Stories is an anthology of short stories by one of the growing number of brave women writers. Jenny Palmer brings us stories of otherness, witchcraft and magic close to home and further afield within Europe. We meet all sorts of characters: those who rely on guard dogs, those who shun social media and those who are obsessed. We even meet a Neanderthal man. There are paranormal stories, a story of bad neighbours, and a story of redundancy. And many more. All to be enjoyed.

 

RRP £7.00

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I loved this little collection of wonderful short stories. Once I picked this book up I couldn't put it down. I heartily recommend it to Amazon customers. I'm going to buy another copy as a Christmas present for a friend. I also recommend Jenny Palmer's other books 'Nowhere better than home' and 'Pastures New' Two volumes in her autobiography which make fascinating and often funny reading. Enjoy  
 
This is an enjoyable collection with some surprising and often magical twists. Recommended. 
 
Brilliant, imaginative and witty tales with unexpected twists and turns. The short stories are variously set in the every day, in many different times and settings and written in a wide variety of appropriate genre.
An excellent read. 
ISBN:
9781907335570

   

Saturday, May 22, 2021

140 x 140

 


This anthology of women's fiction, this collection of very short stories, some might say a flash collection, is thought-provoking and each story is based upon a tweet. Except that each piece is 140 words long and not 140 characters.


They were collected over three years and edited for another nine months.

RRP £7.00 

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Buy a signed copy from the author £9.00 including shipping 

 
 
A dip in and out sort of a book. Short snippets of life in a easy handbag size book. Ideal book to read if you waiting for a bus, plane or on the move.  
 
a very enjoyable collection and interesting concept. I particularly liked 'Definition of a Writer', as I also get annoyed by the phrase 'aspiring writer'! Thanks for a good read. 
 
Inspiration for stories can come from a vast array of sources but, in this entertaining book from Gill James, she chose the first picture she saw on her Twitter feed on specific dates. Those dates form part of the stories and, as the title suggests, there are 140 of them, each of 140 words. This is a fantastic achievement.
 
ISBN: 9781910542354

 

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

The Best of CafeLit 7

 

Each story in this little volume is the right length and quality for enjoying as you sip the assigned drink in your favourite Creative Café. You need never feel alone again in a café. So what's the mood today? Espresso? Earl Grey tea? Hot chocolate with marshmallows? You'll find most drinks in our drinks index.

 

RRP £6.00

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"A small collection of short stories which can be dipped into depending on your mood and time constraints. There is a variety of writing which will suit every taste. Some are simple and cheery whilst others are much, much darker. A nice gift for anyone who enjoys a good story."
 
What a wonderful idea, to collect stories of the perfect length to enjoy over a hot drink. Just like a cup of tea, some of these are good while others are the perfect brew. The variety of topics covered showcases the imagination and creativity of the writers and have been selected from those published on the Cafe Lit website, based on votes and most visited.
I was gifted a copy of this collection in return for an honest review and spent an enjoyable week looking forward to seeing what the next story would bring. 
 

Contributors

Gail Aldwin, Glenn Bresciani, Derek Corbett, Ann Dixon, Sophie Flynn, Laura Gray,Keith Havers, Richard Hough,Gill James,Dawn Knox, Fiona Mills, Roger Noons, Wendy Ogilvie, Paula R C Readman, Penny Rogers, Robin Wrigley 


ISBN :

9781910542408

 



  

Monday, May 17, 2021

Crackers

 


Every year we pick a very vaguely Christmas-related theme for our annual anthology. Then we invite our writers to subvert it. In this collection, they’ve certainly done that to the extent that we almost had a picture of cream crackers for the cover. Our theme this year is “crackers”. So, we have Christmas crackers, cream crackers, cracking dresses, a cracked antique and many, many other interpretations. We hope you will find this a cracking good read.


Some fantastic writing was offered and the most of it was potentially publishable. We chose the pieces in this collection because they told a good story, had a strong voice and were imaginative in their interpretation of the theme.


This anthology of literary fiction is so apt for the 21st Century.

RRP £9.00

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Contributors
Sally Angell, Christopher Bowles, M Bulleyment, Elizabeth Cox, Stephen Faulkner, Alyson Faye, Linda Flynn, Boris Glikman, Ian Inglis, Karen Kendrick, Dawn Knox, Stuart Larner, G. Norman Lippert, Kay Middlemiss, Adrian Naylor, Jennie E. Owen, Paula R C Readman, L F Roth, Michele Sheldon, Dianne Stadhams, Steve Wade, Merlin Ward, Clare Weze, Anne Wilson  
ISBN: 781907335594

Sunday, May 16, 2021

The Art of Losing


 

In this internationally-acclaimed collection of contemporary literary fiction stories by Paul Williams we are invited to appreciate what it means to master the art of losing – to let go of things both big and small – whether it be dreams, or love, or houses, or whole continents. Told with wit, humour and pathos, the stories reveal the unexpected narratives that often flow beneath the surface of contemporary lives.

The twenty stories lurch from continent to continent across Australia, Europe and South Africa, from child to teen to adult, from past to present, from war to peace, from me to you.

 

RRP £9.00

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'The Art of Losing is well worth reading - a fascinating collection of short stories. There’s much variety here and you are bound to find some of them deeply moving and satisfying, or just plain entertaining and funny. '
 
'I read the book today, oh boy. From the Beatles to Baghdad, from bombings in Magoo’s to birthday balloons in Balham, these stories rocked me. The characters suck you in and spit you out. Powerful writing with twists and turns and no sign posts. Fantasy and fact are weaved together tighter than a magic carpet. But maybe that’s the craft. Maybe that’s the autobiography of story telling. The Art of Loss is, perhaps as the author suggests, writing about the pain of loss to ‘unlose’ it, to diminish it, to come to terms with it. A lesson in life that, by default, has value. And the memory of that lesson might indeed be tattooed in the heart. ‘Art as scar tissue.’ I like to be moved when I read. I was.'
 
'The Art of Losing is a collection of short stories set on different continents, in different times and from very different points of view. The exploration of loss is a common thread running through them. Paul Williams is a beautiful story teller, who deftly takes his reader on an emotional journey that will bring them to tears and laughter in turn. Best of all you will leave each story with something to think about, a new perspective to consider. My personal favourites were The Khan Al-Wazir Bookshop, Emoticon, The Art of Losing and Happy Birthday Frank.'   
 
ISBN:  9781907335617
 
 

Friday, May 14, 2021

Transforming Being

 

"Transforming Being" is the theme of the 2019 Waterloo Festival Writing Competition. It is also the title of the e-book, which contains the fifteen winning entries. We chose these because they tell a good story, have a strong voice, and are imaginative in their interpretation of the theme. The writers present us with characters that are believable and rounded. The stories all contain a pleasing narrative balance.

Entrants were asked to produce a short story or a monologue. Style is diverse and each story is completely different from the others. Delve inside for a rela treat.

This delightful English language anthology of literary fiction comes to you for under £2.50.

RRP £2.37

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This collection is full of variety and great writing. From the opening twist in the tale, ‘Cat and Mouse’ to the futuristic ‘Time Will Tell’ the stories are engaging and pacey. There are some evocative flash pieces that border on the poetic, but in the main it’s the more standard short stories that grab the attention. ‘Everything has Changed’ is a beautiful telling of a loss that some wouldn’t easily understand, and ‘Russian Doll’ is both disturbing and brilliantly crafted. It’s amazing how different each part of the collection is with transforming being the trigger for the writing. Hats off to the writers and editors for coming up with such an entertaining book.  

 

Eighteen very different stories written to the theme ‘Transforming Being’ and some very different takes. Many were based in reality, for instance ‘Cat and Mouse’ by Irene Lofthouse’s story of a woman deceived into undergoing plastic surgery by her lover, and ‘Everything Has Changed’, Jeanne Davis’s heartfelt eulogy for her lost pet. Yet the theme leant itself to fantasy and the reader was led into the unreal with Amelia Brown’s story of ‘Heat’ and Allison Symes’ humorous tale, ‘The Professional’, about extra-terrestrials using humans for… better not say here.  

 

Listen to one of our stories here. 

Contributors

Gail Aldwin, Michael Baez, Christopher Bowles, Amelia Brown, J S Brown, Beverley Byrne, Jeanne Davies, Linda Flynn, Jessica Joy, Sinéad Kennedy Krebs, Irene Lofthouse, Madeleine McDonald, Helen Price, Paula R C Readman, Hannah Retallick, Louise Rimmer, Allison Symes, Yvonne Walus,
 
ISBN: 978107335716

















Thursday, May 13, 2021

Because Sometimes Something Extraordinary Happens

 


Seventeen short stories by Debz Hobbs-Wyatt from over a decade of competition wins and shortlistings. Featuring Learning to Fly, winner of the inaugural Bath Short Story Award; Chutney, shortlisted in the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, and Pushcart-nominated The Theory of Circles.

Meet a mixture of beguiling narrators, from seven-year-old Leonardo Renoir Hope trying to change the past so his dad doesn’t die, and George and his carrot-growing friends on an east London allotment waiting for the world to end, to Amy Fisher who realises that her husband, after his sudden death, is not who she thinks he is… but who is the other Mrs Fisher? This one adds a touch of medical horror to the mix.

All of the stories are about ordinary people when extraordinary things happen to them.

 

RRP £9.00 

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Empathetic, inventive, and prize-winning for a reason. ‘Chutney’ is one of my favourites – well deserving of the Commonwealth shortlisting – as well as ‘We Went There’, which has remained lodged in my mind, and finally ‘Goldfish Parade’, a glimpse into Debz Hobbs-Wyatt Brown.
 
An amazing collection of short stories, which are full of brilliant well drawn characters. Two that stand out for me are 'I am Wolf' & 'When the Bees Die'. Both have a powerful voices and messages. There are three award winning stories in the collection too.
A great book to have while you're on the go. One to dip into when time you have a moment to spare. 
 
What an inspiring collection of short stories and it is no surprise to find they are award-winning. Each story was intriguing, almost teasing as it unfolded and I found it impossible to predict how each story would end but each ending was a satisfactory conclusion to a most enjoyable journey. Highly recommended.   
ISBN:9781907335693 

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Girl in a Smart Uniform

"Girl in a Smart Uniform" is the third book in the Schellberg Cycle, a collection of novels inspired by a bundle of photocopied letters that arrived at a small cottage in Wales in 1979. The letters give us first-hand insights into what life was like growing up in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s.

It is the most fictional of the stories to date, though some characters, familiar to those who have read the first two books, appear again here. Clara Lehrs, Karl Schubert and Dr Kühn really existed. We have a few, a very few, verifiable facts about them. The rest we have had to find out by repeating some of their experiences and by using the careful writer's imagination.

Gisela adores her brother Bear, her gorgeous BDM uniform, and her little half-brother Jens. She does her best to be a good German citizen, and is keen to help restore Germany to its former glory. She becomes a competent and respected BDM leader. But life begins to turn sour. Her oldest brother Kurt can be violent, she soon realises that she is different from other girls, she feels uncomfortable around her mother’s new lover, and there is something not quite right about Jens. It becomes more and more difficult to be the perfect German young woman.

We know that BDM girls set fire to the house in Schellberg Street but got the children out first. This story seeks to explain what motivated the girls to do that, and what happened to them afterwards.

A reading of the opening chapter 

 

 

RRP £10.00 

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I read 'Girl in a Smart Uniform', I really enjoyed it! Well written, informative and very subtle about the Holocaust.
Glrl in a smart uniform was a read that flowed easily but there are moments full of tension. The letters between the girls is a perfect way of expresing  the  history and feelings and emotions and problems of teenagers they experience of growing up in Germany during the war.
ISBN: 9781910542422
 
 

Monday, May 3, 2021

Other Ways of Being

 

Other Ways of Being is an anthology of stories that ask us many questions about:

  • otherness: Is a stranger a threat or is he just trying to help? It may be as clever as being a fortune-teller but is it helpful?
  • other times: Is the wild woman really a little girl that she used to know? Will they be safe now or should they worry about the bright soldiers marching? Which horror does the deep sleeper hide?
  • other histories: Who was that strange child? How did they manage to feed so many people?
  • other worlds: Can a couple remain together even when their natures threaten to keep them apart? Is a seemingly incompetent wizard cleverer than he seems? What happens when an alien makes a mistake and almost gives himself away? Do animals help each other in their struggle against the damage that humans are doing? Who exactly is the lady in blue? Is Bradley’s the best story ever?
  • our near futures: Can a man survive in a dystopian future if he has no more human contact? What can ATMs do when society goes moneyless? What happens when the money runs out? Just how smart will the smartphone get? Or driverless cars for that matter? Where will we find sanctuary when the extremists start winning? What happens to the clones when the blueprint gets sick?
  • other sexualities and genders: Will we get used to Toni?

Does this collection supply the answers to those questions? That is for the reader to decide.

RRP 

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ISBN: 9781907335679
 

The House of Clementine by Gill James

There is unease on Zandra. On far away Zenoto a young president appears to be turning his back on the innovative and hugely successful fi...