Afterwards by K M Kendrick

 

Girl is dead.

She knows she is dead because she remembers dying. The afterlife is not what she had expected – she has awoken into a nightmare, in which everything seems hell-bent on killing her all over again. She is the only one who remembers what life was like before death and she has no idea why.

Also, Girl has a secret. A secret which could end this strange world she has found herself in, if she manages to survive for long enough. As she begins to learn the horrifying truth about Afterwards, she is propelled into a journey which will change everything she thinks she knows about herself.

Grim in places, Karen Kendrick’s Afterwards is also fast-paced and emotionally challenging.

The only way to beat the game is to keep moving forwards, even if it means the end of the world.

 

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The Post Box Topper Chroincles

 

A boring post box. Five knitters. Can one woman convert a post box into a work of artistic genius?

Vera Twinge is a natural leader. As chairperson of the newly formed Creaping Bottom Post Box Topper Society, she’s determined to make a splash in the village’s High Road with a stunning new post box topper for each month. But she’s constantly obstructed by an unscrupulous journalist, an insulted hairdresser and a possible mass murderer. Urging her society members on to create more ingenious toppers, Vera refuses to be defeated. But with negative reports in the local newspaper, a revenge haircut and the threat of alien invasion, Vera wonders if she is up to the task.

Will Vera and her post box topper society expose the strange happenings in Creaping Bottom and keep their beloved post box an object of beauty?

 

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Book Bundle: Badlands, The World in an Eye,Slimline Tales

 Buy all three for just  £16

‘Badlands’ is a collection of flash fiction pieces, from drabbles of 100 words to longer pieces up to 1000 words. Many have been published on line and in anthologies, and short-listed or been placed in competitions. They have all been written during the last three years. The oldest pair being ‘Chestnuts for my Sweet’ and ‘A Guy for the Children’. Both written in the autumn.

These short shorts reflect an interest in ghost stories, history especially the Victorians, old movies, derelict buildings, real life issues such as homelessness and just the ‘what if’ factor of when a seemingly normal situation starts to tilt off centre, dangerously so.

 

The World In An Eye is an eclectic collection. It ardently and boldly tackles issues that plague our societies. Presenting diverse flash fiction stories set in America, England, Germany, Italy and other places where poignancy, rawness and sensitivity are propelled to the foreground. This evocative compilation also thrusts taboo topics out from the fringes into the spotlight. Here, they explore and expose the lives of those not fed with golden spoons.

Each piece has been inspired by something seen, heard or told about. Much of what you will read is based on reality and wherever the narrative has strayed from that, it has been in order to create a story or achieve an appropriate ending.

If you have time to read this volume from cover to cover, that’s fine. But if you’re limited to dipping, moments here and there to read just a few words, then equally, this slim volume is for you.

 

 

Book Bundle: Mysterious Ways, Keepsake, Rare Stories £15.00

 

A collection of eccentric and quirky tales.   

Atheism is more of a fad for Mimsie rather than part of a belief system.  Is Emily Mayhew’s real motivation about buying a house or are her wants and needs a little more complex to say the least? Home under the hammer take on a new twist as people come to delight in the perhaps gruesome  fate of  the former residents of the properties on offer.

Mysterious Ways is a single author collection from Bridge House Publishing. Jeff Laurent s is an enthralling story-teller who invites us to look again at what we thought was normal. 

 

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.

 

Inspired by words marked as “rare” in the Oxford English Dictionary, this A-Z showcases the imaginative, characterful, and inventive possibilities of short fiction.

From a woman trapped in her cul-de-sac to a pilot with a pig gristle nose, the collection travels through small-town Northern Ireland and feuding museums in Malta, encounters a girl who has befriended a taxidermied deer, a man who sells fake chameleons, and an expectant father who loses himself in jazz music. Often weird and wonderful, the thousand-word stories in this collection take on the rare words which sparked them from a slant and, in doing so, produce a series of entertaining and darkly-humorous snapshots of contemporary life.

 

 

 

And I Said by Linda Morse

 And what she said is paramount. These accounts from one person’s point of view each contain at least as much story as a long novel or a feature film.

The monologues, and one experimental play, have already been performed. Here is your opportunity to revisit them if you have seen them and/or have had a go at preforming them yourself. Which will you choose? The story of the young woman who struggles with juggling home schooling and remote working during Lockdown? Or the one about the bride who never does manage to own her wedding dress? Perhaps the strange conversation that happened on a train that was held up? There are so many intriguing pieces to consider.

And I Said… is a thought-provoking collection by gifted playwright Linda Morse.

RRP £7.00

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Linda Morse 's collection of monologues like a work of poetry has some that are more memorable than others. It is a diverse collection spanning many themes and topics and is greatly influenced by the Covid 19 pandemic.
These monologues can be performed by males or females but I would say most of them suit a female actor.
A collection worth reading.

Saint Ettie's Music School by Martin Varny

 

Can musical instruments talk?

Thirteen children aged between nine and sixteen, each denied the love and care of a family, are brought together to live at Saint Etheldreda’s Foundation. Exploring the building, they stumble upon some old, damaged musical instruments in a storeroom. The children are amazed when they discover that they can hear the instruments talking.

Saint Etheldreda’s Foundation was previously Saint Etheldreda’s Music School, run by Elizabeth, a young, insecure woman who suffers from devastating mood swings. She had stood before the final curtain of despair more than once.

A chance encounter with the principal of the Foundation, Miss Stratton, results in the Elizabeth returning to Saint Etheldreda’s. Through the wonders of music, lives are changed and a loving family is born.

Saint Ettie’s Music School by Martin Varny is a charming coming of age story.

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An Interview with the Author 

The Best of CafeLit 13

 

This year contributors were asked to select stories they enjoyed the most. For each story they had published, they could select one. This produced quite a long list. There is real mixture of authors here: ones we’ve published several times and know really well, others we are just getting to know, and some who are published with us for the very first time.

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.

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Contributors: 

Jim Bates, Amta Basu, Lynn  Clement, Dawn DeBraal, Tony Domaille, Jacki Donellan, Jenny Edgerley,  P. A. farrell, Maxine Flam, Lynda Flynn, Sam Hendley, Gill James, Leonie Jarrett, Dawn Knox, Bonita LeFlore, Logan Markko, Eamon O' Leary, Jenny Palmer, Mari Phillips, Paula R.C Readman, Hannah Retallick,  Penny Rogers, Judith Skilleter, Kathrin Spinnler, Jane Spirit, Alllison Symes, Philip Temples, June Webber, P. A. Westgate, Robin Wrigley,  S. Nadja Zajdman, Sally Zigmond,