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 Chronicles

 

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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Reviewed by Mimie Odigwe for Readers' Favorite 

The newly formed Creaping Bottom Post Box Topper Society is determined to knit stunning post box toppers each month. Despite their January topper being labeled a disgrace and an eyesore by an anonymous email, the team continues knitting creatively themed toppers every month: hearts for February, daffodils and books for March, eggs for April, and a coronation topper for May. They begin to garner local and national sensation. With mysterious attempts to sabotage their toppers and more anonymous emails from the elusive A. Godbin, a vindictive hairstylist, and a peeved local journalist, the Society faces challenges beyond dropped stitches and thinking up creative toppers monthly. The Post Box Topper Chronicles by Dawn Knox is a lighthearted and endearing story that readers will relish. If the book cover did not give it away, The Post Box Topper Chronicles is a humorous, laugh-out-loud read filled with quirky and hilarious characters. Beryl constantly schemes to promote her coffee and cake shop, while Sally pines for the oblivious Levi. Stuart, the tight-fisted accountant, has a unique talent for lopsided knitting, and Vera, the group’s beleaguered Chairperson, keeps everything from unraveling. The book delights with its comedic elements, including alien sightings, a vengeful hairstylist, and the Creaping Bottom Post Box Topper Society's relentless planning for the next month’s post box topper, all amidst plenty of cake. Dawn Knox weaves together a tale of camaraderie, creativity, and the occasional chaos of community projects. This is a warm, humorous read that offers laughs and heartwarming moments, perfect for anyone needing a good chuckle and a cozy story.

Another wonderful and imaginative LOL book from Dawn - she is such a creative and able writer being able to put her hand to many different genres.
I was immediately drawn into the gentle yet up to date antics of the members of the Creaping Bottom Post Box Topper Society and was curious to see what each amazing monthly display would be.
I enjoyed participating in their meetings at Bonzer Buns with Beryl and her many "enterprising" cakes on offer. Also, loved her assistant Tilly and the cleaning obsessed friend Effie and her golf buggy cleaning trolley.
Dawn's imagination seems to work overtime with her ever-so-clever naming of the various members of the society and their very different characteristics - some quirky, some innocent and some completely mad ! This imagination also extends to the wider community of the village and the various enterprises they are involved in.
If you want a very amusing read - then don't hesitate to buy this book - would certainly recommend it as one of Dawn's best !!

 

The Post Box Topper Chronicles by Dawn Knox is a truly delightful read. It's packed with light-hearted humour. There were many laugh out loud moments and one or two tense bits when I really felt for Vera - the chairperson of The Post Box Topper Society.

As I read this story, which is full of visual images, I couldn't help wonder who I'd cast if it was made into a film - I know Dawn French isn't Australian, but I felt she'd make a good Beryl. I think the young forensic scientist from Silent Witness would make a good Liam and 'Mr Moseley' from Downton Abbey would be my Stuart. Maureen Lipman as Effie...I'm working on the rest.

You'll have to read it and make your own cast. This is a warm and funny farce with a cast of eccentric characters all clearly defined, each with their own idiosyncrasies.

We need stories like this to help us 'switch off' from the real world, if only for a little while.  

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.