A Little light reading for the kids this one (both big and small), by yours truly.

My first foray into self publishing was seven years ago now and I've learnt a lot since then so I thought a little time spent revising wouldn't go amiss and to top it off (pardon the pun) I've added a little extra.

So Tom's early morning visit to the park in the title piece has had a rewrite and I've added The Drop (which is a piece of flash fiction that was published a couple of years ago in Graffiti magazine). I hope you enjoy them both.

The link below will take you to the book if you wish to make a purchase and have the Kindle app (this can be downloaded onto any tablet or smartphone) or you can click on the image of The Mystery of Emile Rowan to your right, and then on my author name to see all of my available works.

As this one's for kids and Children in Need is nearly upon us, I will gladly add any purchase monies for this to my donation on the night, so even if you've read it before, grab yourselves the revised copy and treat yourselves.

Enjoy.

(Oh, and please leave a review and star rating. Thanks)

 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Over-Top-Can-conquer-fears-ebook/dp/B00DLWTBPY/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=michael+j+richardson&qid=1603369720&sr=8-3 

The Thief of Always, book review. (Clive Barker)

As a lot of people are at home at the moment with their children, I thought, why not do a post for the kids.
It's been twenty-plus years since I last read this little gem of a book and I wish I hadn't left it so long.

Being a little bored and annoyed with all the chores his mother has given him, Harvey Swick is in a foul mood, so when Rictus appears in his bedroom, offering to take him to Mr. Hood's holiday house, a house that has stood for a thousand years and is only just the other side of town, where he can do whatever he wants whenever he wants, where he'll never go hungry, do chores or be bored again, Harvey decides to take him up on the offer.
Of course, this being Clive Barker, all is not quite as it seems. His first day is full of fun and frivolity and passes without incident, and whilst waking to spring the next morning, having summer in the afternoon, Autumn and a Halloween feast for dinner and going to sleep with Christmas, the next day is like a dream. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, there's the pool for a start, the deep dark foreboding pool, where one of Harvey's new friend is spending more and more of her time, looking ever more melancholy with each passing day.

Then, there's Rictus's siblings, his huge fat ugly sister, who wants to transform Harvey with makeup and clothes, so he can play tricks on his friends, nasty horrible, callous tricks, tricks that will truly scare them, and there's nothing fun about that, is there? And Rictus's brother - Mr. Hood's deputy if you will - who lives for nothing more than to see the children's fear and pain as they become more detached from reality and ever more ensconced in the house, the pool, the . . .

Time passes, but with each day being the same, no chores, whatever food you want, whenever you want it, Christmas every evening, Harvey is getting bored and decides to leave, only he can't, because Rictus and his siblings have other ideas, and they have their orders. Orders from Mr Hood, strict orders . . . No-one ever leaves.

What a great novel this is; starting as child's fantasy and ending in such (child friendly) horror, and what a clever book too, for children and adults alike, reminding us that we should all be careful about what we wish for and that maybe we should look closer at what we already have before giving in to temptation.

Written in Barker's usual fantastical style but somewhat toned for a younger audience, this book could be enjoyed by anyone, so if you've never read Clive Barker but don't want to invest the time it would take to read one of his more ambitious creations (although I recommend that you do that too as I have liked everything of his that I have read so far) then you won't go far wrong with, The Thief of Always.

Four stars then and I certainly won't be leaving it this long to re-visit some of this author's other books. Enjoy.

The Drop. (A short story by yours truly, about . . . well, I'll let you decide).

In light of all the rain we've had recently, I thought I'd be bold and share another of my short stories with you fine folk.

I hope you enjoy, and that Spring, springs shortly.

The Drop

The party of precipitation was over, and we were heading for the front.

We’d had a lot of fun in training and the party was our last hurrah. It was something every newbie had to attend before their first drop, and every newbie had to do at least one drop.

I see some familiar faces in the cloud, mostly the guys I’d been training with; I even see Bobbie and I like her. She has a nice curve, if you know what I mean?

I thought all the pep talks were over, but before we begin our descent, Big Walt shuffles up.

Now Big Walt is a legend. A complete, you name he’s done it legends. This guy’s been down the longest darkest scariest rivers in the world, over the tallest, fastest waterfalls; conquered Everest and survived the Atacama.

The moment Big Walt opens up, you shut up. You do this out of respect and because you want to hear what he’s going to say.

“Okay newbies.” Silence! No-one can hush a crowd like Old Walt. “Keep it tight out there and let’s not have any collisions, you know what happens if we collide.”

An image of the Doc showing us the aftermath of a collision in training makes me feel all woozy, but I hold it together. Then I realise what Big Walt has done. He’s taken everyone’s mind off of the drop, and suddenly it’s our turn.

“Take it easy guys,” he says as we reach detachment point. “And try to avoid the concrete; you’ll get back a lot quicker if you stick to the soft stuff.”

“OH . . . MY . . .”

The rush, the sense of freedom, the shear thrill of it all, is indescribable.

It takes a second before I clear the cloud, so I guess it’s about two thousand feet to Earth, but what a rush. No wonder this is addictive.

Big Walt flies past in a flash. I don’t know how he does it, there’s so much more to him than me. He changes shape and squeezes through gaps I’d never fit through, but that’s why he’s a legend I suppose.

There’s no way I can keep pace, so I ease up, and as I do, I see Bobbie again.

“Ninety seconds we’ll never forget,” she shouts, and I don’t disagree.

As the ground comes up to meet us, we spot two brightly coloured mackintoshes to our right, so we aim for them.

To most of the world I am nothing but a nuisance, something to shelter from, but for the two young kids stomping in the puddles that Bobbie and I are about to replenish, I’m nothing but fun.

I land with a splash, and the last thing I hear, as Bobbie and I join millions of our comrades in the waterlogged earth, is a giggle, and I can’t wait to get back up there.