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.

The Kiss. (A short story with bite, by yours truly)

It's been a long time since I shared any of my own work on here, which was half the reason for starting this blog in the first place, so for this post I thought I'd share a piece of flash fiction that I wrote last year, which was published in Graffiti magazine.

Enjoy.

The Kiss

Fever gripped me.

I had all the symptoms. Vomiting, which I put down to the drink - Shellie, Beth and I had been clubbing the night I fell ill - I had the sweats: I got so hot one night that my step-mother phoned the doctor, I got so cold the next that I couldn’t move for all the duvets blankets and clothes piled upon me. Then, there was the pain. It had started as a dull ache but got progressively worse.
My temperature rose from a rather unassuming 100.3 to a hyperpyrexian 103.4. I was delirious, I didn’t know what day it was, who my friends were.

My mother bathed me with a flannel and a bowl of cool water, but it didn’t work, so she placed me in a cold bath, but still the fever raged.

Then, on the fifth day, everything changed.

I woke with a hunger beyond any comprehension, in more pain than I could bear. I tried to eat, I wanted to eat, but everything felt coarse, alien in my mouth. Danny, my darling brother, he even bought me my favourite cake, but I didn’t want it. All I wanted was for the pain to stop.

I pushed Danny away; I pushed him with strength untold, and when I did the truth began to unravel.

An image appeared before me, the image of a face. I was lost, trapped in its beauty – just as I had been in the club that night - and I remembered now. The touch of those lips as they pressed upon mine, the cool of a tongue as we’d started to kiss, that faint metallic taste in my mouth, and with that recollection everything fell into place.

I looked at my brother all crumpled on the floor. He’d cut his hand on the shattered plate, his blood flowed freely and the smell was intoxicating. I was completely overwhelmed, there was nothing I could do to resist; the temptation was just too great. All I wanted, needed, to satisfy the hunger, to nullify the pain, was right in front of me.

In the blink of an eye I was sucking his fingers, feasting on his life, gorging on that rich delicious nectar. A second later and I had a hold of his head, tipping it back, exposing his neck, and as much as he wanted to struggle, he couldn’t; he was powerless, lost in my beauty.

The fear and wonder on his innocent face, his last gasp for breath, the smell and taste of his warm blood on my tongue, were all so enticing.

As my cold lips caressed his neck, I heard the pounding of his heart fill the room like a drum, and then, as a shudder of dread rippled through him, I sank my teeth into his exposed flesh, and we kissed!

Magician has taken flight. (I've sent it out to the agents)

So, Magician, or Magica, as it might end up being called, has flown the nest.
Being the first book of a trilogy, I've had my work cut out, making sure I have no continuity issues, (book two is in what I like to call, the pre-production stage); in other words, I've only just finished the first draft, but bear with, I do work full time and I have a family to talk to once in a while, 'and pubs to visit', who said that?
But, Magician is done. Well, done to the degree that I think it punches in all the right places, cuddles you when you need it and gives you a jolly big slap around the face towards the end.
Magician, charts Charlie and Eve’s journey from their home town of Enfield, (where they go on a magical shopping spree), to Hertford, (where Eve listens, in a swimming pool), to the famous University City of Cambridge, (where they spend a few days hiding in a camper-van), to the harbour town of Brixham, (where they find Heather). [For any international readers: Enfield and Hertford are just north of London, whilst Brixham is on the south coast of England, in Devon].
Whilst being pursued, we experience the ups and downs of their relationship, the stresses and strains, as they get evermore isolated from their friends and family. We share their most intimate fears, marvel at Charlie’s magic, and rejoice at Eve’s most wonderful gift!

So, it's with the agents, I'm in their hands now; wish me luck cyber friends, 'cause I might need it.
Thanks of course, go to my long suffering, (yes I still live here, I'm in the back room editing again), wife, (a good cup of tea keeps me in her good books), my junior editors, Nathan and Verona, for ideas aplenty, and Sam from Texas, for all her editorial and grammatical advise last year.
I've not got any proper artwork for Magician yet - here's hoping I won't need it - but if I have to go down the self publish route, the picture to your left, might have something to do with it, so, let me know what you think.

The lovely Bones, book review. (Alice Sebold)

Wow. A book about murder, death, abandonment loss and depression, that leaves you feeling happy, joyous and longing for more. Wow indeed. 

This book got some good reviews when it first came out and was of course made into a film (which I saw a few years ago), but like most of the books I read, I read them when I feel ready, not when the hype or the movie release dictates. 

Told in the first person by a murdered fourteen year old girl, (Susie) the book takes you from the high of a teenager's first kiss, to the low of her death. Raped and killed by a neighbour, in a hole he'd dug in a corn field, (and then dumped in a sink-hole), Susie's body is never found; so her family never really find out what happened to her.

Once dead, Susie is unable to rest in her heaven, so she visits her family and friends as often as she can; her brother repeatedly comments on how he can still see his sister, but as a reader, we're never really one hundred percent sure if he can or not. This, I think, adds a nice element of uncertainty to the book. 

We witness her father's slide from successful businessman and loving husband, to a broken man who's lost his daughter, his wife and his mobility, (he suffers from a heart attack later in the book), all whilst Susie's brother and sister grow up, with their mother in California. 

There is great drama when Susie's sister goes in search of clues in the killer's (neighbour's) house, and then there's chapter 16, where the family, her school friends and the local community, go to the field where she died, in recognition of the anniversary of her death. This is one of the best chapters I have ever had the pleasure of reading, in any book, ever. It is so moving, so perfectly timed within the story and just has you reeling for more. 

Powerful stuff them? You bet, and Alice Sebold keeps it coming until the very end, but I won't reveal any more here, I’ll just finish by saying whatever you do, READ THIS BOOK. 

Saturday, book review. (Ian McEwan)

I do like the way Ian McEwan writes; he seems to make the mundane almost interesting, and it's exactly what he's done in his book, Saturday.

The simple preparation of an evening dinner, is one of my favourite scenes in the book (for want of a better expression) and his expert grasp of the English language, even makes a journey to the corner shop interesting.

Told over a single Saturday, we wake early with our custodian for the day, a Neurosurgeon living in the centre of London, and follow him through the trials and tribulations of the day.

There's an anti-war protest to throw us off the scent, a daughter returning from Paris, which brings much drama, and the squash match to end all squash matches.

I've never played squash (because I'm too lazy), but I felt the sweat running down my back after reading that scene and the surgery performed was eloquently described. 

An altercation with a thug near the beginning of the story, comes to a heady climax near the end and is the main backbone of the book. Back story to support his father-in-laws inevitable candour, a pregnant daughter and a wife he adores (and makes love to twice in one day), fills in the blanks.

Better that Solar, but not as good as Sweet tooth, it earns a very solid three and a half stars. 

A good solid book then, and like most of Ian McEwan's books, a quick read. 

Inferno, book review. (Dan Brown)

If you've ever read one of Dan Brown's other Robert Langdon novels, The Da-Vinci Code, for example, which most of the world has, then you'll sort of know what to expect with this one.

The thing is they seem to be getting more and more elaborate, and clutching at more and more straws, yet draw a similar conclusion. 

Take Angels and Demons as an example. Mad man steals a lethal vial of anti-matter, which if the church don't pray hard enough and finish conclave, elect their new pope, the said madman, the whole of the Vatican along with the whole Catholic religion, will be destroyed.

The Da-Vinci Code: mad man decides to put an end to the holy grain, (which happens to be a human, not a chalice) by killing all those who might be descended from Christ (this has been going on for centuries apparently), but if Langdon can solve the unsolvable cryptext, which first he has to find, and then elicit the help of a Grail lover, who happens to have loads and loads of cash, all might end well. 

So, Inferno! Inferno is about a mad man, who has untold wealth, (ring any bells yet) who intends to change the world for ever, because he believes that humans will go extinct within the next one hundred years. Good plan, well, forget about the plan for a second, we're in Italy, Florence to be precise, where we get to experience the beauty of that ancient city, as our main character gets repeatedly shot at, escapes, shot at again, bundled on a plane, taken to Turkey, where more mysterious stuff happens, so all can end well, again.

Don't get me wrong, if you like fast paced action, you'll like this book. If you like expertly researched books, which make you feel like you're actually there, then again, you'll like this book. My problem is that all this running around by the same character is getting a bit long in the tooth now. 

So Inferno gets a well-deserved three stars; and I hope, I wish, that Dan Brown moves on from Robert Langdon now, and his next book is just as well researched, just as fast paced, but more believable. 

Inspiration for the day goes to all the men and women who are manning the phones, driving the ambulances and stick or sowing us back together this Christmas. I salute you.

The Red House, book review. (Mark Haddon)

Interesting.
There are hundreds of reviews for this little book and they all seem to compare it with Mark Haddon's previous and very successful novel, 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' but as far as I can see, the similarities end with the Author's name.
This book is a snapshot, a voyeuristic look at an estranged brother and sister, who come together with their respective families for a weeks holiday.
Set near the border town of Hereford, the remote setting gives the reader a sense of isolation and we learn quickly, that all is not well.
There's divorce, infidelity, teen angst, and an eight year old that'll make you laugh.
Angela and Richard have lost their mother and the holiday is a way of Richard trying to reconcile their differences, but things don't quite go to plan.
Richard's step daughter finds out that someone she's bullying at school has tried to commit suicide, whilst Angela's son thinks he might fancy her. Angela secretly comfort eats in the middle of the night, whilst her husband tries to sever ties with his mistress. Richard's second wife has doubts about their relationship as Angela's daughter kisses Richard's step daughter, thinking she might be a lesbian, and whilst this is all going on, her eight year old brother, is making you laugh.
This is good writing, making what could have been a rather monotonous week in the country, into a rather entertaining yarn, so why only three and a half stars?
Because essentially, the book doesn't go anywhere. It starts on a train one Friday afternoon and ends a week later. All the characters interact in their own special way, and then at the end, without much ado, they go their separate ways.

Never let me go, book review. (Kazuo Ishiguro)

Very thought provoking.
This book is so much more than just a love story.
It is about the vulnerability of children, about how we treat our fellow man (or woman), and with the thousands or refugees fleeing the wars in the middle east at the moment, is quite poignant. Like our fellow man, escaping persecution and death, there is a constant undertone of negative inevitability in this book, it's as if it doesn't matter what happens to the characters, their fate is sealed.
The book is not long, almost a weekend read, but due to it's atmospheric eloquence, strong characters and a convincing sense of foreboding, it will stay with you for longer.
Hailsham school is a places I will never forget, and for many different reasons, mainly because I now know what went on their, before they closed it down!
As you may know, the book was made into a film, which was shot beautifully, with convincing performances from all the lead actors; and it was in fact the film that led me to the book in the first place, and I was not disappointed.
A solid four stars then, (four and a half if I could) and inspiration enough for me to acquire 'The Remains of the Day, by the same author.

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King.

Well, well well. 

According to the author, people have been asking him about what happen to Daniel 'Doc' Torrance after that fateful night at the Overlook hotel, (that was the climax of one of his best books, The Shinning, in case you didn't know), for a while now.

And now we know. Or do we?

I have a sneaky suspicion that Daniel Torrance and his new companion, Abra, will appear in a few more of his books before to long, particularly Abra, and I can't wait.

What a great character. We first meet her when she's a baby and as the book moves on and Dan Torrance's sobriety lengthens, Abra's strength grows, and then they finally meet. 

The baddies are a little less convincing in what they are, (a sort of vampiric sect living of the essence of dead kids with the shinning) but there character development is just as good as the others, insomuch as you hate the ones your supposed to hate and sympathise little as they meet their individual demise. 

I love this book, but having gone off of the supernatural element a bit recently, I didn't think is was as good as 11.23.63, which was simply sublime, so I'm going to give Doctor Sleep a four and a half star rating. 

One of his best.