All my words, brain power and energy is being ploughed into my novel (which is 10,000 words longer as of the end of last week) and a brand new short story that looks like it will become a novelette. At the moment it is tenuously named The Spy’s Wooden Mistress (and what she remembers).
It’s a feminist spy story, with a side serve of Norwegian folklore (it features a huldra) as well as some serious daring-do from the archives of World War 2. Think Commandos on skis and an utterly inhospitable frozen wasteland. (The BBC’s History’s Secret Heroes is a treasure trove of real people going above and beyond during WW2!)
Today though, it’s all about my short story collection.
This week, I have for you If Only You’d Been Nice.
It is honestly a fabulous story to read aloud. I have again, been sensible and only done the first page — as per the remit of this segment.
It’s a Christmas horror story and it’s not the only one I’ve written.
There’s also Broken Angel (a story from the LMT anthology Deck the Halls, that didn’t make this collection — you can read it here though).
If Only You’d Been Nice is about the lengths one woman goes to rid herself of a housemate from hell. But often these silver bullets come with caveats we are never aware of when we wiling take what is on offer.
Such is the case for Charlotte.
The fun thing about this story is that all the transgressions of housemate-from-hell Hayley — they are all true. They were offered to me by friends on Facebook when I asked about the worst thing a housemate had ever done back when I started writing the story in 2014(ish).
If you’d like to read ahead (or read all the way to the end) you can hit the button below to access online options, including my favourite, Kobo, and Apple’s darling, iBooks.
Thanks for reading (and hopefully listening).
I hope this week is treating you very well. (My love affair with the creative boon of the Winter Year continues.)