Here are twenty eight short, quirky tales: mystery, murder and ghostly stories, for anyone from eight to eighty. Often they will have a twist in the tale and some may even raise a smile or two. The subject matter is wide and varied and the stories are designed as light reading during a journey: by coach, boat, plane or train.
As an unashamed admirer of Charles Dickens, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe, and Roald Dahl’s quirky tales I have added a touch of my own black humour to this collection of short stories.
My earliest childhood memories of blood curdling yarns on the radio, spoken by a man with a dark sepulchral voice, have left me with a lifetime’s passion for what were once known (long before my time I might add) as ‘Penny Dreadfuls’ or American Dime Novels: lurid tales of mysterious mayhem designed to deliciously shock and horrify our impressionable young minds.
Science can explain away so many mysteries but it is often the creepy-unexpected that trips you up and opens the door to superstitious dread.
However where my tales have a ghostly theme running through them they will often have a perfectly rational explanation. Occasionally they may even raise a smile or two.
Modern lives are driven at such a fast pace with all the demands on our time and leisure that we often try and fit twenty-five hours into every working day, thus leaving very little space to absorb and do justice to the full length novel. This is why I believe the ‘Ten-Minute-Tale’ has a place to lift us out of the mundane. I hope you enjoy these offerings as you ‘cherry-pick’ your path along life’s crooked highway.
Country: United Kingdom River Tweed /Berwick upon Tweed / Scottish Borders Hometown: Nottingham (my favourite get-away-from-it-all place) Occupation: Retired, after lifetime spent working in the commercial printing trade from apprentice to manager/director/representative, consecutively of several international and regional companies. Marital status: peacefully married for over 40 years with grown up son and daughter. Education: Nottingham College of Art (after Sec. Mod) and sales training in UK and abroad Religion: Church of England Military Service: Four years in South Notts Hussars and now lifetime member of Royal Artillery Association Interests and hobbies: I always enjoyed reading and started writing short stories verse, and novels, plus articles on current affairs, on retirement, in order to do something different and challenging. Other interests are gardening, touring Southern Counties, Northumberland and Scottish Borders, and snapshot photography. (Mainly landscapes and National Trust Gardens) Currently a member of Eastwood Writers Group and New Writers UK Favourite Classical Authors: Thomas Hardy, John Buchan, Walter Scott, Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens. Robert Louis Stevenson Favourite Modern Authors: Peter Robinson, Ian Rankin, Simon Beckett, Michael Connelly, Nigel Tranter Favourite books: The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence, Montgomery of Alamein (autobiography) Favourite Poets: John Masefield and Rudyard Kipling Published Writings: Murder mystery novel ‘Sins of the Father’ and ‘Captain Damnation’ and other strange tales (anthology of 28 short stories), [...]
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