Monthly Archives: May 2015

May 17, 2015 · 7:24 PM

13. The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald (100 book challenge)

Invite me to your parties, Jay!

It’s the characters that make this story. The narrator, Nick, is fairly plain and uninteresting, but the people around him are such complex, intriguing and entertaining characters that I loved this book from beginning to end.

The story follows the life of the rich on Long Island in the 1920s. They invite themselves to parties, they complain about the heat and are utterly unhappy in their marriages. It’s the perfect recipe for an engaging story where the characters drive the plot, not the other way round.

After a few recent disappointments in my 100 book challenge, this was a refreshing change.

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Tagged as 100 book challenge, 100 books, book review, f scott fitzgerald, review, The great gatsby

May 15, 2015 · 2:22 PM

The last 4 months of ABC Open 500 words (February – May 2015)

Each month for the last 4 months, I’ve written an ABC Open 500 words story.

Here are the links to the stories and short blurbs about how I connected my own life with the theme for the month.

February 2015 – Lost in Music

My story, Looking for ‘the one’ on the dancefloor, talks about how I thought I met the man of my dreams on the dancefloor. At 3am. After way too many $1 vodkas.

March 2015 – Testing the friendship

This story called Our budding friendship goes back to when I was about 7 years old and teamed up with a girl who was quite a bit naughtier than I was. She showed me how to have fun without getting caught.

April 2015 – Grandparents

An emotional topic this month, and my most heartfelt piece so far for ABC Open. This is forever talks about my relationship with my grandparents – my grandfather who died last year and my grandmother who is now in a nursing home. Memories of their relationship with my own son warms my heart.

May 2015 – I quit

Mountain-top quitting talks about a snowboarding trip my husband and I took to New Zealand 10 years ago… and how sore I was after falling over 567 times on the hard, icy snow.

Empty (Friday Fictioneers)

Image by Marie Gail Stratford at https://mariegailstratford.wordpress.com

There’s a silo in the field just over that hill. It’s empty. It’s been empty for years.

The farmer built it thirty years ago. It was meant to hold grain from the surrounding fields. It just never worked out that way. Not enough rain. Too much rain. Not enough rain again. The crop was never successful. The silo was never filled.

The farmer’s wife tried to console him. ‘It’s too late now.’

She sighed deeply before suggesting, ‘Maybe we should accept the fact and just stop trying.’

He looked across at the empty fields. His empty arms. His empty house.

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Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle each week where writers from around the world post 100 word stories based on a common photo prompt. For more information, and to read other stories, visit Rochelle’s page here.

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May 13, 2015 · 8:45 PM

12. The Five People You Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom (100 book challenge)

Number 12 on the 100 book challenge

Coming off the back of Pride and Prejudice, I needed something that was short, easy to read and straight to the point. This book promised all of these things. It delivered… but I was left with an uneasy feeling that the story could have been so much better. That it was almost a very good book.

The positives are many. For one, it’s a brilliant concept: that, at the moment of your death, you meet five integral people from your life to help you realise things about your life. Two, the characters are interesting. Three, the story is revealed slowly throughout without pages of info-dump.

But I didn’t love it.

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Tagged as 100 book challenge, albom, book review, five people you meet in heaven, heaven, mitch albom

May 6, 2015 · 8:05 PM

Turn it on (Friday Fictioneers)

Image by Madison Woods

He wasn’t your ordinary secret agent, fitting in with the others. Copper hair, watery eyes, smoked a pipe. Got his job via a plug from Sarah Mick who worked in cold calling.

He didn’t force it. But there was a sinking feeling he couldn’t ignore. A pressure in the back of his mind telling him to focus.

He suddenly felt very hot.

Something about the database in his computer. Something about that poor Sue-Lynn from admin who would drip info through every second day.

The colour drained from his face when he realised.

His phone: it had been tapped.

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PS if you have discovered the meaning of this story and would like to challenge yourself, the magic number is 16.

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Tagged as faucet, Friday Fictioneers, tap