Before I started this book, I had a good look at the front cover.
The words at the bottom caught my attention: ‘Probably the funniest book ever written – SUNDAY TIMES’.
I needed a good laugh. My previous two books had been Great Expectations and Catch 22, which although had their funny moments, they dealt with such serious topics it was impossible to call them funny books.
So I started at page one, and waited with bated breath for hilarity to ensue.
And I waited. And waited.
Filed under 100 book challenge, Uncategorized
My blog has been quiet lately, but my writing has managed to continue in the background.
Here are the last 5 months of my ABC Open 500 Word stories for you to enjoy.
June 2015 – Lost and found
My story, Avoiding distractions, talks about my utter despair when I realised I’d lost my engagement ring… on my wedding day.
July 2015 – Car stories
The longest word I know is about our first family car – the Brougham – and how it didn’t always get us from A to B.
August 2015 – For better for worse
The story Avoiding the inevitable explores how being from broken homes changed the way I view the relationship with my husband.
September 2015 – A test of courage
This month I wrote Zero to 172 km per hour in 1.8 seconds, which is about my ride on the fastest roller coaster in the world.
October 2015 – My big secret
What lurks beneath talks about a trip to the beach with my toilet-training toddler that didn’t happen to go so well…
Follow @jessieansonsFiled under ABC Open 500 words
I really want to say it, so as cheesy as it is, let me have my moment: I really didn’t have great expectations for this book.
OK, now that’s out of the way I can tell you what I really thought of it.
This was my first ever Dickens that I’ve read cover to cover and I was incredibly impressed. It’s a long book (I know you probably get sick of hearing that from me) but Dickens made me realise that (in the case of novels that span a significant amount of time) length really does matter.
My very first Dickens
It took me a long time to get through the 484 pages – sixty-five days in fact – and I found myself in the habit of setting small goals and rewarding myself for chapters finished. I have to read 5 more pages before falling asleep (never worked), or if I get to the end of this chapter I can have a bowl of icecream (all the icecream was eaten well before the end of the book).
Filed under 100 book challenge
Image by Marie Gail Stratford at https://mariegailstratford.wordpress.com
My son wanted a fire truck for his second birthday. My mother bought him a ‘Bedroom Colour Consult’ with Xavier (no last name).
His team spilled into my son’s room.
‘I’ve always liked chevrons…’ I offered.
Xavier scoffed. ‘Oh, Darling! Chevrons are sooooo 2008.’
Xavier’s assistant looked at his mobile phone and squealed with delight. ‘They revealed Prince George’s new nursery design!’
Xavier snatched the phone off him.
His jaw dropped.
‘Team! Change of plans. Bed goes there, get me one of those mirrored chandeliers and Dominic-‘
‘Yes?’
‘We’re gonna need a LOT of chevrons.’
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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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Image by The Reclining Gentleman at https://thereclininggentleman.wordpress.com
Balanced, he looks down at the water below.
He says to himself, ‘If no one stops me. This is the end.’
An old woman waves her cane and croaks, ‘Don’t jump! No one deserves to die like this!’
He smiles and walks away. From his jacket pocket he pulls a pen and a piece of paper. There’s a list of names, some crossed off.
At the top of the page he writes: Woman with cane. He puts the list away. He smiles again. Then from his other pocket he pulls out a gun and turns back towards the woman.
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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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Image by C.E. Ayr at http://ceayr.com/
The orcas painted on the side of the building were spectacular.
‘You have to move out of the bulldozer’s way.’
‘No, Dad. No!’
I’d seen someone pull that face before. Back in 1977.
Eventually, I convinced her to come with me to her mother’s favourite place. The bluff overlooking the ocean.
Out to sea, black dorsal fins skimmed the surface. I wasn’t sure she’d noticed. But then she looked at me, her face softened and she snuggled in close.
The real battle had already been won. Back in 1977. On a zodiac 30 miles out to sea.
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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.
Filed under Friday Fictioneers
Image by Madison Woods
I took my kite out to the fields. There’s never anyone else out there.
When I gaze at the simple brown diamond bouncing across the sky I feel completely, utterly and blissfully alone.
But when I looked up at the sky I blinked. There was another kite! A green one just like mine.
My eyes followed the string of the kite down to ground level.
The owner of the kite had dropped it and was already running away. The green diamond, released, lifted higher into the sky. And I felt relieved.
For a moment there I was almost not alone.
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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.
Filed under Friday Fictioneers
I’d never read a book about war. War stories reminded me of history class at school, which I never had much time for. What could you possibly learn from the details of war? I understood that war was bad and that should be avoided, but other than that I really wasn’t interested.
If I’d known Catch 22 was a war story I probably wouldn’t have put it next on my list for the 100 book challenge. I was familiar with the ‘catch 22’ concept – where you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t – but I didn’t know its origins. So it was time to take that plunge and I opened to page 1 of the Heller’s classic.
Am I the only person who didn’t know Catch 22 was about war?
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Image by Raina Ng at https://writersclubkl.wordpress.com/
It all looked familiar.
The dust on the lampshades. The dirt on the cooker. The sharp edges on the large table that always got in the way.
I’d been in that kitchen before. Too many times.
I pulled my hand away from his. ‘I can’t do this.’
‘What about my second chance?’ he spluttered. ‘Things are going to be different this time…’
Then I saw the clock on the wall stuck at 3 o’clock. The batteries still hadn’t been changed.
‘No.’
I said goodbye and walked out of that kitchen for the very last time.
Follow @jessieansons*********
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.
Filed under Friday Fictioneers
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.
Filed under 100 book challenge
A (very) average lawyer's musings on the Australian legal profession. With occasional pug pictures.
A great WordPress.com site
A Newcastle writers group
Flash fiction - mostly
Writing about writing
Finding balance after a difficult year
independent, candid and frugal
Blogs about writing and other bits and pieces
Writer. Mother. Editor. Geek. In no particular order.
An encyclopaedia of distant shores - by Aidan Walsh
This is a flash fiction site where you finish the story!
"Cats, Twitter, Coors Light, & Everything In Between"
Poetry, Fiction, & Non-Fiction Writings
The uncensored mind of a Crazy Cat Lady
Growing older is inevitable. Growing up is optional.
Observing the world, taking mental notes and writing fiction
Jessie Ansons 