Where it all began!

As I set about getting this year off to a productive start I decided the appropriate place to begin was back where it all began…

A series of short stories about when the fairy tale ends and everything falls apart. Love,death and revenge all feature in these tales where not everything is as it seems. The phrase till death do us part takes on a different meaning in both Disintegration and Empty, while Table For One and Deuce examine the more humorous side of betrayal.

It was my first book but it wasn’t supposed to be. I had been writing Voices planning to help raise funds for a courageous little boy named Charlie Harris Beard, if you have been around for long enough you will know what happened and that sadly he passed before I finished the book. I put that to one side and wrote some other stories but I had no clear plan of what to do with them. At this time my 18 year relationship was crumbling and many of the stories came as a result of my inability to write a happily ever after.

Once the relationship was over I was determined to find myself, so I pulled together these stories and took a better look at them. Some went in the bin, never to see the light of day, some still remain hidden in files on my computer but these precious few were initially hastily edited and put together. The cover created in the kindle app using a photo I had taken and which I constantly consider replacing but I am too attached to the symbolism. Then before I could second guess myself I hit publish and hid.

I sat waiting for the horrible reviews to come, so far I have been lucky and I am still waiting. I have gone back and given it a proper edit since, but I cannot tell you the mix of excitement and terror I felt hitting that button. I love some of these stories, one ended up with a sequel in Voices, but my favourite is Table For One. I think it was probably inspired by Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads. Somewhere there was a recording of me reading it but it’s much better if you listen to the audio book instead. Here are a few reviews about the book…

5.0 out of 5 stars Great set of short storiesReviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 September 2022

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I decided to buy this on paperback as I like them and it’s so cheap.
The stories are well written and dark but well thought out with regard to being the injured party for revenge and retribution. Already bought Paula’s ghost stories off the back of this

5.0 out of 5 stars Great selection of short stories with twists you won’t expect.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 11 July 2017

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A selection of short stories based around divorce/separation and the reasons behind it. Even though each tale is short in length, they all have enough in them to make you invested in the tale.
I thoroughly enjoyed them.

4.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 stars from meReviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 May 2019

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There are some really good short stories in this book, some of them I would like to be made into longer stories as I felt they had more to give but all in all they were good but sometimes dark reads.

As you can see not all 5 star reviews but the main complaint was not the quality but the length of the stories and maybe I should have made some longer. If my brain wasn’t full of stories I might go back and do more to them but for now they stay as they are, a tribute to survival when my world crumbled.

If you would like to read it for yourself if is available on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited.

https://mybook.to/Disintegration