VBT – TWENTY FOUR SHORT STORIES
Twenty-Four Short Stories
by Michael Ross
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GENRE: Anthology
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BLURB:
Why can time consumed reliving memories provide enough motivation to carry on? Why keep a diary if you don’t want people to read it? Why let prejudice cloud your judgement? Why do the most simple of smells bring memories back to life? Why is it possible to believe the impossible? What does it feel like to take another person’s life? Will the good deeds we do come back to us in different forms?
These are of some of the questions posed in this imaginative collection of short stories involving, amongst others; a private detective with super powers, a loveable car salesman, a dour public health inspector, a vicar’s daughter with a dark secret, a sculptor with a destructive obsession, a young man with a passion for language, a reluctant public executioner, two sisters whose petty disputes hide something deeper, a job hunter with an unusual skill.
There are so many diverse characters and in this intriguing and imaginative collection of stories everyone has a tale to tell.
A collection of stories that will surely leave its mark on the reader.
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EXCERPT
From my window, I spot my fellow students grouped in excited conversation, circling around, probing each other with thoughts and words, questions and answers. After two years, we know each other well. I know they all wish they could play the violin as well as me, and in my turn, I wish I could be as happy as them. I wind down by running through scales for twenty minutes, and then I hear the old grandfather clock in the hall strike eleven—my other life beckons.
In Chinatown, it is easy to find a restaurant where you can spend £100 a head on a meal. At my parent’s place, six people can eat like kings for less money.
The walk from the rehearsal rooms takes the best part of an hour. I cast aside my musical mantle as I walk, so that by the time I reach Uncle Wong’s, I am prepared for my twice-weekly four-hour shift. This is the only payment my father and mother have ever asked of me. It is nothing.
Two years ago, my parents ushered me into the tiny lounge area above their restaurant, and wordlessly, my mother passed me my gift. My eyes moved to my father and then back to my mother. I could not speak. It was beautiful. Feeling its dark ebony grain, I turned it tentatively through my fingers, tilting, and twisting—gazing, unsure of my breath.
“Baba. Mamma. It’s beautiful, but you cannot afford it.”
“Shush, my son.” The look on my mother’s face said that my joy was all they required.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Born and raised in Bristol, England. I spent my adult life in business, the majority of that time marketing cars. I eventually owned the largest Saab specialist in the world, before a divorce put an end to that part of my life.
This led me to leave Bristol to live halfway up a mountain in the Welsh Valleys; start a part-time six year English Literature course at Bristol University, and attend creative writing classes in Cardiff. My interest in English literature flourished and I have since won several prizes for my short stories. My first book, ‘Twenty Short Stories – Settling a score,” reached No 1 in the Short Stories Best Sellers and is still available, as is “Twenty-One (more) Short Stories,” and “Another Twenty-Two Short Stories.”
Also available are the first 5***** crime thrillers in the Tanner and Pin-up series:
Hand over Fist
Hand in Glove
Plus a 5***** light hearted rom-com “Chasing What’s Already Gone.”
I still live very happily halfway up that mountain in the Welsh Valleys with my wonderful partner, Mari, and our two rescue dogs, Wavy and Wenna.
Website http://michaelrosswriter.net/
Facebook www.facebook.com/michaelross.writer
Twitter https://twitter.com/mikerosswriter
Email mikerosswriter@outlook.com
The book will be free.
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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY:
Michael Ross will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Enter to win a $25 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Q&A With …..
Tell us about you as a person.
I would have been a multi-millionaire twenty years ago if not for a divorce which destroyed me and left me penniless. So writing is a good way to relieve me of some of my angst.
If you could hang out with one famous person for one day, who would it be and why?
It is so obvious I find it almost too embarrassing to write it down. William Shakespeare – imagine spending the day with that genius – gives me goose pimple to even think about it.
What’s the story behind your latest book?
Twenty Four Short Stories is my fourth anthology and after a four year gap I had built up a collection of stories that I deemed good enough to go out in the big bad world all on their own. Words on Paper is a love story with hard edges that evolved from my imaginings of life for the people involved in an accident I witnessed as a schoolboy.
What is your writing process?
I only write when my brain pushes me towards the PC, if I am not right mentally I can leave the writing alone for months on an end. If I’m in the mood I can put in a fourteen hour day.
Tell us about your main character:
Many characters in an anthology; I hope readers find it to be an imaginative collection of short stories involving, amongst others; a private detective with super powers, a loveable car salesman, a dour public health inspector, a vicar’s daughter with a dark secret, a sculptor with a destructive obsession, a young man with a passion for language, a reluctant public executioner, two sisters whose petty disputes hide something deeper, a job hunter with an unusual skill.
If your book was to be turned into a movie, who would play the lead role and why.
In Words on Paper – Emily Blunt because she comfortably portray my main character as a strong woman and yet vulnerable
What are you working on next?
My latest novel Words on Paper comes out next month, so I have already started on the third book in the Pin-up and Tanner thriller series. Already got an opening chapter that I am pleased about.
What advice do you have for other writers who want to get the word out about their book?
Be prepared to work harder than you ever have in your life.
What is your favorite book on your shelf right now?
When the Crawdad Sings
Do you have any special/extraordinary talents?
No – I am very tedious and boring company.
You are given the choice of one super power. What super power would you have and why?
Empathy is the most super power of them all. What a world we would have if everyone acquired it!
List 5 things on your bucket list:
Live in a cottage overlooking the sea.Visit Machu Picchu.Drive all down the West Coast of the US.Have a very long skiing holiday.Write an international well reviewed best seller.
