Monday 18 March 2024

Lulabelle and the Scathing Fowel

Lulabelle and the Scathing Fowel –from the Scarfolk folks’ daily archive.

Lulabelle Scathing, age seven-ish (exact DOB unknown), is a child prodigy. In her early youth she bioengineered her pet woodlouse, Crunchy, into a fully grown armadillo. However her mother, Arachnia Featherstone Ambling Chough-Smythe, has wisely guided her into more lucrative pursuits, since there is no market for armadillos in Scarfolk County.  

Lulabelle is now a very young, though fully qualified geneticist and bioengineer, working on the genetic modification of her pet chickens to create larger, semi-predatory birds. In the absence of wolves and sabretooth cats which have not been seen for many years, Lulabelle’s chooks will be safely released into Scarfolk Forest to help to reduce the numbers of deer, woodpeckers, beavers, charcoal-burners, lumber-jacks and other vermin that damages the trees. 

Lulabelle’s chickens have been named Scathing Fowel, as a tribute to her father, wee Dougie Scathing, who vanished immediately after his daughter’s conception. Her mother, Arachnia, had declined to take Wee Dougie’s surname, as she felt her own name already included four of her other seven former-husbands/partners and to add another would be cumbersome. Each of her eight children carried their father’s name and that was memorial enough.

The photograph is Lulabelle's favourite, named Cockatrice, he is exploring the bottom of the garden. He will be father of the next generation of Scathing Fowel.

Once a sustainable population of Scathing Fowel has been established in Scarfolk Forest, Arachnia’s idea is to issue hunting licences to carefully selected gentlefolk, enabling them to shoot a prescribed number of Scathing fowel. As the fowel will be the top predator in the forest, their numbers will need to kept in balance or, having eaten everything else they would start on each other. 

Only trained markspersons will be allowed to hunt for Scathing Fowel as the birds become excessively dangerous when wounded and can take an adult human’s arm or head off with one bite. However less qualified persons may be employed as beaters or bait.

Arachnia has not yet broached the hunting idea with her daughter, as Lulabelle is inclined to being sentimental about her ferocious feathered fowel. And nobody would ever dare to suggest to Lulabelle that she has not spelled fowel correctly. For a start she is only seven and spelling is not her best subject, also she would set Cockatrice on any dissenters.

Monday 15 January 2024

Noir Fiction - a Workshop

 I've joined another writers' group, the Shorelink Writers, who meet weekly on Monday nights, in school term times. Most group members agree to create and run a workshop for the whole group about once a term, I've just delivered my second workshop, inspired by some of the odd and slightly off-key place names in the local area, which I thought would suit a noir-style story. My local area happens to be Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea.

The workshop went down very well, almost every writer chose one of two names, Galley Hill and Goat Ledge. Galley Hill is obviously noir, but Goat Ledge? Of course, the thing with Goat Ledge is that everybody local knows the place. It's the name of a very popular beach cafĂ©, and originally the name of the reefs of  somewhat treacherous rocks just off the beach, where historical goatherds would take their flocks to feast on the seaweed. 

This is the workshop I delivered:-

Noir Stories

I’ve watched a bit of Scandi Noir and got hooked on watching Shetland on TV, which is very noir. Noir is a category of crime fiction usually involving the police, think of the Ian Rankin’s Inspector Rebus stories, set in brooding Edinburgh. Maybe noir might even be funny, think of the creepy goings on in Royston Vasey!

 Noir isn’t a horror story, it’s all to do with the place and the mood, feeling dark, a bit threatening. It does seem to me that the place where the story is set plays a vital part in Noir Stories. They’re local stories about ordinary people, not usually involving royal palaces, long distance travel, desert Islands, etc.

Here are some very local place names which sound like they might have a noir story in them. You probably know most of these places. Choose one and write about what might happen there:-

Maze Hill    Pelham Beach    East Ascent    Galley Hill    Combe Haven    Ravenside    Conqueror Road

Bulverhythe    Goat Ledge    Horntye Park    Undercliff    South Saxons


 

Monday 1 January 2024

Sunday 24 December 2023

Bush Meat by Mandy Sutter

 I really enjoyed this, beautiful storytelling.  FIVE STARS !

Bush Meat by Mandy Sutter

by 
21777224
's review

Sarah goes to Nigeria as a young child when her father, who works in petro-chemicals, is posted there. Sarah is intrigued by this different place and its different people, while her mother is afraid of not fitting in with the local ex-pat community. Sarah's father is distant, except when his daughter gets too close to the Nigerian 'servants'.

Later the family return to the UK and while their lives go on, this early experience continues to affect Sarah.

Told in a sequence of short stories, each complete as itself, the beautiful writing show this family's lives moving on in a normal, yet extraordinarily engaging way.

I really like this unusual book and, having lived a partially ex-pat childhood, I can empathise with the feelings of the characters and many of their circumstances.

Friday 22 December 2023

Birdgirl: A Young Environmentalist Looks to the Skies in Search of a Better Future - book review

 This is an important book 

Birdgirl by Mya-Rose Craig

by 
21777224
's review
 ·  edit


bookshelves: biog-memoirmight-read again
This book may appear to be about a girl's love of birds, certainly there are a lot of birds in it, but Birdgirl is far more than that. The young author's parents and sister also love birds and in many ways this love cements the family group in times of stress, pain and illness.

The story is of a girl growing up with a permanently stressed father and a mother who has a serious mental illness. The coming of age happens when the girl finally realises that her mother will never be cured, but will always love her. And when she realises that her calling is to fight for the whole environment, not just for the birds.

And the family's passion for birding, for travelling to the far corners of the world to sit, still and calm for hours waiting for the right bird to appear, is vividly described. And their concentrated joy when the bird appears brings brings tears to the eye.

This is a lovely book, a girl's growing-up story, a tale of birding and mania, travel and depression, racism, sexism and radicalism, enchanting places and enduring friendships.

I felt above all it's a family story because without the love, passion and support of her parents, Mya-Rose Craig might be a much more ordinary young woman. She wouldn't have become who she is today.
Birdgirl is a good read so be patient, you don't need to totally share her passion for birds to find the story fascinating.

Sunday 19 November 2023

36,295 Words written and extract, Blue Lynx

 That number Kind of indicates that I may be half way through my current novel, which I started writing about 8 months ago, then had a three month hiatus but now getting back on track. Edited extract from the end of chapter 2 here - 

                                                            *

I didn’t throw anything, I slapped Rick’s self-satisfied, mocking face so hard it knocked him off balance. He grabbed my arm and began twisting it. In a second Andy was between us.

‘Get the fuck off her, dickhead,’ he gave his brother a shove and Rick retreated across the room. ‘Are you okay Mand?’ Andy pulled me close. Over his shoulder I could see Rik grimacing at me. A red mark was already appearing on his temple, with luck I had given him a black eye. It was small recompense, I knew the bastard was right. They never had paid me. Everything I’d done for the band over the last 20 years wasn’t really appreciated. Most of it probably hadn’t even been noticed, they just assumed that they deserved it and in the main the rock career of Blue Lynx had run fairly smoothly, like those beautiful swans on the river, only I was the one paddling furiously underneath.

*

After I saw that Rick’s announcement wasn’t challenged by the guys, although Andy did at least have the nous to look uncomfortable, I cleared the twins’ plates into the sink and they rushed upstairs to play Mario Cart. I went out to the barn. If only Andy had stuck up for me properly, instead of just pushing Rick away, I’d have almost welcomed one of his fights with his brother.  Maybe he thought a fistfight in our kitchen would upset me more, although it didn’t usually. I was used to the Brandon brothers brawling, I just didn’t want it in front of the kids.

Baker the cat miaowed a greeting from the top of a stack of four hay bales as I opened the barndoor and most of the chickens came up to greet me. I know it was only what my nan used to call cupboard love, but at least they needed me and appreciated what I did for them. I threw down a handful of grain from the bin and sat on a bale with chickens pecking around my feet.

One of the silkies didn’t come, she was sitting against the barn wall and looked as if she might be brooding some eggs. I felt a bit sorry for her, sitting on eggs that would never hatch. I’d sort of promised the kids that we might at least get a cockerel for the little silkies so they could hatch a few chicks without the possible problems a big Orpington rooster might cause. Then the silkie got up and came over to join the others, pecking up the remains of the grain. There weren’t any eggs where she’d been sitting, she was just having a lie-in. I decided there would definitely be no roosters, cockerels, whatever the correct word was. There were too many cocks around the place already.


Friday 13 October 2023

Down to Earth by Andrew Crowther book review

Sue's Reviews > 

Down to Earth by Andrew Crowther

by 
21777224
's review
 

really liked it
bookshelves: novellassci-fi

Another Dystopia set in England during the 1950's, what is it about that just post war period which conjures up such ideas?

Anyway I enjoyed reading Down To Earth, which is not quite what it at first seems to be. The clues are there but easily misinterpreted.

No spoilers, the story begins with young Jenny Threadneedle beginning her career as a primary school teacher and ends with elderly journalist, Mr Thark, going in search of a library. 

A lot more can happen between these two events than you might expect!

Andrew Crowther's story is entertaining and well written without being wordy. Is this a novella or a short novel? I don't know if there are any rules.