Please welcome Michael Ross author of Twenty-Four Short Stories
Michael Ross will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Twenty-Four Short Stories
byMichael Ross
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GENRE: Anthology
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INTERVIEW
1. What or who inspired you to start writing? My partner arranged for me to attend a creative writing course in the next valley. Two hours later I was driving home and finished composing a short story in my head by the time I got home. I totally surprised myself. I never published that story but it became the genesis for my latest novel Words on Paper which comes out June 7 2021.
2. What elements are necessary components for this genre? Short stories demand that you don’t waste time messing the reader about, don’t waffle. A short story should be capable of posing numerous questions for the reader to deal with. (I just finished a sentence with a ‘with!’)
3. How did you come up with your idea for your novel? Not a direct answer, because I am promoting my short story anthology, but three of my novels have evolved from short stories that bugged me – what happened to them? Why did he do that? Etc.
4. What expertise did you bring to your writing? I’m a good speller.
5. What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio? I have used the insights that writing has granted me to run reading groups for various charities helping people trying to rebuild their lives from drug and alcohol abuse.
6. As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans? To decide which of the four partly written stories I will turn into a full length novel. More than likely the third in the Pin-up andTannerthriller series. They have a following and I am interested in what they are up to at present.
7. If you could be one of the characters from this book, who would it be and why?
8. Can you give us a sneak peek into this book? This extract covers both 7 and 8. Because this is based on true life but the narrator takes a totally different line of action than I did in real life.
Nine-thirty and Fifteen Minutes
I can recall every single incident of the last twenty four hours in the greatest, clearest of detail. Still, the last fifteen minutes are a mystery to me. What have I done?
About this time yesterday morning, 9.30, Jillian rang me, all friendly and jolly, which of course meant trouble and some sort of favour wanted from me. “Could you have the kids tonight?”
Ah – favour time. “It’s a bit short notice, isn’t it?” I grumbled.
“You don’t want to spend time with your own kids then? It’s just that I’ve arranged to see Andrea and Sam in Oxford tonight. I won’t need to leave until five, so I could pick them up from school and drop them around to your place.”
Yes, my shitty place that I’m renting why she lords it in our country manor, which incidentally is costing me a fortune in mortgage payments. “It isn’t that – it’s just I’m already halfway to Leeds, and there’s no way I can promise to get back before seven tonight.”
“Oh, forget it then. Mary will look after them…as usual.”
“Okay, sorry about that. Actually, if you’re meeting up with Andrea and Sam, I still owe him a hundred quid. Could you give it to him, and I’ll pay you back tomorrow?”
“Of course.” With that, she was gone.
A few years ago, it would have taken her a couple of months to raise a hundred pounds. Nowadays, she spends that fortnightly to have her hair done.
11. What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing) Best – believe in yourself. Worst - take the first deal you are offered.
12. Do you outline your books or just start writing? Same way as I get into a swimming pool – jump in and hope for survival.
13. How do you maintain your creativity? Read, read, read.
14. Who is your favorite character in the book. Can you tell us why?
15. Are your plotting bunnies, angels or demons? Maybe an evil, angelic rabbit struggling for world domination.
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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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:
Michael Ross will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good read.
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