Showing posts with label Laura Besley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Laura Besley. Show all posts

Wednesday 2 April 2014

Not so easy

First a bit of news, I had a productive day off when it wasn't good enough to swim. I now have nearly 7 stories ready for the short story bundle and am now looking into publishing these together with some stories written by my friend Elspeth. The only snag is that Amazon KDP will not let us set up a joint account to split the royalties at source. I'm sure we'll find a way round this. Honestly, writing is the easy part, everything else that comes afterwards is bloody difficult!

Another thing that wasn't easy was getting people to read your book and do a review. I believe my book would appeal mostly to young males, not an easy target group to get to read full stop. Luckily it appealed to some female readers out there and Laura Besley has very kindly posted her review on Amazon, Goodreads and her blog. You can read it via the link below:
http://laurabesley.blogspot.hk/2014/04/language-in-blood-by-angela-lockwood.html

Working at the airport I spotted something else that used to be easy but now seems a rather complicated affair: Taking an Easyjet flight.
I haven't used Easyjet recently, but in the old days, you bought a ticket, took one item of luggage and a handluggage then you got a boarding card without a seat number and you all pilled on a quick as you could to get the best seats.
Blimey, things have changed! I now and then work in the tiny shop that oversees the easyjet gates to the UK in Terminal two. Easyjet in my view now takes just takes forever to board, they mostly start 45 to 50min before take-off. Firstly you now have to pay for hold luggage so everyone tries to get as much as possible in their hand luggage. If it is not spotted on check-in, they do catch you on boarding and the now far to big hand luggage has to go in the hold anyway. Then there is all the different types of boarders, Speedy boarder etc, it just takes forever and you now pay for the privilege to go onto the plane before the others and to select your seat. (Little secret; you all still get there at the same time!)
Easyjet is one of our biggest operators in Nice, so they must be doing something right, but the name Easyjet seems a bit ironic now.

Wednesday 19 February 2014

Bookreview: Snippets by Laura Besley

I've been looking forwards to reading this selection of flash fiction because Laura Besley is like me a blogger and new author. I'm also putting together a book of short stories so I was interested to see her work. The author has lived like myself in the Netherlands and the UK, but I ended up in France and she in Hong Kong. I was disappointed not to read about Hong Kong life in the stories, but that is on a personal note and doesn't take away from a great collection of work.

The Blurb:
Murder, a drug addict, an arranged marriage, a groom on his wedding day, an old couple on a day out: this collection of flash fiction traverses twenty-one lives, giving snippets of their relationships , their highs and lows, their struggles and successes.

My opinion:
This is a great selection of very short stories or as the author calls it flash fiction. They deal with every day situations like death, love, duty and even a dinner party. All of the stories were good but I was often left wanting more from a situation or a character. It is flash fiction and therefore stories are meant to be very short but some left me dissatisfied. However here are some of my highlights:
SPAG BOL
I thought this was very original, a mundane conversation by a couple whilst preparing spaghetti Bolognese for a dinner party. During the conversation you receive the entire recipe.
DOWN THE HILL
About an elderly woman and her wheelchair bound husband, I can't say too much but it had me laughing out loud.
LETTERS FROM THE PAST
A woman sits in her bathroom looking at some letters from her past, reminiscing about someone she used to know. This was a wonderful story about regret.
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
This is about two work friends (girls) discussing the break-up of a mutual friend, the two agree that it is a terrible thing, but one friend's feelings are not sincere.

I was in two minds whether to to give this 4 or 5 out of 5. I had an issue with the genre of flash fiction, as I said it left me at times dissatisfied, but the quality of the writing was good and I would love to see some longer work by this author. So 5 it is:)

Snippets is available on amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Snippets-Laura-Besley-ebook/dp/B00I7I9FR6/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1391399438&sr=1-1

You can read Laura's blog on:
www.laurabesley.blogspot.com