Competitions: March’s Winner for Which Book is This Anyway?
March’s Which Book is This Anyway?
The prize is a book but we’ve not revealed the title and won’t until the winner receives it.
Many of us judge books by their covers and make our choices based on that and the accompanying blurb. Our competition adds a little mystery.
It could be a recent new release or a well-known classic. Who knows? We’ve not even revealed the genre. It’s a surprise.
All we did say about this book is that ‘A young girl’s tale about her strange family. This story has been described as clever, moving, fascinating and funny.’
Thank you to every one who entered and well done to Carol Peace who has been drawn out of the hat this month. Your book will be on its way to you soon.
Keep your eye out for April’s competition.
by 
Bella’s Scribblings: Holiday Planning
I ragged my holiday – well not exactly.
Any of you lovely people who have read my column before may have picked up the fact that sometimes I quite like to plan things. Okay, maybe it’s a bit more than sometimes and perhaps I really like it… Okay! I admit it I have to plan things and I love it – there are you happy now?
So it should be no surprise that when it comes to holidays these too are planned. I am very proud to say that all of 2015’s holidays were booked by October 2014 and 2016’s main holiday is in the bag. (Smug grin). Now usually that would be sufficient but this year things are a little different, this year we are going to Walt Disney World in Florida and it is a return visit so we have the benefit of our ‘Lessons Learned’ from our trip three years ago (dusts off file).
My husband was not surprised when I counted out the days on the calendar and placed reminders at 180 days before our holiday (that’s when you can make Disney Dining reservations), 60 days before (that’s when you can book your Fastpass Plus times for specific rides you want to go on), up to 30 days before you can customize your Magicband (a very clever bracelet that is your room key, your park entry ticket, your Fastpass Plus selections and a contactless wallet so you can tap and pay and it charges to your credit card!)
Husband and child were not surprised when a spreadsheet was produced that detailed all the information that had been booked and noted down reference numbers and the outcomes of the family discussions we had held e.g. what was our top priority at Universal? Character breakfast with Winnie the Pooh or Lilo and Stitch? Fireworks at Epcot or Magic Kingdom? (Answers were Minions, Lilo and Stitch and Epcot – I voted for Harry Potter but was outvoted – glum face).
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Reversing
Friday 27th March 2015: Reversing
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: What would happen if you woke up one day to find that you were ageing in reverse? You weren’t getting older, you were getting younger. What would you do first? What would happen? How would it end? Can you stop it and would you want to?
by Review: The Day We Disappeared by Lucy Robinson
Annie has a secret. But if she’s not going to tell, we won’t either. It’s a heart-breaking secret she wishes she didn’t have – yet Annie isn’t broken, not quite yet. Especially now there’s someone out there who seems determined to fix her.
Kate has run away. But she’s not going to tell us why – that would defeat the point of running, wouldn’t it? It’s proving difficult to reinvent herself, however, with one person always on her mind.
Scratch beneath the surface and nobody is really who they seem. Even Annie and Kate, two old friends, aren’t entirely sure who they are any more. Perhaps you can work it out, before their pasts catch up with them for good . . .
A gripping and unpredictable story of two young women running from their pasts. We defy you to guess the twist . . .
Lucy Robinson’s books have always been on my TBR list, but they’ve never made it to the top. I loved the blurb on this book, so couldn’t help myself.
I loved this. I couldn’t put it down once I got into it. I was reading in lunch breaks, which I never usually take, when I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about it. When I finished it, I couldn’t get the characters out my mind.
by Author Interview: Miranda Richmond Mouillot
A Fifty-Year Silence is the new book from author, Miranda Richmond Mouillot and was released today. Miranda has joined us to chat about her new book. Firstly, she tells us a little about A Fifty-Year Silence and what inspired her to write it?
In 1953, my grandmother, Anna Munster, packed her bags and walked out on my grandfather Armand Jacoubovitch, taking the typewriter, a grapefruit knife, and their two children.
Five years before that day, in 1948, Armand and Anna bought a ruined stone house in the south of France a month before moving to America to start a new life.
Eight years before that day, in 1945, Anna gave birth to their first child while Armand prepared to begin his job at the Nuremberg Trials as one of just two or three court interpreters who were also victims of the accused.
Eleven years before that day, in 1942, Armand and Anna climbed over the Alps in a snowstorm, reached the border an hour after the guards had gone off duty, and escaped Nazi-occupied France to neutral Switzerland.
Thirteen years before that day, in 1940, when France fell to the Nazis, Armand walked three hundred kilometers to hide out with Anna in a village in the French Pyrenees.
And seventeen years before that day, in 1936, Armand and Anna met in a café in Strasbourg and fell passionately in love.
Or did they?
Here’s the thing: I never knew.
The story of what happened between my grandparents both before and after their divorce was total enigma to me throughout my childhood and young adult life. No one could tell me when or how they had met, or when or why they had gotten married. No one could explain just what had made their separation so acrimonious. No one knew, because half a century later, they still wouldn’t speak to one another. If they referred each other at all, it was in cryptic half-sentences. My grandfather couldn’t even bear to utter my grandmother’s name. All that remained of their life together were a few snapshots in a faded photo album. Those snapshots, those tiny, beautiful remnants of a life the war had completely destroyed – they were the beginning of writing this book: from a young age, I desperately, desperately wanted to know what had happened between them.
by A Moment With: Holly Martin
Holly Martin is the author or The Guestbook, The Sentinel and One Hundred Proposals (as well as One Hundred Christmas Proposals. All published by Carina.) She lives in Bedfordshire in a house with round windows.
She shares her five writing tips:
Read everything, the good, the bad, the ugly, the amazing. See how things work and how things don’t.
Watch people, listen to what they talk about, how they talk, walk and dress so you can create real life characters
Get people you trust to read it and give you feedback.
Don’t take any criticism or feedback personally
Never, ever give up
Learn more about Holly and her books at her blog: https://hollymartinwriter.wordpress.com
by News: Barbara Taylor Bradford Launches Writing Competition
Barbara Taylor Bradford OBE has joined forces with The Sunday Times to help discover the next generation of young female writers.
Barbara is an ambassador for the National Literacy Trust, an independent UK charity that transforms lives through literacy.
The Write Stuff short story competition is aimed at girls aged 11-18 and who live in the UK. It was launched nationwide on Sunday (22nd March.)
The competition has been initiated following research by National Literacy Trust of more than 14,000 girls revealing that only one in four girls aged 14 to 16 (23%) see writing as cool, and almost half prefer watching TV to reading (49%).
“I feel it’s critical to reach out to girls and young women who want to share a story they have created and inspire a new generation of female writers and readers. It’s really important that female authors like myself take the lead as role models for girls and young women and encourage them to reach their full potential,” says author, Barbara Taylor Bradford who is due to release her 30th novel, The Cavendon Women on 26th March 2015.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Switching
Friday 20th March 2015: Switching
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: Think about something that has happened to you. It could be something strange, unusual or funny that happened to you as a child, or a teenager or something that happened last week. Once you have something, write about it from the perspective of someone else. You could also think of a situation someone you know has been in and put yourself in their shoes.
by Book News: Upcoming Releases
Spring will soon be on its way. It is only two weeks until the clocks go forward and there is a promise of longer evenings and lighter mornings. It also means new books. I wanted to share with you five of the books that I am most looking forward to reading so far this year…
The Girls by Lisa Jewell.
I love Lisa’s books and so I can’t wait for this one to be released. This one sounds very intriguing. The cover is so pretty too. This is due to be released by Century on 2nd July 2015.
Dark secrets, a devastating mystery and the games people play. You live on a picturesque communal garden square, an oasis in urban London where your children run free, in and out of other people’s houses. You’ve known your neighbours for years and you trust them. Implicitly. You think your children are safe. But are they really?Midsummer night: a thirteen-year-old girl is found unconscious in a dark corner of the garden square. What really happened to her? And who is responsible?
by Bella’s Scribblings: Exceedingly Good Expectations
My new claim to fame is that I have had a conversation with Mr Kipling about cakes. Not a dream, but a real life exchange with the real Mr Kipling. (Well, possibly not the real Mr Kipling because I don’t think there ever actually was a Mr Kipling who made the cakes – sorry if I’ve just shattered a fantasy).
Anyway, I love Twitter. Where else can you have a conversation with Mr Kipling? You see you really don’t know do you? ‘Mr Kipling’ (see I’ve put it in inverted commas just to prove that I know it’s not an actual person) asked me what type of Mr Kipling cake my book would be! Well, I was obviously thrilled but also a bit scared by the question.
Have you any idea how many different types of cake, slice and tart ‘Mr Kipling’ produces? Well it’s about twenty-six, which is more than enough to look through when you are put on the spot to decide which one your book is! This is the one only time I wished there was one of those silly questionnaires – ‘What type of Mr Kipling cake are you?’ but no, there’s never one when you need one is there?
Now, it is true, that there is a smidgeon of a chance that I over thought this one and that a complete review of all the Mr Kipling cake types alongside my story synopses was not essential but I had been asked a question and I wanted to give a thought through answer. The first Mr Kipling cake that popped into my head was French Fancy – yours too? How strange? Anyway, my book does have a couple of scenes in Paris but it is definitely not a French Fancy. Now don’t get me wrong, when the mood takes me I enjoy a French Fancy as much as the next person but it’s not my first choice and it’s not right for my book. My book simply isn’t that sweet.
by Competitions: Have You Won a Copy of The Wronged?
We were delighted to welcome Kimberley Chambers to Novel Kicks last week. To celebrate the release of her latest novel, The Wronged, thanks to Kimberley and HarperCollins, we had a The Wronged goodie bag to give away which included a signed copy of the book, a T-shirt, shot glass, poster and branded mug.
Congratulations to Sandra Treppas whose name was picked randomly from the entrants. Well done.
About The Wronged:
When the going gets tough, the Butlers get even… ‘Murdered in 1980 she was, bless her. Now I’ll tell you the story of everything that’s happened since…’ No parent should ever have to bury their child, but God knows the Butlers have buried more than their fair share. Now, Vinny and Michael are planning the downfall of all who’ve wronged them. The Butlers don’t forgive or forget, and they take their secrets to the grave. As yet more tragic events rip the family apart, loyalties are on a knife-edge. Times are changing in the East End, and the brothers who have always stuck together are at each other’s throats. As the old saying goes – you keep your friends close, and your enemies closer…But you keep your family right where you can see them. Continue reading
by A Moment With: Laura Elliot
Vintage: New Ed Edition, July 1996
The Enduring Memory of a Handmaid’s Tale
I like books that scare me. The ones that keep my heart racing and my finger compulsively turning the pages – or, in in this era of Kindle, twitching on the next-page command. Such books usually conjure up a grim, dystopian world and leave me wondering if they could actually materialise as science advances and technology reaches further and further into our personal lives.
It must be twenty years since I read The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood yet I can still bring the details of that story vividly to mind. Briefly, it’s about a totalitarian society that reforms after a nuclear explosion lays most of the United States to waste. The land is contaminated and many of the women who survived the catastrophe have become infertile. In this new, male dominated society these women are sent to clear up the nuclear waste and suffer obvious consequences as a result. The only ones to avoid this fate are the wives of the men in power –these men are known as The Commanders –and the ‘handmaids,’ young women like Offred, the narrator, who have remained fertile and are capable of producing children to populate this new world order.
The self-imposed belief in The Republic of Gilead is that only women are infertile, men remain fertile. This, of course, is untrue so many of these handmaids are unable to conceive and live in dread of being sent to the contaminated wastelands. Their babies, if they do conceive, will belong to The Commanders and their wives.
by Cover Reveal: The Girl Who Wouldn’t Die by Marnie Riches
We are very excited to be part of the cover reveal for The Girl Who Wouldn’t Die which is the new novel from author, Marnie Riches.
Ta-dah, here it is. It’s due to be published by HarperCollins on 2nd April 2015.
About the book:
HE’S WATCHING HER. SHE DOESN’T KNOW IT…YET
When a bomb explodes at the University of Amsterdam, aspiring criminologist Georgina McKenzie is asked by the police to help flush out the killer. But the bomb is part of a much bigger, more sinister plot that will have the entire city quaking in fear.
And the killer has a very special part for George to play…
A thrilling race against time with a heroine you’ll be rooting for, this book will keep you up all night! Continue reading
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: Back in Time
Friday 13th March 2015: Back in Time.
Fiction Friday is our weekly writing prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt:
You are accidentally transported back to the year of your birth. How you are dressed and how you look makes you stand out. Write about your arrival. What happens? How do people react? Then someone finds your smart phone and it’s new, magical technology that no one has seen before. What happens then?
by Author Interview: J. Paul Henderson
Hello Paul. Thank you so much for joining us. Can you tell us about Last Bus to Coffeeville and what inspired it?
Last Bus to Coffeeville is the story of five people whose lives, in one way or another, have jumped the tracks. The central story though, and the one that explains the bus journey to Coffeeville, is the fulfilment of a promise made by one friend to another almost fifty years previously, that if she inherits the Alzheimer’s that runs in her family, then he will bring her life to a dignified and timely ending.
My mother suffered from subtle stroke dementia for the last ten years of her life, and the idea for the key story came from watching her disappear and another person take her place. The experience made me wonder if someone in a similar situation, who knew the fate that awaited them, would make plans to bypass such misery.
Where would be the one place you would go if you could and why? (Present or a place in history.)
I’d like to be transported to the 1950s and spend my teenage years growing up in small town Middle America. The times were simpler then, the technology reduced, and I’d have been able to drive a large car with ridiculous tail fins. I also think I’d have enjoyed going to High School. This is an idyll, of course. If my colour changed during the transportation process I might well regret this decision. Growing up in 50s America wasn’t a barrel of laughs if you were black.
How much planning do you do before beginning a book? What has to be in place?
If I’m honest, not very much. I’ll have a vague notion about the story, know how it starts and how it ends, but no clear idea how the two dots join. For me, this makes the writing process more interesting – and also surprising.
by Blog Tour: The Wronged by Kimberley Chambers
We are excited to be welcoming Kimberley Chambers today and kicking off her video blog tour for her new novel, The Wronged which is due to be released by Harper Collins on 12th March 2015.
Kimberley was previously a disc jockey, a street trader and a mini cab driver before writing her first novel, Billie Jo. She is now a full-time writer and she lives in Romford. Her latest novel is the third in the Butlers series (the first two being The Trap and Payback.
About The Wronged:
When the going gets tough, the Butlers get even… ‘Murdered in 1980 she was, bless her. Now I’ll tell you the story of everything that’s happened since…’ No parent should ever have to bury their child, but God knows the Butlers have buried more than their fair share. Now, Vinny and Michael are planning the downfall of all who’ve wronged them. The Butlers don’t forgive or forget, and they take their secrets to the grave. As yet more tragic events rip the family apart, loyalties are on a knife-edge. Times are changing in the East End, and the brothers who have always stuck together are at each other’s throats. As the old saying goes – you keep your friends close, and your enemies closer…But you keep your family right where you can see them.
We chat to Kimberley about her new book, her advice for new writers and her favourite place to write.
WIN A SIGNED COPY OF THE WRONGED. THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.
by Novel Kicks Fiction Friday: 500 Words
Friday 6th March 2015: 500 words.
Fiction Friday is our weekly prompt. The aim is to write for a minimum of five minutes and then keep going for as long as you can. Once you’ve finished, don’t edit, just post in the comments box below.
Today’s prompt: The story, characters and theme are your choice but today, your challenge is that the whole story needs to be 500 words or less.
by News: JoJo Moyes announces book sequel
JoJo Moyes has announced that she is releasing a sequel to Me Before You. The new novel will be called After You and is due to be released in the autumn.
JoJo’s best selling novel, Me Before You is currently being adapted into a movie staring Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games, Love Rosie,) and Emila Clarke (Game of Thrones.)
On her website, JoJo said…
“I hadn’t planned to write a sequel to Me Before You. But working on the movie script, and reading the sheer volume of tweets and emails every day asking what Lou did with her life, meant that the characters never left me. It has been such a pleasure revisiting Lou and her family, and the Traynors, and confronting them with a whole new set of issues. As ever, they have made me laugh, and cry. I hope readers feel the same way at meeting them again.”
After You is due for release by Michael Joseph on 24th September 2015. I loved Me Before You and I can’t wait to find out what happens to Lou. If you can’t wait for the film or the book, Penguin have released a book trailer. Enjoy!
by March’s Book Club: All My Friends Are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman
Telegram Books, Feb 2006.
Book Corner is our monthly online book club.
How it works…
We love books and we love chatting about them even more. Every month, we pick a new book for discussion. We will post a question to kick things off and then you can talk about any of your thoughts about the book in the comments box below. The best thing about our book club is that EVERYONE CAN TAKE PART. It’s open to all. You can read the book at any point in the month or if you’ve already read it, tell us what you think.
This month, our pick is: All My Friends Are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman.
About the book:
All Tom’s friends really are superheroes. Tom even married a superhero, the Perfectionist. But at their wedding the Perfectionist is hypnotized by her ex, Hypno, to believe that Tom is invisible. Nothing he does can make her see him. Six months later, the Perfectionist is sure that Tom has abandoned her, so she’s moving to Vancouver. She’ll use her superpowers to leave all the heartbreak behind. With no idea that Tom’s beside her, she boards the plane. Tom has, until they touch down, to convince her he’s there, or he loses her forever.
What are your general thoughts about this book? Did you like it? Dislike it? Discuss in the comments below.
by Blog Tour: Creature Comforts by Trisha Ashley
I am excited to be welcoming Trisha Ashley back to Novel Kicks. Her latest novel, Creature Comforts was released by Avon on 26th February and as part of the blog tour for the book, Trisha and Avon have shared an extract with us. Enjoy.
When we first met, it felt so right that I thought falling in love with him must be part of my preordained destiny. Even though my best friends, Lulu and Cameron, teased me about my conviction that I had a near-death experience and went to Heaven while I was in a coma after the accident, and was sent back only because I had some important purpose to perform in life, I knew it was real. Since then I just had to tune inwards to the voice of my guardian angel from time to time to check I’d taken the right turning … only with Kieran, I think I must have fallen for him so hard that I misread the message.
My path through life had appeared clearly marked till then, for after studying Textiles and Design, I’d accepted a job with the Women’s World Workshops Foundation, which sent me on assignments all over the world, though the majority were in India. The pay was minimal, but the job satisfaction immense: discovering the skills and artistic heritage of each area and finding ways of utilising them in the making of beautiful garments, the sale of which could transform the lives of the local women involved in the scheme and, through them, those of their families and even their whole communities.
And all the time I was amassing a huge portfolio of colours, designs, patterns, ideas and contacts, ready for the day when I would finally go home for good to Halfhidden, the small village in west Lancashire where I grew up, and set up my own business selling retro-inspired clothes.
by Blog Tour: Review – Creature Comforts by Trisha Ashley
Izzy has broken off her engagement to her feckless fiancée Kieran and returned to her childhood home – the sleepy village of Halfhidden.
She soon realizes that life in the village is anything but peaceful – for one thing she’s living with her mad aunt Debo and her pack of dogs, and for another, Izzy has a lot of unanswered questions.
When she was a teenager, Izzy was involved in a terrible accident, involving various inhabitants of Halfhidden. As she sets out to discover what actually happened on the night of the accident, she realizes that her painful past is actually standing in the way of her future happiness. So when a handsome stranger comes to Halfhidden will she let love back into her life?
I have loved Trisha’s previous novels and I was excited to receive a review copy of her new novel, Creature Comforts. I always find a warmth and humour in Trisha’s novels and this one was no exception.
Izzy is a lovely character and I liked her from the beginning. She has a relatable quality to her and I wanted her to be OK throughout the course of the book. She simply wants to get on with her life and the only way she can do this is to find out what happened the night of the accident she was involved in when she was sixteen. She is a lovely girl but is not someone who is going to be walked over and I loved this about her.
The other characters are endearing. I loved Debo and Judy and I loved Lulu and Cameron together. I did not warm to Dan or Kieran at all but I think that was the point. Rufus was a great character and I knew from the beginning that he wasn’t going to be what he seemed or as horrible as people made out. I felt quite sorry for him actually – with all of the things he was having to deal with.
by March: Which Book is This Anyway?
It’s the second month of our new competition, Which Book is This Anyway?
Many of us judge books by their covers and make our choices based on that and the accompanying blurb. Our competition adds a little mystery.
The prize for this competition is a book but the identity of that book will not be revealed until the lucky winner receives it. It could be a recent new release or a well-known classic. Who knows? We won’t even reveal the genre. It’s a surprise.
All we will reveal about March’s choice is this: ‘A young girl’s tale about her strange family. This story has been described as clever, moving, fascinating and funny.’
How to enter:
by Blog Tour: Writing Rituals and Inspriations by Rachel Abbott
Hello Rachel, thank you for joining us. We’re delighted to be part of your blog tour. Your new novel is called Stranger Child. What’s it about and what inspired it?
If I had to find one word which sums up what Stranger Child is about, it would have to be revenge – but that nowhere near covers it.
Emma Jacobs met David – now her husband – several years ago, but they lost touch when she went to Australia. When she came back, she was horrified to learn that David’s first wife had been killed in a car accident, and his six-year-old daughter had disappeared from the scene. Now, six years later, Emma and David have put the past behind them and are happily married with a new baby, Ollie.
And then a stranger walks into their lives, and their world falls apart.
Emma discovers things about her own past that shock her, and when she contacts her old friend DCI Tom Douglas for help, their pursuit of the truth sets in motion a series of terrifying events that neither of them could have imagined.
Emotions run high in this book, and each of the main characters has to face a dilemma that nobody should ever have to deal with.
Can you tell us a little about your route to publication?
I am extremely fortunate in having an amazing agent who really looks after me well. I start with an idea of the story and the characters, and I send it to her. She mulls it over and comes back with the things she likes and the things she hates, and somehow or other we knock the outline into shape.
And then I write. I do nothing else – just sit at my desk and write. I love it, but the first draft is always pretty dire. However, it creates the framework, and from there I can go back and work out the detail.
When I’m happy, it goes for first edit – and I know that there will be lots of changes to be made. These are structural – sometimes quite major – but always good. There are a couple of rounds with the editors, and then it goes to line edit where we argue about the detail. Is this sentence necessary? Would we lose anything if we chopped out this paragraph? Then finally the copy edit – when I’m always surprised at the little details that I’ve missed.
We have Advance Review Copies prepared in paperback – this is something we have started with Stranger Child – and my publicists send out copies to anybody who is keen to review the book.
And as an independent author, I also have to think about the marketing, the cover, the blurb – it’s very much a full time job at every stage.
by Blog Tour: Stranger Child by Rachel Abbott – Review
When Emma Joseph met her husband David, he was a man shattered by grief. His first wife had been killed outright when her car veered off the road. Just as tragically, their six-year-old daughter mysteriously vanished from the scene of the accident.
Now, six years later, Emma believes the painful years are behind them. She and David have built a new life together and have a beautiful baby son, Ollie.
Then a stranger walks into their lives, and their world tilts on its axis.
Emma’s life no longer feels secure. Does she know what really happened all those years ago? And why does she feel so frightened for herself and for her baby?
When a desperate Emma reaches out to her old friend DCI Tom Douglas for help, she puts all their lives in jeopardy. Before long, a web of deceit is revealed that shocks both Emma and Tom to the core.
They say you should never trust a stranger. Maybe they’re right.
(Warning: a couple of spoilers.)
This was my first book from author, Rachel Abbott. From the first page, this book had me hooked. I do like books like this; physiological thrillers that I can’t seem to put down. I was reading this book into the early hours where I looked up and suddenly realised it was three am.
by Blog Tour: Stranger Child by Rachel Abbott
Black Dot Publishing, Feb 2015
We’re delighted to welcome Rachel Abbott to Novel Kicks. She is the author of three novels, Only The Innocent, The Back Road and Sleep Tight. Her fourth novel, Stranger Child has just been released on e-book. Today, we will chat to Rachel about her book but first, she has shared an extract Stranger Child. Enjoy!
Emma glanced out at the dismal day. The black clouds heavy with rain were creating such gloom that the kitchen lights were a necessity even this early in the afternoon.
For a moment, she was in a trance, staring at nothing because in her head she could see summer days when the garden was finished, the beds bursting with newly planted flowers. She could almost smell the lavender she would grow in the borders.
She wasn’t sure of the moment that it happened. It wasn’t an instant in time, it was more of a gradual awareness, but as she stared blindly at the black window, dreaming of the happy months ahead, something moved at the edge of her peripheral vision. Her eyes refocused from the garden to the surface of the glass, the bright lights of the kitchen against the dark sky beyond creating a perfect mirror.
Every nerve ending in her body prickled, and she gasped as her brain finally acknowledged what she was looking at.
It was a pair of eyes. A pair of eyes that were behind her, watching.
Close behind her. In her kitchen.
by Book Club
