TWENTY FOUR SHORT STORIES by Michael Ross – a guest post, an excerpt, and a giveaway!

Thank you, Michael, for providing the following inside look at your writing.

It has always fascinated me how the genesis for a story or a novel evolves itself.

Here is a little anecdote that follows a trip over a mountain led to a short story which led to a novel which led to a series. I’m meant to be plugging my new short story anthology, but I’m going to do my usual, start writing, and see where the words take me. (“Words, once written, have a life of their own.”) 

I live in the Welsh Valleys – poor communities but glorious countryside. I live hallway up a mountain and the nearest town called Treorchy is over the other side of the mountain. A lovely town and world famous for having the best male voice choir in the world. Now male voice choirs are not my thing, but after living here for several years it seemed silly not travelling to watch and hear a choir that people travel hundreds of miles to hear and they were playing in the town itself – The Park and Dare Theatre named after two local collieries. We are talking serious coal mining territory here. 

I really enjoyed their first half performance (I mean they are seriously good,) and intended to wander around the town during the break when they announced, as guest artist, they were welcoming on stage the winner of the Welsh under twelve’s musical soloist award that year. 

This little girl came on stage came on stage carrying a trumpet and my first thought was Oh dear! 

However, she blew my mind performing Neil Diamond’s song “Solitaire.” It was utterly breath taking and as I drove home and over the next few days, I could not get her performance out of my head. It was so sad and it doubly resonated as I was then estranged from my youngest son who was learning to play the guitar. 

So, I sat down at the PC and imagined a character cut off from his son and his only contact was when his son played his trumpet out the bedroom window of his new home. As the story evolved this unnamed character’s back story got sadder, however it finished up as one of the best reviewed stories entitled A Face I Cannot See in my first anthology Twenty Short Stories.  

The story niggled away at me for years; what happened to him? Did his life degenerate further? Did he find some happiness later on in his life? So eventually I sat at my desk opened up the document and plunged I; not having a clue where his story would lead. 64,000 words later I had my answer: life worked out well with the help of two hitherto unknown characters Pin-up and Tanner and a new series of thrillers was created. The first Pin-up and Tanner thriller Hand over Fist has exactly the same wording as the short story. 

So, a bit of a traipse, but that is how a crime thriller series evolved from a trip to watch a male voice choir – and I did not make it up. 

Twenty-Four Short Stories
by Michael Ross
GENRE:   Anthology

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.

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.

Download today or read on Kindle Unlimited! https://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Four-Short-Stories-anthology-ebook/dp/B09416592Y/

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

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