Twenty-Four Short Stories by Michael Ross

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Michael Ross will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Things You Might Not Know About Me

Towards the end of my working career I went back to university for a six year part time degree in English Literature and Community Engagement – one of the best decisions in my life. The literature side of the degree was eye opening – who knew Shakespeare would be so interesting? How would I have known that at the end of the course that Virginia Woolf would be my favourite writer? Going off at a tangent here Woolf guided me it understanding the power of the ‘unsaid’ in writing. Occasionally in a short story I will leave an “unsaid” under the text to allow the reader to fill in the missing gaps. “Words, once written, have a life of their own.” However, the greatest, most rewarding part of my degree was the community engagement element of the course. I finished up running a reading group for a local charity that helped people on their way to recovery from drug and alcohol abuse. Before I became involved the group was poorly attended as they used to take one book at a time and work through it a long section at a time. I redevised it to work with just small chunks and most importantly I introduced poetry into the sessions, which was the turning point in the success of the groups which are still running ten years later. Quite of a few of my stories have evolved from stories that came out from participants who might have connected with the words of Dickens, Keats whatever.

I am still in touch on Facebook with some of these people and the joy to follow people who have turned their lives around form the darkest despair to fulsome and contented lives, for me, is joyful beyond words.

Thank you to Its Raining Books for making me reflect back.

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.

Read an 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.

About the Author:

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: http://www.facebook.com/michaelross.writer
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mikerosswriter

The book will be free.

https://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Four-Short-Stories-anthology-ebook/dp/B09416592Y/ref=sr_1_2

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