How often do you judge a book by its cover? Is it the first thing you’re drawn to, or is the title? I’m definitely a Judge-a-Book-by-its-Cover girl!
Here’s why I started Judge a Book by its Cover!
I’ve got a mixture of genres today. A bit of love and magic, harsh realities and heartbreak, and a memoir of violence and corruption!
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Are you a member of a book club? If so, do you meet virtually or in-person?
I attend a book club run by Pangur Bán Bookshop in conjunction with Craoibhín Ballina. We meet in-person once a month.
The book up for discussion last month was none other than Secrets in the Babby House written by me! I was absolutely thrilled when my book by chosen, a little bit nervous too. Will they like it? Will I be able for the criticism? Book club critiques aren’t necessarily constructive. These readers know what they like and they’re not shy about voicing their opinions.
Day 7 #100DaysOfOldDays
This is a gorgeous photo. So much could be said about it. The cute little sailor hats, the blanket that I remember so well and the way my mam spread it out on the car for the boys to sit on. That was our picnic blanket, our beach blanket, and our throw for the couch. We had it for years.
The blue caravan on the right is the one we stayed in. It didn’t belong to us. It was borrowed from a family friend. It was quite small, but big enough for seven of us…just like the car was!
The number plate on the car—a Ford Anglia—is a number I’ve always remembered. MZJ558. Before the Anglia, we had a Morris Minor. I don’t remember that one.
I wanted Frederick O’Malley—a character in my novel—to own an Anglia, but my Dad informed me that no one had Anglias in Bailieborough in the 50’s. He said the relative of the Anglia, the Ford Prefect, was more popular in that era. So I gave Frederick the Prefect Coupe Utility model, because he needs a spacious vehicle for his regular trips to Dublin—although it is more often used by his son John.
My novel spans over three decades, and in 1976 I gave Jim Fitzpatrick an old second-hand Anglia.
A 1922 Baby Austin also features in the early years of my book and it belongs to the closeted gay character, George. He bought it at an auction; a bargain at ninety pounds!
I’m very late contributing to this month’s picture prompt. I did start the prompt a few weeks ago but…..you know yourself. Life!
Write a story, a poem, a limerick inspired by the last picture on your camera roll, and join us here at Strange Bloggers Picture Prompt 2.
Come and share your own story with us once you checked your camera roll.
The last picture in my camera roll was of this old style dresser taken in the Kerry Bog Village Museum, which we toured while visiting my uncle in Glenbeigh. Since I started writing my fictional novel I’ve become more interested than ever in Irish history. The Bog Village Museum gives an insight into the lives of people in the 18th Century, and this beautiful red dresser stood out for me because a similar one features in my story (insignificantly)…even though my story begins in 1956.
So I decided to share an excerpt of my story. Please let me know what you think! Thank you. 😉
Flossie looked the place up and down. A wave of childhood memories consumed her; the smell of baking and oranges filling her senses. Mrs Connolly always had a bowl of oranges on the table, believing that they encouraged conversation and happiness. It was a different house now. The net curtains were the same except they were grey and frayed, not snow white and pristine as they once were. The red paint peeled in patches on the dresser that was once filled with odd pieces of vibrant coloured pottery.
Flossie sipped at her tea, but she couldn’t face a sandwich. She took a Marietta instead. It would keep her hands busy. Everyone was talking about the deceased. The sombre atmosphere was fraught with speculation and disbelief. The wide-eyed busybodies were hungry for the latest gossip, whispering and watching, listening to everything that was being said. Some only there for the drink, others there out of genuine neighbourly concern.
John nudged Flossie with his elbow. ‘We should go on in.’
All the chairs in the mourning room were occupied, mostly with strangers—relations probably—and a few men whom she knew worked in Corries. Those men he worked with; Flossie wondered did they know what went on in this house. Did he ever tell any of them? Even one of them? No, of course he didn’t. That would’ve been a great laugh for them. She knew how they carried on, how they teased and ribbed each other. They were the last people Frank would tell about the mental torture he had to endure in his own home. The same house that was his home since the day he was born. His happy childhood home!
A gentle breeze from an open window flickered the tiny flames on the candles that surrounded the closed coffin. The smell of incense brought Flossie back to her father’s funeral, and she remembered gazing at him, laid out in his best suit, coins sitting on his closed eyelids, and Auntie Bridgey pulling her away. She thought it was the strangest thing; the coins.
She will touch the coffin and she will say a prayer. She was glad it was closed because she can pretend it’s merely an empty box. A big brown wooden box with nothing in it.
Here’s Blogger’s Picture Prompt #1
Poems and Stories
Sharing The Book Love Since 2016
Short Stories by Shan Storyteller
Mostly books, with a little wine writing on the side
And, for good measure, a bit of Cooking and Eating
Join me on my adventures through life!
Gloria McBreen 