100 Not Out
Page 12
(The End – Almost)
Acknowledgements
A fair few folk have helped bring this collection into existence, most of them unwittingly it has to be said. Chief amongst these has to be Emma Baird. Author of the excellent young adult novel Katie And The Deelans, plus two other novels on the brink of publication at time of writing, she’s also the founder of Friday Flash Fiction; it’s from her head that this entire 100-word story nonsense emerged. As the Creative Director of Comely Bank Publishing she’s also acted in an editorial capacity, checking that this collection is up to the organisation’s quality standards. Blame her if you thought the stories were rubbish, then.
However it would be wrong not to acknowledge the comments of many other contributors to Friday Flash Fiction. There are really too many to mention, but some of the longer-lasting ones have included Russell Conover, Joy Essien, Amy Friedman, Jan Jorgensen, Len Nourse, Jo Oldani-Osborne, Jane Reid, Eric Smith and Bobby Warner. I’d particularly recommend Eric Smith’s recently-published memoir, written in vignette style, called Not A Bad Ride. But if you take a look at the Friday Flash Fiction website you’ll see that each writer has or her own style and you can see for yourself which you prefer. You can even have a go yourself.
As ever, my wife Katherine has had to sit across the living room from me while I’ve sat with my laptop selecting wheat from chaff and assembled them into an ebook. She seems content enough reading newspapers, doing crosswords, and listening to all sorts of music on her iPad, but her company’s been great throughout.
About The Author
Born in 1952, Gordon Lawrie has lived his entire life in Edinburgh working as a secondary school teacher until he quit in 2011 to dabble in writing fiction. Fiction proved to be a relief from writing supposedly serious articles on citizenship or reviewing other writers’ work on education, and his first novel Four Old Geezers And A Valkyrie was published, first as an ebook in 2012, then in print the following year.
Other work followed, including short stories, some poetry and numerous flash fiction works of varying length, but specialising mainly in ‘drabbles’, stories of exactly 100 words in length.
Today, in addition to his writing, he works as a part-time IT and website consultant, manages the website for Friday Flash Fiction, and is Founder and Managing Director of the self-publishing collective Comely Bank Publishing.
Also By The Author
FOUR OLD GEEZERS AND A VALKYRIE
Gordon Lawrie's first published novel is an entertaining romp set in contemporary Edinburgh.
Brian, aka 'Captain', is a recently-retired, disillusioned depute head teacher who has split acrimoniously with his ex-wife, known for a wild temper and throwing things at him. In his rush to get free of her, he has mistakenly agreed to give her half of his newly-acquired pension, seriously threatening his precarious finances. A chance meeting with his best man encourages Captain to dig out his forty-year-old guitar and leads to a series of hilarious jam sessions in a back garden in Merchiston during which they record a couple of captain's own songs. Posting these on YouTube, they prove to be surprise hits, sending the four 'musicians' and their lawyer into a series of encounters with a tiny manager, a boy-band and a female Polish dancer, a cigar-puffing earl and a famous rock band. Priced £8.99 RRP, the book is available at good bookshops, online, and direct – either from Comely Bank Publishing at https://www.comelybankpublishing.com/gordon-lawrie.html or from the author’s own at https://www.lawrie.info/.
The novel is unusual in that the songs Captain writes really exist, and most of them can be downloaded, either in sheet-music form or as downloadable mp3 files, at the author’s website https://www.lawrie.info/.
THE PIANO EXAM
Edinburgh schoolteacher Brian Reid has an ambition - to pass a fairly basic piano exam. After trying a number of teachers, he finds one who might be able to help him... This short story was written as a prequel to the full-length novel Four Old Geezers And A Valkyrie.
The story can be downloaded for free at
https://www.lawrie.info/uploads/1/7/3/2/17329242/the_piano_exam.pdf.
Other Titles From Comely Bank Publishing
KATIE AND THE DEELANS
Emma Baird
Aimed at young adults, Katie And The Deelans is Emma Baird's first novel with Comely Bank Publishing.
Katie And The Deelans is the story of Katie Harper and her friends, ordinary teenagers who go to the worst school in the country. Life, however, takes a turn for the extraordinary when Katie and her friends take up magic lessons.
Taught by the fabulous Miss D’Azzler and the enigmatic Jazz, Katie and her friends find out that they are deelans – humans who can change into cats and who have magical powers. Katie and her friends enjoy the first few months of being deelans by practising their magical skills and trying to improve the school and life for those living in the sink housing estates nearby.But Katie, who has struggled through parental alcoholism, neglect and abandonment by her mum and dad, wants to use her magical abilities mainly to improve her life AND start a relationship with the school’s best-looking boy, Danny Finch.
But just who is Danny Finch? And what about the super-powerful deelans determined to do harm? Katie has a lot to learn and her adventures take her from experiments with apples that turn into chocolate to mind-reading (it’s not all it’s cracked up to be), battles with wicked women and unexpected family revelations.
THE MAN FROM OUTREMER
T. D. Burke
The Man From Outremer is a swashbuckling tale of treachery and action. Set largely in Scotland at the time of the early Scottish Wars of Independence around 1300 AD, it follows Derwent, a Scottish Crusader-turned-clergyman, and his involvement first of all in the Fall of Acre in Palestine, then later as Prior of Roslin in Scotland.
Against Derwent stands his nemesis, an English spymaster who is desperate to conceal a dark secret from the Crusader days. In time, they will confront each other in battle at Roslin.
As Burke weaves characters real and fictitious seamlessly through his tale, he not only entertains but also offers a real insight into the politics and society of fourteenth-century Britain.
OUR BEST ATTENTION
Jane Tulloch
Jane Tulloch's debut novel, Our Best Attention, is set in Murrays, a fictional Edinburgh department store in the 1970s. It's a large, gothic, rambling building, but the store's real heart lies in its staff and its customers. Join the owner, Miss Murray herself, as she tries to manage the challenges Murrays faces in adapting to changing times.
WHAT'S THE POINT?
One final bonus story, just to show that 100 words can sometimes be far, far too many.
"Aaaaaarrrrrrrgh!"
"Urrrrrrrrgh!"
"Aaaaaaarrrgh!"
"Uuuuurrrghhh!"
"Aaaaaarrrrgh!"
"Urrrgh!"
"Aaaaarrrrrrgh!"
"Uuuuuuuurrrrgh!"
"AAAAAAAARRRRRGH!"
"Fifteen-love."
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