Hello,
I have been inconsistent with this lately. Apologies for that I have had various things on. Normal service will resume next week.
Until then I had a new short story in Granta last week. I’m really proud of how it turned out. It’s one of my favourite things I’ve written I think.
Here is the very start (a great start if I say so myself):
When they start the announcements to say the plane is landing, thank you for flying with us, put your seatbelt on and don’t be wandering about, trying to use the toilet, all the rest of it, I press my forehead against the window.
A cloud stretches across the sky. Bright white like hotel sheets. Unbroken, so I can’t see anything below. The airport. Or where the sea turns into the Lagan. Farmhouses and their neat green fields. Wild patches of forest. The navy ikea warehouse. The mountains. My da, recovering from his operation.
When he called on Tuesday evening, drunk, and asked me back, the first thought I had was about the woman he’d been seeing. I vaguely knew she was younger and they’d met in a pub. I asked could she not help and he paused. Then he said he thought she’d moved back to Lisburn. I said had she moved back or did he think she had. He said he didn’t know.
Till next time xxxx
You can buy my novel, Lazy City here.