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Ten questions to André K. Baby

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

TEN QUESTIONS TO ANDRÉ K. BABY

In this month’s blog, I have tried to convey a few personal aspects of my work as author in the form on an interview. Here are ten questions from André Baby the interviewer, to André Baby the author.

1. You are a francophone yet you write in English. How come?

As a kid, I spent a lot of my leisure time reading thrillers, and in French, the authors in this genre were not legion. Apart from George Simenon and a few others, there was no francophone  thriller tradition yet. But in the Anglo –Saxon world, Erskine Childers, Graham Greene, Ian Fleming, Somerset Maugham, Lawrence Durrell and later Grisham, Brown, Berry , Le Carré, Ludlum and others filled my imagination and enhanced my vocabulary, hence the ease for me to write in English.

2.  How did you come up with the character of your protagonist Thierry Dulac?

 Inspector Thierry Dulac grew out of my first story’s plot in Dead Bishops Don’t Lie, which involves a series of crimes committed in different countries.  I needed a policeman with cross-border authority and investigative powers in many jurisdictions, unimpeded by the geographical limitations of local police. Enter Interpol’s Dulac, with his baggage of faults, bad habits and sometimes questionable methods, but who gets results. It followed naturally that Dulac found himself in the heat of the action in The Chimera Sanction, another multi-locale story, and later  in Jaws of the Tiger, where his services are needed to aid Scotland Yard’s Harry Wade.

3. What are some of the technical aspects of your research for your latest thriller Jaws of the Tiger?

One of the challenges was simultaneously coordinating the different time zones of England, the hijacked ship and the US Coast guard, and making sure that the events happening on the ship, in England and in the US were being reported accurately in each time zone.

Another aspect of my research centered on the inner workings of Scotland Yard, with whom Dulac has to work with during his investigation. It was fascinating to learn how the Yard has improved investigative techniques with the use of super- computers such as HOLMES 3.

4.  Has your career as a lawyer helped you in your writing?

At ThrillerFest a couple of summers ago in New York City, I happened to attend a conference given by Steve Berry, best-selling author and “reformed lawyer”, as he calls himself.  As an introductory remark, he asked: "all right, how many lawyers out there?"  A forest of hands shot up in the air, to the amusement of all.  I was surprised to see the large number of lawyers- turned-crime writers. Natural affinity? Perhaps, but I think a lawyer has advantages and disadvantages when it comes to writing a good thriller.  Training in logical thinking, especially when piecing together the various aspects of the story, is certainly a plus. Also we lawyers are taught to be concise, and that every word counts. Authors should emulate this.  On the negative side, the conveying of emotions to the characters is rendered more difficult, as lawyers tend to suppress their emotions. It took me awhile to think about and put down on paper what my novel’s characters actually felt.

5.  How is Jaws of the Tiger different from other thrillers in the genre?

I think the main difference is that Jaws of the Tiger starts off as an action thriller, then morphs into a police procedural. In an earlier version, the full story was all action, but I felt the reader was left in the cold as to an important aspect of the plot, ie, finding out who was actually  behind the meticulously- planned hijacking. After that, I came  to believe writers should follow the story, and not try to fit it into the constraints of a specific genre. 

6. Why do you write?

For the intellectual challenge. Also, writing crime novels for me is a form of escapism from some of the brutal realities of our time.

7. Care to you share with us your writing habits?

 I’d like to think my writing habits are slowly improving with experience and time. I used to write sporadically but now I try to fix a weekly schedule yet invariably  life manages to get in the way. Still, I try to organize my time more or less evenly between writing and extracurricular activities.

 8.  How do you go from the idea of the book to the finished manuscript? Do you draft outlines?

When undertaking a new project, at first I try to take a synoptic view of what I’ll be writing about: choice of protagonist, type of crime, locations, and primary antagonist. At this moment, I have nothing more than a vague idea of the ending.  Initially, I tried making outlines, but they changed so much during the course of writing that finally I gave up. At best, I’ll draft a few lines and bits of dialogue to give direction to the next few chapters. 

My first draft is invariably a skeleton, usually in the form of dialogue. My only goal at this time is to get the story down on paper: a bare minimum of setting and description holds the skeleton together.  During the next five or six revisions, I’ll have fleshed out my characters, added narration, descriptions of settings, made my dialogues  more vivid, punchy and  credible. I’ll have cut out extraneous bits, rendered the story more fluid, and connected the scenes. With any luck, my manuscript can then be submitted to the publisher. 

 9.   What are your thoughts on the latest publishing industry developments, mainly the rise of self-publishing? 

I am both traditionally published and self- published. I self- pubbed “Dead Bishops Don’t Lie” with CreateSpace, and The Chimera Sanction was published by Robert Hale Books. The French versions of both those thrillers are traditionally published.

Also, I was delighted when BWL Publishing accepted to publish “Jaws of the Tiger”.

Although I enjoyed the process of self-publishing with Amazon's CreateSpace, I rapidly found myself facing the biggest hurdle of all self -publishers,  namely  a limited scope of distribution to bookstores. Due to the problem of returns, one can only hope to place one’s novel within a small geographical circle from one’s home. To market the book outside that circle quickly becomes economically unjustifiable. Another disadvantage of self pubbing is that one must rely entirely on oneself to edit, market and promote the book.  In contrast, a traditional publisher has a country-wide distribution network, offers the support of an editing team and a marketing team. 

Although I believe there is room for both traditional and self-publishing, as far as I’m concerned the advantages of the former far outweigh the ones of the latter. 

10.  What is your greatest disappointment as a writer? What is your greatest satisfaction ? 

What I found most disappointing in the publishing world is the rejection process, to be more precise sometimes the lack of basic civility in the form of an acknowledgement on the part of the recipient, following an author’s query. Even a form letter is better than a total lack of response.  As to satisfaction, there is no greater gratification for a writer, I think, that to open one's computer and to find an e-mail from a reader saying how much she/ he enjoyed my book. That invariably makes my day.

Queen Anne Stuart- Part One- The Princess Bride by Rosemary Morris

For more information on Tangled Love please click here.



About Rosemary Morris

Every day my daily routine begins at six a.m. when I make a cup of herbal tea. After I drink it, I turn on the laptop. With time out to have breakfast I write – my goal is to write a minimum of 1,000 words a day – and deal with ‘writerly’ business, such as checking my emails, until 10 a.m.
Apart from the daily chores, housework, shopping, washing clothes etc., I am a keen organic gardener. During this month I plant out hardy cyclamen, pansies, primulas and wallflowers to provide winter colour, and bulbs to flower in late winter and spring. I also pot up bulbs and bring potted plants into the greenhouse to shelter from frost.
Autumn is the ‘season of mellow fruitfulness’ when I enjoy apples and pears from my organic garden where I also grow soft fruit, herbs, vegetables and ornamental shrubs and flowers.
After lunch I usually work for an hour on the laptop before I read fiction, or historical non-fiction to research my novels.
At around four p.m. I resume ‘writerly’ activities until eight p.m. unless I am otherwise engaged as I will be this evening when guys are burned, bonfires are lit, and fireworks spangle the night sky to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day.

Queen Anne Stuart
Part One
The Cinderella Princess

My novel, Tangled Love, is set in the reign of Queen Anne Stuart, who reigned from 1702 to 1714, a ‘Cinderella’ princess of little importance during her childhood.
When she was born, neither her uncle, Charles II, nor his younger brother, her father, James, Duke of York, could have foretold that she would become the last of the Stuart monarchs. Charles’ seven bastards proved his virility so there was every reason to believe he and his queen of three years would have legitimate heirs to the throne. In the unlikely event of their not producing one, his brother and sister-in-law, James and Anne, had produced an older brother and sister for the latest addition to their nursery, baby Anne.
In those days infant mortality was high. Anne and her older sister, Mary, survived the Great Plague which broke out in the year of Anne’s birth. The little princesses grew up in their nursery but their brother James, another brother and two little sisters died. One can imagine the effects of these deaths on ‘Cinderella’, a small girl with poor health whose weak eyes watered constantly.
With the king’s consent to have her eyes treated in France, her parents sent four-year-old Anne to her grandmother, widow of the executed Charles I.
As I write, I have before me a portrait of Anne as a small girl painted at the French court by an unknown artist. She is plump and adorable, dressed in brocade, playing with a King Charles spaniel. Her eyes are wary set in an oval face with a mouth shaped in a perfect cupid’s bow.
In 1699, after Anne’s grandmother died, the little girl passed into the care of her father’s sister, Henrietta Maria, Duchess of Orleans, whom Anne’s uncle, the King of England doted on. One year later, five-year-old ‘Cinderella’ had to cope with yet another death, this time that of her aunt, whose husband, younger brother of the French king, was suspected of poisoning her. Anne returned to England, her eyes only slightly improved. By then her mother was unpopular because she had converted to the Church of Rome. Anne’s father gave serious consideration to his salvation. He took Holy Communion from a papist priest. The decisions ‘Cinderella’s parents’ made would have a long-term effect on the young Princess Anne’s future.

Extract from Tangled Love
Prologue – 1693

Author’s Note The heroine is another Cinderella who goes from riches to rags.

“Nine-year-old Richelda Shaw sat on the floor in her nursery. She pulled a quilt over her head to block out the thunder pealing outside the ancient manor house, while an even fiercer storm raged deep within. Eyes closed, she remained as motionless as a marble statue.
Elsie, her mother’s personal maid, removed the quilt from her head. “Stand up child, there’s nothing to be frightened of. Come, your father’s waiting for you.
Richelda trembled. Until now Father’s short visits from France meant gifts and laughter. This one made Mother cry while servants spoke in hushed tones.
Followed by Elsie, Richelda hurried down the broad oak stairs. For a moment, she paused to admire Lilies of the Valley in a Delft bowl. Only yesterday, she had picked the flowers to welcome Father home, and then arranged them with tender care. Now, the bowl stood on a chest, beneath a pair of crossed broadswords hanging on the wall.
Elsie opened the massive door of the great hall where Father waited at one side of an enormous hearth. Richelda hesitated. Her eyes searched for her mother before she walked across the floor, spread her skirts wide, and knelt before him.
Father placed his right hand on her bent head. “Bless you, daughter; may God keep you safe.”
He smiled. “Stand up, child. Upon my word, sweetheart, your hair reminds me of a golden rose. How glad I am to see roses bloom in these troubled times.”
Richelda stood but dared not speak, for she did not know him well.
Putting an arm round her waist, he drew her to him. “Come, do not be nervous of your father, child. Tell me if you know King James II holds court in France while his daughter, Mary, and William, his son-in-law, rule, after seizing his throne?”
“Yes, Mother told me we are well rid of King James and his Papist wife,” she piped up, proud of her knowledge.
With a sigh, Father lifted her onto his knee. “Richelda, I must follow His Majesty, for I swore an oath of allegiance to him. Tell me, child, while King James lives, how can I with honour swear allegiance to his disloyal daughter and her husband?” Unable to think of a reply, she lowered her head, breathing in his spicy perfume.
Father held her closer. “Your mother pleads with me to declare myself for William and Mary. She begs me not to return to France, but I am obliged to serve King James. Do you understand?”
As she nodded, her cheek brushed against his velvet coat. “Yes, I understand, my tutor told me why many gentlemen will not serve the new king and queen.”
“If you remain in England, you will be safe. Bellemont is part of your mother’s dowry, so I doubt it will be confiscated.”
If she remained in England! Startled, she stared at him.

Five Star Review of Tangled Love

Rosemary Morris has crafted a superb novel set in the Queen Anne time-period in London. The historical details are accurately researched and artfully presented, making excellent use of vivid sensory details. Further, the characters spring to life, each fully moulded into his or her unique personality.
Bound by a childhood promise made to her father, protagonist Richelda faces tough challenges nearly a decade later. Poor and now orphaned, she dreams of a better future with all the trappings of the good life. But, to keep her promise, she must regain the ancestral home, Field House, which is said to contain hidden treasure. Her vow to her father is sealed by a ruby ring that she wears on a chain around her neck--a constant reminder of her promise.
Dudley, her childhood sweetheart, plus the charismatic Viscount Lord Chesney, her suitor in an arranged marriage by her wealthy aunt, set the stage for Rachelda's doubts and uncertainties. Dudley won her heart years earlier, but is he all that he appears to be? Chesney, on the other hand, is the owner of Field House and could offer her the life she dreams about in her ancestral home. Further, Aunt Isobel has promised to make Richelda her heiress on the condition she does indeed marry Lord Chesney. Yet are her push-pull feelings for Chesney strong enough to merit a marriage vow? Throughout the story, Richelda never disappoints. She is spirited, fiercely independent, sweet, and loving--truly a three-dimensional character.
Author Rosemary Morris takes her readers gently by the hand and leads them down a highly entertaining pathway filled with love, intrigue, deceit, and mystery. Highly recommended. A winner!

Sil.

Novels by Rosemary Morris

Early 18th Century novels: Tangled Love, Far Beyond Rubies, The Captain and The Countess
Regency Novels False Pretences, Sunday’s Child, Monday’s Child, Tuesday’s Child, Wednesday’s Child and Thursday’s Child.
Mediaeval Novel Yvonne Lady of Cassio. The Lovages of Cassio Book One
www.rosemarymorris.co.uk
http://bookswelove.net/authors/morris-rosemary

Ding-dang Ruthless Justice by Katherine Pym

Buy Here

~*~*~*~

Cromwell's Death Mask

Over the centuries, public executions were entertainment. Crowds gathered en masse to watch these events. They brought their children and baskets of food. They picnicked and laughed.

Justice would not allow a guilty person to escape his sentence. One such fellow condemned to be hanged found a way to escape when brought to the gallows.

As the magistrates hauled the poor fellow to the hanging tree, his legs shackled, the condemned man dodged a guard and scampered away. The crowd impeded the goalers from catching him. He ran down the hill and jumped into the river. The weight his restraints pulled him under and he drowned.

Not content to have the prisoner die before being properly hanged, the authorities hauled him sopping wet and completely dead, back to the noose, and there hanged him with his fellow prisoners. They did this during the French Revolution, too, threw a dead person in the tumbril to suffer the same fate as those around him. Guillotined, the most humane way to go, or so it is reported.

Enter Oliver Cromwell, who succumbed to what experts feel was malarial fever on the proverbial dark and stormy night in Whitehall, Sept 3^rd, 1658. His enemies described the storm as the devil dragging the great saint to hell.

John Bradshaw

Cromwell’s men wanted a sumptuous funeral that would rival King James I’s. They gutted and embalmed him, his coffin filled with spices, but for some reason his body rapidly decayed. It was reportedly so putrid that the body ruptured, leaving a horrendous miasma which leaked through the seams of the coffin.

Henry Ireton

This left no opportunity for Cromwell to lay in state or be paraded through the city. He was buried quickly in Westminster Abbey alongside England’s kings and queens. Later, to appease the populace, an effigy replaced the body for viewing. An empty coffin was hauled through the city streets.

In 1660, King Charles II returned from exile. He did not seek utter reprisal, but he could not let those who killed his father escape without some sort of comment.

Tyburn Gallows

Of the 59 regicides who signed the death warrant, 39 were alive at the Restoration. Of these, several were in self-exile, a few exonerated. Of those executed, some met a grisly end.

Really horrible so I won’t bother telling the details but I’ll tell you the following:

Three high on the list to meet justice were Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton, & John Bradshaw, all dead and buried in Westminster Abbey. Their bodies were ordered exhumed, hanged and beheaded.

King Charles I at his trial

January 30^th, 1661 (Gregorian calendar), they were pulled from their resting places and dragged to Tyburn. Since Cromwell’s burial had been so regal, his body wrapped in a thick shroud, it took several strikes of the axe to behead him. The three dead men swung from the gallows, then beheaded, their bodies shoved in unmarked graves beneath Tyburn. Their heads were impaled on pikes and set on the roof of the Westminster, where they remained for 20-30 years. One night, during another dark and stormy night, Cromwell’s head was struck by lightning, which fell to the ground and was spirited away.

There are several stories about where the head bounced. 

In the ensuing years, Cromwell’s head was considered a conversation piece put on display. Men of knowledge considered the head more than likely genuine. It is rumored someone finally put it in a biscuit tin and buried it. One source states it was interred in 1960 in Cromwell’s old college chapel, its exact location concealed. 

~*~*~*~

Many thanks to Wikicommons, Public domain &

http://bcw-project.org/biography/oliver-cromwell

http://bcw-project.org/biography/henry-ireton

http://bcw-project.org/biography/john-bradshaw

Writing Styles by J. S. Marlo

J. S. Marlo BWL Author Page

Planner vs Pantser. These two different types of writers are more than likely familiar to you. A planner is a writer who plans her entire story from start to end—the key plot, the subplots, the characters, the settings, etc—before writing the first word. At the other end of the writing spectrum is the pantser who develops her story as she writes—she flies by the seat of her pants, therefore pantser. I'll admit I started as a true pantser, but after writing myself in a corner on one too many occasions,  I
began thinking ahead. I grew into an hybrid. A Plantser. Before I start writing a new novel, I plan my key plot and major characters, then the magic of writing takes over. These characters introduce me to my minor characters and create their own subplots. I know what you're thinking. They are all figments of my imagination, except they are not. As the story progresses, these characters take a mind of their own.  After 15,000 words or so, they stop dancing to my tune. They will object if I make them do something that is out of character. Very frustrating!

Regardless of how much planning you did, or didn't do, you will eventually start writing. Most writers will write following some sort of chronological order—first scene first, second scene second...last scene last—while others may decide to write farther or random scenes when creativity strikes them. I did that once. I wrote a scene that was stuck in my head but wouldn't occur until two chapters later. Well, by the time I arrive at that part of the story, my characters had taken a left turn and the pre-written scene no longer fitted the story. From then on, I kept things linear, though I found myself going back and adding in-between scenes.

Now, let's get down to writing a scene. Some write by layers. First, they put the skeleton of the scene down on paper (or computer)—basic dialogues and basic descriptions. Once they finish, they go back, extend the dialogue and added more physical details—"I visited my grandmother." becomes "I visited my grandmother Edna. She's eight-five years old but doesn't look a day older than sixty-five".—They  sat in a coffee shop. becomes Seated on plastic yellow chairs at the local coffee shop, they sipped on their latte while catching up. Once they finished writing that second layer, they go back at the beginning again and add a third layer (like what or how the characters feel), and a fourth layer (like what their other senses pick up...a smell, an unusual sound...), until the scene is complete. Some writers extend the layer technique to the story, not just the scene. They write the skeleton of the entire story first. Go back and write the first layer until they reach the end. Go back again and add another layer...They don't waste time trying to pack everything in and everything right at the same time.

Some argue that writing in layers is more efficient than trying to write full sentence packed with all the details on the first attempt. They may have a point, but some writers need the full weight of the previous scenes in order to move to the next one. I'm one of them. I visualize each scene, so everything I see in my mind must be included in my scene before I can write the next one. I need to know the house is red, and not a TBD (To Be Determined) color. It also means I can stay stuck on a single sentence for half an hour if i don't feel I got it right. The advantage of packing everything in one shot is that my first draft will closely resemble my finish product. I will still make some changes as I reread it a second, fourth, and fifth time, but those changes will be minor.
 As you can see, there are no magical formulas when it comes to writing. Every writer has her/his unique way of writing. There are no wrong ways, just many different ways. The trick is to find the one that is right for you.

Happy plotting & writing!

JS

 J. S. Marlo's Website

November New Releases and Books We Love Updates

Have you entered our winter contest yet? 

It's very simple to enter, just visit our website, tell us how you found BWL Publishing Inc. and submit your entry form.  The prizes are fantastic and the chances to win are great as we only promote our contests to book enthusiasts, readers and authors.  Click the poster to be taken directly to our website where you can enter now.

http://bookswelove.net

First prize - a Kobo or Kindle Ebook reader

Second prize - SIX BWL Author eBooks of your choice

Third - a print copy of the first book in our Canadian Historical Brides series, Brides of Banff Springs (featuring the ghost brides from the world famous Fairmont Banff Spring Hotel in the Canadian Rockies)

The contest entry form is on our main web page - just scroll down the page and fill out the easy submission form  http://bwlpublishing.ca/


November's new releases include the following - each book is linked to the Author's BWL webpage, and buy links from your favorite bookstore will be added as soon as the books release.



                   

For those of you with your own Blogs, we highly recommend that super supportive marketing gurus at Feedspot.  We use them to spread the word about our BWL Insider Blog and they're doing a great job.  Click the link below, visit their website and see if you don't agree with us this is one great place to list your Blog.  While you're there, please be sure and add the BWL Insider Blog to your list of favorites.

 https://blog.feedspot.com/bookreview_blogs/  

Dade Tanner and his old flame, Kerrah, have some serious unfinished business between them - a five-year love affair that came to an abrupt halt one terrible night. Now it’s ten years later and she’s back – but the rules have changed, dramatically. She is not welcome on the ranch, accused of an ulterior motive to return since the family patriarch, Buck Tanner’s bout with ill health. Nevertheless she fights to stay in the one place that has ever felt like home.

However the Tanners have locked horns in a power play, and Dade’s older brother, Virgil, is a sinister force that threatens not only Kerrah, but the very future of the JW Tanner Ranch. Who will survive Virgil’s private game of greed and vengeance?  Click the link below to purchase from your favorite retailer

http://books2read.com/Gold-Digger-Among-Us

The Shipton history is—well—complicated. Some families have a guardian angel. The Shiptons have a guardian ancestor, one who jumps right in, boots first, whenever one of her girls has a problem. Of course, Mother Shipton’s girls aren’t always limited by blood ties. They’re connected by power, shared and used wisely.

That power needs to get busy, too, or Katherine’s oilman fiancé is going to disappear for good in the Gulf of Mexico, Katherine’s best friend Sylvia is never going to reconnect with her childhood soul mate, and Irene’s world champion saddle bronc rider fiancé Matt Dillon (yep, that’s his real name) might end up under the hooves of one of those bucking broncos. It’s a good thing Mother has back-up in the form of Lillian Shipton, this era’s family troubleshooter. The spider-web of trouble stretching between these three modern Sisters of Prophecy might be too much for even a time-traveling guardian like Mother Shipton to handle on her own!    http://books2read.com/Sisters-of-Prophecy

Marina Standen, a celebrated pianist, comes to the small town of Otter Lake to live with her sister, Rochelle, to recover from a near-drowning after her car plunged through the ice of a frozen lake. The accident left her comatose for several months and now she suffers from amnesia and the haunting danger of suicide her doctors warned her about. She refuses to believe them.

Trent Vargason’s seven-year-old daughter, Sophie, is blind following an accident that killed her mother and baby brother, three years previously. The child’s selective mutism is the result of the trauma she endured.Trent moves to Otter Lake so that Sophie can be near her maternal grandparents.

On Christmas Day Marina accompanies her sister to church. She has to refuse the pastor’s invitation to play for the service but eventually sits at the organ. Music springs from under her fingers, although she doesn’t know what she is playing. Her memory is just a blank.  On hearing the music, Sophie speaks for the first time since the accident, but immediately lapses into silence again. Marina agrees to give the little girl piano lessons, partly in the hope of relearning her own music. Sophie forms a close bond with Rochelle’s dog Kimnik.

Life in a small northern Prairie town is filled with human drama. Marina struggles to recover her memory. Trent,who harbors overpowering guilt over his wife’s death, vowed to remain faithful to her memory but is captivated by Marina. When Marina suggests that Sophie has some vision, life is turned upside down. An unpleasant and traumatic incident unlocks Sophie’s self-inflicted punishment. She had believed she was responsible for her mother and brother’s deaths. 
https://books2read.com/The-Magic-of-Music

Madeleine Shaw is desperate - desperate enough to pawn the precious locket left to her by her beloved grandmother. Her father has died suddenly leaving enormous debts and his former business partner, Ralph Newman, is demanding payment. If she marries him the debt will be wiped out – a perfect solution thinks her ailing mother. But Madeleine will not marry for money. Besides, she has fallen in love with Naval Lieutenant Stephen Harker, a friend of her late brother, who rescues her from a would-be thief.

However, Stephen will be off to sea again soon and Madeleine determines to put him out of her mind and concentrate on solving her family’s financial problems. Women in the early 20th century were not supposed to start up their own business – that was men’s work. But Madeleine will not let anything stand in the way of her enterprise.  http://books2read.com/Madeleines-Enterprise

Priscilla Brown travels by train

 

Gina - lover shopping

Cassandra - out of job and fiance

 None of these ladies travels by train! 

Olivia - love or her career?

sports car, ancient Beetle, motorbike - guess which belongs to which lady?

 (answers at the end!)

http://bookswelove/net/authors/brown-priscilla-romance

Public transport is a rich source of ideas and material for writers; as an author of contemporary romantic fiction,when travelling I always have my notebook handy. I observe people - general appearance, size, age, clothing, body language, and when possible over the train noise, eavesdrop on their conversations. Today I'm on a two-hour train journey, wondering about passengers' reasons for travelling on this particular train at this time on this day.

Some other place

 She's running down the station steps needing to catch the about-to-depart train, her cream coat flapping open over an aquamarine shirt and tight short black skirt and black pantyhose; she knows the smart effect of this ensemble is diminished by her purple running shoes, but then how could she race down these concrete steps in her usual skyscraper footwear? She has this along with her laptop in the cross-body large square bag bouncing against one hip. In one hand she clutches a coffee and a brown paper bag, and in the other a phone which she glances at too frequently for safety while descending at speed.

The station attendant is waving his departure flag as she squeezes between the about-to-close doors. Dropping onto one of the few vacant seats, she opens the paper bag to reveal a brown-bread sandwich from which a shred of orange peel almost falls out. Regarding this with distaste, she screws it all up and stuffs it into her bag. No breakfast again! She got to bed at midnight after singing at the local bar's open mic session, and had trouble getting up this morning. Then Tom spent ages in the bathroom, and for why? He's working afternoon shift and has no hurry. They were out of milk- again! - and cereal, and she hopes he'll remember to go shopping. While she put her face on, he made her a sandwich but the only thing he could think of - or find - was marmalade. Whoever heard of marmalade sandwiches? He could have taken her to the station if their car hadn't been involved in a minor prang (whose fault?) and was being patched up.

She sips her coffee. Ugh! They put sugar in although she specifically said no sugar. Undrinkable, but what does one do with an un-drunk coffee on a crowded train? And she could have saved several minutes by not waiting for this potion made from last week's dregs. She gulps it down, puts her hand over her mouth, and checks the phone. Yes, the meeting she dreads but hopes might be cancelled is still scheduled for ten-thirty, and so lucky she caught this train as she dare not be late. The draft of a major project she's just completed will be workshopped at this meeting, and if they don't approve then her job could be on the line. She touches the aquamarine ring on her right hand which her grandmother gave her as a lucky talisman.

Taking from her bag her dagger-heeled black business shoes, she examines the heel of one. She noticed yesterday it's not quite straight but she didn't have time to take it to be mended. Going into the meeting wearing running shoes when Snake-in-a-Suit big boss will be watching for any lowering of standards is not an option, but she'll wait until inside the building before changing into her now wobbly shoes.

The airport is only a few stops away. An idea flits around her mind...she could get off there, and buy a ticket to some place where she could sleep in, would not have to wait for the bathroom, own an undriveable car, dash for trains or attend challenging meetings, and can go barefoot. She'd enjoy a decent breakfast, drinkable coffee and later, edible sandwiches.

Most importantly, she'd be talent-spotted singing in a bar.


Women talk too much

Sitting by the window is a man reading a newspaper. He's a senior, tidily dressed in brown cord trousers and beige sweater. His wife nags him to wear more colourful clothes, but he hates clothes shopping and what he has on today is quite adequate for a lunch with an old workmate. Even more that shopping, he hates his current hairstyle, though style is not word he can apply to what happened to his hair. He used to have a respectable amount of hair for his age, until his teenage grandson issued him with a dare. This obliged him to get a black stripe centred from front to back, with the grey sides cropped to within a millimetre of their existence. Apparently such an arrangement has some peculiar name, and he berates himself for being stupid enough to agree to it after a few beers at the boy's eighteenth birthday party.

He taps the newspaper with a blunt-tipped clean-nailed finger. Irritated by a political article, he locates a red pen from his small backpack and edits the piece. Not satisfied with this, he takes out his phone, locates the editor's email address, punches in a sharp message and sends. That will teach them to print nonsense. He turns to the crosswords. Today's compiler always makes the cryptic one even more cryptic than on other days. He likes to work on this, as success with more than half the clues reassures him that his brain is in full working order. Last week he completed this compiler's entire crossword, but he was doing it at home when his wife was out, so no talking and he could concentrate.

This morning he can't concentrate. Two women in the seat across the aisle are chatting. Don't they know this is a silent carriage? He leans across to them. No talking. This is a silent carriage. He points to a notice on the door; although this is half the length of the carriage away from where they are sitting, people should notice it as they enter. See that? Now be quiet. One of the women smiles at him. How dare she smile? She's not taking this seriously. Sorry, we didn't know. He scowls. Now you do. She smiles again. Yes, now enjoy your newspaper. He doesn't know if the means this sincerely or if she's being cheeky.




He tries again with the crossword, but the women with their inconsiderate behaviour have wrecked his attention span and it's too difficult. He stares out of the window at the grey industrial sites bordering the railway as the train approaches the city. He's relieved he can look forward to a lunch in a restaurant by the harbour with this friend who doesn't 'chat'. As they always do on their monthly get-together, they will exchange pleasantries, criticise the government, comment on the weather, and enjoy fish and chips with a bottle of chilled white wine.

He hopes there will be no talkative women at the next table.


Don't lose my luggage

Struggling aboard the train is a woman with an enormous wheeled suitcase going to the airport. She's flying to North America or Europe where - now spring in Australia - winter is closing in. On her shoulder she carries a large cabin bag in which she packed a change of clothes - she doesn't trust airlines to route her luggage correctly since last year her bag from Amsterdam had a much longer trip to Sydney than she did, via Vancouver and Honolulu, while hers was a one stop journey via Asia. This bag also contains an e-reader loaded with Books We Love novels, and a plastic bag holding those items security would like to take off you.

She's satisfied with her choice of travelling clothes for her long-haul flight, navy matching jacket and trousers with a scarlet T-shirt, but already doubtful about these new red shoes with their dizzying
heels.  She worries that if she takes them off during the flight her feet will swell and she won't be able to get them on again. She eyes the feet of the young woman sitting opposite her, thinking those running shoes would have been a better option; perhaps she can buy something similar at the airport.

The train pulls in at the first airport station, the International Terminal. She checks the indicator on the train's information panel - oh, not her stop, hers is the next one for the Domestic Terminal. She's going to a wedding on a Queensland island and her wheelie bag contains a wedding present of a patchwork quilt she's stitched herself.  She's feeling a bit apprehensive because her ex will be there. Since they broke up a year ago, they keep in email contact, and lately she's picking up vibes that he's interested in reconciling. Her own reconciliation vibes are screaming for action. They both like red, and among clothes appropriate for a sophisticated tropical resort she packed a scarlet and black silk off-the-shoulder dress that she will wear with the shoes she has on now, and - in the cabin bag - delicious brand-new blush-red nightwear...

Go girl!

Happy reading, Priscilla

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https://priscillabrownauthor.com

sports car: Olivia    Beetle:Cassandra    motorbike: Gina