So here we are on the 2nd May 2015. Witness the ludicrous pantomime surrounding the ‘royal’ family. The establishment, and their fawning sycophants, the London media, are in a frenzy. Continuous breathless commentary oozes around a flipping hospital doorway! What has happened? A woman has given birth. It does tend to happen. Over 350,000 babies will arrive in the world every day. When will we ever see an end to this atavistic claptrap? You’re beginning to feel you’re locked in a video loop entitled ‘The Emperor’s New Baby Clothes’. As a result of this you’re feeling quirky, irreverant, or possibly teetering on the edge of madness. Why not give a fearless and amusing short story writer a spin? Angela Readman(http://www.accidentalpoet.co.uk/) has published two full length collections of poetry and several shorter collections of work (including the bi-lingual Hard Core, with Finnish poet Tapini Kinnunen – translated into Finnish.) She was involved with The Flesh of the Bear poetry exchange in 2004, which was a collaboration of Finnish poets and poets from the North East of England, including Bob Beagrie, Andy Willoughby, Esa Hirvonen, and Kalle Niinikangas. In 2005 she edited Newcastle Stories (for Comma Press) and accepted a post teaching creative writing at the University of Northumbria.
In Don’t Try This At Home a girl repeatedly chops her boyfriend in half but, while her ‘other half’ multiplies, she is still not satisfied. Love transforms a mother working down the chippie – into Elvis. Clary’s father puts antlers on stuffed rabbits to make jackalopes, but when her mother walks out on them, Clary has to help her father if they are to survive. None of it as bizarre as everyday life. And certainly not as cuckoo as believing in ‘royalty’. Willingly suspend your disbelief.
Enquire at your local library or available at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Try-This-At-Home/dp/1908276525/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430633293&sr=8-1&keywords=dont+try+this+at+home
320 pages in And Other Stories paperback edition
First published 5 May 2015
ISBN 978-1908276520
Angela Readman