Weekly Photo Challenge: Curiosity

Tory Boy has thick, curly hair.  

 

He was curious to see what it would be like straight, and paid a stylist five quid to find out.

 

‘Never again’ was the verdict.

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If you are curious to see the animal equivalent of teenagers eating pizza, pop over to my South Africa blog.  No poems today; I promise.

Buy The Book (2)

 

The Houses on the Green is the story of a small community living in terraced property in the Ardwick area of Manchester, and is set in the late 1950s. 

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Their homes lie on the edge of a clearance area and have been subject to a compulsory purchase order. The owner of the five properties, an ex-army officer, leads the fight to save them.  He is backed by the other residents: a young single mother, a Jewish couple who fled Austria just before Hitler entered Vienna, a hard-working secretary in the city centre and a slow-witted young man coping alone after the death of his parents.  Each of the characters bring their own strengths to the conflict. They take the fight to the Town Hall and encounter a planning officer with old scores to settle.  

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Set at a time when massive slum clearances were taking place in most major cities, the story is a realistic representation of life in Britain in the Fifties.

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Currently living on the edge of a reservoir in Stockport, Eileen has worked variously as a barmaid, interpreter, secretary to an MP and as a teacher. Eileen travels extensively, frequently alone, both in Europe and farther afield; Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, San Francisco and Cuba. She has had work published in Good Housekeeping, was winner of a local short story writing competition and has had a poem displayed in Stockport Art Gallery. 

 

  

 

Eileen is a friend of mine and kindly let me read the book before publication.  It’s a real page-turner!  The book’s strength lies in the well-drawn characters.  I found myself really caring about these people and their fight.  So much so, I demanded that Eileen write at least one sequel, and preferably more. 

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If you have ever lived in or around Manchester you will enjoy the references to real places.

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You can purchase a copy from Eileen’s website. 

 

Alternatively, she is launching the book at Stockport Art Gallery on Sunday, February 20th, from one o’clock to three.  Pat Fox-Leonard will read excerpts.  If you would like to own a signed copy of The Houses on the Green, or to hear a good book read well, please come along.

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You can also read excerpts here.

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Come on Manchester, let’s do everything we can to support a local author!

 

 

 

Look – A No-Brainer

Image via Wikipedia

Would you rather be super-intelligent or extremely good-looking?

 

 

 

My first response was ‘intelligent’ but then I couldn’t think of anything clever to write and I don’t need that kind of irony in my life; so I opted for ‘good-looking’ but then I looked in the mirror and I don’t need that kind of irony in my life (though I have had a life leading to a face that could use some ironing).

It’s neither or both, so I’ll take both. 

Don’t be surprised at my greed: you know how I feel about Maltesers; why should special characteristics be any different?  Actually, beauty isn’t a characteristic, is it?  It’s a gift.  So it’s not so much a box of Maltesers as a bag of Revels, and I don’t like the coffee or orange ones, so I’m not greedy at all.

Glad we sorted that out.