Publisher's Synopsis
My objective here is to persuade you that this book is worth taking the time to read. How can I do that? By convincing you that I am an unusual person and that this collection of stories is different from the typical. Let me explain. Why am I unusual? Well, for a start I have written my own autobiography; that should narrow the field a bit. Then I have done a loop-the-loop in a small bi-plane; that should narrow it further. On top of that I have been storm-bound in a ketch off the Welsh coast for two days; I have been a suspect in a supposed murder investigation; I have attended a 'trance-channeling' session; I have lived through the entire cycle, so far, of the computer revolution; I have had my house burn down; I have been the victim of events the likelihood of which represent absurd odds against them happening. The list goes on and on. Of course each one of us is unique, but my uniqueness has been molded by the extraordinary and sometimes bizarre experiences I have encountered along the way. The collection of short stories reflects in part some of the experiences just alluded to. Others just occurred to me as a result of dreams, I am a constant dreamer, and my imagination. There is no common theme to them and they vary enormously in concept, content and construction. They range all the way from the ridiculous ('Are You Superstitious?') to the sublime ('Letter to Stephen'); from the pure fictional ('Versus the API') to the factual ('An Ill Wind'); and from the supernatural ('As I Live and Breathe') to the intellectual ('A Recursive Tale'). The only common thread is adherence to the short story genre, that is the need to read each one to its last word or sentence to round out its message. Now here is a teaser extract from the story 'Are You Superstitious?' to get you going: --Take Carmen, my wife, for example. She has a set of rather strange-looking cards that she 'consults' every so often when something happens that she wasn't expecting, and then relays to me the conclusion that they provide. "The reason the plant died," she explains, "is because of the envy of the dark man who put a spell on it." "Nothing to do with that minuscule parasite that appears to have been attacking its leaves?" I ask. "No," she continues; "here's the moreno" (dark man), pointing to a figure that looks like the King of Spades; "there's the envy" pointing to the next card that contains a sign that looks like a picture of the sun with a drooling tongue; "and there's nature in the attacked position," pointing to something that looks like a fern. "It's definitely him!" "But who is this dark man?" I ask. "Maybe the man who just moved in next door," she suggests; "the plant was fine before he appeared." "Maybe," I acknowledge; knowing full well from previous experience that I would never win any ensuing argument if I were foolish enough to engage in it. Dear reader: Enjoy!
