Can’t Sleep, Won’t Sleep, Volume 2: Grownup Stories for Bedtimes

Description

Brilliant Short ReadsThis book is volume 2 in an ongoing series of short stories, perfect for reading at bedtime or while travelling and commuting.Inside you’ll find intriguing tales of revenge, of compassion, and of humour.A 30 year hiatus.Strange goings on in Lancashire moorland towns.Pensioner Felicity’s final adventure.Manipulation, control and abuse.Buttons, inept cooking and discovery of cave people.City fears and cyber clouds discovering the past.Cross-dressing, puppets and life opportunities.Depression, mental illness, musicianship and drinking.Weird towns and weirder people.Post-apocalyptic life underground.And so much more.​​​​​​​​Published by Words Are Life. Do support independent publishers!#shortstories #shortstory #shortstorycollection #shortstoryturnedlong #shortstoryfiction #shortstoryreads #shortstorys #shortstorywriter #shortstorywriting #shortstoryfuntime #bedtimereading #bedtimeread #bedtimereads​Books by this Author​BigheartConflict Management: Novelettes For Discerning Readers (Collection of No Matter What, Walking With Eve, Divine Intervention and Changes)Crash Test DummyFeet On The Table: An Enormous Book Of Tiny StoriesLife’s a Mess… and Then You Die: Hoarding, Writing and Lost FamilyMelissa And The Mobility Scooter: And Other Bedtime StoriesThe WaggonCan’t Sleep, Won’t Sleep, short story series.

About Lesley Atherton

I’ve always been a writer. I was the kind of kid who would create little books of my own, and I also did quite well at school when it came to writing projects and exams.I’ll always remember my lovely English teacher, Mrs Nash, giving us an assignment. We had to read Seamus Heaney’s poem ‘Blackberry Picking’ and then were told to write our own version.My resultant poem, though simple, used some strong words and brought positive and glowing reactions from Mrs Nash, both at the time and later in her literary flourish of an end of year report card in which she told me how much my writing had blossomed and would soon become wonderful. I loved that teacher so much. She was awesome, kind, creative and a little eccentric. Unfortunately, I don’t have her report anymore, and I don’t have the poem either. I just remember that it began something like this:Blackberry picking, sweet and sticky, Dum de dum de dum de dum, Like a gaping wound.Later in life, I married a writer who became a publisher and helped him out with office and business management. I loved the writing-related work that came with it too – reviews, articles, copywriting and editing, proofreading and the rest of the whole shenanigans. Yep, I loved all that.Later, when we split up and the children were a little older and more self-reliant, writing seemed to become my ‘thing’. It was what I wanted and needed to do. When I got a little braver I saw a poster on a bookshop wall. It was for a writing group, and it gave Michelle’s email as a contact. I emailed her a few breathily nervous messages, then we agreed to meet at a local café. It was a lovely and unforgettable meeting. She directed me to join a writing group and this was what I did. Joining the group expanded my new writing confidence massively. So I began publishing more. Writing a little less (temporarily). And Scott Martin Productions was born.The company became Words Are Life as I moved away from publishing fiction (I am truly appalling at selling things, and nonfiction sells itself to some extent). I carried on writing, ready to publish.So, that’s my history. Good at editing, not bad at imagination and writing skills, but bloody awful at selling stuff.​In recent years I’ve published ‘Melissa And The Mobility Scooter’, which is a gorgeous book of bedtime stories for children (not just girls!) between 5 and 8. Older children will enjoy reading ‘Melissa’ themselves.I’ve also published a collection of novelettes called ‘Conflict Management’. It’s an interesting collection of stories about good and evil twins, managing autism and long term illness, making serious life decisions, ghostwriting, revenge, and working with a male supermodel.My first novel originally came out under the name, ‘Past, Present, Tense’, then was slightly re-written under the name ‘Life’s a Mess… And Then You Die’. I love this book. It’s all about hoarding, family lost and found, dysfunctional relationships, vengeance and hope for the future.And, I’ve also written what might just be the largest, floppiest book of empowering short stories ever created. It is called ‘Feet On The Table’; and is the result of many, many years of work. At the time of writing, I’ve just published my second novel, ‘The Waggon’. I normally don’t have much confidence in my work but I believe this to be the best thing I’ve ever written! It came about as the final assignment of a Masters Degree in Creative Writing. This was back before Covid times, and I was due to publish it, but lost a lot of creative confidence when I was given a Merit on the course. I genuinely believed the writing deserved a better grade, which is unlike me. Unsure about how to progress, I gave it to a number of beta readers for feedback. It is their feedback that’s enabled me to rewrite the book. I hope it is deserving of a Distinction grade, even if it is only in my own head! Better late than never.I have also just published short ebooks, ‘Crash Test Dummy’, ‘Could This Be An Office Romance?’, and ‘Bigheart’. Also, my books, Can’t Sleep, Won’t Sleep – short story anthologies available here on Smashwords. So, that’s where I am at the moment. I’m publishing on a few different platforms and am concentrating on editing and writing. There aren’t enough hours in the day to write all I want to write, but it’s getting a little easier every day.