COFFEE BREAK READS, or maybe BEFORE BEDS.
WHY READ FICTION?For decades I didn't. I got caught up with what science said about the psychology of being human, all those theories and experiments.
All the stuff that just misses the point. Fiction is different. It is about noticing, revelling in what you notice, being in the present with it. And fiction is about being with characters, stepping out of your own experiences and living with the experiences of the other. It is about flexibility of mind and empathy. But it is also about yourself, who you identify with in the story, what feeling feels like. 
Prepare for that future cup of coffee, mellowing with a great story in that place you like to sit where you can just be you. Settle in while I take you on a journey to another place, another mind set.
Each of my short stories are complete in itself, with interesting characters, a sense of dramatic tension, a thought to ponder lingering on the palate of your mind. Check out the story synopsis given on this page and then send me an email to get your copy. |
CURRENTLY ON OFFERABOUT STROLLERS AND RETRACTABLE LEADS
Sometime best intentions can go terribly awry. And so it is for our seventy-year-old Steven as he tries to manage a grandson in a stroller and a little dog on a retractable lead. Oh, and there's an umbrella and walking sticks in the story too, all getting hopelessly tangled up. If you've ever Just tried to manage too much all at once, you know just how things can go so terribly wrong. MILK BOTTLE CAPS. Steven at age 8 (back in the 60s) tells us a story. It's about when happened when he found something really interesting to collect. The story, while not autobiographical, introduces the dynamics of my own childhood--growing up in a Gospel church that was fundamentalist and evangelical in its ideology. Ah, the memories! And yes, Steven is the same guy as in Emma's Coffee Shop and Riding the Bus stories offered below. EMMA'S COFFEE SHOP Let me introduce the senior Steven. Steven is a lot like me, recently retired. But slowly he's losing it, unaware but prone to be a bit befuddled (which I hope is not like me at all!). We catch up with him in a distant corner of the city, in a corner of his mind where his previous vocation, classic Canadian fiction and an unwitting bit of kindness intersect. THE BOOKERY The sign on the door reads "The book you need is inside, only come in if you're ready to read it." This short story is the one you need. But only send for it if you're ready, ready to let it do its magic of transformation. RIDING THE BUS An aged out newspaper reporter fills in his days with riding the city buses, revisiting the sights and sounds that have reverberated through his career. Along the way he plays a shame game with a teenager and gets to witness a sucker punch. |
And now ... you can listen, too!
I get asked regularly, "when is your writing going to be available as an audio-book?".
So, I'm working on it. With Milk Bottle Caps I've done an audio recording of the story. So let me read it to you! When you send the email to me requesting the story, mention which format you would like, audio (MP3) or written (PDF). It's also fun to have both, so you can follow along with the words while you listen.
Milk Bottle Caps is a chapter in a collection of short stories (there are about 25 of them written by now). I intend to do audio recordings of these chapters as I make them available to pre-publication readers (listeners) through this website.
So, I'm working on it. With Milk Bottle Caps I've done an audio recording of the story. So let me read it to you! When you send the email to me requesting the story, mention which format you would like, audio (MP3) or written (PDF). It's also fun to have both, so you can follow along with the words while you listen.
Milk Bottle Caps is a chapter in a collection of short stories (there are about 25 of them written by now). I intend to do audio recordings of these chapters as I make them available to pre-publication readers (listeners) through this website.
So let's get started!
Send me an email at wilton@twiltondale.ca
to let me know that you are interested in being a reader (or listener)
to let me know that you are interested in being a reader (or listener)
OR, MAYBE SOMETHING MORE SUBSTANTIAL
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I have two new novels in process. I'm still trying to decide on the title for one that is pretty much edited and ready to go somewhere. The two titles I'm considering are Undertow or alternately Dead Daffodils. Maybe once you read it as a beta-reader you can help me decide. The novel charts the healing journey for our dear Estelle from An Incoming Tide. Well ... that healing journey and a quite a bit more as we follow the lives of the characters from the earlier novel intertwine over the next year.
The second project is an episodic novel now in the initial writing stage. As an episodic novel it's comprised of individual chapters, each complete in itself as a short story. All stories follow the same characters and trace the life of the protagonist. The working title for this novel is Saving Steven. While autobiographical on a contextual basis, the stories parallel my own life with fictional plot lines and characters. It's not me, but it is. Intrigued? So let me take you on a bit of a journey. |
ABOUT FORMATS
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When I send you your next great read it will be in a digital format. We might need to work out between us the format that will work best for you.
For the Coffee Break reads let's try a PDF as an attachment to the email I send. To make it easier for you to read on your phone or tablet I'm going to format the text with a larger font. If you're reading on your phone, please turn the phone to a horizontal orientation rather than vertical ... that makes the font bigger yet. You can also read these easily on a computer as well—just sit back and enjoy. And of course, you can print them out if you like. For the more substantial reads, the sequel to An Incoming Tide and Saving Steven, I can send you a digital file that works on eReaders. These files can be opened on your tablet, phone or computer with an eBook app that is free through the Apple Store or Google Play Store. You might never have done this before but you'll be surprised how easy it is and how much more readable a substantial work is in this format. Using the eBook format allows you as a reader to change font, layout, search within the document and skip between chapters. Your device might already have one of these apps in there, ready to go, all set to open up a great read for you. There's one file format for Kindle and another for Kobo and Apple Books so you'll need to let me know what device and app you plan to use. The eBook files can also be transferred to your Kindle, Kobo, Nook devices through a USB cable but that's a bit complicated. If an eBook format doesn't work for you we can try the PDF format. If these digital file approaches don't work for you, we will connect by email to try to figure out what will. |
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Oh and before you go. The header and footer images on this page were taken when I visited the Vigeland Sculpture Garden in Oslo, Norway. And the riverside image? Well ... that's beside the Thames in London, just down from the Parliament buildings. You can check out more of my travel photography on the Travel Blog pages of this website.
Oh, and the coffee mugs are my faves, taken here in my own kitchen in Camrose, Alberta, Canada.
Oh, and the coffee mugs are my faves, taken here in my own kitchen in Camrose, Alberta, Canada.
