Old Ned’s Secret: AND OTHER TALL TALES

Eleven short stories.

Ned Brandscombe was an elusive gentleman. 

I knew nothing other than he was the granduncle of Samantha and Nicky Brookes, the sisters who had played an integral part in my first self-published novel, The Tramp. All anyone knew had been shared within the pages of that novel — and that included me, the author.

And yet, after several readers of The Tramp asked about Old Ned, I, too, began to wonder. So, I delved into my fabricated memories and jotted down just a little more about Old Ned and, especially, one particular occasion.

But then what on Earth was I to do with this new found understanding of Old Ned? I decided to package his story with a few others I had dreamed up over the past handful of years, to give Old Ned the opportunity to see the light of day.

In that way, Ned Brandscombe will never be forgotten.

Tales as follows:

Old Ned’s Secret: Ned Brandscombe has held a secret for decades, fearing its revelation could threaten the existence of a creature once assumed extinct. And yet, Ned struggles with an unquenchable urge to hand his knowledge down rather than allow it to die with him. He has chosen his favourite grandniece, Samantha, who struggles to believe the truth to his tale.

Same Again, Leah reveals the camaraderie, banter and guardianship between patrons from all walks of life in a country pub. A couple of pre-adolescent boys dive headlong into a perilous rescue mission in Baz, Minty and the Girl and the staff of an art gallery panic over misplaced exhibition pieces in the hilarious Lost in Transit. A man unwittingly transported back into the body of his childhood self in The Joining relives his almost first date, while The Forest reveals what is possible when two people divulge the same eerily-similar apparition of a creepy dark-eyed child on disassociated woodland walks.

A schoolboy prank creates a wake of climate pandemonium in Jack the Waterboy. Communicating the most urgent message ever has fallen into the hands of an unlikely emissary in Understanding Vela. Happy Birthday, Tarken tells of the best gift possible to a post-apocalyptic survivor. The Transit of Venus discusses human fallibilities in the form of song lyrics, while Necromancer questions why there may be a little bit of sorcerer in most of us.

Old Ned’s Secret : AND OTHER TALL TALES is available by special order through Tiger Dreaming, or through Amazon here: