It was after six months that I noticed the change.
It wasn’t anything in particular; but now that the excitement of the wedding was over I found things irritated me that hadn’t before. The way she licked her fingers before turning a page, for example, or the little sigh she gave when sitting down. And, increasingly, her clothes. She had once made an effort; now, she hulked on the sofa at night in baggy grey tracksuit bottoms, the label of her underwear creeping up her back. The television flickered soundlessly in the background as she leaved through Grazia, clucking occasionally in disapproval at the fashion pages.
I'm the first to admit that I'm not always immaculately turned out. A little bedhead some days, a little unshaven perhaps. You know that. You've seen me around. But first impressions count, so I'd hate for you to get the wrong idea, sweetheart. This skin I'm walking around in ain't all there is to me.
From the pantry notebooks of W E Stream: extra-naturalist 1896-1949
Our ancestors, to be sure, had a full range of magical folk to hunt. Alas, due to the encroachments of industry and the manufacture of cheap potted meats, the time hallowed pursuit of edible magical folk – the tasty wee folk, as some would quaintly call them – has met a double end.
Billy stepped back to his favoured spot behind the bin. He plunged his hands in his pockets. It was by far the best way of dealing with wearing a blazer, but you had to make sure the blazer bunched forward and was tight around your back, otherwise it stuck out behind and revealed your belly at the front and made you look stupid.
Longtime contributors Niall Boyce, Jonathan Pinnock & Richard Smyth all have books out which you'd be well advised to buy, then read, then buy for others. All genres are catered for, from novels (Niall's Veronica Britton) and short stories (Jonathan's Dot Dash) to nonfiction (Richard's Bumfodder)
KATY LIAR'S DEBUT NOVEL
Liar Katy Darby's debut novel, a Victorian drama called The Unpierced Heart (previously titled The Whores' Asylum) is now out in Penguin paperback. It's had nice reviews in The Independent on Sunday, Sunday Times & Metro (4*).
OUR INTERVIEW WITH ANNEXE MAG!
They came, they saw, they asked us a bunch of interesting questions. Interview by Nick of Annexe Magazine with Katy of LL: here
