Novels
There are two novels in progress (allegedly) so far.
I say two, but occasionally I think there are five. Alternatively, there are two novels and 3 rather packed short stories.
Assuming Positions is the first novel. It was finished - finally! finally! - and then I decided to pick it apart (utters the most profoundly infathomable swearing known to writerkind) ... so it is now 2/3 finished and, actually, and annoyingly, better for the unpicking ...
It's a coming-of-(retirement)-age comedy, set in the south of England in 2002. It's also about love:
1. What do you do when you care about people, and you all hit a very tricky part of life?
2. What you do when those relatonships are complicated enough to begin with? and
3. What do you do when these people are also a total pain in the you-know-where?
After 80 year old Ron has a stroke, his daughter (Martine) and his second wife (Edie) are determined that Ron should come home and get the care he needs when he leaves hospital. Social services and NHS staff assume Edie will provide the bulk of the support. Except that Edie now lives with Clive. If the powers-that-be find out that Ron lives alone, they won't hesitate to whisk him off into care. Edie's estranged stepdaughter (Martine) also wants her dad to go back to his home, because her priority is making sure her inheritance (Ron's house) isn't sold to pay for nursing home fees. Martine and Edie are going to have to work together if they're to keep everyone thinking Ron isn't home alone - but also make sure that Ron is okay at home alone ...
The Old Girls is the working title of the second novel. So far, it looks like this →
It takes some of the minor characters from Assuming Positions into the past but without the aid of time travel. Clever, or what? (what, probably...). It's a story about female friendship, female judgement, and the strange natures of Anglo Saxon and modern Britain.
Barbara is widowed, recently retired, and has been heavily involved in amateur archaeology for many years along with friends Janet, Gill, and Paula. When Barbara's daughter Lou moves house and finds a very unusual burial in the back garden, the 'Old Girls' happily gather for one last dig "before our knees give out". But in the midst of this, a new and disturbing discovery on a site they helped excavate in 1977 - the summer that Elvis died - leads them to investigate what else was going on all those years ago.
As they say, real archaeologists never throw in the trowel ...
(I do feel the need for a slightly manic cackle at this point.)
© Lorna Easterbrook 2016-2020 All Rights Reserved
Top image: Front cover for 'Book of Nonsense' made by Lorna: leather and fabric on leather (with apologies to vegan readers)
I say two, but occasionally I think there are five. Alternatively, there are two novels and 3 rather packed short stories.
Assuming Positions is the first novel. It was finished - finally! finally! - and then I decided to pick it apart (utters the most profoundly infathomable swearing known to writerkind) ... so it is now 2/3 finished and, actually, and annoyingly, better for the unpicking ...
It's a coming-of-(retirement)-age comedy, set in the south of England in 2002. It's also about love:
1. What do you do when you care about people, and you all hit a very tricky part of life?
2. What you do when those relatonships are complicated enough to begin with? and
3. What do you do when these people are also a total pain in the you-know-where?
After 80 year old Ron has a stroke, his daughter (Martine) and his second wife (Edie) are determined that Ron should come home and get the care he needs when he leaves hospital. Social services and NHS staff assume Edie will provide the bulk of the support. Except that Edie now lives with Clive. If the powers-that-be find out that Ron lives alone, they won't hesitate to whisk him off into care. Edie's estranged stepdaughter (Martine) also wants her dad to go back to his home, because her priority is making sure her inheritance (Ron's house) isn't sold to pay for nursing home fees. Martine and Edie are going to have to work together if they're to keep everyone thinking Ron isn't home alone - but also make sure that Ron is okay at home alone ...
The Old Girls is the working title of the second novel. So far, it looks like this →
It takes some of the minor characters from Assuming Positions into the past but without the aid of time travel. Clever, or what? (what, probably...). It's a story about female friendship, female judgement, and the strange natures of Anglo Saxon and modern Britain.
Barbara is widowed, recently retired, and has been heavily involved in amateur archaeology for many years along with friends Janet, Gill, and Paula. When Barbara's daughter Lou moves house and finds a very unusual burial in the back garden, the 'Old Girls' happily gather for one last dig "before our knees give out". But in the midst of this, a new and disturbing discovery on a site they helped excavate in 1977 - the summer that Elvis died - leads them to investigate what else was going on all those years ago.
As they say, real archaeologists never throw in the trowel ...
(I do feel the need for a slightly manic cackle at this point.)
© Lorna Easterbrook 2016-2020 All Rights Reserved
Top image: Front cover for 'Book of Nonsense' made by Lorna: leather and fabric on leather (with apologies to vegan readers)
