Autumn Mindfulness

 

Autumn is a beautiful time of year, even though it can feel quite sad. It is a good idea to make the most of it before the colder, darker days of winter take hold. Below is an illustration I created for my short story, The Discomfort Zone, which was about a visit to a Death Cafe.

The Midnight Cat

'The Midnight Cat' is a piece of flash fiction inspired by our cat Maddie. It is part of my flash fiction collection 'Bubble Universe'. This story did not make it onto WattPad, so here it is, in full, on my blog.

The midnight cat by LJ Finnigan

Jasmine couldn’t sleep. She was restless in her bed; the atmosphere oppressing her, the air stifling and the rain beating hard against the window.

‘What a day and what a night. If I don’t get to sleep soon I’ll be late up in the morning,’ she thought, ‘I wonder what the time is.’

She reached over to her bedside table and pressed the night light on her clock.

‘Midnight.’

Somewhere outside, beyond the rain and the wind, a cat’s meow pierced the dark night.

Jasmine rolled over and stared through her rain splattered bedroom windows at the deep grey night, the shadows and the swaying trees. She closed her eyes and the sound of the midnight cat’s plaintive cry broke into her waking dreams.

Suddenly she was outside, following the serene, soothing creature through the stormy night. Her nightie was thin, she should have been freezing, but the cat had an extraordinary presence; an aura of coolness, warmth and calm emanated from it; an aura whose sphere of influence surrounded Jasmine.

She walked on behind the cat; through the sparkling city streets, along the haunted canal, through the lush park and the sparse forest on the edge of town. All the while the cat walked through the weather and was hardly affected by it, its velvet paws hardly touched the ground, yet is senses were acute; seeming to register every light footstep, feint car hum and gentle leaf rustle that stirred in the darkly hostile night.

The motorway loomed and the cat turned to face its follower. Its eyes gleamed a glowing green and transported Jasmine back to her bed. She rolled over to check her clock once more.

‘One o’clock.’

Jasmine sighed, before becoming aware of the soft purring, emanating from the furry mound that now inhabited the space beside her.

(302 words)

Summary: A sleepless girl’s troubled night-time is soothed by the mysterious influence of the Midnight Cat.

Momento Mori

'Remember you must die'. I find the idea of Memento Mori strangely comforting. One thing I don't like is the thought of leaving my daughter. I enjoy solitude and thought it might be selfish, but now I think it might help people cope when I'm not around anymore. Whatever way round you look at it, we all lose the people we love and we all die. Putting it into the context of our solar system dying and our earth being burnt to a crisp by our dying sun, puts a better perspective on the matter. Above and below are artworks produced by myself and my daughter concerning The Grim Reaper.

Bubble Universe

Writing has long been one of my main interests in life, although life often seems to get in the way of various projects. In 2014 I gathered together twelve of my shortest stories for my project Bubble Universe, with the aim to develop them further over the coming years (see above). I was very happy with the twelve pieces of flash fiction I eventually came up with (see below). They have been elaborated upon, but have all been written between the ages of ten and fifty.

Last Bus Home

I reworked a number of old stories in 2017 specifically so that I could publish them on Wattpad. Four of them were from Shadow magazine which I first worked on in the late 1970s. 'After the rain' is in my 'L's Flash Fiction' reading list and Last Bus Home expanded into a serialised short story. The last two Shadow stories are 'Girl on the pier' and 'The Midnight Cat'. A summary of Last Bus Home follows.

Last Bus Home
My lonely late nights were transformed after mysterious, spirited Miranda entered my life.

Week one
My first sight of the strange girl in the rain.

Week two
The flowery girl speaks, already I feel a change coming over me.

Week three
I travel home with Miranda, she sees everything so clearly.

Week four
We travel to a graveyard and I see what's wrong with the world.

Week five
Walking with Miranda is like walking on air.

Week six
I wait for the Spring and my new friend.

Shadow stories

I was writing my magazine 'Shadow' when I was around about 11 in 1979. In 2017, when I was 49, I concentrated on four of my favourite 'Shadow stories' to see if I could develop them into anything more substantial. Two of the items 'After the rain' and 'As the cat meowed' became two pieces of flash fiction, 'As the cat meowed' changed its name to 'The midnight cat'. 'Last Bus Home' developed into a serialised short story which I published on Wattpad. Nothing much became of 'The girl on the pier', so I shall have to develop it further in the future.

Sweet dreams

The above picture is one of my favourites from Amy's story 'The Legend of the Dream Box'. It hung above her bed for a few years before being replaced by one of her abstract teenage paintings, shown below.

Underground

'Underground' started off as a confusing, not quite satisfactory, short story in my New Food collection. Something about it hinted that it might do quite well as a serialised short story on Wattpad, as it was written as a series of days and in the first person. After I rewrote and reworked it a little it has proved to be my most popular story on Wattpad, so I think my instincts were correct. A summary of the story is below.

Underground- story summary by LJ Finnigan

Underground

My new journey to work is great; ten stops on the tube and ten minutes walk at either end, I wonder what ten days of it will do to me?

Day One
I thought the tube was meant to be quiet, where no one spoke to you.

Day Two
I wonder what those two little girls want.

Day Three
'Some people can be crazy and dangerous, more than you would suspect from looking at them.

Day Four
The dreams were worse last night.

Day Five
I can still feel them watching me as I walk towards the stairs.

Day Six
At least I've been settling in at work.

Day Seven
What was it he said again?

Day Eight
I'm not enjoying the journey home this afternoon.

Day Nine
It's my late night tonight.

Day Ten
Everything looks so normal now.      

ALF Books

ALF Creations has produced ten booklets since I started the project in 2007 with my young daughter Amy.

These seven booklets have appeared regularly on my arts and crafts stall.

The Magic Gallery: Pictures at an Exhibition
This story concerns a little girl called Grace and her adventures in the magic gallery. The animated pictures she encounters can be found on my YouTube channel, under titles like The Planets, The Tudors, Phoenix and Through the Seasons. You can find the entire film on my Vimeo Channel and also on homemade DVD.

The Need Fairy
Written by me and illustrated by Amy. this is a ghost story concerning a newly wed couple, Tony and Cleo, and the old house they have just moved into.

The Legend of the Dream Box
Amy's illustrated story about three little girls who climb a stairway to heaven and bring a box of dreams down to earth.

Still Life
A trilogy of my poetry selections that you can also find on Wattpad, Teenage Troubles, An Anatomy of Love and All Grown Up. Illustrated by Amy and Lorna Finnigan.

Something More
I created ALF's first book of poetry, 'Something More', in 2012. It is thirty two pages of poems and pictures by Amy and Lorna Finnigan, including Upside-Down World, Just Looking and A Feminine Embrace.

Of Dragons and Fairies
Amy's pictures and descriptions of imagined dragons, fairies and other creatures including the magical lands where they live.

Emotional Life
A selection of fifteen of my songs, lyrics and music, including Island of Happiness, Stargazing and Alive at Last. Many of them can be found on my LornaJHart YouTube channel.

The following booklets don't appear on my craft stall, but I have given them out to relatives as Christmas presents.

What do people do? 
Amy's pictures and poem illustrating the twelve months of the year.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Amy's illustrated retelling of the traditional Grimm's fairy tale.

On the Twelve Days of Christmas
A book of Amy's pictures illustrating the well known Christmas carol from twelve drummers drumming to a partridge in a pear tree.

The Need Fairy

I first thought of the basic story of the Need Fairy in the late 1990s when I got married, moved into my house and was hoping for a baby. I was so busy being a working mum in the noughties and also running my SubVerse poetry group, that it was ten years before I sat down and wrote it out as a proper story. It now exists in the real world as an ALF Book and on my Wattpad channel as one of my serial short stories.

The Need Fairy by LJ Finnigan
Tony and Cleo are happy in their new home, but the more they settle in, the more Cleo senses another presence in the house, one that is neither happy nor settled.

Christmas Day
As Cleo and Tony enjoy their Christmas dinner in their new house, the house's spirit reminds them of its presence.

New Year's Day
As Tony works in his home office Cleo ventures into the attic and begins to unearth the house's hidden treasures.

Valentine's Day
Cleo introduces the elaborate idea of the house possessing a Need Fairy to a bemused Tony.

Ash Wednesday
Cleo discovers a little of the house's gruesome history and the house spirit begins to find its voice.

Mother's Day
Cleo finds the true value of the attic treasures when she visits the local antique shop.

Palm Sunday
Cleo and Tony both experience tangible encounters with the house spirit when they both venture into the attic.

Easter Day
The Need Fairy visits Cleo in the middle of the night with a promise of love for the future.

Christmas Eve
The spirit of the Need Fairy is alive and well and living in the nursery.

Lucy Vale

 

I was writing Lucy Vale over ten years ago, in 2006, just before I started work on ALF Creations @ the Star Heart Cafe and embarked on various social media projects. For years I couldn't work on my story, I felt it was a big mess and I was busy being a working mother, I had a lot of grief to deal with and I was also nursing a big broken heart. Then on her ten year anniversary I felt once more able to engage with Lucy and came up with a year long plan for her dream diary adventures which I am still working on.

  

Debut or The EWOC

This piece of flash fiction was inspired by a wedding reception I went to in the City of London. It was a very 'fish out of water' situation, I am a far cry from the city types I was mingling with. I was only on the very edge of that world and now that situation feels a very long way away from me. I'm glad I have this small piece of writing to remind me of that 'unreal' time in my life. I still find myself wondering about those people and the kind of life they lead. I couldn't keep up that level of pretence and 'I just had to let it go,' as John Lennon once sang; 'Watching the Wheels' indeed.

Debut by LJ Finnigan

'The wedding party arrived by double decker bus. Christine was one of the last to step outside into the late afternoon sun, onto the hard grey city of London pavement, before stepping foot into the Merchant Taylors grand hall.

Inside the hall was cool and dim, Christine’s black heeled shoes clattered on the hard stone floor and she found herself fascinated by the echo that was produced. It was then that she became acutely aware of her difference.

Despite her expensive haircut and her elegant clothes, she didn’t quite gel with her surroundings. The others seemed to carry on as they normally did, they were at home. But to Christine, this was odd.

‘Max,’ Christine called to her date, her boyfriend of two years.

A little ahead of her a shaggy haired, rugby-playing, ex-public school type lowered his eyebrows at her and gave her a crooked sort of smile. He was standing amidst a group of Greek Goddesses and their mother, apparently. Christine felt her face heat up and knew that she must be going red.

‘I’m an embarrassment,’ she thought.

It was then that she became aware that her time in this world and with this man would be short lived. He was already tiring of her. Soon she would be banished; back to her shabby house on the edge of the council estate where she had lived all her life, back to buses, lonely nights in front of the TV, her mediocre family, her ‘just getting by’ existence. Back to the land of the EWOCs, the vanishing English Working Class tribe that she belonged to.

‘OK Christine, I’m just catching up with some old friends from university. Help yourself. There’s plenty to eat and drink,’ said Steven, obviously itching to get away.

‘I’m fine, don’t worry about me,’ said Christine, humbly.

The couple were edging away from each other even now; Steven towards a new group of ex-University students and Christine towards the long white table-clothed table full of Champagne and canapés.

Christine stood alone sipping her glass of champagne and studying the assortment of wedding party guests until her gaze settled on a particularly pleasing specimen of city boyhood; tall, blond, athletic. His handsome face returned her lustful look with a particularly manly one of his own. Christine felt the exquisite sensation that she would be the instrument of her own destruction.'

Underground

'Underground' was one of my forgotten stories from the 1990s. I went back to it in 2016 as I thought it was written in just the right format that would suit WattPad. It takes place over two weeks and each day on the daily commute surreal experiences push the narrator to the edge of her sanity driving her into an alternative reality. It has been one of my more popular stories on WattPad. You can read my story here.

The Patient Librarian

I have been working on ideas for the patient librarian for many years. These are some of the literary decisions I have come to about it.

Story Outline

Jasmine Peak, a goth girl in emotional turmoil, arrives at the United Free Hospital to spend a year working in the Patient Library. The patient library is situated three floors below ground level near the morgue and is run by the mysterious Patient Librarian, Mr Eap. Soon Jasmine is engrossed in her work and finding out all about the world, love, life and death which inhabit every corner of the hospital and can be explained by her new boss, Edgar, and the stories he holds in his collection.

The story is divided into three and I have in mind a number of Edgar Allan Poe stories I thought could be incorporated into each part.

Part One - Arrival
1. MS found in a bottle
2. Ligeia
3. William Wilson
4. The man of the crowd

Part Two- Captivity
5. A descent into the maelstrom
6. The masque of the red death
7. The Tell-Tale Heart
8. The Black Cat

Part Three -  Departure
9. A tale of the ragged mountains
10. The facts in the case of M. Valdemar
11. The cask of Amontillado
12. Hop frog

I'm not sure about the Poe ideas as yet, I think he will be in there somewhere, but possibly as a more subtle influence.

  

Ghost Writing

 

Ghost Writing has been a work in progress for a number of years now. I wrote this summary at the beginning of the project.

Summary

An ordinary wife and mother is inspired to write ghost stories by the appearance of a mysterious man. Through various artefacts she gradually gets to know this mysterious man and starts to think of him as her creative daemon. As this supernatural relationship flourishes so does her writing success. The story culminates in her winning a prestigious award and being taken on holiday by her unimaginative husband. Only then is the true connection between her recent creative success, her daemon lover and her husband finally revealed.

The action takes place over the time period of a year and a day, where the haunted objects grow in size and influence. This is how the ghost story progresses.

January - The locket
February - The clock
March - The photograph
April - The letter
May - The book
June - The mask
July - The painting
August - The mirror
September - The door
October - The room
November - The garden
December - The house
January 1st - The village

And this is the beginning of Chapter One.

January - The Locket

'It's so sad Cushing's Curiousity shop is closing,' said Maggie. She was sitting in Comfy Coffee, drinking a cappucino with her best friend Lizzie.

'Yes, it is,' Lizzie agreed, 'Let's go and have look round while we still have the chance. We might unearth something intriguing.'

They quickly drank up, crossed the road and entered the shop. Maggie looked at the larger objects; chairs, tables, bookases, while Lizzie's attention was drawn to a cabinet full of knick knacks; old jewellery, photographs. In particular her gaze was drawn to an ornate golden locket.

It glistened enticingly at her until she gave in and bought it.

At home, wtih the help of Photo Shop and Publisher, she created two tiny photogaphs to fit in the locket. A picture of her husband on one side and her children on the other.

She put the locket round her neck, it felt comforting and over the next few days she looked at it often.

As the days wore on Lizzie could have sworn the images inside the locket were sublty changing...

     

Extra Good Mothers

On a cold evening in October seven mothers meet in the Chapel Cafe and take part in the Good Mothers' Club where they share their stories and advice on the good, bad and ugly sides of motherhood. Below are character descriptions of the eight women involved.

Sister Eleanor is the mysterious nun who runs the Good Mother's Club in the Chapel Cafe. She is well meaning, virtuous, honest and determined to put the good mothers on the right road through life.

Sapphire Meadows came from Trinidad and married a TV executive. She is a proud woman, determined to do her best for her only son, Eliott.

Christine Bishop is a mother of two who fears her life is becoming more meaningless with every passing year. Despite being a church going Christian she is attracted to a strange new age religion to bring her more fulfilment.

Nadine Verda runs an after school art club. She is a busy mum with three clever children and an emotionally distant husband.

Alice Plummer is a mental health worker and a mum. She's a good enough mother and a good enough psychologist, without endeavouring to be excellent at either. Trouble comes when Alice's only daughter, Lucy, develops a strong bond with a mysterious girl called Emily.

Olivia Marlow is studying computers, helping her husband in the tech industry. She becomes obsessed with the fantasy of being a 1950s housewife and starts to think this lifestyle would be the best way forward for the entire family.

Zoe Wraith is a part time accountant who finds that the school run is the bane of her life. She has triplet daughters who require much of her time and attention and a mosly absent husband.

Madeleine Sharpe is a young single mum. She is tempted to explore her submissive side with a mysterious, older, dominant man who seems to know all about the most secret and exotic experiences available in London.

Crafts for a May Fair

It has been nearly a year since I did my last craft fair. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to do another one since doing my first one in 2013, but thought craft fairs in the twenty-teens have been a good enough thing to keep going a little while longer. Above and below are a selection of crafts I will be presenting in May. I have swapped my dolls around and expanded my knitted purses and pouches and fabric brooch collections. The books, lavender scenters and cards remain pretty much the same as before.

 

 

Angel Writers Reading List

In 2013 when I decided to start a blog I spent several months deciding how I could conceivably keep going about every two weeks for at least five years. Eventually I came up with the idea of using the short stories I had written in the 1990s as a springboard for ideas for each month of the year. The idea developed into a story itself which revolved around a year in the life of the Angel Writers Group. These are the themes for each month of the year as dictated by the work of my imaginary group.

January’s story is ‘Consumed’ and its themes are music and solitude.

The February story is ‘Lucy’s Lucky Dress’ with the themes of romance and poetry.

March is ‘Duchess Doom’ concerned with technology and games.

April is ‘The Gathering’ and its themes are family and parenthood.

May’s story is called ‘Deja Vu’ and has the themes of groups and inspiration.

June’s themes are nature and seasons for the story ‘Living Rooms’.

July is ‘Image Makers’ and its themes education and travel.

August’s story is the ‘Institute of New Food’ with its themes of work and identity.

September’s story is ‘The Creature’ with the themes of childhood and spirituality.

October’s themes are retirement and pastimes and its story ‘The Number 13 to Gravesend’.

November’s story is 'Urusla’s pets' which has the themes of animals and fairytales.

December’s story is ‘The Need Fairy’ and its themes dreams and space.

As well as writing their own material the group also read the work of other, well known authors. This is the list of stories the group read over the course of one year and one month, they are spooky tales of the supernatural.

      1. The bus conductor by EF Benson
2. The bloody chamber by Angela Carter
3. The listeners by Walter de la Mare
4. The veldt by Ray Bradbury
5. Disturbances in Angier Street by JS Le Fanu
6. The man whom the trees loved by Algernon Blackwood
7. The fall of the house of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
8. The ghouls by R Chetwynd Hayes
9. Number 13 by MR Jam

      10. Dracula’s guest by Bram Stoke 

      11. The blue lenses by Daphne Du Maurier.

      12. The signalman by Charles Dickens 

      13. The Little Matchgirl by Hans Christian Anderson

The beginnings of the group and their ideas can be found in my story ‘The Angel’s Retreat'.