The red wine box

The red wine box is a wonderful invention.  I've just written about one in a short story.  Here's an extract:

Doreen liked wine boxes; they lasted longer and there weren’t all those noisy, wobbly, reproachful empty bottles that seemed to pile up everywhere these days.  The only problem was getting the damn things open.  There was a little tap and you had to twist something off and push something through a hole and .... well, it was all just a bit too complicated.  After a brief struggle with a new box she grabbed a knife from the block and stabbed it.  Red wine burst upwards and she tilted the box to let it run into her glass.  Nice to use a proper crystal glass.   She drifted into the hallway, leaning her shoulder against the wall for a bit of stability.  The noise from upstairs was louder here.  Crashing, screaming and Jess’s noise. 

from The Guide to Modern Teenagers.  copyright Eddi Goodwin 2013

My daughters are quite offended by this story, which was inspired by the hormone rich miasma, strange noises, furniture throwing etc etc that parents of teenage girls live with.  But really it's a pop at the parents who pretend things are normal when they really are NOT!  I'm going to send this story off soon.

Another short story, Hamish, has been accepted and will be published on 21 June.  Am I excited?  Of course I am!  It is the first piece of writing which I've sent out into the world and it was accepted by the one place I sent it.  It's about a woman who encounters someone a bit different in a hospital.  I know what you're thinking....that hospitals are full of strange people behaving oddly.  But this one is something else.  Like all of my writing, it was inspired by real events. 

I haven't got a clue how this blog thing works.  It's a miracle that I've got this far.  I'd like to upload some pictures but I can't see the button.  Oh...I think I've found it.

Intermission.....

I did find it but there wasn't a picture of a red wine box on the search thing on the blog, and failing.  Nor was there a picture of a scottish man, nor even a man.  You'd think they'd have a picture of a man.

However, there is a rather lovely turtle. 

Right, I shall post this and see what happens.