We have the names of the stories included in The Best of CafeLit 14. In order of appearance:
Dancing to Lili Marlene by Sandra Horn
All Change by Jane Mooney
Avril by Judith Skilleter
Too Close by Elise Glassman
Reminiscences: An old man’s Christmas Eve recollections by Olof Laamanen
La Bella Luna by Kate Durrant
The Man on the Train by Michael Barrington
Clemency by Rob Molan
Three Little Words by Claire Jaggard
The Train to London by Henry Lewi
My Weekend at Grammy’s by Laura Sukonick
Juniper by Monica Johnson
Echoes by Peter Lingard
Simon Hope by Jim Bates
Connie by Linda Morse
Seeing by Rick Vick
The Void by Mia McNamara
On the Spur by Niall Crowley
Just Two Days by Gill James
Queen of the Lazy Leopard by Frank Zahn
Autonomic, Again by Steve Gerson
When We Watch The Lord of the Rings Movies Back to Back (Extended Edition) by Hannah Retallick
The Consequences of Ambition by Maria Kinnersley
Between the Notes by Justin Aylward
Whether the Weather by Lynn Clement
The Visit by Clare Martin
Why Else Do We Live? by Dana G Nadeau
Red Tricycle by Katherine Abbott
Precious by Stephen Bridger
Nothing Left to Know by Mike Lee
Wandering Teeth by Madeleine McDonald
Elf on the Shelf by Sally Storr
The stories were selected and the book compiled by editor Amanda Jones.
You will note that some of the stories selected are ‘Saturday Samples’ and ‘Sunday Serials’.
Published in November were:
Katherine Abbott, Louise Arnott, Dawn de Braal, Stephen Bridger, Maxine Flam, Anne Forrest, Barry Garelick, Sarah Hegarty, Gill James, Elizabeth Kirwin, Henry Lewi, David Lythgoe, Madeleine Mc Donald, Dana G Nadeau, Philippa Rae, Penny Rogers, Jane Spirit, Sarah Swatridge, Allison Symes and Noreen Todd.
Top performing posts in November were:
All Aboard by Jane Spirit, a beaker of juice 262
I can trace the pleasure my son is experiencing as I stroke his face. It makes me smile outwardly now that I am sure he is laughing inside, and I can be certain that I have made his day just as he has made mine. Steadying his head gently, I swish the ends of his auburn fringe just a little off his forehead to mark each circuit of the train’s wheels as they turn. It is their rhythm he is responding to, the regular beat of the steam engine as it chuffs and puffs us along towards Matlock station.
She Knew by Hannah Retallick, pizza and Sanpellegrino 232
She knew that the lad at one of her window tables was younger than his height indicated because he sniffed his can of Sanpellegrino before pouring it instead of when his lips were near the filled glass as a grownup might do. There was distrust in his eyes, like it might be too sharp, too fizzy, or too Italian.
Crazy in C by Noreen Todd, black coffee 143
The bartender gripped the baseball bat.
“You know I can’t let you in here, Joe.”
“I’ll sit in the corner. No one’ll know I’m here.”
Leaving by Barry Garelick, espresso con panna 119
Judy was leaving soon. She was leaving San Francisco after six years there, leaving people and places behind. Jack was staying in San Francisco where he had lived for the last twenty years, though he was not unfamiliar with leaving his past behind in search of something better. They stood in the tiny kitchen of her studio apartment, wrapping the last of the glasses in newspaper.
Saturday Sample: A Distillation of Hills by David Lythgoe, spring water 113
INTRODUCTION
One cool, wet day in August 1960 I was alone and hanging by one hand from a hold on the top pitch of Broad Stand on Scafell about thirty feet above a slope of shattered scree. To be in such a situation concentrates the mind wonderfully. If I hadn’t observed the cardinal rule of rock climbing, always to have three points of contact with the rock before moving the fourth, I would not be writing this. I was wearing Vibram rubber soled boots and climbing wet rock alone and I should have known better.
Published in December were:
Michelle Adams, Eileen Cronin Barrington, Michael Barrington, Jim Bates, Sharon Boothroyd, Christine Walker Bos, Billie-Leigh Burns, Sherry Cayupaan, Lesley Cooke, Liz Cox, Lynne Curry, Maxine Flam, Sarah Das Gupta, Leonie Jarrett, Gracie Jones, Henry Lewi, Fleur Lind, Peter Lingard, Madeleine McDonald, Jon Moray, Penny Rogers, Judith Skilleter, Sally Storr, Ken Whitson, Kathy Whipple and Frank Zahn.
Top performing posts in December were:
Another Christmas Day by Lesley Cooke, a small glass of sherry 133
Well, another Christmas morning and I’m all dressed up and nowhere to go! I like this red dress; I always put it on over Christmas. It’s worn well – I bought it the year before Ron died and that’s ten years ago. ‘Granny Santa,’ the little girl next door used to call me. We would have liked children, Ron and me, but it wasn’t to be. He always liked this dress, said it made him feel cheerful. But he was a cheerful man anyway – the laughs we used to have! I miss him – sixty years we’d have been married, come March.
A New Christmas Tradition by Sharon Boothroyd, a fruit tea 103
'A very merry Christmas to such a wonderful couple.' Leah's heart warmed as she read the message on the Christmas card she and her partner Mark had received.
It was from her parents, but Leah's mum Helen did all the festive organising for the family.
It was their first Christmas together as a couple, so this year, Christmas felt extra special.
There was only one problem.
One Last Christmas by Michelle Adams, a mug of sherry and a warm mince pie 98
‘Are you sure this is a good idea, Mam?’ my daughter asked, frowning.
It was the first thing she’d asked when I suggested the idea of the whole family spending Christmas together in the house. We hadn’t all been here together for years, not since the last Christmas with Ben, my late husband. I’d spent the last decade rotating my way through the homes of my three children, passed from one to the next, year after year, never allowed to stay home alone in case I’d ‘brood’ as my eldest, Georgia, put it.
Christmas Break by Kathy Whipple, hot milk with vanilla and nutmeg 93
The exam was grueling. Tired, I returned to the empty dorm; I hadn’t the money to go home. Christmas lights my roommate hung before she left had fallen and were blinking on the floor. The radiator was cold.
I cleared the text books from my bed and slept off exhaustion from a heavy course load—twenty-two credits cost the same as twelve.
Christmas Magic by Lynne Curry, herbal smoothie 93
Ice crystals jingled in the air like tiny bells. On a day as bright as a shout, the snow beneath my feet glittered. Maverick and I’d found a home on a mountain top. I’d stay forever, just my Newfoundland and I, but I’d left so much behind.
My life as a healer.
It called me back.
Totals in December were an impressive 129144. At the time of writing, 5 January, we have 8873, so some way to go yet. Keep on sharing. It does seem that we get most of our hits in the final two weeks of the month.
The Creative Café Project
I added cafés one café in November in London. The Book Nook as the name suggests, hosts a lot of book events including several for children.
In December I posted about two cafés close to where I live and both associated with theLancashire Wildlife Trust: The Moss Bank Park Café and the Queen’s Park Café. They both have postal addresses in Bolton.