Authorpreneur Dashboard – John Cowton
Henley's Ricotta
Literature & Fiction
Henley and his wife Gloria have been running the Hotel Oceana in Porthmunster, South Wales for twenty years. Porthmunster's post war popularity as a British resort has long since gone and the hotel is reliant on a generation of people who return to revive a memory of Porthmunster's former glory days. Henley's routine had already been disrupted by lewd, drunken behaviour from George, who ran the Seaview Bed and Breakfast next door. was about to find out that his life was never going to be the same after breakfast with Mrs Fanelli, a salacious lusty guest with a mysterious agenda.
Book Bubbles from Henley's Ricotta
The end of an era
In this excerpt, Henley is making reference to 'Brown Pub's' as I remember them. Brown Pubs earned their nickname by the layers of nicotine on the walls. Smoking may be socially unacceptable and in many places illegal, but the ban in pubs, clubs and places of work marked the end of something that was so normal for so many centuries. I remember cigarette advertising as a boy. The impression the ads made on me was I would not be a grown up unless I smoked. I remember the attractions of smoking, particularly in the pub. Prior to the sixties, when the trend had shifted towards women, and the creation of 'the lounge' you had 'the bar' or 'the smoke.' The only other room, with a separate entrance was 'the off-licence.' Happy days, but I have given up smoking six years ago, but do not wish to forget the days when smoking was socially acceptable.
A sheltered life.
Henley has been an engineer in an all male workplace, until he embarked in the Bed and Breakfast business. He has also been sheltered by Gloria, his first and only girlfriend who became his wife. So it comes as no surprise, with his wings so firmly clipped that when faced with the woman in her nightdress at 05:30 in the morning, that she will take advantage of his discomfort as there is no doubt that she has the upper hand,
USHABTI
Literature & Fiction
A Ushabti, or Shabti is a funerary figurine from the Middle Kingdom of ancient Egypt (circa 1900 BC). Today there are plenty that have survived in remarkably good condition. The British Museum has many on display, but they are easy to obtain on popular online auctions. It would not be beyond the realms of improbability to find one at a car boot sale, which is exactly how Edwina came by her Shabti. Little did she know, that taking her new acquisition home preceded a pivotal moment in her relationship with her husband Neville.
Book Bubbles from USHABTI
