Funny what chance meetings can lead to you, isn’t it?
I was working on two short stories over November, both written because I bumped into people entirely randomly.
The first is a Lovecraft-inspired horror, commissioned after I met the woman behind Stygian Fox (a publisher of tabletop gaming guides and similar). More on that some other time.
The second, much more seasonally appropriate story, came about because I happened across the mayor of Mold in a bookshop.
Normally, the advent period would be marked by a series of community events, including story readings for youngsters, but coronavirus made that impossible this year.
Cllr Teresa Carberry was telling Caroline, the shop owner that she was looking for local authors, and Caroline pointed at me as I browsed the children’s section and went: “Well, there’s one.”
So that’s how I ended up writing Mair’s Christmas: Dai Post and the Blue Shoes.
It’s a short, uplifting story based on the (mostly true) experiences of my grandmother, who grew up in the aftermath of the Great Depression and the general strike.
There really was a “mean test man”, the bailiffs really did come and take pretty much everything away and… well, that would be spoiling things.
Set in the Rhondda valleys almost 100 years ago, it’s a testament to people’s ability to make the most out of difficult circumstances.
Christmas is going to be very different this year. I’m stuck on the wrong side of the England border, so I can’t see my own family in Wales.
But one of the things that doesn’t change is the power of stories to bring us together. It’s very traditional to cosy up and tell and listen to stories at the darkest time of the year.
Cllr Carberry worked with Clwyd Theatre Cymru to record the story and make it available through Youtube.
The idea is for children (and parents) to cwtch up, get cosy and enjoy a new Christmas tale.
You can listen to the story here: https://youtu.be/pyMyZzh4y-4
Other Worlds 