INVITE TO DOUBLE ACT LAUNCH AT THE WOMEN'S BOOKSHOP

An exotic and erotic collection of short stories will be launched at the award-winning independent Women's Bookshop 105 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby Auckland at 6.30pm on Thursday 18th March. All welcome!

Seasoned short fiction writers’ Frances Cherry and Annabel Fagan are the Double Act in new short story collection published by Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop.

Their stories complement each other's in that while they have different writing styles, they both explore relationships in very intimate ways. A sense of humour and wry wit pervades both writers’ work.

The characters in Double Act have rich internal lives and, in some cases, their loves and desires drive them literally off the edge into unexpected places.

In ‘Coming’s Out’, Annabel Fagan’s tale of a ‘tail’, the protagonist gets more than she bargained when she meets a potential lover in a nightclub.

‘I hate you. You deceived me. I’m a lesbian,’ I cried and pushed her. She fell to the floor and stared up at me with huge sorrowful eyes. I wanted to kick her, stamp on her ugly face. ‘My lips are contaminated,’ I hissed and headed for the bar . . .’

Frances Cherry’s ‘Landslide’ takes envy to new heights, ‘Nancy sat in her new home wearing Marion’s knickers, she picked up the wine glass with a green serpent wound around the stem, and toasted the cat who was eating off one of Marion’s beautiful bone china plates.’

Frances Cherry’s novels for adults, children and young adults have been published to critical acclaim. Her short stories appear in anthologies, in two previous collections and on radio. She is a creative writing tutor and lives in Wellington with Ray, the cat. More about her writing can be found on her website www.francescherry.co.nz

Annabel Fagan’s short stories have been published in anthologies both here and overseas and also broadcast on radio. She lives in Paekakariki and has a beloved son, Joshi, who lives in London.