One of the shortest stories included in my upcoming anthology was written for an Edgar Allan Poe competition in 2021, in which my work came Runner-Up, and is titled The Clockmaker . Edgar Allan Poe is most famous for his works of Gothic Horror, but it is easy to forget that he also dabbled in Science Fiction, as did many of his Gothic contemporaries. Indeed, a quick Google search has informed me that there are anthologies which solely contain his Science Fiction. The Clockmaker was designed to marry these Horror and SciFi elements to create the sort of story which Poe himself might have written. I won’t deny it: I was pleased with the outcome. At only 500 words, it tells the story of a man who pays a visit to an old schoolfriend (you will realise, if you read much of my Gothic Horror, that old school/university friends play vital roles!) who is an inventor, and spends some time admiring a clock which he has made. I won’t spoil by telling you the ending, but I will say that he does...
"Victoria's Victorian Victory" by Abigail Shepherd
Book Review
☆☆☆☆
I really enjoyed this book! It was about a subject that I'm
really interested in - I love old-style farming. In fact, Mum and I love to
snuggle up in front of an episode of "Victorian Farm". The fact that
the story was engaging and very well written, on top of this, meant that I
could very easily go back and read the whole book again!
Vicky was very well developed throughout the book. I can't
say I particularly liked her all the way through, but this made her human. I
identified quite a bit with Mary-Anne and could see myself in some of her
characteristics.
Weirdly enough, I imagined the farm somewhere in Devon. I
can't remember if it says where it is set – I think it was the strawberries!
And the weather!
My wish was that the ending could have been longer. By the
end of the book, I felt like I knew the characters well and I would have liked
maybe one more chapter of them settling into the new way of things. Maybe I’m
just being greedy, but I was quite disappointed when my kindle told me I’d come
to the end of the book.
Overall, this was a great book that I really enjoyed! I would certainly recommend it to others, especially those fans of “Victorian Farm”. I may even persuade my Mum to read it!
I just remembered something that really caught my attention! The book is historically accurate, even down to the little tiny details. One small part of the book mentions that the room that had been used by the live-in servant was now being used to store apples. This really interested me as I was talking to my Grandma last week - she was telling us about her friend who had a room in the attic which used to be a servant's bedroom but was later used as a storeroom for the farm's fruit. Little things!!
Blurb (from Goodreads)
Fourteen year old Victoria Bloom is great at having ideas, but they don't always go to plan. Now her mistakes will have bigger consequences than ever before as it has fallen to her to run the family farm. With harvest season fast approaching, it's urgent she makes it profitable again, or they will lose it altogether.
An entertaining yet educational historical read designed primarily for girls between the ages of 10-14.
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