Best Wishes from Quirky Tales

Wishing you all 

a very Merry Christmas

and a Happy and

Prosperous New Year!

Thanks for your support in 2012.

New Story!

There's a new story on the QT website today. I couldn't let a day like today pass without some sort of mention, so I've written a story called 'Apocalypse Delayed', which gives a pretty good clue to the plot.
Hope you enjoy it. Stay safe out there and watch out for spaceships!

CGI and Santa

Well, that's a relief! It wasn't real folks, you can step outside without fear now. Both eagle and child were fakes! Apparently the video on the Telegraph's site yesterday was a CGI student project. I hope they get an A, because it looked scarily real.
Perhaps more troubling news is that NORAD will be using Bing rather than Google for this year's Santa Tracker. I'm worried. I like Bing as a search engine, but its maps are rubbish. Fingers crossed it'll be alright because, I have to say, Christmas Eve would not be Christmas Eve without up to the second data on Santa's whereabouts.
Ooh, I just looked at the website! Three days and twenty one hours before he sets off! I must go and find my 'Santa, please stop here' sign. I'd hate for him to miss me!

Monsters Everywhere

There is a story on the Telegraph's site today that brings to mind fantastical stories by the likes of Roald Dahl. It's a story that takes me back to childhood nightmares of monsters and great slathering beasts all of whom saw me as an easy snack, inspired no doubt by the fact that I was small and nearly everything else seemed to be huge.
That's certainly true for the child in the video in the Telegraph's article. The toddler is quietly minding its own business, sitting in a field wondering where all the toys are, when out of a clear blue sky comes an eagle at top speed. It picks the toddler up by its coat and makes to fly off with it. Thankfully, it dropped the poor child after a second and, though understandably rattled, he or she was unharmed, but may go on to develop a lasting mistrust of birds.
I can feel the first whisps of a fantasy story wafting around in my head: giant bird, small child, amazing/ terrifying new world accessible only through the eagle's eyrie ...

And Now for the Mews (Vacancy notice: new headline writer required)

The news is despicably gloomy. Apparently the media magnates and hacks of the world are completely oblivious to the fact that this is supposed to be the time of good will, which gives me precious little to blog about, other than to say I have almost finished the second story for the third QT Anthology (as yet to be named).
So, feeling the need for a little light relief, I'm turning today to a dependable source: Simon's Cat. There's a festive compilation of four cartoons of the mischievous cat's adventures on offer. If he can't put a smile on your face, I stand no chance!

Hidden Treasures

Lookout! Make way! Coming through! I knew it! I knew it all along! I mean, I was joking when I suggested that I might find a couple of million down the back of the sofa to buy Spitbank Fort, but clearly, deep in my psyche, I knew I was on to something. Well, at least I did if the story of Norman Hore is anything to go by. He found eighty five quid down the back of his, and all he was looking for was a lost plectrum! The best of it is, he only bought the sofa secondhand two years ago for £250, so most of it probably wasn't even his!
So far down ours, I've found an old tissue, a sweet wrapper and a small mountain of crumbs. I wonder what they'd fetch on Ebay.

Misdirection

There's a video on YouTube of a badly signed junction. I know, sounds really boring. What it shows is a time lapse of the approach to the Rosslare ferry port and it's a pretty funny account of what happens when road layouts aren't properly signed. The approach splits into four lanes, one to the terminal, the other three to the ferry, but one of the lanes is, unaccountably, closed. To say it causes confusion is an understatement. In fact, several drivers appear so bewildered by it all that they give up entirely and go back the way they came. Whether they ever made it to the ferry or instead decided to cancel their holidays and stay at home is unclear.