Another Sneak Preview of...

...Tall Told Tales.  Following on from last months excerpt from my anthology of strange fairy tales, I thought I'd let you see the cover art for the book.  I'm also including an excerpt from the lead story, The Physic Garden, for you to enjoy...

Cover Art by Rosie Jones

Once upon a time, in a place so very far from here, there lived a baker who was lonely.  Although he had a job he loved and owned his own bakery and shop, there’s was no one with whom he could share his life.  And that saddened him.

Looking at himself in the mirror early one morning he decided that he was not so unattractive that he could not find that special someone.  The someone who was meant just for him.  Turning to his right and examining his profile he acknowledged that, perhaps all the cakes had made him a little portly around the waist.  But, he told himself, if he tried hard enough, he could regain his youthful physique.  Well, maybe reduce the roundness of his belly a little, at least.  And, yes, the hair at his temples may be showing the first signs of greyness, but otherwise, he thought he had a lot to offer.  After all, his income from the bakery was very good, despite the hours.

For the next few weeks he scanned the personal columns searching for groups to join and personal adverts from ladies looking for companions or perhaps a little more.

His foray into ballroom dancing was ended before it began.  He had no idea he was supposed to bring a dancing partner with him and was turned away at the door.

A brush with amateur dramatics was equally fruitless, if a little longer lived, as he failed his first audition and had to suffer the ignominy of being told not to give up the day job!

Joining a poker club was too masculine for his requirements and becoming an after-dinner speaker drove him to nervous distraction.  After much thought he decided to take a more modern approach and signed up to a dating dot-com site.

Within no time at all he had found the girl of his dreams, well almost.  Elaine, he had to admit, was not the prettiest woman he had ever seen.  But ‘beggars can’t be choosers’, he told himself.  After all, he thought as he returned to the bakery following their first real date, her hair may be very short, whereas he preferred long, and it may be very black, whereas he prefer blonde, but her large round spectacles did mirror the roundness of her very pale face.   And so Robbie continued to measure her similarities and differences from the real woman of his dreams.

Six months later, as they walked down the aisle together, Robbie thought his new wife was a little portly, like himself and he persuaded himself that this was better than his preference for someone slimmer.  As they stood on the steps of the church posing for photographs, Mr MacDough thought how sweet life would be for him and his new wife at the bakery.  

But the morning after the happy couple returned from honeymoon Robbie realised that his future may not be quite what he was hoping for…

You can find Rosie Jones on Facebook at Rosie Draws Pictures