Short Stories by Alex Spencer

 

Alex Spencer is one of the many talented writers who comes along to my writing classes. She recently set up a story subscription at the Pale Grey Press, where you can sign up to receive one of her stories in booklet form every month. I love this idea, it's really nice to see a printed paper subscription in these times of online everything. The wee books are simply designed and beautifully produced and Alex's stories are always excellent and often quite dark. 

In Feed, Rea finds she can't escape from the strange bakery she has inherited, held there against her will by some supernatural power, destined to forever make bread. 

In Beneath, a moving poem about grief, a young woman loses herself at her lover's grave.

"Where he lay, a few wildflowers have been trampled during the funeral, diaises and cornflowers mostly. She knelt to gather them, the sight of them trodden into the ground too much to bear., but her frozen fingers refused to close around the broken stalks". 

In the atmospheric story Father Callum (which you can read here), a priest faces his greatest fear.  

A subscription will bring you an excellent, memorable story every month. 

You can subscribe to Alex's monthly story at the Pale Grey Press here. There are two levels of subscription - £7.00 a month gives you a story every month with occasional extras; £15.00 a month brings you a story every month with a gift of something from the Oak and Ember Gallery, co-owned by Alex Spencer and Danii Watson. 

You can visit Oak and Ember Gallery here. 

Winter Wildlife

I hope you had an enjoyable festive break and managed to get out and about to enjoy wildlife. 

On 20th December we were surprised to unexpectedly find this Peacock Butterfly in Craiglockart Dell (alongside the Water of Leith)

 December was very mild, which explains this butterfly. January is reassuringly cold, as shown by this photo of the Water of Leith yesterday

Over the festive period we've also enjoyed walks around Arthur's Seat, Blackford Pond, North Merchiston Cemetery and Corstorphine Hill, though with remarkably few photos to show for it (the trees below are on Corstorphine Hill). 

We also enjoyed a day at Cramond, where we did take more photos, here's a view over to Cramond Island 

and a close up by Crafty Green Boyfriend 

and here's a view of the fields at Lauriston Farm, Edinburgh's Agro-ecology project, where we ended up

Best wishes for the New Year!