Read Life Lessons.
Our story today is not designed to cheer you up on a dreich Sunday, but the writing is beautiful. It comes from the ever-insightful pen of Clydebank writer Jack O’Donnell. What happens when it all falls apart? Communications. Marriage. Life.
Read Life Lessons.
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Here’s some more quintessential McStorytellers fare cooked up by Clydebank author Jack O’Donnell.
Two Tone may be an old pal, but you’ll wish you hadn’t answered the door to him. Enjoy your chips! Our story today comes from Clydebank man Jack O’Donnell, another writer who has returned to McStorytellers after far too long an absence.
In The Big Malky, a Glaswegian dosser gets down and dirty among the dead poets of Westminster Abbey. Quintessential McStorytellers fare. Welcome back, Jack! Celebrate St Patrick’s Day with a (sadly true) wee tale about the ould country. Called Made in Ireland, it comes from the pen of half-Irish Brendan Gisby.
And if you enjoy that story, here are some others from the archives with which to ease down the Guinness: St Patrick’s Day by Jack O’Donnell The Irish Buddha by John McGroarty Irish Riddles by Brendan Gisby Here for your midweek entertainment is one of those wee West Coast family dramas that could only have been penned by Dalmuir writer and regular McStoryteller Jack O’Donnell. Every Day Free is mad and bad and dangerous. And it’s what McStorytellers is all about.
Enjoy the story. And while you’re at it, please remember that Jack also has a book he’d like to interest you in. Called Lily Poole, the book is described as a ground-breaking blend of ghost story, murder mystery and Scottish social drama. You can read a synopsis and an excerpt at this link: http://unbound.co.uk/books/lily-poole. And, if you like what you read, you might be inclined to make a pledge towards the book’s publication. Jack would be eternally grateful for any support. Strange games feature in today’s double-bill of stories by Dalmuir writer and blogger Jack O’Donnell.
War Profits is the sad tale of the games that came to represent the carnage of “the war to end all wars”. And God Made Me Ugly For A Reason captures perfectly the cat-and-mouse game that ensues when a young lad is first smitten. Enjoy! Yes, he’s back. After a lengthy absence, Dalmuir writer Jack O’Donnell, one of our original McStorytellers, returns to us with a cracking new tale called Dirt, in which the something-for-nothing culture is taken to extremes.
While he’s been away, Jack has been making a name for himself over at ABCtales.com. He’s also written a book. Called Lily Poole, it’s described as a ground-breaking blend of ghost story, murder mystery and Scottish social drama. You can read a synopsis and an excerpt at this link: http://unbound.co.uk/books/lily-poole. And, if you like what you read, you might be inclined to make a pledge towards the book’s publication. Jack would be eternally grateful for any support. We can certainly vouch for Jack. We think he’s a tremendous writer and storyteller. But if you want to make up your own mind, you can dip into more than a score of his stories here on the site. Whatever you do, though, savour and enjoy Dirt. Yes, all life passes through McStorytellers, as evidenced by our three latest stories today.
For a start, there’s a wee nutter called Rab Flynn who holds some bizarre hypotheses about the planets – and cats. Read all about him in John McGroarty’s laugh-out-loud funny saga, The Ten Planet Finger Theory. Then there’s that distracting, dusky Spanish beauty in The Tomato Manifesto, an atmospheric wee piece by McStorytellers newcomer John Crosbie. There’s also the case of that resurrected rabbit, a daft dug and its even dafter owner in Ben, a true shaggy-dog story by Jack O’Donnell, who makes a welcome return to McStorytellers after too long an absence. So long, and thanks for all the fish. We’re celebrating St Patrick’s Day with a couple of pieces designed to make you smile.
First up, there’s one of our favourite stories by one of our favourite McStorytellers. Clydebank man Jack O’Donnell returns with his tale of a valuable classroom lesson, appropriately enough called St Patrick’s Day. But if it’s religious irreverence you want, look no further than The Irish Buddha, an ould folk tale from the pen of that ever-irreverent Glaswegian, John McGroarty. Smile along with the Irish today. Introducing a strange concoction of new stories for your Friday enjoyment.
First up, we return to the bizarre world of Edinburgh writer Tom Greenwood with The Tale of the Comedian and the President. After which we encounter the Holy Cornflakes Box in Corn, a totally off-the-wall piece from our favourite Clydebank storyteller, Jack O’Donnell. Then it’s back down to earth with a bang as we go in search of that perfect score in The Alchemist’s Apprentice, a gritty drama by McStorytellers newcomer, Dumbarton-born Kevin McCallum. Enjoy the weekend! |
McBlog AuthorBrendan Gisby is McStoryteller-in-Residence. He's the author of four novels, three biographies and several short story collections. The McStorytellers
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