89 writers have appointments with destiny …
to purchase, click for paperback / ePub / Kindle
to return to Appointment in the Store, click here
scroll down for tastes …
I had no idea they’d let me stand there, / press the button at 10:30 a.m., feel / the heat starting to sun me … from North Sacramemto Funeral Home by Jan Haag
Well, we couldn’t have that. Or is that a joke? / They do love to work, don’t they? from Discussing Labour at a Board Meeting by Anne Harding Woodworth
Look, here’s one now. Young, pretty, flushed with the city heat, looking at me as I lurch down the pavement, from Poor Bunny by Amanda Jones
For me it was when my friend Ernie plopped down next to me on the school bus and said, “Hey Joel, guess what machine controls your life?” from Time Will Tell by James Bates
‘I should have gone into the art heist business. Really made something of myself, you know?’ from Botched Job by Robin Cantwell
I think Mum’s need to be well presented was not wholly vanity, rather a need to look right, by a traditional English middle-class standard, and because of a lifelong struggle with anxiety. from A Time of Life by Mandy Toczek McPeake
We kiss briefly before taking my hand and leading me toward his bedroom where we undress without speaking. from Precisely at 10.30 by Jack Henry
… why is it eleven o’clock already / and there’s still three patients ahead of me … from Medical Time by John Grey
Everything takes so much longer now, at 95, than in his younger days. Still, he catches himself saying aloud, mustn’t grumble. from Unboxed by Rosemary Sgroi
Maybe because you have nothing to think about. You have everything to think about. from An Intimately Deceptive Story by Claudia Calori
I had no intention of laughing at her silly stunts or bad acting. I just wanted to see sights. from Don’t Show Up Early by John Kujawski
She flicks her hair and slinks into the bathroom, probably to spread makeup all over the bench. Now I’m alone with Milly. Run-her-mouth, Milly. from Bugs by Kienan McKay
‘To stop the arguments,’ he snarled / then sat beside her, pushing back the seat, / stuck mirrors all around the car to watch her eyes. from The Driving Test by Amalia Fish
Once he got that shot in the arm, / he wore his Band-Aid with pride, from A Snowy Day by John Bost
Partner? Not exactly how Jasmine would describe him. Calling him her boyfriend was pushing it. from The Waiting Room by Maggie Seren
I was uncharacteristically at ease when I asked her, “Ok. So. Umm. How do two men have sex?” from Sodomy on the Steps by Erin Gottwald
A surgeon’s knife circles his heart / as it’s still pumping smooth and slow … from Organ Donor by Mark Heathcote
Amelia scratches her nose, then straightens her mask. The dry season is all they have, four short months: June to September. Duty is calling. from Public Service by Alex Reece Abbott
We stop in front of double doors, inlaid with carvings of cherubs. She knocks. The door handles gleam. We wait. from Golden Moments by GP Hyde
Just one more I said / one more never hurt anyone / one more never made the difference between fresh and completely hungover … from One More Won’t Hurt by Declan Geraghty
She’d come to tell me I was no longer innocent. I heard the passage of time as it drifted through the hallway. from The Love Hotel by Gary Percesepe
Other girls use a pseudonym, but I like a double bluff. Adds to the thrill. from Top Floor, 131 Harley Street by S J Mannion
We grunt and we tug, until the boat sputters in defeat, leaving us bobbing listlessly in the middle of oncoming traffic. from Waves of Brotherly Love by Connie Millard
“I don’t mind,” I lie. “Anything is better than nothing.” from Pink Frosting by Kirstin Ann Kestner
It’s marked up on the calendar. ‘10.30 Tom’, neatly penned. Appointments are noted meticulously. from Meeting Up by Niall Crowley
Batting aside / my attempt to engage, he jabs and moves / through his agenda … from Meeting with the New Boss by Mantz Yorke
I have a hot tip. Maybe put a tenner on this one, win some extra beer money. from Sweet Irony by Yvonne Clarke
Her melodramatic warnings, asking us to return indoors at once, would eventually drown in the sounds of the thunderstorm and our cries of laughter. from Water to Water Vapour by Aakriti Kaushik
Rawlings glanced up at the large clock on the wall. He opened a large desk diary and flicked through the pages. from A Proper Job by Martin Phillips
“Reckon it’s a bomb, innit?” Darren slurred, staggering forwards for a closer look. from Dreams Buried in the Dust by Emma Claridge
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
PURE SLUSH ... books • books • books • more books 