A Tale of Three Shorts Tour gets readers up close and personal with three late fall releases by Taylin Clavelli. The three short stories, Invisible, Sleepwalking, and DIY Delights, will take you from loss and sorrow, to tender love, to laughter, and a deep sigh when you finally reach the end of each tale. Come meet the men of A Tale of Three Shorts and their stories!

Invisible

Synopsis

What do you do when you become invisible to the love of your life? 

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Sleepwalking

Synopsis

Devastated by loss, Matthew sleepwalks through life, existing but not living. 
Can someone rescue him from his waking nightmare and help him to live again?

Buy the short story:

DIY Delights

While renovating his first house with his partner, Mike, Duncan discovers a plethora of reasons to use his favourite word… Bollocks!

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Excerpts

Invisible Excerpt

DAVID

IT’S the small hours of the morning when I walk through the door of our home. The savory smells of lasagna hitting my senses make me close my eyes in delight. Ahhh, beautiful. Just the thought of beef, tomato, cheese and herbs caressing my pallet has me salivating, and my stomach rumbling. Sean sure knows how to look after me. He’s beyond wonderful.

A tidy apartment and a scrumptious meal are superb to come home to, especially after a hard day in the ER, where I’m surrounded by blood, tears and anguish. My feet hardly touched the ground, from the beginning of my shift until the end. My team and I dealt with everything from a saucepan stuck on a boy’s head, to a multiple pile-up, where the rider of a motorcycle caught the worst of it. He sustained two broken legs, a broken arm and a dislocated shoulder. Thankfully, he was wearing all the correct safety gear, which saved his life and held him together. He’ll have a long road to recovery, but at least he will recover. In the future, however, he’ll set off all airport alarms as he passes through security, with the amount of metal now inside him.

Eating my meal, I settle in to unwind.

The next thing I know, I’m shuddering with cold. Dammit, I’ve fallen asleep on the couch again. There’s no blanket in sight. Oh dear, Sean must be pissed at me. I know he doesn’t like it, and if I could catch myself drifting off, I’d move to bed. Except, I couldn’t, and I didn’t.

Looking at the time, I realize it won’t be long before he’ll be up for work. Walking into the kitchen, I flick the switch of the amber nectar machine, ready to wake him with coffee and a cuddle—albeit a belated one.

With drink in hand, I walk into our bedroom. The bed is empty.

Sleepwalking Excerpt

Matthew almost looked like a ghost, too—he was thin and gaunt. The trousers of his grey suit were held up by a belt that, judging by the markings, had been tightened several holes—so, it must have fit him properly at some time. Other than that, he kept clean-shaven. As for his dark brown hair… it had been cut and cut well, because it didn’t seem to matter how many times his fingers ran through it, it looked fantastic.

Yes, I’d studied him quite a lot since I started. I’d noticed him on my first day, and every day since. There was something about him that drew me to him, and yet he’d never looked at me even once—it was as if he were off in his own world, and a sad one at that. I’d never seen him smile, and I felt nothing other than sadness emanate from him whenever I passed by his desk. I didn’t even know the color of his eyes, as they were always buried in a file, or watching the floor whenever he ventured elsewhere in the office. His thick rimmed glasses stopped me getting a sideways peek at them, too. The wide arms hid anything that might expose them to me.

The only thing that elicited any kind of positive emotion from him was his coffee—frothy cappuccino with two sugars. Relief washed over his whole body and downcast face with his first sip, which was usually followed by the back of his hand swiping the foam away from his upper lip.

Yes, I was so intrigued with the man that I knew how he took his coffee. A little stalkerish, I know, but there was just… something.

FOR a few days, I’d noticed a change. If it were possible, he was even more withdrawn than usual, yet no one in the office said a thing, or even seemed to care what was happening with him.

I decided to do something about it.

DIY Delights – Excerpt

Needless to say, once the day came when my life partner, Mike, and I bought our house, no one was surprised when it turned out to be in need of a little TLC. In fact, if it was a trauma patient, it would have been taken immediately to intensive care.

That was when the “Holy fuck, what have you taken on?” version of the word bollocks was used.

The wiring was old. The electric heater was there to cover the hole from an open fire, and the bathroom was a disaster waiting to happen. Walls were covered in fading flock paper, and the banister looked as though it had been leaned on a few too many times. As far as carpets went… ughhh. That was when I found another way to use the word—in disgust. Things were living in the crumbled rubber backing.

The poor dwelling was in a shocking state, considering it was only built in the sixties.

It had its good points, though. The damp course and walls weren’t in bad condition. Only a few parts needed rendering. No roof tiles were missing, and neither squirrel nor bat had taken up residence in the loft. Structurally, the place was sound. All it needed was the home improvement equivalent of some Botox and a serious facelift.

Our house was a little two-story, two-bedroomed cottage on the outskirts of Evesham—a town around a third of the way to Bristol from Birmingham. The town itself wasn’t small, and continued to expand into the surrounding farmland. It’s an area well known for its fruits and vegetables.

Due to the cottage’s dilapidated condition, and lack of sleeping accommodation, we purchased the property for an exceptional price. Beautifully, both of us could see its potential. The electricity source at ground level was up to standard, and so was the basic plumbing. The convenient thing was we had a caravan to stay in while we completed repairs.

We loved the cottage. The first thing we did was give it a name—Gayden.

About the author:

Taylin Clavelli lives in the United Kingdom, about 15 miles south of Birmingham, and a short journey from the world famous Cadbury’s Chocolate factory. She’s married with children and loves her family with all her heart.

Her love of books has been a long standing affair, with Taylin liking nothing better than to lose herself in an imaginary world.

Until she met Lily Velden, she never considered trying her hand at writing. However, after talking ideas, Lily encouraged her to put pen to paper—or rather, fingers to keyboard. Since, with a few virtual kicks in the right place, she hasn’t stopped. Her confidence eventually led to her writing an original work for submission.

Her first published work was Boys, Toys, and Carpet Fitters, developed for the Dreamspinner Press Anthology – Don’t Try This At Home.

Now she absolutely adores immersing herself into the characters she creates, and transferring the pictures in her brain to paper, finding it liberating, therapeutic, and wonderful.

Outside of writing, her interests include; martial arts (she’s a 2nd Degree Black Belt in Taekwon-do), horse-riding, all of which facilitates her love of a wide variety of movies. Her action heroes include Jet Li and Tony Jaa—finding the dedication these men have for their art combined with their skill both amazing and a privilege to watch. If pressed, she’ll admit to thinking that the screen entrance of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean – Curse of the Black Pearl, and Shadowfax in LOTR, to be the greatest screen entrances ever. Her all-time favorite movies are Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.

The simple things in life that make her day, putting a smile on her face are:

Laughter – especially that of her children.

The smell of lasagna cooking – it makes her mouth salivate.

The dawn chorus – no symphony ever written can beat the waking greetings of the birds.

Social links:

Reviews

Invisible

Title: Invisible

Author: Taylin Clavelli

Genre: Gay Contemporary

Length: 26 Pages (short)

ISBN: 978-1-925222-11-1

Publisher: Wayward Ink Publishing (28^th October 2014)

Heat Level: Low

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts

Blurb: What do you do when you become invisible to the love of your life?

Product Link: http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com/product/invisible-by-taylin-clavelli/

Reviewer: KathyMac

Review: What can a story of approximately 26 pages tell you? THAT is what I always said prior to reading Invisible, by Taylin Clavelli. This author has reminded me that there is a story, regardless to the page count, to be told, if you are willing to read it.

This is an enlightening tale of two people who love each other desperately. However, life gets in the way and priorities shift. It’s hard to see where these priorities fall unless someone points it out. Even then… you don’t want to see it.

We are encouraged to remember the simple things in life, the ones we take for granted. How easily we abuse the generosity of these gifts that are freely given. Our only hope is that when a light bulb comes on, it’s not too late.

Taylin Clavelli has written a short story with so much depth. It was outlined perfectly and the dialogue flowed seamlessly. She has proven that it doesn’t take thousands of words to write something that is profound. The author takes us on a journey with her lyrical prose and instils emotion that will wake all your senses. A very enjoyable and gratifying story that will leave you with a smile.

Sleepwalking

Title: Sleepwalking

Author: Taylin Clavelli

Genre: Contemporary

Length: Short (31pgs)

ISBN: 978-1-925222-15-9

Publisher: Wayward Ink Publishing (18^th November 2014)

Heat Level: Nil

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 3 ½ – 4 Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Devastated by loss, Matthew sleepwalks through life, existing but not living.

Can someone rescue him from his waking nightmare and help him to live again?

Purchase Link: http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com/product/sleepwalking-by-taylin-clavelli/

Review: Matthew has been sleepwalking through life for the past two years after the death of his beloved husband Sam, Matthew has never recovered from the loss and his life consists of work and home. Elliott is interested in the quite man who is like a ghost around the office, he offers his hand in friendship and very slowly begins to chip away at the isolation that surrounds the sad man. Can Elliott bring Matthew back to the land of the living or will Matthew’s grief be too much to overcome?

This is a lovely little story that is both sad and joyful. Matthew’s life shattered when his husband died in the line of duty, he’s ghosted through life for two years before someone begins to finally erode the layer of grief and sadness that enshrouds him. Elliott is drawn to Matthew when he sees him around the office but can tell that the man wouldn’t welcome any advances, so instead he settles for a friendship that he slowly cultivates, bringing Matthew coffee, coaxing him into eating lunch together and eventually spending time together outside work just as friends before Matthew takes the tentative steps to move their friendship into something more.

I really liked this story and was surprised at how powerful such a short story could be. Matthew is stuck in his grief, nearly everyone has given up on bringing him out of his grief until Elliott slowly reintroduces him to life. This short story is set over a couple of years, we see the important points as Matthew slowly opens his life and then his heart to Elliott, we see Elliott’s patience and friendship as he steadfastly works on his friendship with Matthew. This isn’t an instant love story, it’s a story of developing feelings over time, or healing the wounds of the past and moving forward to live again and eventually it’s a story of new love.

I recommend this to those who love friendships being cultivated and evolving into something more, of learning to live again after losing the love of your life, and of discovering new love. 

DIY Delights

Title: DIY Delights

Series: Part of the Bollocks Anthology

Author: Taylin Claville

Genre: Contemporary

Length: Short (17pgs)

ISBN: 978-1-925222-19-7

Publisher: Wayward Ink Press (9^th December 2014)

Heat Level: Nil – Low

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 3 ½ Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: While renovating his first house with his partner, Mike, Duncan discovers a plethora of reasons to use his favourite word… Bollocks!

Purchase Link: http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com/product/diy-delights-by-taylin-clavelli/

Review: Duncan discovers the various circumstances where his favourite word bollocks can be aptly used as he and his partner Mike renovate their first house together.

Well this is a short and sweet little number which is an enjoyable snippet in Duncan and Mike’s lives. Duncan is our main contact in this story where he fills us in on the various ways he has used the word bollocks throughout his life, through his teenage years up into adulthood. We get a brief overview of his parent’s reaction to him coming out, we briefly meet his partner and we get a good idea of the ways Duncan and Mike tested the various fixtures and fittings for the house.

So this is a great little story that fills the spot if your short on time or just want a taste to keep you going… or you want to know the various occasions when bollocks is appropriate, and there’s a wide range of occasions 😉