G is for Gerelda

Oh, I do like a tale with a twist.  And Gerelda’s Cats, Anna Graham’s story in Cat Tales, the anthology drawn from last year’s Book a Break short story competition, has a twist as kooky as they come. But be warned: it’s bleak! And just when you think it can’t get any bleaker, along comes the twist. Mind you, there is a little purr of hope. Which comes, of course, from the cats.  Whatever would you humans do without us? Answer me that.

It’s set in Dublin, where Anna Graham lives. Curtis tells me Dublin’s a great place and the Irish are wonderful people. I’m sure they are but they could have been nicer to Gerelda, as Anna would surely agree. She’s a student in Renaissance Literature, by the way, which is books about being reborn. Not necessarily as a cat, though that can be taken as an option in year three. Anna also does Spoken Word Poetry Slams, so what better way to honour her story than with a poem?

Her name is Gerelda and if you beheld her

You’d see she isn’t a Zelda or Imelda.

She’s got cats galore, at least 24,

 There’s a mess on the floor and Gerelda’s too poor,

Finding food is a chore and her feet are so sore,

Walking round begging from door to door,

Till her toes and heels are one big blister,

But she has a sister and that’s the twist, a

Shock, a surprise will be in store,

An ending you’ll either adore or abhor,

But I think it’s great and so does Thomas More.

I had a niggling doubt about the last line, but I decided to go with it. To be honest, I’m not sure what Sir T thinks of the story, but I’m confident he approves. There are no Gereldas in Utopia because there isn’t any poverty, you see. Having read almost half the book, I’m now very curious to visit it. Currently looking at travel options. There don’t seem to be many, which is odd. Perhaps I’ll go to Dublin instead.

The proceeds from Cat Tales go to two charities, Cats Protection and the Against Malaria Foundation. The revenue from sales so far stands at $80 – our target this month is to double that. So please don’t hesitate to spread the word and help us reach that target. And of course, if you click on the button, you can read Anna’s story yourself and be stunned by that incredible twist.

In a special promotion deal, the price of Cat Tales is just $1.99 for the whole month of April. Available as a PDF (or epub / mobi) complete with colour illustrations directly from this site* by clicking the button below. Also available in print (black & white, $9.50).

*Buying from this site results in $1.61 after the PayPal commission, as opposed to just $0.70 when buying from Amazon. An insecticide treated mosquito net, which protects on average 2 people for 3 to 4 years, costs $2.50. PLUS, if you buy from this site, you’ll get a personal message of thanks from Curtis along with a short story of his own (in which Nibbles the cat, I’m sorry to say, comes to a rather unfortunate end).