Life's a Mess... And Then You Die: Hoarding, Writing and Lost Family

by Lesley Atherton

Overview

Life in a tatty caravan isn’t much fun for Tanya.  Having given up her previous life on the wishes of her dying mum, she now lives at the Glad Heart Farm caravan park - with no job, no money and no family.  They may not be related, but two people are always there for her - Rob the artist, and Tanya‘s best friend and protector, Hilary. 

But Tanya’s life is about to be transformed when she rediscovers the father that she thought was dead. And he’s living in squalor only a short train ride away. 

This is a quirky tale of hoarding, reunited family, marital misery, joy and help and love, proving there’s certainly more than one way to have a happy ending.
 
(Previously published as 'Past Present Tense' by Lesley Atherton and 'Finding Dad' by Lesley Atherton.)

Other Books by this Author 
• Conflict Management: Novelettes For Discerning Readers 
• Feet On The Table: An Enormous Book Of Tiny Stories 
• Life’s a Mess… and Then You Die: Hoarding, Writing and Lost Family 
• Melissa And The Mobility Scooter: And Other Bedtime Stories 
• The Waggon
• Crash Test Dummy

Published by Words Are Life. Do support independent publishers!

Product Details

BN ID:	2940165904363
Publisher:	Lesley Atherton
Publication date:	07/30/2022
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	481 KB

About the Author

I’ve always been somewhat of a writer. I was the kind of kid who would create little books of my own, and I also did quite well at school when it came to writing projects and exams.

I’ll always remember my lovely English teacher, Mrs Nash, giving us an assignment. We had to read Seamus Heaney’s poem ‘Blackberry Picking’ and then were told to write our own version.

My resultant poem, though simple, used some strong words and brought positive and glowing reactions from Mrs Nash, both at the time and later in her literary flourish of an end of year report card in which she told me how much my writing had blossomed and would soon become wonderful. I loved that teacher so much. She was awesome, kind, creative and a little eccentric. Unfortunately, I don’t have her report anymore, and I don’t have the poem either. I just remember that it began something like this:

Blackberry picking, sweet and sticky, Dum de dum de dum de dum, Like a gaping wound.

Later in life, I married a writer who became a publisher and helped him out with office and business management. I loved the writing-related work that came with it too - reviews, articles, copywriting and editing, proofreading and the rest of the whole shenanigans. Yep, I loved all that.

Later, when we split up and the children were a little older and more self-reliant, writing seemed to become my ‘thing’. It was what I wanted and needed to do.

When I got a little braver I saw a poster on a bookshop wall. It was for a writing group, and it gave Michelle’s email as a contact. I emailed her a few breathily nervous messages, then we agreed to meet at a local café. It was a lovely and unforgettable meeting. She directed me to join a writing group and this was what I did. Joining the group expanded my new writing confidence massively.

So I began publishing more. Writing a little less (temporarily). And Scott Martin Productions was born.

The company became Words Are Life as I moved away from publishing fiction (I am truly appalling at selling things, and nonfiction sells itself to some extent). I carried on writing, ready to publish.

So, that’s my history. Good at editing, not bad at imagination and writing skills, but bloody awful at selling stuff.

​In recent years I’ve published ‘Melissa And The Mobility Scooter’, which is a gorgeous book of bedtime stories for children (not just girls!) between 5 and 8. Older children will enjoy reading ‘Melissa’ themselves.

I’ve also published a collection of novelettes called ‘Conflict Management’. It’s an interesting collection of stories about good and evil twins, managing autism and long term illness, making serious life decisions, ghostwriting, revenge, and working with a male supermodel.

My first novel originally came out under the name, ‘Past, Present, Tense’, then was slightly re-written under the name ‘Life’s a Mess… And Then You Die’. I love this book. It’s all about hoarding, family lost and found, dysfunctional relationships, vengeance and hope for the future.

And, I've also written what might just be the largest, floppiest book of empowering short stories ever created. It is called 'Feet On The Table' and is the result of many, many years of work.

At the time of writing, I’ve just published my second novel, ‘The Waggon’. I normally don’t have much confidence in my work but I believe this to be the best thing I’ve ever written! It came about as the final assignment of a Masters Degree in Creative Writing. This was back before Covid times, and I was due to publish it, but lost a lot of creative confidence when I was given a Merit on the course. I genuinely believed the writing deserved a better grade, which is unlike me. Unsure about how to progress, I gave it to a number of beta readers for feedback. It is their feedback that’s enabled me to rewrite the book. I hope it is deserving of a Distinction grade, even if it is only in my own head! Better late than never.

I have also just published a short ebook (a novelette or long short story) called 'Crash Test Dummy, about a middle aged alcoholic and the three street girls he cares for.

So, that’s where I am at the moment. I’m publishing on a few different platforms and am concentrating on editing and writing. There aren’t enough hours in the day to write all I want to write, but it’s getting a little easier every day.