Earlier this year I featured lovely Julia Roberts on Linda’s Book Bag as she explained about self-publishing and the links with her other role on the QVC shopping channel on television. You can read that guest post here. Following that post I decided to read the first of Julia’s Liberty Sands books Life’s A Beach And Then… which I thoroughly enjoyed. My review of Life’s a Beach and Then… is here and the series is available for purchase here.

So, when Julia asked if I would be interested in reading a short story she has written, Time For A Short Story,  I jumped at the chance.

Time For A Short Story is published today, 12th September 2016, by Ripped Books and is available for purchase here in e-book.

Time For A Story

Eloise is still coming to terms with the death of her mother two years previously when she takes a job as a waitress in a tearoom while she is home from university to spend the summer in Guernsey. There she meets regular customer, Josephine, whose hobby is writing short stories.

English student, Eloise, offers to read some of the stories and is surprised by how good they are. She organises a special ninetieth birthday treat for Josephine but when the elderly lady doesn’t show up for her usual Wednesday morning elevenses, Eloise gets a feeling that something is terribly wrong.

Where is Josephine? And will she ever find out about Eloise’s extraordinary act of kindness?

My Review of Time For A Short Story

Eloise is working her university summer holidays in June’s cafe where she encounters 89 year old writer Josephine.

Time For A Short Story might only take half an hour to read, but it certainly packs a punch. There is a great setting in the Primrose Pantry, the title of which put me in mind of the primrose path where things don’t always turn out quite as planned, and I could almost taste the cakes and scones on offer.

Characters are well developed and the reader gets a true understanding of who they really are, from Eloise’s dodgy dad to the talented and refined Josephine. I felt a real empathy towards them all, even sulky Claudette. It is Josephine, however, who steals the show and when I read the acknowledgements and discovered that the story is dedicated to Julia Roberts’ own mum, Josephine, who is the same age as the character I could understand why she seemed so real.

There’s a cracking plot that captivates the reader completely. Julia Roberts’ writing is highly skilful and I was very entertained by Time For A Short Story. It might only be a short story but there’s a lot going on!

But the element I really liked most was the theme of writing and seizing the day. Any aspiring writer could actually benefit from the self-publishing tips that underpin some of the action and I loved the message that it’s never too late to start writing but why not start now. I found it quite inspiring.

Time For A Short Story is a smashing read and just right for a commute or lunch break – or for those who would themselves like to be published writers.

About Julia Roberts

When Julia Roberts won a second prize in a short story competition when she was 10 she decided to become a writer. Several decades later she did just that and her memoir One Hundred Lengths of the Pool was published in 2013.

Julia still works full time for QVC and currently lives in Ascot with her other half.

You can follow Julia on Twitter and visit her website. You’ll also find her on Facebook.

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