Cuthbert the Colonel : Children's Story written and narrated by Andrew Segal

British soldiers, renowned for their courage and bravery, train under conditions of strict and uncompromising discipline. I recall an ex- soldier telling me that his NCO had screamed at the men till he was hoarse. But he got results. What was intriguing was that when the men were off duty, as it were, the same NCO chatted to them amicably about his wife and family. Once on duty again, he reverted to the alter ego. He was respected, admired and acknowledged as able to do anything he expected of his men.

Cuthbert is a recognisable British type. Furthermore, he sees it as necessary in an emergency situation to take the credit for the solution to the problem, even when he wasn’t actually responsible for that solution himself.

Well, we can’t let discipline slip, can we?

Extract from Village People collection of short stories by Andrew Segal - to be launch later next year

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Roberta Robot : Children's story written and narrated by Andrew Segal

We live in an age of increasing, some would say encroaching, Artificial Intelligence.

How would it be, if say, a robot with intelligence was actually given the chance to express itself? What would it want to say? Whom would it wish to say it to? When would the opportunity arise?

Roberto the Robot expresses the thoughts that a robot with artificial intelligence, bordering on real intelligence, might think in given circumstances. He works hard and expects no reward. His maker, Bob, only sees him as a machine. Roberto reminds us that, ‘even cars and trains have secret brains, but cannot speak or tell.’ A fantasy. A what if, situation.

But when he’s bullied, a little girl comes to his aid, encourages him, reassures him and ultimately helps him to, ‘find his voice.’ They become friends and even when she moves away to a different school, the confidence she’s given him remains.

This is one of my favourite stories in rhyme as it shows the power of friendship and love in what is quite frankly, the most unexpected of situations.

Extract from Village People collection of short stories by Andrew Segal - to be launch later next year

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Lavender Roses : Short Story written and narrated by Andrew Segal

was published in The Lady Magazine in April 2019.

I was just eight years old the first time I visited Paris, but even at that age something about the city was entrancing. Too early in life to see the romance of the place, but not too early to fail to appreciate the sounds and sights. The delicious food, and the way Parisians relished their meals. Vichy water, as in those days tap water wasn’t fit to drink. Hence the custom of drinking wine with every meal, at least for adults that is. Steaks, the like of which I’d never tasted in the UK. Crisp, golden colour chips. And, modest by today’s standards, the famous Folies Bergere. Today Paris still enchants, the Eiffel Tower standing proud and tall in the centre. My story encapsulates the feelings that the city engenders in a young loving couple, and the way in which aspects of their stay remain with them into old age.

Extract from I am a Contract Killer collection of short stories by Andrew Segal - to be launch letter this year

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Catherine Wheels : Short Story written and narrated by Andrew Segal 

Another story about love. So often in my short stories I find the woman taking the lead, being the stronger of the two in a relationship. Perhaps that is a reflection of the women I’ve lived with, worked with and loved, myself. But occasionally my male lead takes over and proves he can shoulder responsibility too, be a shoulder to cry on, a prop just when his lover needs him most. As they say in France, “Vive la Difference,” and so it should be. We live in an enlightened age where the sexes are regarded and indeed treated equally. But that doesn’t mean we behave in the same way. Some people still show symptoms of the old established modes of character and behaviour. The “he” and “she” that make life so endlessly varied and interesting. In my novel, “The Lyme Regis Murders,” my principal character, is a multi-racial, bi-sexual, cigar smoking, cocaine taking, vodka drinking, martial arts exponent, six feet tall, woman. But powerful as she is, when it suits her and she behaves unpredictably she reminds her boyfriend, it’s “because I am a woman.” In this short story it is the male who, able to show emotion nonetheless, is the strength his woman relies upon.

Extract from I am a Gigolo by Andrew Segal - collection of short stories to be launched spring 2020

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Fondest Love : Short Story written and narrated by Andrew Segal

Love stories take all sorts of formats, and thankfully in today’s world intolerance of the past is very much, just that; a thing of the past. And so we read with pleasure of love among those who are straight, or gay, perhaps bisexual and or now too, transsexual, without the bigotry and persecution that blighted so many relationships in years gone by.

Sometimes an event presaging a time of sadness and loss can be an inspiration for a love story. Again, our preconceptions of who is the strongest character in an affair can be misleading. In this story, the relationship is straight, and he feels he should be the leader. He’s an old fashioned macho man who hides his feelings. But is he really the stronger of the two, whatever he feels, or would like to believe his role is supposed to be in the arena of ‘Goodbye?’ Or is it she who is the one he unconsciously leans on?

But then we can introduce another element, another character, perhaps related in one way or another to the other two. A character who puts the whole of the first relationship into clear perspective.

Extract from I am a Gigolo by Andrew Segal - collection of short stories to be launched spring 2020

ANDREW CAN BE FOUND ON AMAZON

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Sleight of hand written and narrated by Andrew Segal was published in The Lady Magazine in September 2019. 

I love magic, and once dreamed of being a magician myself, and joining The Magic Circle. But to be a magician requires a special temperament, together with the ability to stay absolutely cool, particularly if things start to go wrong, which in the world of illusion, they all too frequently do. A number of Houdini copyists lost their lives when trying to emulate his escapes from a sealed mail bag, in a chained wooden crate, thrown into the freezing Hudson river. They weren't as practiced or prepared, as he was. So they drowned, or else froze to death before they could be warmed after a rescue.

Having watched Cirque de Soleil on a number of occasions, I had also come to appreciate the skills of acrobats, taking on board the years, the practice and the strength required to engage in their kind of performances.

And so it was that I decided to write a love story combining all the above, particularly the possibility of a love interested connected to a disaster, a trick gone drastically wrong.

An incident involving a friend provided the starting point, and with my ideas in mind, I took it from there. The story encapsulates exactly what can happen when one engages, unwisely, in Sleight of Hand.

Extract from I am a Courtesan by Andrew Segal - collection of short stories to be launched spring 2020

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