From supernatural tales of intrigue to a curious modern romance, a thoroughly British relationship and a classic fairytale all twisted up, Bedtime Stories is a collection of short stories designed to be read one at a time, at bedtime. Let us wish you goodnight with gay romances that are sure to leave you ready for a night of sweet, lingering dreams.
My story is called Frangipani Kisses and it’s about John, who lives in Canvey Island, Essex, baking his way to happiness as he works in a charity shop since he lost his job in accounts doing something or other to do with outsourcing and units.
How did it all start?
Anna Martin grabbed me at the UK Meet 2013 in Manchester and asked if I wanted to be part of an anthology of bedtime stories/ re-imaginings of fairy tales. I did what I always do with writing-related things, I said yes.
What was the inspiration for this story?
In winter 2013 the BF and I drove in my little impractical but fun Mazda MX5 to Canvey Island. We were working our way around the Essex coast. The BF was photographing its windswept industrial landscape and I was driving and walking and observing alongside him. We spent a cold Saturday in Canvey Island – a remote and slightly down at the heel coastal town in Essex, perusing the charity shops, walking along the beach and eating in an art deco cafe on the seafront. We walked into one of the charity shops into the middle of a group of retired, white haired women talking about who was doing the tea, and who wanted what. I listened intently as I pretended to flick through the nick knacks and books. As we left I made a quick note of what they’d said as it had made me smile.
I’ve watched every series of The Great British Bake Off and there’s been a few gay men in the competition, and a couple who’ve won it, including John Whaite. One of the themes of the contestants is they usually bake for pleasure, and only when they get into the competition do they realise how good they really are.
I spoke to a friend just before Christmas 2012 about the change he and his boyfriend had noticed moving from Southend in Essex to a flat in The Barbican in London.
I have experience of my granddad passing away in 2007, and his reaction to meeting my BF.
All of these separate incidents and ideas went into Frangipani Kisses.
The theme for the anthology was bedtime stories and modern interpretations of fairy tales, so I thought it would be interesting to see if I could turn a difficult situation and turn it into a fairy tale outcome.
Tigger the cat
In May 2014 one of our cats, Tigger was hit by a car and after a lot of attempts to fix him, died. Originally John’s pet in Frangipani Kissses was called Tiger, but after Tigger had passed away, I knew I wanted to put more of our cat into the story. I changed the name of the cat, and added some little things Tigger used to do. So in a little way Tigger lives on in my story.
Why older people?
I’ve always found older people endlessly interesting. I find older people easier to talk to than children. I’m often struggling for things to talk about with children, but with older people for me, the conversation just flows. I started working in a nursing home in the New Forest when I was fifteen, at first as a domestic, then as a care assistant for two years. I then spent the three years studying at university working in elderly care wards as a health care assistant at various hospitals in Hampshire and London, always trying to make the time to talk to the older patients, to hear about their lives.
I knew one grandparent – granddad Livings (Mum’s dad) and always enjoyed spending time with him. I was very honoured to find his account of what he did in world war two that he’d written for me. He hadn’t even told his wife or children about any of it. He worked as a nursing auxiliary – what we’d call a healthcare assistant nowadays – in field surgical units just behind the front.
I’ve also been fortunate enough to have helped look after my grandma’s sister – Great Auntie - during the last five years of her life. Among the social care reviews and the broken washing machines, I made time to talk to Great Auntie about her earlier life, during the war, growing up during the nineteen forties, memories of her sister (my grandma I never saw). I was endlessly surprised at her sense of humour and fun. I enjoyed talking to her friends at her wake about their early retirement together, sequence dancing, UK holidays together.
So after over-hearing the staff at the charity shop in Canvey Island it seemed obvious I needed some interesting older characters in John’s story.
If you want to read an unedited extract of Frangipani Kisses it's on my website.
If you'd like to buy the anthology it's available on the Wilde City Press website, Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
I hope you enjoy the anthology and my story within it!
Until next time,
Liam Livings xx
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