An Excerpt : The Notorious Oddball

Essex, January 1937

The book zoomed pass the bookshelf straight into her hand. She tucked it into the inner pocket of her jacket and hurriedly walked past the librarian who was standing atop a high ladder at the other end of the shelf. Eleanor Pinkerton who was so intent on getting away as quickly as possible, didn’t see the knee-length high stack of books on the floor and tripped over it as she passed.

‘Eleanor Pinkerton! Where do you think…’, Miss Witherby’s voice trailed off as Eleanor quickly picked herself up and walked out of the library hurriedly. The walk back home was filled with anticipation of the information she may soon find within the book that she had just stolen from the library.

She has no doubt that if Miss Witherby ever finds out about it, she’d be a notorious figure around the quaint little countryside where everyone knows everyone. People have already labelled her an oddball, being notorious will just make her scandalous.

‘The notorious oddball. How wonderful!’ thought Eleanor.

In Eleanor’s mind, this is a good thing because people easily leave her alone the less unapproachable she appears to be. It’s more peaceful in her opinion. She has always shied away from the notion of a normal life as defined by the majority of people around her. Get married and have children; they say, and all else will be fine; so they say.

As always, Eleanor defied them (whoever they are) at every turn. Being conventional just didn’t sit well with her. The circumstances in which she came to be was already very unconventional. Her mind drifted to the events that altered her life significantly at the tender age of ten...

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Shameless selfie with my CUPS of coffee.
Trivia: I like to write with a pencil on a book that has no lines.

I'm writing this part of the blog while shaking my head to Ram Jam's Black Betty. This song makes me miss my drum sticks (a long-forgotten skill I picked up in college). Alas, I've not held drum sticks in a decade. Anyway, enough of the impromptu throwback. 

The above is an excerpt from the prologue of Eleanor's story. I'm currently working on enhancing certain plotlines of the story. It's a bit of a bugger because this is the part where the logical mind of the readers will come into play. 

I know the above excerpt is not much to go on about but I can't afford to reveal major plotlines here before the soon-to-be book is released. So much to write. I'm really excited to see how the story will unfold as I continue writing.

On the other hand, I've also been filling my time by writing short stories and poems which will be shared on other blogs. This is to build my reputation as a writer. It will also help me in my quest for publishers. Whatever it is, I'll be documenting my journey as I write my book. I want to be able to look back in a few years and hopefully say 'You made it, Shaza.'

Well, I'm off to play hide-and-seek with my kids before I send the little rascals to bed. 

Toodles.

Still The Most Stubborn Woman,

SFK