Short Story Based on True Events

I received a touching review on ‘Don’t Be A Sally’ a short story based on true events.

“Wonderful short story about Adam and Goldie, lyrical, honest, masterfully written (with a sad touch), plus a lot of suspense along the way and a great character building. A remarkable treat for short story-readers!”  –Victoria Ohlsson 

Victoria is a fantastic author and has a wonderful blog which you can find here: https://raynotbradbury.com/

An excerpt, Chapter 1

His heart pounded in his chest and his ears rang. He was in hell. He was sure of it. This moment; with this feeling of sickness, and pure hatred for what he felt, was hell. Welcome to hell.

No vomit came from his stomach. No vomit came from his throat and no vomit came from his mouth. His mid-section wretched up and down looking like an October cat in a filthy dance. Up and down his body rose and nothing came out. Yet he smelled his own vomit lingering all about him. Again, he rose up, and again he produced nothing. Beads of sweat were on his forehead and it wasn’t long before they fell onto the surface of the tub. He lurched heavily downward with a massive cough and something came up. Something vile and red landed onto the tub’s floor. Black. He saw nothing but black as he slowly faded and fainted again.

 

I think about my cousin, Adam, often. I haven’t spoken to him in months. He has chosen a path that most wouldn’t and I can only hope he is as happy as possible. The photo on the cover is the valley where the story takes place. I took the photo. This is a self published, raw and honest story.

Ups and Downs of Alcohol Abuse

I know how difficult it can be to battle internal demons. I know what it’s like to lose someone to those demons. Many of us do. I wrote Don’t Be a Sally to show my cousin that I saw greatness in him. Even during the worst of his moments. I know what it feels like to be locked in a cell, both mentally, and physically. I wrote this for him. Not against him.

I took an honest approach to the good, bad, and ugly of alcohol abuse. Please give this story a chance. Don’t turn away because of the descriptive first chapter. If you have a family member, or friend, who’s battling with substance abuse, read this, have them read it. It may help. It may not. It’s helped a few, so maybe, it’ll help a few more.

There’s a happy ending.

To read an snippet of chapter one, click the below link.

https://mtaggartwriter.wordpress.com/my-book/

To jump to amazon and read reviews, click the below link. (This link will not make it to my email followers. It’ll be filtered out. You’ll need to login to view the link.)

 

Thanks for reading.

Matt

 

Happy Ending

My cousin has been in my thoughts lately. For things I’m unable to discuss, or write about, for the time being. Twice last week friends from home called me. Twice they pulled over and let my cousin use their phones to call me. They’d found him walking down random roads.

If all anyone hears is the negative said about them, we as humans, often fall into what those negatives are. Rather than focusing on what’s great about them. I prefer to focus on what’s great about someone. In this story I wrote about the good, the bad, the raw. The truth. This story is not PC. I do not write PC.

Grab a whisky, or wine, or a bottle of cold beer. Or room temperature porter, if you so enjoy a room temperature porter. I know I do. Open said drink(s) and take a little read.

Cheers,

I took the picture for this. I stood on the top of Mount Sugarloaf in Sunderkand, MA. Thanks for reading. I’m finally becoming more comfortable with commenting back and forth with a few of you. Thank you for that. It’s certainly not because of me.

Matt

A Raw, Heartfelt Short Story

From time to time I’ll mention a short story I wrote for my cousin, Adam. He was in a tough situation and the only item left for me to give was to write. And I did. I wrote from the heart. He read the story and loved it.

An excerpt, Chapter 1

His heart pounded in his chest and his ears rang. He was in hell. He was sure of it. This moment; with this feeling of sickness, and pure hatred for what he felt, was hell. Welcome to hell.

No vomit came from his stomach. No vomit came from his throat and no vomit came from his mouth. His mid-section wretched up and down looking like an October cat in a filthy dance. Up and down his body rose and nothing came out. Yet he smelled his own vomit lingering all about him. Again, he rose up, and again he produced nothing. Beads of sweat were on his forehead and it wasn’t long before they fell onto the surface of the tub. He lurched heavily downward with a massive cough and something came up. Something vile and red landed onto the tub’s floor. Black. He saw nothing but black as he slowly faded and fainted again.

-Below are links to the amazon and Barnes&Noble website pages where you can download the short story.  There’s a dog, mud, a river, and graphic situations such as the above excerpt.

Thanks for visiting. I invite you to read the reviews.  Cheers.

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Be-Sally-Based-Events-ebook/dp/B00DYAJ2ZW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1433349895&sr=8-1&keywords=don%27t+be+a+sally

Barnes&Noble link-

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dont-be-a-sally-matthew-taggart/1116001656?ean=9781483503097

A Powerful Short Story

Recently we moved north.  Changing states isn’t something that slows my family down, but it does interfere with being connected. Which was a nice reprieve.

While I haven’t time to write a meaningful post I do want to again provide the link to my short story. It’s raw, powerful, real and an adult read.

Below is a link to the story. Cheers.

 

 

A Simple Thank You

To whomever shared my Short Story Page on their Twitter, thank you. I find that to be the kind of supportive peer group I’ve stumbled into via WordPress.  I haven’t a clue who you are and I don’t know how to find out. I can only hope that you read this and receive my simple thank you.

When I saw the tiny number one hiding in the Twitter button it literally made my moment.

Here’s a link to my short story page if interested-

https://mtaggartwriter.wordpress.com/my-book/

Don’t Be A Sally – Based on True Events

If you enjoy beer with your whiskey you may enjoy this story.  It’s based on true events. The hardest working men and women I know drink.  They’ll watch the foam slide down the glass and empty the contents and order another.  Some are covered in mud and dust from working in the fields and other’s pull on their suit to be sure they haven’t wrinkled.

The first chapter is tough.  Don’t Be A Sally is based on true events. Cheers.

Photo taken by me.  Use your smart phone, kindle, laptop, or iPhone reader and click the link below to read the story.

Don’t Be A Sally – Based on True Events

His heart pounded in his chest and his ears rang. He was in hell. He was sure of it. This moment; with this feeling of sickness, and pure hatred for what he felt, was hell. Welcome to hell.

No vomit came from his stomach. No vomit came from his throat and no vomit came from his mouth. His mid-section wretched up and down looking like an October cat in a filthy dance. Up and down his body rose and nothing came out. Yet he smelt his own vomit lingering all about him. Again, he rose up, and again he produced nothing. Beads of sweat were on his forehead and it wasn’t long before they fell onto the surface of the tub. He lurched heavily downward with a massive cough and something came up. Something vile and red landed onto the tub’s floor. Black. He saw nothing but black as he slowly faded and fainted again.

The full story is published and can be found via a link on my profile.  – M. Taggart

An excerpt from Chapter 1. ‘Don’t Be A Sally’ –  Written and published by M. Taggart