DECIDING MOMENTS

As an occupational therapist and a vicar’s wife, I come across people from every walk of life and in varied situations, writes subscriber Sally Nichol. I have discovered that everyone has a story, many holding surprises, and shocks, that could never be guessed.

I began to create short stories based on characters inspired by the interesting people I meet, imagining a back story that might explain their present circumstances or behaviour. Many of the stories describe being at a crossroads in life, when the decision you make may change the course of your life forever. A woman posing for life drawing classes without her husband’s knowledge; a husband who has kept the secret from his wife of why their daughter left home 30 years ago; a teenage boy who drops a bombshell into the centre of his family one Christmas, causing irreversible division; a best man about to make his speech and deciding whether to destroy the marriage before it even begins because of his love for the bride.

These have now been gathered into two volumes of short stories, A Model Wife and other tales and Lessons in Love. They have been published on Amazon and all proceeds are going to help the work of Age UK Oldham to help the many patients I see every day in my work on the Urgent Care Response Team.

I have published a picture book alongside my five-year-old granddaughter, The chicken that thinks he’s a duck and am working on two young children’s chapter books describing the adventures of two eight-year-old boys who find themselves in another world, having to complete a challenge and learning the importance of friendship along the way. I am also undertaking Writing Magazine’s ‘Writing for children’ course which I have found to be extremely helpful so far.