Girl with a Meat Axe and Other Stories - Michael Yates

A collection of short stories.

Annie thinks her husband is unfaithful, and she's got herself a meat axe to bring him back in line... Gillian makes a pass at Miles - on the day of his wife's funeral... Disturbed Dorothy discovers from a crossword clue that her doctor is madly in love with her... When his mistress gives him the elbow, film critic Mark takes lessons from Anthony Quinn to get his wife back... Divorced Louise writes to a serial killer and asks him to marry her... A truck driver is stranded on a planet where the laws of nature do not apply... A magician is furious when his female assistant steals his tricks... Jesus gives an interview to a newspaper journalist... When Doreen gets her cataracts fixed, she begins to see major faults in her husband... Nigel tries to mend fences with the mad mum who attempted to murder his dad... When Vincent Van Gogh plans to kill himself, an angel comes down to earth to tell him how to do the job properly... Twenty-nine stories about a plethora of people - fragile and troubled, belligerent and timid, amusing and amazing.

If you want slices of life, here they are. And if you want life resliced, chopped, diced, marinated, cooked or served raw, here it is in these varied tales.

Poet Ian McMillan

In these short stories Michael peels back the layers of society to reveal a myriad of characters... vividly portrayed with a touch of humour which makes the underlying issues all the more poignant. Be prepared to be surprised, because nothing in these stories is what it seems. Novelist Larraine Harrison, author of Angel's Child

Another smashing set of tales from this talented storyteller, with an unwavering mastery of characters and entanglements. Here you will meet people as real and as flawed and as damaged as you and I, living lives not far removed from our own. You will chuckle, laugh out loud, wince, and occasionally reel back in wonder; but most of all, you will be entertained. Novelist Colin Hollis, author of No Second Thoughts and Herbmaster of Tarodash

Michael has the knack for pulling out the ironic and quirky side of life in everything he writes... The characters are compelling, drawing you in until the tale turns around and bites you... A fascinating read at any time. Novelist LM Jones, author of the Sarah Allerton crime series

Witty, inventive, and ingenious. Girl With a Meat Axe is full of life and ideas. Novelist Michael Stewart, author of King Crow, Café Assassin and Ill Will

With an unerring eye for detail, these stories deal with people struggling to negotiate perplexing layers of life. No matter how bizarre the scenario, Michael has the knack of making his characters entirely believable which makes us care about their ultimate fate. Ivor Tymchak, author of Sex ' Death and Other Stories

Michael Yates was environment reporter and later film critic with the Sheffield Star. He taught playwriting at Harrogate Theatre and creative writing for the WEA. He has had a dozen plays performed by various companies in the north of England, including in Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Liverpool and Manchester. He has also been Bradford Writer in Residence in City of Film Year, teaching film skills to school students; Poet in Residence in Whitby, and at Wakefield Cathedral; and in 2021 he became Poet in Residence in Mid-Yorkshire Hospitals.

Previous books include 20 Stories High and the novel Dying is the Last Thing You Ever Want to Do