by admin | Jun 12, 2016 | blog, Book Shop, Bullying, Dead People, Depressed, Hope, Life, Love, Paramedics, Poison, Suicide, Talk To Someone, Uncategorized, www.gllpublishing.com
Q: Why is your latest novel about suicide? A: Because believe it or not we all know someone who has committed suicide. In my author’s note I talk about someone I knew . . . . Note from Author Most people, like me, will know someone who committed suicide or know someone who knows someone. When I finished my MSc in Medical Microbiology at university I got a job in a renowned London hospital’s Microbiology Laboratory and it was there that I met him, my work mentor. He wasn’t that tall, was balding, of slight built and told me once that he bought some of his trousers in the children’s section of clothing shops. He took me under his wing and taught me the difference between studying Medical Microbiology and working in a laboratory and how to put my theory know-how into practice. He used to wind me up by calling me ‘Gladiola’ instead of Gladys – he told me it was the name of a beautiful flower and I believed him (we didn’t have the internet back then for me to check if it was true or not). I worked with him for nearly seven years; two of those years were spent on maternity leave having my children. When I went back to work each time he brought me up to speed and made sure that I was okay with all the new methods. The things I remember most are his willingness to always help me when I needed help at work and how when we had a slight misunderstanding I would frown at him, he...
by admin | May 8, 2016 | Depressed, Hope, Life, Love, Paramedics, Suicide, Talk To Someone, www.gllpublishing.com
CHAPTER 10 The two people hated each other but the one thing which held them together albeit loosely, spurred them into action, dissipating their hate, if only momentarily. Eloise’s screams had been short-lived as her husband had slapped her and calmly instructed her to call for an ambulance. He had grabbed a towel and tore it into two as if it were mere tissue paper then using each piece had firmly bound each of Jessica’s wrists. Now, he held his daughter to him and spoke to her, willing her to live, willing her to try, “Don’t die Jessica, don’t leave us, please don’t die,” he whispered. The sound of the siren preceded the flashing lights of the ambulance. “They’re here! Patrick, the ambulance is here!” Eloise said as she let go of Jessica’s hand which she had been rubbing and ran downstairs to open the door for the paramedics. “Up here!” Patrick shouted. “Please hurry!” The paramedics, a male and female, rushed in with medical bags. “How long has she been unconscious?” The male paramedic asked. He knelt down next to Jessica’s lifeless body and felt the side of her neck for a pulse. “Two maybe three minutes,” Patrick replied. “What’s her name?” “Jessica,” Eloise answered. “Okay, we’ll take it from here,” the female paramedic said as she firmly moved Patrick back and took his place. “Jessica, can you hear me sweetheart? Jessica, can you hear me luv? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me Jessica.” Jessica didn’t respond. “Oh my God, she’s dead isn’t she? She’s dead this time!” Eloise screamed. The female paramedic put the...
by admin | May 2, 2016 | blog, Book Shop, Bullying, Depressed, Hope, Life, Love, Poison, Suicide, Talk To Someone, Thank you, Uncategorized, University
CHAPTER 9 Unable to sleep, very drunk and very angry because Elle hadn’t called her back, Jessica rifled through some papers she had taken out of the secret desk compartment. She kept the compartment locked and the key to unlock it hidden in a pendant on a chain around her neck. She glanced at the papers as she desperately looked for one in particular, she read words like, ‘Death is a friend of mine’ and ‘We’re going to leave this world on our terms when the time is right for us’, they made her smile as did the gothic-like art that surrounded the words. These words usually gave her comfort in her sobriety pending the time she could get hold of a drink. She found the paper she sought, relief flooded through her, igniting her nerves and sending her pulse racing; she clasped it to her chest for a few moments. She turned her iPod on, selected a song then clambered onto her bed. She closed her eyes momentarily absorbing into her soul what can only be described as morbid, death-like music. Chanting embraced and caressed the music as it spewed out from the speakers. Each syllable seemed to conjure up spirits, evil and agile spirits that pandered to her mental state of mind – they danced to the music, decadence rife. Her heart beat faster as the chanting picked up pace and the music became almost maniacal-like. Jessica swayed this way and that, her eyes rolled backwards in her head. She felt herself floating higher and higher. The banging on her bedroom door served as...
by admin | Apr 10, 2016 | Book Shop, Dead People, Depressed, Heterochromia, Hope, Life, Love, Poison, Talk To Someone, Uncategorized, University
CHAPTER 6 Conference Room, Large Book Shop in Oxford Street, London After an hour and a half of talking to her audience, Anna had opened the floor up to a question and answer session. The questions were coming fast and furiously. “Is it true that people who talk about wanting to die by suicide are only seeking attention and don’t try to kill themselves?” Anna shook her head, “No, people who talk about wanting to die by suicide often do go on to kill themselves. Psychiatrists say that when people talk about it, it is often a cry for help and people shouldn’t ignore this cry because some people are actually looking for a way forward, a way through their pain without dying.” “Does suicide always occur without any warning signs?” “There are almost always warning signs, we just need to know what to look out for in people,” Anna replied. “You’ll be surprised at the number of parents I’ve spoken to who’ve said that they were completely blindsided, they didn’t see it coming. Parents who’ve said they were completely shocked and distraught at their child’s unprecedented action of suicide. Then you ask them a few pertinent questions and you find out that their son or daughter had started locking themselves in their bedroom and not been communicative for weeks prior to their death. Or the child had been depressed for weeks then suddenly became happy, which is usually when they’ve devised a plan to kill themselves, or a child suddenly starts to give away his or her most prized and treasured possessions. A mother would...
by admin | Apr 2, 2016 | blog, Book Shop, Bullying, Dead People, Heterochromia, Hope, Life, Love, Talk To Someone, Uncategorized, University
The next instalment of U Murder U (Suicide) below – Chapter 5 CHAPTER 5 Conference Room, Large Book Shop in Oxford Street, London “Mrs Lewis, there are nearly two hundred people in the conference room waiting for you, are you ready?” The book shop’s posh divisional manager asked, interrupting Anna’s soliloquy. He studied the attractive woman, whose head was bent; dark, luxurious curls framed her tanned, pretty face. She opened her eyes and looked at him and he felt his breath catch at the back of his throat as he stared at her un-matching eyes. One eye was greenish brown and the other a bright greenish blue, he was unsure if they were real or lensed and even though he had read that she had heterochromia iridum (mis-matched eyes), seeing them in the flesh took his breath away. Anna Lee Lewis nodded then opened the gold locket which hung from a chain around her neck. She looked at the picture of her late mother enclosed and smiled. “I’m ready,” she said, pushed her curly hair to one side and walked to the conference room with firm, confident steps. “First of all, I want to thank you all for coming today and I also want to say, no matter what you’ve read or heard about me, unlike the little boy in that movie – I don’t see dead people,” Anna told her audience. Some people in the room laughed, others stared openly at her, not sure what to expect. “My name is Anna Lee Lewis, I was born and raised in Chicago, I co-founded the charity Talk To...
