Hello, and thank you for visiting my site. I hope that you'll return often and always find something of interest about my world and what inspires me to pick up a pen. (This is a figure of speech, unfortunately. My handwriting is terrible!) Here's what I've been up to recently...

The Magnificent Magpie

This latest story of mine to appear in a TPF fiction special was inspired by an anecdote I heard in France a few years ago. 

On holiday in Charente-Maritime, I was invited for afternoon tea – very British – by some ex-pats who had set up home in the village and they told me about a cheeky magpie that had helped itself for a long time to anything it fancied. Exasperated market stallholders and shopkeepers were all for having it shot, but the Brits – more sentimental about our fellow creatures – decided to trap it humanely in a large box and transport it somewhere out of harm’s way.

The plan seemed to have backfired when their cat followed the magpie into the box, but the result was one that no one could have predicted. They both shot out again, with the magpie in hot pursuit of the cat, which ran for its life.

From this true story, I was able to ’embroider’ a tale of romance between neighbours. To fit the requirements of the magazine, my original has been quite heavily edited, but I’d be very happy to pass on a copy of the original to anyone interested.

9 May, 2019 - There are 2 comments on this story

  1. Hi Maggie, I would love to read the full story, if you have the time to send it to me.

    Many thanks,

    Gayda

    Gayda Jackson - May 9th, 2019

  2. Certainly will, Gayda. Should be on its way to you by this evening.

    Maggie Cobbett - May 9th, 2019

Comment on this story

Basic HTML is allowed in comments. Avatars provided by Gravatar. Some posts may not appear immediately, and need to be manually approved - sorry for any delay.

Check Out My eBooks
Armed with a battered copy of Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, Maggie Cobbett crossed the USA by Greyhound bus during the chaotic summer of 1968. The distances were vast, her budget minimal, and anything seemed possible. From camp counselling in the Catskills to bagels for breakfast in the Bronx, her first sojourn in the States had it all.
Supporting artists, or ‘extras’ as they’re more commonly known, are the unsung heroes of television and film. Maggie Cobbett recalls the ups and downs of twenty years of ‘blending into the background’.
A working holiday in France for so little? “It sounds too good to be true,” says Daisy’s mother, but her warning falls on deaf ears.
Blog Categories
Links
Live From Twitter