Today I’m pleased to reveal the cover for the second book in my ‘Wordsworth the Tramp,’ series. I hope you like it, your opinions would be welcome. The book itself should be available for pre-order very soon.
The prompt this week reminded me of a recent phenomenon in our cities and indeed the very town I live in:
PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot
Marcus’ eyes swept the city skyline. All those roofs and all humanity underneath.
Some making love, some killing each other. Marcus sneered at his watch, except most would be glued to the soap, now. He derided the masses’ lack of awareness and imagination.
They never look up, never outwards, insular, missing what lives amongst them. Threat or enrichment.
He might take several shots, but needed just one perfect one.
He arced the scope over the cityscape and suddenly there she was.
Swooping to the cathedral. He pressed the button.
A perfect picture to celebrate the peregrine’s return to the city.
Written for Friday Fictioneers – a 100 words story based on a photo prompt. Hosted by Rochelle. Read the other entries here.
Michael Wynn 
You tricked me!
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Great, thanks.
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Ah, lovely twist – I thought he was a sniper!
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
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And you caught me out to, well done,
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Looks like a modicum of success with this one, thanks Mike
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Me too – I thought he had evil intentions!
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I’m getting a good strike rate here, thanks
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Nice bit of misdirection, Michael
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Thanks, Neil
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Oh no! Did he shoot the bird? If he did, was he going to go down and get it?
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Whoa, great lead-up to a misdirect. Good job.
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Thank you Eugenia, I’m pleased you thought so
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a shooter but obviously not one that i expected. 🙂
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Which I’m pleased about, thanks Plaridel
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Good story Michael. The book cover looks excellent.
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Thanks Iain. Shouldn’t be long now. I had an idea of how I wanted the cover in my mind and was pleased the way the designer interpreted it. Spot on actually.
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Liked this line: Some making love, some killing each other – and some doing both I imagine. 😀
I find your book cover appealing. I want to investigate the book.
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Thank you, it should be out fairly soon.
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Ha, I had the same thought as Tannille regarding “making love AND then killing each other”!
He sees the things other people miss.
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Making love AND killing each other? They’re not black widow spiders ya know!
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Dear Michael,
Phew! So glad he was shooting with a camera. Skillful misdirect and well constructed tale.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you Rochelle
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Nice twist. I do like twisty tales.
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Thanks, Anthony
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First off: YAYAYAYAY! I can’t wait for part two of Wordsworth!
And you have given me a torticols with your twist. Wonderful. This crazy thing the world is experiencing as one has had the added benefit of nature coming out of hiding…
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Thanks ever so much Dale. Is there something wrong with the FF site? I can’t get on and I need to do comments. I’ll shrivel up if I can’t get on.
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Try it with Chrome as your browser. I couldn’t get Inlinkz at all with MS Edge – switched to Chrome and all was well. I suspect skullduggery by Google…
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As I mentioned, thanks Penny, you’re a life saver
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Ah! What a relief! The peregrine is such a gorgeous bird, and I miss seeing them where we live now. 25+ years ago, lived out in the country in central Minnesota, and looked forward to the return of the falcons every years. Well done.
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Thank you. They are gorgeous and fortunately they are coming into cities now, using the tall buildings as cliffs and, I’m pleased to say, we have a pair that nests on our very own church roof, in our little town.
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Gorgeous beauty. Gentle creatures appreciate the quiet. I like your new book cover.
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Thnak you very much
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You are very welcome.
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Thank you
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I found the character of your photographer rather interesting, sneering at the average city dweller. I wonder if that’s typical of people who hunt wild creatures, even if they only carry a camera to shoot them.
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Hi Penny, it might be typical, but I had to have him sneering because I wanted everyone thinking he was some sort of evill sniper for as long as possible.
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A lovely surprise… and peregrines have returned to the cities which is perfect.
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It is perfect, Bjorn. We even have a pair that nests on the roof of our church.
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A clever and subtle switch at the end, from the sense of menace to bird photographer. Well done.
I like your book cover, intrigues me as to what the story inside will be about.
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Thanks. More details of the book soon but the story is a light hearted crime story. The title comes about because almost all the characters are or could be viewed as outsiders in one way or another, but they join together to defeat a criminal gang, who themselves are technically outsiders.
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