ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
Sooz, Pseudonym: Kat Black: Katherine Black: Jane doe: Sue Simpson.
Lizards Leap: Kat Black Keepers of the Quantum: Sue Simpson Better The Devil You Know: Sue Simpson People on the Edge: Sue Simpson Rat-a-tat-tat: Katherine Black Dark Around the Edges: Katherine BlackMy Name is Jane Doe: Jane Doe
All available on Amazonuk and in local bookshops.
Sooz 44, lives in Barrow-in-furness with one dog, ninteen mad reptiles, one man and one of two sons.
[January 2008]
AUTHOR'S OTHER TITLES (20) A Time To Live (Short Stories) Challenge piece. It had to be drama and it had to contain an affair at work. This isn't drama and isn't really an affair! Oh well at least I got a story out of it. [1,504 words] [Horror] Enterprise (Short Stories) Flash challenge piece working on the inspiration word of 'Innovation' [343 words] [Psychology] Fag-It Girls (Poetry) Saw these two while I was out getting a butty. [189 words] Famous (Poetry) It's hard being famous! [92 words] [Humor] Figures (Short Stories) Observational [549 words] [Psychology] Friday 11th Jan 2008 (Non-Fiction) New lizard arriving today. [2,828 words] [Biography] Friday 18th January 2008 Some Sexual Content (Non-Fiction) *Decency warning* contains some sexual reference [2,151 words] [Psychology] It Ws Only A Name (Short Stories) Murder Mystery [2,440 words] [Mystery] Jane Doe Seven 2008 (Non-Fiction) New year, new book, here we go again. [976 words] [Biography] Jane Doe Thursday 10th January 2008 (Non-Fiction) The Ark is full, but what's one more lizard? [714 words] [Biography] Saturday 12th Jan. (Non-Fiction) Muses on writing and ponderings on life... and almost no lizards! [1,296 words] [Biography] Thursday 17th Jan (Non-Fiction) Ructions [1,252 words] [Psychology] Wednesday 16th Jan 2008, Bloody Kids (Non-Fiction) Jane doe .... and domstics [1,350 words] [Psychology] White Phantom Chapter Five (Novels) Unexpected visitor [2,555 words] [Horror] White Phantom Chapter Four (Novels) Repercussions...After killing a man, Beth decides what to do next .. and meets Phantom [4,663 words] [Thriller] White Phantom Chapter One (Novels) Sometimes we make choices that can ruin lives. [623 words] [Thriller] White Phantom Chapter Seven, The Body (Novels) removal [4,875 words] [Horror] White Phantom Chapter Six (Novels) I know what you did last night [2,328 words] [Horror] White Phantom Chapter Three, Rape (Novels) Decency warning graphic rape scene may be deemed offensive. [8,980 words] [Horror] White Phantom Chapter Two (Novels) Beth and Maggie go through with it. [2,109 words] [Horror]
Wednesday 16th Jan 2008 Sooz
Thursday 17th January 2008.
Well I suppose I'd better tell the tale of Russ, Tia and the dreaded snake. Russ' daughter, Tia, is an occasional visitor to our house. Sometimes she stays over which is a pain in the bum because I have to give up my bed to her and she and Russ have my bed while I get to sleep on our very narrow sofa. I don't like her staying when I'm at work the next morning because after a night of very little sleep it then messes with my morning routine of getting ready for work. I don't like her staying when I'm off the next day because it's my only day for a bit of a lie in and after aching and breaking on the setee all night the last thing I want to do is extend my sofa visit.
I have broached the subject of a fold up bed for Tia. I don't think at ten years old she should be sharing a bed with her father anyway.
But that's by the by. Tia loves the lizards but hates the crickets and locust so she refuses to sleep downstairs. I'd mentioned the possibility of getting a snake and unbeknown to me, a few weeks ago Russ had an early morning phone call from his ex wife.
Tia was in floods of tears. She hates snakes apparently. Russ promised her that we'd never have one in the house.
Russ had no fucking right to promise her that without consulting me first.
It's caused huge problems.
Russ and I live together ... but he does have his own house where he usually has Tia overnight. She comes to stay with us very occasionally. If we lived together properly and if he had nowhere else to stay with Tia, then of course I'd take the child's wishes into account and be a little bit more sensitive to her needs.
But, I'm buggered if I'm going to be told what I can and can't have in my house by a ten year old who doesn't even live here.
Hell she doesn't even need to know that we've got a snake. When she's coming we can throw a cover over the viv, plonk a vase on top of it and she'll be non the wiser.
Russ, who is bullied mercilessly by both the child and her mother feels that I'm being very unreasonable.
I don't.
This is the child who prevented us from having Christmas crackers this year because she's got 'sensitive ears'. Well, we had the crackers, but we had to take the cracker bit out of them! However she can sit through a Mika concert, or a Lilly Allen concert at five thousand decibels.
Russ bristles every time the snake is mentioned. He has told me that he intends to have absolutely nothing to do with it because Tia's upset. The kid's never even seen a snake so how does she know that she's phobic? If it is a genuine phobia, more so than the selective sensitive ears is a problem, then we'll take measures to make her comfortable. If she decides not to visit my home any more then so be it. Russ has his own snake free house that she can visit in.
I've had to re-think the housing for the snake. I had intended to put him in the four cube. I was talking to Martin on the phone today and adding some last minute bits and pieces to my order including a heater for that viv. I mentioned that Stoker would be going in the four cube.
“Jane, that's huuuuge,”
“Is it? it's not that big.”
“Well it'll be all right in there but you know it's only half grown, don't you.”
“Yeeees.”
Well, I'm doubting my judgement now. So instead of putting her in the four cube, I'm going to put her in the three cube. That doesn't seem like much of a come down but it's the internal capacity that's measured. She'll go into the old Frillie viv. It's been lying dormant for two months now. I gave it a deep clean when the Frillies moved out and I'm going to give it another do tonight. So that I know there's no underlying nasties in there.
I just hope that it's big enough. Stoker is a yearling. The vivarium necessity is governed more by girth and bulk than length of the snake. I would have thought by a year old she's have a good eight inch of girth. Oh well we'll see.
My newbies are coming on Tuesday and I'm beginning to panic that everything isn't going to be ready for them. My car is knackered though only temporarily, I hope, alternator... or fan belt... or head gasket, depending on which of my experts you seek an opinion of. Russ did a wood run and found some good branches of driftwood on the beach, however his dad wouldn't have them in the car so Russ had to stash them. With my car being off the road I have no idea how we're going to get them. Eight foot branches aren't a problem, you just hang them out of the boot, but nobody else seems to have that philosophy and says that they are too long to transport in a car. Russ says they are a bit dirty. Jesus, cars do come cleanable you know. Not only does the wood have to be got from the beach, but it also has to be cleaned in good time. My method is to soak in a bath of weak bleach solution for two hours, rinse three times and then leave under running water for ten minutes to make sure that there are no traces of bleach left. Then I put it in front of the heater for two days to dry out. I have four vivs to kit out, the monster viv, the three cube for stoker, and two 3x2x1 for the little water dragons, the last two aren't a problem I have the wood to do them. It's just the monster viv and the snake viv that are proving difficult.
I had planned to put the Iggy in the three cube, and the Chinese and aussy in the two 3x2x1 but the iggy isn't coming this time. It gives me plenty of opportunity to work something out for him. Once the monster viv is up and running I've got two six footers coming free. Assante will definitely be taking up residence in one. Chi and Merry may well go into the other. The uros, or Roma can move from a three to a four. That means that I'll have two three footers free in the stack.
It will sort. I have two temp glass tank convertibles to quarantine the new baby waters short term and a choice of two cubes for the snake. And if the wood has to wait a few days then they'll just have to manage on lesser wood than I would like for awhile. Tuesday morning I'm going to steal the ceramic heater from the frilies, they can live without it for a few hours, that way I can have stokers viv heated to temp before he gets here. I've ordered another ceramic from Martin.
As usual it's all fuss and hassle to prepare last minute and Russ is tearing his hair out. But all will be well.
It's all good and dead exciting, I thrive on the drama.
Five Sleeps.
Submit Your Review for Wednesday 16th Jan 2008
Required fields are marked with (*). Your e-mail address will not be displayed.