{"id":774,"date":"2019-06-06T14:25:32","date_gmt":"2019-06-06T13:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hebulstrode.co.uk\/?p=774"},"modified":"2019-06-06T14:25:39","modified_gmt":"2019-06-06T13:25:39","slug":"curious-objects-and-unforeseen-consequences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hebulstrode.co.uk\/?p=774","title":{"rendered":"Curious Objects and Unforeseen Consequences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Sometimes, a seemingly innocuous object found in an unusual\nplace can spark an equally unusual train of thought that leads to the creation\nof something quite unexpected. Thus it was that a year ago I happened to be\nholidaying in France in a rather idyllic g\u00eete that had retained a number of its\noriginal features. One of these was its bread oven, which had long ago ceased\nto be used for its intended purpose, and now remained solely as an object of\ndecoration. Whereas I was content to leave it be and pay it but the most\ncursory attention, my wife, imbued with a Pandora-like curiosity, insisted upon\neasing the grille from its mouth and looking within. Thankfully, although this\naction did not unleash a stream of untold horrors upon us, it, and what was\ninside \u2013 a handful of aged curios which included this pair of old boots \u2013 did\nunleash the imagination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We challenged each other to come up with an idea for a story based upon the oven and its contents, and having mulled this over for half an hour or so, we discussed our ideas, which although both taking the supernatural as a central theme, were quite divergent in both their tone and subject matter. It was mine that proved to be the grimmer of the two, and this is what has lately come to fruition in my novelette entitled \u2013 perhaps unsurprisingly \u2013 The Bread Oven<\/em>. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although our accommodation last year happened to be in\nNormandy, the story was transplanted to neighbouring Brittany, from which it\ntakes certain additional elements. Whereas it is a relatively modest piece in\nterms of its length, it had to wait until last week to see the light of day, as\nI\u2019ve been busy with other writing projects in the interim. I\u2019d originally\nintended to publish it later this year, but interruptions to the composition of\nmy next novel led me to pause and publish this shorter piece first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bread Oven <\/em><\/a>is a contemporary tale, in which the past nonetheless looms large. In part ghost story, in part something else altogether, its opening may contain hints of the strangeness to come, but in all respects otherwise resembles the normal everyday world which we all inhabit. To give away any more would risk spoiling the story, so without further ado I invite you, should you dare, to enter the world of The Bread Oven<\/em><\/a>. <\/p>\n

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