Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #11 February 2015 | Page 70

“And we’re back with the books hour here on Severn FM. With me are Felicia Brett, the author of ‘Wiccan Wessex’ and Tom Ashley, who has a new book, ‘The Rock Pool’, just released today. Tom, what can you tell us about your novel?” “Well, it’s about childhood and what makes us who we are and, most importantly, it’s about truth.” The presenter, whose name Tom could not recall, having been introduced only seconds before they went on air, jumped in, clearly wanting to keep control. Well, fine, if that was how this was going to go Tom felt he had sufficient command of the English language to make his points in whatever time he was given. “So, truth is important to you?” “Of course,” Tom replied, “it must be the novelist’s job to reveal truth to the world. I think that we can do that in fiction in ways that are not possible in non-fiction.” “Which seems a good point,” said the presenter, “to turn to Felicia Brett. Felicia, your book is, presumably, non-fiction. How would you respond to Tom’s point about truth? I mean, Wiccan means witches, right? How much truth is there really in that?” “Yes, it’s about modern witchcraft. I believe I’m trying PAGE 70 to show the truth as much as Mr. Ashley here. There’s a lot of assumptions and nonsense said about Wiccan beliefs and I wanted to try and set the record straight.” Tom rolled his eyes at the last point. Was the eccentric old woman his only competition among the new releases from local writers this month? “And before you ask, no I don’t dance around naked in the woods at midnight.” Ye gods, Tom thought, don’t plant that image in my mind. She must be pushing eighty. *** Tom turned his phone back on as soon as he got out of the studio. He tried to phone Louise but there was only the message service. “Hi, Lou. Tom here. Just done the radio thing. Went well. Managed to get the title mentioned three times. Should stand out from the other stuff they were talking about. I’m off to see if they’ve got copies displayed in Waterstones. Love you. See you tonight. We’ll crack open that bottle we’ve been keeping for a special occasion.” As he put the phone back in his pocket, Tom realised that Felicia Brett was standing nearby.