RANDOM ACTS OF OPTIMISM
Available to order from Wordsonthestreet, Blackwells, Barnes and Noble, Alan Hannas and other online outlets.
Praise for Random Acts of Optimism
“A genuinely marvellous collection. There’s a crystalline quality to the prose that at times dazzles and at others leaves you gasping for breath, but more than anything it’s the compulsive nature of the storytelling that will have readers unable to put this collection down. Alison Wells, a very fine writer and clearly one who has honed her craft to mastery, deserves a broad and enthusiastic audience. Random Acts of Optimism ought to do the trick.”Billy O’Callaghan, author of Life Sentences
“Random Acts of Optimism by Alison Wells is a lively, highly imaginative and delightful collection of short fiction. This book contains a breath-taking range of subject matter and themes. A librarian and an elderly person form a bond during lockdown. There are ghosts. There are problems with plumbers. There are dinosaurs on the Isle of Wight. There is a story written from the point of view of a letter. There are stars, meringues, memories in jars, a spaceman. Most of all, there are people, trying to cope with life and all its travails. At times tender and thought-provoking, by turns humorous and bleak, this cornucopia of tales is truly a pleasure to read.Madeleine D’Arcy, Author of Waiting for the Bullet and Liberty Terrace
“There’s an incredibly sensual precision to Wells’ sentences – nobody writes like Alison Wells – her stories sizzle, she’s an unsentimental yet compassionate documenter of humanity, whose stories are never what you might expect. She has an unusual and imaginative approach, a wide range, and a canny wisdom. The tragic and comic are not just juxtaposed, they wrap around each other – Wells is a unique voice, and this collection is one to treasure. Fans of the work of Lorrie Moore and Lucia Berlin will love this collection.”Niamh Boyce, Award Winning Author of The Herbalist and Her Kind
“Playful and poignant paeans to the uncertain and arbitrary times we live in, here are stories that read like shards of endurance, of defiance to the wax and wane of life. A courageous, inventive, and rewarding collection.”Alan McMonagle, author of Ithaca and Laura Cassidy’s Walk of Fame
“Alison Wells is an Irish Elena Ferrante.Yes, she is that amazing…There is a shimmering sense of magic running through all the stories and they range from funerals, through plumbers, lockdown to dinosaurs and show the wit and imagination of the author. A terrific collection of stories and heralds the arrival of a major talent” Ken Bruen, crime author of Galway Silence etc
HOUSEWIFE WITH A HALF-LIFE as A.B. Wells
“wasn’t able to put it down, fantastic, funny and pure comedy from start to finish 10/10″
“a witty and acerbic satire on 21st Century womanhood. Think Bridget Jones on acid.”
“A unique and delightful novel.”
“Charming and enchanting with a dash of science”
“A brilliantly humorous book which had me laughing from the start!”
“an unforgettable world that will make you laugh, cry, whoop with joy and encourage you to re-evaluate the pathways of your own existence.”
Susan Strong is a suburban housewife who is literally disintegrating. When, Fairly Dave, a biker jacket & kilt wielding spaceman arrives through the shower head to warn her, she knows things are serious. When she and her precocious 4 year twins Pluto and Rufus get sucked through Frozen Peas into another universe it gets even messier. In a world where household appliances are more alive and dangerous than they seem, where the Geezers have Entropy Hoovers and the Spinner’s Cataclysmic convertor could tear the world apart, Susan Strong is the only thing holding the world together.
Through this madcap, funny and feel-good adventure, Susan Strong and Fairly Dave travel the alternate universes where Susan has to find her many selves, dodge the Geezers and defeat the evil memory bankers. From dystopian landscapes and chicken dinners, to the surreal world of Las Vegas and bubble universes, can Susan Strong reintegrate her bits and will it be enough to save us all?
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For more: Visit the alternate universe of A.B.Wells
STORIES TO READ ON THE TRAIN by Alison Wells
“These moments are brief encounters of the finest kind; very rewarding and yet leaving us hungry for more.”
Old lives collide on a train commute; a woman travels to meet her long distance lover; a train trip brings Eleanor back to face an old tragedy; a cliff edge commute above the sea lifts a man from the realities of his wife’s condition; a woman flees a controlling relationship. These tiny, precious flash fiction stories from a prize winning author challenge you to pause, to look at life under a magnifying glass, examine its ordinary glories, the twin globe of beauty and darkness in human experience.
STORIES TO MAKE YOU GO ‘AH’ by Alison Wells
“Powerful writing, pleasurable reading.”
The yoghurt pots might be dancing at work but for Lydia and her newly wed husband James the only flavour is white, a cat burglar steal the reminders of an old relationship and Burgundy, Bolero and Chicken Supreme feature in the tricky art of seduction when two teachers get together. Playful and quirky, these stories of desire and love from a prize winning author will amuse and entertain. Of the stories in this collection ‘Filch’ was longlisted in the international Séan O’ Faolain prize.
STORIES TO MAKE YOU GO ‘OOH’ by Alison Wells
“The inherent otherness of her writing is quite something.”
“Stories to make you go Wow.”
A woman finds her lover in a stone with drastic consequences; how do we know Janey’s boyfriend is telling the truth when she goes missing; and a strange dream about an octagonal house frames a husband’s reunion with a previous lover. These strange and sometimes surreal stories of obsession, lies and desire from a prize winning author will make you wonder. Of the stories in this mini collection Truth and Silence was first published in the literary ezine The View from Here.
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