A Warm Welcome to Me!
Yes, I'm hosting myself as part of the Writers on the Wrong Side of the Road blog blast. For those who don't already know me, here's a brief bio:

Megan Johns lives in the UK in a pretty chocolate-box village complete with a duck pond!

Although she always enjoyed writing, she only started in earnest when life slowed down.

Her aim is to write contemporary women’s fiction with a strong romantic thread.

'The Path of Innocence', her debut novel, was published by Devine Destinies and she is currently busy with another full-length novel 'A Shore of Secrets'.

Megan is married with one grown-up daughter and an incurably mischievous Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

As part of the blog blast, I have been promoting many of the authors who contributed to the Writers on the Wrong Side of the Road anthology. Today I'm focusing on the rationale
                                        behind my own two short stories.

Gender stereotyping has long been a personal bugbear. It can have a negative influence on so many aspects of a woman’s life, both in the workplace and at home. The inspiration for my two short stories in the anthology Writers on the Wrong Side of the Road was born out of this frustration

By stereotyping, we are saying that particular characteristics apply to all members of a group. Yet are all blondes dumb or all women bad drivers? Of course not! Worse are the bucket loads of stereotypes tipped over a woman’s head the minute she becomes a mother. This type of generalisation is a great disservice to individuals and can lead to prejudice.

We are told that stereotypes help us to simplify a complex world. In my opinion, however, they often do more harm than good. They can lead to simplistic assessments, which are fundamentally flawed.

In my first story,‘The Journey’, a wife and mother tries to break into a spontaneous conversation in a train carriage. The stereotyped perceptions of the group of young singletons leads to her exclusion. Dismissed as irrelevant by them, she starts to assess her own life and measure it against theirs. The results lead to some surprises...

Here's a taste:  ‘Melody shrank back in her seat, instantly deflated. It was as if her own experiences had been devalued without uttering a word. She peered across the short dividing gap. It might as well be a hundred miles, she was so far removed from their world, and she knew her presence didn’t even register on their collective radar. Had time and life really made her appear so banal, she wondered?’

Manic readers review: 4 stars.While Stay-at-Home-Mom listens to the conversations of Thighs, Nerd guy, and Scatty she seethes, justifying her choice to herself and experiences a gamut of emotions from indignant to smug. The end comes completely out of left field, but instead of wondering "what the frill?" I read with wicked delight. Well done. 

My second story ‘A New Leaf’ features a recently divorced woman trying to move on with her life. The only thing holding her back is her family. Surely she will never manage on her own? Or will she?

And another taster:  ‘I watched the progress of her red Fiat from the bay window of the sitting room until it disappeared down the hill. A grating of gears confirmed her right-hand turn at the junction. Poor Sarah. She tried so hard. All the family did. That was the trouble. If only they could see that they tried too much.’

Manic readers review: 4 stars.Can you really find a new life, after a divorce, via a rural cottage garden? I loved this little golden nugget about moving on in spite of those around us. The narrator is my kinda woman.

To read the reviews on the other stories in the anthology go to http://bit.ly/JK76iL

Better still, buy a copy of Writers On the Wrong Side of the Road and read the stories for yourself.

BUY links: Publisher Chase Enterprises or Amazon  Available in paperback and Kindle

Now leave a comment for the chance to win a signed ebook