Poohsticks Bridge
by
The Birch Twins
Genre:
Romantic Fiction
Beginning as a childhood game, Poohsticks Bridge tells the sweet story of a friendship between two children that, through the years, blossoms into adult love with an unbreakable bond and faith in one another. John and Melissa are tested throughout their lives by hardships, pain, and separation, yet their love and determination to live life together to its fullest never falters. In today’s culture of having everything, this couple shows us how a few, simple things can lead to a satisfying and fulfilling life.
Poignant in the extreme, you’ll want to keep the tissues nearby. These two will make you laugh, cry, and fall in love … with life and with them.
I write under the name “The Birch Twins.” Helen, my twin, didn’t live to see life, and so I write for her. I’m a full time poverty stricken doll artist who took to writing as I seemed to spend more time writing out little back stories for the characters I created. My first book, The Life of LOL, was written in five weeks, and was about gangsters, grifters and drifters. Lots of cartoon slapstick violence mixed with a serious message.
Poohsticks Bridge, the new novel, shows my twin’s voice at is strongest as it tells the story of a little boy who begins to grow up lonely and alone, until he meets a little girl. It’s a glimpse of a life that Helen and I could have had together. She writes through me, I can feel her presence and hear her voice. Her tone is often wistful, low on movement, mature and often quiet, while I am brash and loud and full of silly car chases and boyhood dreams of rockets to the moon. We have the perfect writing partnership.
What is something unique/quirky about you?
If we’re talking quirky and weird, then I’m both. I have a twin sister, who joins me as “The Birch twins,” which is the name you see on the books, poetry and artwork. Helen died shortly before my birth. In fact, had she not done so, we would have both died. So my work became a celebration of the life she had given me. Everything that gets written is produced by the both of us, and inspired by her.
Poohsticks Bridge, the new novel, shows my twin’s voice at is strongest as it tells the story of a little boy who begins to grow up lonely and alone, until he meets a little girl. It’s a glimpse of a life that Helen and I could have had together. She writes through me, I can feel her presence and hear her voice. Her tone is often wistful, low on movement, mature and often quiet, while I am brash and loud and full of silly car chases and boyhood dreams of rockets to the moon. We have the perfect writing partnership.
Other quirkiness include a career spent painting doll heads and collectibles writing poetry that makes people cry, and a fascination for classic ocean liners.
Tell us something really interesting that's happened to you!
Probably being featured in the local newspaper for Poohsticks Bridge.
What are some of your pet peeves?
I don’t really let things get on top of me like that. People who try to justify hatred of some kind against another group of people. As Peter griffin might say, that really grinds my gears. People who announce that they “want to be famous” and yet do nothing at all apart from talk and give their opinions, while skilled writers and artists work in poverty and obscurity their whole lives. We have a society that seems to celebrate and worships idiots. Wow. There was more than I thought there. How about those people who say:
“Wow, you’ve written a book? I’d love to write a book, but I don’t have the time!”
Well my clock works on the same calendar as yours, and yet I somehow found the time.
Where were you born/grew up at?
Manchester, UK
If you knew you'd die tomorrow, how would you spend your last day?
I would sit with Helen in the garden I created for her, and we’d have a “twins reunited” party. It’d probably be the happiest day of my life.
Who is your hero and why?
My family. My twin for being the constant voice of guidance, confidence and support in my head, my mother for passing down her artistic skills and her flair for stories and sense of adventure and fun, and my father for being the strong practical support that’s supported me through my whole life. These people are amazing.
What kind of world ruler would you be?
I tend to stay away from politics. My slogan as a world ruler be “No creature has a greater right to life than any other,” which is a slogan we use frequently in our orchard and garden.
What are you passionate about these days?
Making this work, this writing thing. Making people know Helen as something other than a forgotten name from July 1974. To get people to know who she was, and that she really existed.
What do you do to unwind and relax?
I like some videogames, but only the ones that let me create the characters. I especially love games with ships in them, as I have a curious interest in sunken liners. I’m a massive Whovian, so I watch Dr Who all the time. As a semiprofessional artist, I like to sit and paint when I’m not writing.
Describe yourself in 5 words or less!
Twin, Moody, Glasses, Awesome, Rock-star
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