Lives of Others

"WHO IS THAT WOMAN?"

Many people have asked me, since the launch of Special Treatment & Other Stories, "Who is that woman on the cover?"
I will now put them out of their misery. The woman's name is Kirstin. I did a 3D Design (architecture) degree with her way back in 1993. We were both mature students and have remained friends. In looking for a cover related to a hairdressers (the prizewinning title story), I came upon a photo of my daughter in curlers for a school fancy-dress day. I asked her if I could use it. Scarlett, now aged 18, said she'd sue me if I did. She's a very determined kid and I knew she meant it. Who else did I know who had the same kind of serious look, with the right kind of hair and lots of character in her face. Kirstin! I Facebooked her and asked her to take some photos of herself in curlers. They came back okay but not perfect. I asked her to do more, but she was in hospital having a serious operation. I pestered her the day she was released.
"But I look so ill," she said.
"Kirstin, I'm not looking for beauty," I replied, "I'm looking for character. If you don't mind doing it I think it will be better while you're just out of hospital."
She obliged. The photo on the cover is the result.
What a heroin that woman is.
Thank you Kirstin!

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Special Treatment & Other Stories

Mark Swain describes this book of 12 short stories as excursions into the lives of others. In each story we find ourselves transported – thoroughly absorbed. We are there. Some places we think we recognise, while others are unfamiliar, even mysterious. There are dark corners, but most of all there is humour – poignant and frequently ironic. The locations are illuminated for us. Vivid images; the atmospheres; the smells and sounds. But it is the characters we are drawn to: A divorcee hairdresser who dotes on her son. A resentful victim of a construction-site accident. An elderly man victimised by political activists. A boy’s summer job. Lovers. Adventurers. Workers. Travellers. Prisoners. They open their lives to us. We are let into their secrets.

There is an authenticity to Mark Swain’s characters that can leave the reader feeling almost like a voyeur. We are privileged. We know them; care about their plight; laugh and cry with them. We can certainly never forget them.

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