Vignettes and Short Stories

Anna Ashcott has always noticed what others miss. Not in an obvious way. Not with any desire to intrude. But in the slight pause before someone answers a question. The story that shifts, just enough, on its second telling. The silence that lingers a fraction too long. It made her good at her work. An investigative journalist with a reputation for patience rather than persistence. For listening, rather than pushing. But even she didn’t see it coming. The moment her own life wo

Sally Somerton, Island Writer of mysteries, midlife adventure and a sprinkle of psychological suspense. There’s something about the ocean that refuses to explain itself. It doesn’t rush to fill the silence. It doesn’t tidy the edges. It simply moves; steady, restless, ancient as it whispers secrets we feel, more than understand. And perhaps that’s why we’re drawn to it, especially when life unravels. Because the ocean doesn’t ask us to have it all figured out. It meets us exa

Sally Somerton, Island Writer. Island Mysteries, Midlife Adventures, with a touch of Psychological Suspense. 🐾Here I share a vignette, introducing you to Mabel, one of my characters, in my Island Mysteries series set in the Azores. The morning Anna Ashcott stopped pretending she was fine began with perfect weather. Sunlight poured generously across the terracotta roofs, as if nothing in the world had ever gone missing. The sea, just beyond the low hum of the town, gently met