Disclaimer

I am knocked for six by the support, the messages of encouragement and the amazing feedback. The irony to be at a loss for words has not escaped me. You have all driven me forward to continue and I apologise for any rules unwritten or otherwise that my nascent scribblings here have broken. My work 'tongue tied' has drawn attention that has overwhelmed me and I cannot begin to describe how it feels that a short story rejected 20 times by publishers is now enjoying being read by others for the first time.

Be that as it most wonderfully may,

I must insist on a disclaimer:

Although inspired by my parent's cultural background and some of the tribulations they encountered while I was young, 'tongue tied' is entirely fiction. It has pointers of family history for absolute sure. It is in the first person because of how much I share with the protagonist. However, My French African father is still alive. Although he was forced to leave us for work when I was a child. The muteness is a metaphor for my profound dyslexia which often crippled my ability to express while growing up. And? While I try to build words into fanciful structures I have never been an architect. My Indian mother is a vibrantly strong woman, even today, and although I remember the taunts we received as a family as if etched on my heart, I have never bitten the hand of anyone to protect her which is why I developed my little hero (I have at aged 9 pushed a boy who called her something I will not repeat now. Oh yes, I pushed him to the ground.) What an amazing community Prose is and to think you all a serendipitous Google search almost upsets that I did not discover earlier.

I hope all who read 'tongue tied' do not love it less but do now understand me more.

Thank you

DG