Let Thornliebank author John Tummon tell you a story ...

The 72-year-old from Thornliebank published his fourth collection of short stories last month.

Let Me Tell You A Story joins Tale From A Dream, Dreams Can Come True and Tales From The Heart available at Thornliebank Library.

“I used to work as a supermarket manager writing slogans for the posters,” John explained.

“I was quite good at it and I just took it from there. I attended a couple of creative writing classes and wrote short stories.

“There used to be a local newspaper called the Pollok Post, it only lasted a couple of years, and I wrote a column for them and also some comedy sketches for the radio.”

It’s everyday things that provide John with inspiration for his stories.

“It’s things I see, situations, stories that I’ve been told, something that has happened in the news, that I can turn into my short stories,” he said.

“I can take a song title or a phrase that somebody has told me and I use that as my starting point.

“For example, One of the stories in Tales From The Heart is called Cathy’s Clown, the name of an Everly Brothers song.

“My friend and I were about 16 or 17 and he fell head over heels in love with a girl called Cathy.

“She led him up the garden path and heartbroken, he joined the Army. I build that into a story.”

With such a creative mind, isn’t he keen to write one story and turn it into a novel?

“I really don’t have the patience to write a full book,” he laughed.

“Cathy’s Clown took me two to three months to write, but normally I can put together story in a couple of nights. I’m happy with that.”

John’s four collections of stories – Tale From A Dream, Dreams Can Come True, Tales From The Heart and Let Me Tell You A Story – are all available at Thornliebank Library and Livingstones newsagent in Thornliebank.