Cutting Edge

by Kate Rigby

From childhood, with a pair of scissors in her hand, Hilary “cuts out the chain of Mummies and Daddies that Nanny has crayoned for her. Father's fist on the table now becomes only a blurred edge of sound, out of focus, like Mother's sobbing, as Hilary loses herself in the happy paper figures, the way she loses herself in the Happy Families cards…”

And so begins a life where a pair of scissors, and the occasional scalpel, come to define Hilary’s life: sometimes a tool for ambition but mostly a coping mechanism for frustration and despair.

10 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 30, 2014

About the author

I've been writing for nearly forty years. Good gracious, that long? I realized my unhip credentials were mounting so decided to write about it. Little Guide to Unhip was first published in 2010 and is now updated and republished.

However I'm not totally unhip. My punk novel, Fall Of The Flamingo Circus was published by Allison & Busby (1990) and by Villard (American hardback 1990). It's now been re-kindled.

I received a Southern Arts bursary for my novel Where A Shadow Played (now Did You Whisper Back?)

Skrev Press published my novels Seaview Terrace (2003) Sucka! (2004) and Break Point (2006) and other shorter work has appeared in Skrev’s avant garde magazine Texts’ Bones including a version of my satirical novella Lost The Plot.

Thalidomide Kid was first published by Bewrite Books (2007)

The following books are available in paperback at the following place (or by following the Amazon links below):

Far Cry From The Turquoise Room:
https://www.createspace.com/3634041

Savage to Savvy:
https://www.createspace.com/4210694

Little Guide To Unhip:
https://www.createspace.com/4847276

Down The Tubes:
http://www.amazon.com/Down-Tubes-Kate...

She Looks Pale & Other Stories:
https://www.amazon.com/She-Looks-Pale...


E-books available:

Fruit Woman:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013...

The Dead Club:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00V0Y73DC

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Fall Of The Flamingo Circus:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0088E29H2

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14...

Suckers n Scallies (Formerly 'Sucka'):
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004WTARYY

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Down The Tubes:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004UC51NK

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Seaview Terrace:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004SV2DBG

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Break Point:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004TNGRBU

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Thalidomide Kid:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008N3I904

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Far Cry From The Turquoise Room:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ZF80N0

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11...

Little Guide to Unhip:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C121N2E

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/86...

Savage To Savvy
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006ASBQAE

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

She Looks Pale:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00821360A

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13...

Did You Whisper Back?:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0077E2M26

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13...

Lost The Plot:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12...

Tales By Kindlelight:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005J0HNSI

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12...


Short stories of mine have been published and shortlisted including Hard Workers and Headboards in various collections and anthologies:

On Your Half Century:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SJIR2OW

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Sharing Sarah:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PNVD5I0
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Cutting Edge:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P1AQGLQ

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Coats:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P1A47SU

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Family Tradition:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RARWYS2

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Hard Workers:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009JW4OZM

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

I'm also a reader - quit

Reviews

[Amys Bookshelf Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

5+ Stars

Cutting Edge is one of the best of Kate Rigby's stories

In Cutting Edge, the reader is introduced to Hilary, whose life is drawn to the simplest cutting tools, such as scissors or a scalpel. This is a definite five plus stars story. Hilary uses the cuts of her scissor, mesmerized by what they cut, how they cut, and the sound it makes, when something is cut. Kate Rigby writes the best short stories that I have ever read, and each one is thought provoking, and themed in a way that is unique to Kate's writing style, and her way of story telling. You can hear every SNIP. I am a big fan of Kate Rigby, and read whatever this author writes. This author has a grand imagination, and talent for showing the story. This story is a definite attention grabber, so much I couldn't put it down. This is a story you will read repeatedly to make sure you didn't miss anything. Don't let the short of short story turn you away, because it is incredible and written as the full life of Hilary, the cuts from her life, and the ability to hold on, when the world is slowly being snipped away from her. Cutting Edge is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I read this book to give my unbiased and honest review. Amy's Bookshelf Reviews recommends that anyone who reads this book also write a review.

[Miriam Hastings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been wanting to read this story for a while as I love Kate Rigby's work, and now that I have, I wasn't disappointed! This is a really powerful and disturbing story, charting the painful life of Hilary, the central protagonist. I found it totally gripping as Kate Rigby draws the reader into Hilary's traumatic life experiences. Throughout the narrative, Rigby skilfully employs the image of the scissors as a potent symbol, snipping and slashing away at Hilary's sanity until her world is in fragments.