A School for Fish

The sea folk have a wonderful plan to build a school for all of the reef-dwelling creatures, but although they have an amazingly fun time they forget all that they have learnt as soon as they swim out of the classroom door.

Read on to find out what happens next in this charmingly illustrated book for young children.

A Seasons' Treasury

Follow the changing seasons through all their wealth of growth and flowering, through autumn’s fall, the withering of winter and all the challenging varieties of weather that can accompany these changes. These poems, written over a period of 30 years, are essentially poems of celebration: of immersion in the seasonal round that ‘resonate with quiet joy’ as one reviewer observed. ‘To walk through its pages is to be touched and refreshed by the dew...’ To encounter ‘widths of sky, or mercurial, brimming weather.’ The author’s companionable sensibility brings us a welcome breathing space at a helpful distance from the overly ironic or overly cerebral poetry to be found, too often, in literary journals. A blithe purity ushers through it. And, as in its Midsummer Garden it extends a joyful invitation to re-enter that purity ‘like...a winged seed.’

A Secret Existence

Ben Swan, a young British detective chief inspector working with the Counter Terrorism Command in Ireland, is recruited by the UK Security Service, also known as MI5. His police rank is suspended and he operates as a full member of the Service. He is given a new cover identity. His police background is not disclosed to his new colleagues. In accordance with MI5 policy, all members operate with a cover identity. He is involved in tracking down terrorists intent on initiating a major bombing campaign and a detailed investigation into the activities of a group of international criminals operating in the UK involving ex-KGB personnel. With this dangerous work he relies on the professionalism, loyalty and trust of his fellow officers. Yet, he knows nothing about their true identities, families or background.  If a member is killed on active service, nothing is made public and there is an apparent absence of grieving within the Service. He finds the anonymity of his existence difficult to accept and this is the theme that runs through the novel. Hence the title: A Secret Existence.

A Selection of Short Stories with Unresolved Endings

It is a bright sunny morning, and a giant of a man is walking through bracken fern. Suddenly, he hears a voice from a tiny fairy down below: he's accidentally stood on her wing. What happens next is part of a collection of short stories with unresolved endings. 

These stories are based on fiction, although they could happen. With a little bit of imagination anything is possible!

Inspiration for these stories comes from thoughts and dreams and from his TAFE teacher Graham who encouraged him to write these stories.

A Senseless Death in a Dying Republic

A young man, Justinian, is setting out to join the Roman army during a period of bitter tensions during the last years of the Roman republic. His enlistment gets off to a bad start when he loses contact with his fellow soldiers while on a march. A chance meeting with a young woman sets off a series of events which lead to criminal charges of desertion and malicious killing.

Set during the turbulent times of the Marian and Sulla civil war, A Senseless Death in a Dying Republic is a gripping story of lost dreams and a disregard for human life. The novel features historical characters such as Sulla, Marius, Pompey, Cicero and Catalina.

A Shadowed Dawn

Everybody felt a kind of chill and body aches. This felenza was something the white man had shot into the air, though everybody wondered why within days men started dropping down dead on their farms. The strong man of Gonzo, Juba, was one of the first to go under.

A Shoelace, a Paper Clip and a Pencil

Tom Cooper, a university senior academic, is on holiday in the south of France with his wife, Liz. Whilst having early evening drinks with the owners of the beautiful eighteenth-century small chateau where they are staying, he relates two strange incidents in which he was involved earlier in his life – one in Bonn in the mid-70s and the other in Belfast in the mid-80s. Having always thought these incidents were completely unrelated, comments by Dann – one of the owners and a former international journalist – lead him to consider that they may be, after all, connected in some way, especially given that Tom was the virtual double of a known provisional IRA activist. Tom and Liz start a new journey in their life, trying to piece together the links, at first focusing on the contents of the briefcase left with Tom in Bonn. What unfolds is a chain of events which eventually threaten Tom's life as well as Liz's. Newly-made friends are not who they seem to be and they encounter more strange and dangerous, episodes as they pursue the truth about those events. Someone, or some people do not want them to discover that truth and try everything to ensure they don't. From being hunters, Tom and Liz are now the hunted. They wonder if this nightmare will ever come to an end.

A Shoelace, a Paperclip, and a Pencil: The Reckoning

Tom Cooper had two strange events during his younger days which it seems might be interconnected. One of them, in Bonn in the mid-seventies, involved his temporary custody of a briefcase containing a shoelace, a paper clip and a pencil. The other was in Belfast in the mid-eighties. Tom begins to believe there might be something hidden in the briefcase: a coded message, maybe for the IRA, especially with Tom being the virtual double of an IRA operative.

Tom and his wife Liz start trying to piece together the links, at first focusing on the contents of the briefcase.

What unfolds is a chain of events which threaten Tom’s and Liz’s lives. Tom twice nearly loses his life and on one occasion his wife Liz does too. All, it seems, because someone, or some people, do not want them to discover the code and try everything to ensure they don’t. From being hunters, Tom and Liz are now the hunted.

Those implicated in the secrets held by the briefcase continue to want Tom and his wife silenced. Meanwhile, Tom has decided “enough is enough” and hatches a plan to reckon with those wanting Liz and him dead. The problem for those around him – including not only Liz, but also the police who have a keen interest in the case – is only Tom knows what the plan is.

A Short Book of Short Stories with Short Titles

This short book contains eight short stories with short titles.

 ‘Lessons’ speaks of a father and son and the power of redemption, with the West End of Atlanta as the setting.

‘Notions’ speaks of brothers in a Scottdale, Georgia, barbershop discussing politics and other notions.

‘The Attendant’ speaks of a night in the life of Luther, restroom attendant at a posh Buckhead restaurant/club.

‘Gifts’ speaks of the exploits of Booker T., a Harlem dishwasher who won a 70-million-dollar lottery.

‘Secrets’ speak of family stuff left unsaid, as Danny searches quaint streets in Centereach, Long Island.

‘Kin’ speaks of the revelations unearthed by Evan during an ancestral journey through Philadelphia and New Bedford, Massachusetts.

‘Sons’ speaks of the adventures of Detective J.D. Hill, murder police in 1995 Harlem, New York, during the infamous riots on 125th Street.

'Choices' speaks of challenges faced in a world of unbridled technology and climate upheaval.

A Simple Girl's Guide to Surviving the Realities

Would you believe if someone told you there is another reality? Would you believe me if I said there is another world out there, where people possess certain abilities enabling them to manipulate the weather, natural elements, and even human emotions? If your answer is not ‘no’ to those questions, you must be living an interesting life.

Not long ago I would have said ‘no’ too, without hesitation. It all changed, however, when a couple of weeks ago I was thrust into that very world, with having no clue how or why I got there, what I was supposed to do, or how to get back to my normal life. And there was no guide to help me manoeuvre through my suddenly upturned life, either. A nuisance, really. Complications didn’t end there, though. A good thing too, we wouldn’t want life to get boring.

So, on top of finding out about the existence of a whole new world, I soon found myself in the middle of an eight-month-long kidnapper case – yes, with real criminals, victims and crime scenes – alongside with new friends, new enemies, and a surly, mostly unwilling detective. Because apparently, letting someone with a day-long investigative career loose around a criminal investigation was completely normal only in some places. I’ve already seen a lot of crime scenes close up in front of my TV screen, though, so… what could go wrong?

A Simple Life

Sometimes seeing the beauty and elegance in everyday life is the very thing that creates a life, a story.

May Darcy met a boy one summer who changed her life completely and simply. He fell in love with her.

A Singular Triumph – Jesus Crucified and Risen

In an age when the foundational truths of Christianity are being questioned, this book explains, with warmth and clarity, the eternal work of the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It also discusses humanity’s vital need of it, and its relevance to the present generation.

Borne out of a lifetime’s study and ministry, Tony Rees makes complex theology compelling and accessible. Persuasive and gripping, this incredible work of redemption is unravelled through the pages of the Old and New Testaments, bringing fresh insights and challenges to the fore. It also provides a great source for anyone wanting to engage with the core doctrines of the Christian faith.

Whether you are a theology student or lay person, this book will bring you to a fuller appreciation of the work of the cross – its promise of total forgiveness, belonging, acceptance and identity, alongside the radical call to commitment. And equally, on the resurrection, with its promise of power to live a new life now, alongside the eternal hope of life beyond the grave in a world redeemed into the fullness of God Himself.

The truths around the story of God’s redemption of mankind are the greatest we could ever embrace. This book will inspire you with their message of hope in the death and resurrection of Christ, and give you fresh confidence to trust it today.