Infiniti

Like many other books, this book is about a journey. But unlike other books, the destination of the journey is the point where the parallel lines meet. The narrator is locked inside the book. The only way he can get out of it is by persuading one of the other characters in the book to finish off the writing process for him. But before he can do this, he has to make a journey.

On his travels, there are a number of waypoints where he must stop and collect materials which are pasted into the book. When the book is completed, he can leave the book by delivering it to the individual whom he will meet at the point where the parallel lines meet.

This journey, which is accomplished across his lifetime, takes him from the birth of Christ to the near future, with the author bending time by complex double time schemes, riddles and mathematical formulae. Every waypoint appears incredible at first, but we are in the world of weaving narrative into fiction but not fantasy. Every one of the waypoints is historical fact.

There is no trickery. The narrator does indeed take us to the point where the parallel lines meet. It had been staring at us in the face all along.

Iniquity

The poem cycle Iniquity tells a tale of unfulfilled love as seen through the eyes of a teenager, taking the reader on a heartfelt journey of hope, trust, desire and dreams which will finally be crushed by the bitter iniquity of life.

Written when the author was sixteen years old, Iniquity’s haphazard jumble of emotions are embedded in every line of every poem. Taken as a whole, the book represents an authentic record of each emotional stage of a love story.

Readers are sure to recognise the feelings these poems evoke, whether they experienced them in the past or continue to battle against them even now.

Insanitus

Make it to resemble a man

Sans emotions of any kind

Ignorant of pain and pleasure

Cold: bereft of heart and soul

One to kill at my command.

From  ‘PANDORA’

Insurrection

‘Damn bad place Sheffield,’ said King George Ill, reflecting on the town’s reputation as a hotbed of radicalism with revolutionary tendencies, a reputation it maintained for much of the 19th century, augmented by the numerous times that the Riot Act was read to the Sheffield mob. Yet few Sheffield riots were in the name of revolution. They were more to do with social inequalities, injustice and deprivation, only the Chartists’ rising and connections with the Pentrich rising came close to revolution. The price of provisions, the lack of democracy, oppression and perceived assaults on social norms by new religious movements were the dominant causal factors of social disorder in the Sheffield of the 18th and 19th centuries, the protagonists being coal owners, market traders, magistrates, politicians, the police, the militia, resurrectionists, Wesleyans, Mormons and Salvationists. A personal dispute and an attempted robbery also brought out sections of the Sheffield townsfolk in protest and riot. Some of the events in this book will be familiar to the student of Sheffield’s history; some of the events will amaze them; all of the events detailed in Insurrection will fascinate the general reader.

Insurrection—Democracy Under Attack!

In a world teetering on the brink of chaos, Insurrection – Democracy Under Attack! boldly explores the urgent need to preserve and defend democracy by upholding the sanctity of election outcomes: a timely message delivered through a captivating allegory featuring anthropomorphic characters.

Enter the world of Bimbo, an insatiable and power-hungry political leader whose unbridled narcissism blinds him to the true essence of democracy. Only when election results align with his interests does he grudgingly accept them. However, when the people’s will takes a different course, Bimbo’s fury knows no bounds. Rallying his zealous followers, he descends into the abyss of violence, striving desperately to cling to the presidency of Mukwa Island, regardless of the electorate’s verdict.

As anger consumes him, Bimbo shreds the nation’s constitution and reduces the parliament to ashes. Yet, hope emerges in the form of Captain Eagle, a symbol of true leadership, who emerges victorious in the elections and leads a courageous uprising against Bimbo and his loyalists. In the face of unwavering unity and the resilience of democracy, Bimbo’s grip on power crumbles, and he and his followers are forced to flee Mukwa Island, paving the way for the restoration of democracy.

Interloper

From birth Michael hasn’t belonged anywhere, and from birth no one has really liked him. At 17 he sets out to find himself and to find a place and people where he belongs. He tries drugs, rock and roll, but doesn’t belong. He travels across the United States and still nothing. He travels to Europe and through 20 countries, and while he makes some friends, he still doesn’t belong.

Michael doesn’t seem to fit into society nor any religion that he’s tried. He’s a happy and an optimistic guy for some reason, and every day he gets up expecting that this is going to be the day he finds someone or something that he fits into and belongs with. Will he find it? Will he finally find that he fits in with somebody or something? Will he find happiness and contentment?

Interpreting Dreams

“It is untypical that I am able to reveal myself to you. From the previous types of dreams I’ve stated, this isn’t any of them. This is something else entirely. I’m not sure what to call it exactly, but anyway, I’m here to help. Here to help you get to the bottom of your dreams.”

Dreams, nightmares, memories... they all hold hidden meanings that we do not fully understand because we never bother to interpret. This is a story about loss... a story about holding on to the past. It is about the importance of letting go and moving forward, and it is a wild and mysterious journey through a man’s subconscious. A man who is lost in life and can only find his way back through reliving his dreams, nightmares, and memories. Stuck in a dream state, trapped in his subconscious, Noah Taylor has only one way out... Interpreting Dreams.

Into the Dark

After hearing that his mum’s cancer had returned, Harry felt an overwhelming darkness around him and his family. A dark cloud loomed over him and it felt like it would never leave. Struggling to make sense of everything, Harry’s world crumbled around him.

A heart-felt and thought-provoking true story which dives into the abstract mind of a child whose mum is dying of cancer.

Into the Eververse: 1-13

The world that you live in works in mysterious ways, but what if you were told that your world was just one of many? In an alternate dimension, a young girl with extraordinary abilities is destined for greatness. Alice Evelynn is on a journey of a lifetime to stop the apocalypse from destroying the world as we know it. On the way, she will meet friends, allies and, of course, dastardly enemies. The only problem that Alice has is that she has no idea whatsoever that any of this is going to happen. So, like her, you shall be given a warning before you read this book.

The things that happen in Alice’s life are not for the light-hearted. It is blood, guts and gore galore full of murders. Beheadings, rotting corpses and some of the most colourful language that you may ever read. So, as you read the book in your hands, don’t say that we didn’t warn you.

Into the labyrinth: in search of Daidalos

Daidalos was a polymath who foreshadowed Leonardo da Vinci by 3,000 years and was famed as an artist, inventor, scientist and engineer. Despite his many talents and his contributions to the advancement of humanity, his interactions with those he knew resulted in mayhem, and this is what makes his life so fascinating. First of all, he was responsible for the death of three close relatives – his son, his sister and his nephew. Secondly, his actions resulted in the death of King Minos who was a son of Zeus. Thirdly, he was involved in both the creation and destruction of the monstrous bull-human hybrid known as the minotaur. Finally, the lives of two of the most important women of Crete, Queen Pasiphae (the daughter of the sun god, Helios) and her daughter, Ariadne, were devastated by his interventions.  It could be argued that his actions contributed to the downfall of the Minoan civilization and its subjugation by the Mycenaeans. This book is the story of his fascinating life, the times in which he lived and the legacy he has left us.

Intrepid Souls

Intrepid Souls is the story of millions of minorities who live in India, struggle for equal rights, humane treatment, and survival. The hatred projected by the Hindu majority, especially towards Muslims, is immense, uncontrolled, and often supported by those in charge of maintaining law and order. This book provides an understanding of the inglorious and dangerous idealism of the Hindu nationalism which will eventually lead to instability and insecurity in the nation. A nation must support its minorities and in turn, the minorities must support the nation for its survival.

This is not the India where Farrukh Jamal grew up; nor where her ancestors lived. They loved this land and worked hard to make it a wonderful place as the Muslim minority of today is doing. However, the sense of belonging inherited by them via their ancestors is now being obliterated through violence and coercive efforts of the majority to remove Muslims from the fabric of Indian society.

She grew up not just facing discrimination but also fearful of unprovoked occurrences of riot and violence. Intermittent wars with Pakistan also jeopardized the lives of the Muslims in India because they were perceived as enemies. What protected her was the profound love of her parents, their emphasis on education, the kind and impartial treatment of the nuns in her English Catholic school and the support of friends regardless of religion.

Introspection

Grief, loneliness and sadness have never been easy for me to express and unfortunately, I’ve had many reasons to in recent years. However, through writing poetry, I discovered a method to explore my emotions by depicting small worlds and smaller characters that capture how I feel. By placing myself in these fictional spaces I was able to look further inward and pay the cost of coming to terms with my identity.

Through introspection you may learn a lot about yourself, but there also is a danger of looking too deep and losing yourself along the way. This is the journey I started on a long time ago and I have yet to see how it ends.