Adventures at Humminghive

“A charming rhyming story that opens up opportunities for talking with children about feelings and helping and caring for each other.” —Assoc. Professor Kay Margetts“A delightful story where everyone supports and helps each other in a loving, inclusive, and nurturing way.” —Children’s Cancer InstituteSupport children with cancer by donating to the Children’s Cancer Institute.

Dreams

We all have the air to breathe. A body without a spirit is merely matter without life, but a dream breathes life into a person, driving them to fight for what many deem impossible.It is possible to dream and, even without money, realize your ambitions. It is possible to fight for a dream and discover strengths and abilities previously unseen. Dreams transform our weaknesses into strengths, pushing us beyond our limits.In this book, I share my thoughts through messages designed to build, instruct, strengthen, and encourage those who feel lost. This book is a gateway to making the impossible possible. It’s not just about believing: you have to fight against all odds, including your own discouragement!

A Shower of Shite

A Shower of Shite offers a gripping biographical narrative that charts the tumultuous journey of two parents as they navigate through a relentless storm of trials brought upon by their children. Their story, akin to the dramatic arcs of a British soap opera, unfolds with tragic twists and turns, an unceasing cascade of events that would seem overdrawn if not for their stark reality. These challenges, though uninvited and not of their own making, are met with a resilience that speaks to the profound sense of duty and unwavering compassion inherent in parental love. It’s a testament to the silent oath etched in the very fabric of biological bonds, a commitment to defend, sometimes even the indefensible, against the odds, all told with a humourous look back at life events faced by the family.

The Fly Sermon and Other Odes

For over forty years I’ve been writing odes about people, places, and experiences in my life. My career in education has been amazing and at times intense, but I managed to escape to hobbies and interests and always attempted to summarise in the form of an ode.These were all placed in boxes and stored away until now. When I retired from teaching, I opened the boxes and read through the odes. They were almost like a diary of my life so far.I’ve selected 21 odes for this collection. They are about friends, holiday experiences, hobbies and sometimes things that happened in my school life.My favourite is The Fly Sermon. I wrote it 36 years ago for children to recite in their assembly about tolerance for others and non-discrimination. The theme is as important now as it was then. Our life is surrounded with all sorts of living things, which we should respect and learn to live with, regardless of quirks, traits, or physical features.I’ll remember whenever a fly I do see, The importance of living in close harmony.

The Black Feather

In your handsLies a journeyThe ultimate journeyThe one we take to find our selvesTo die and to be rebornTo travel among the dreams we desperately fight forTo encounter painIt has so many faces: abuse, death, depression, the loss of selfTo keep on guarding hopeTo finally embrace beauty and loveTo findThe voice within

Bedtime Stories for Clever Kids

Young children are more perceptive than we might imagine. Curiosity and intelligence are a heady cocktail for creative storytelling that informs, entertains and educates. This author could not resist.We might not realize how observant young children are. They have a lot of curiosity and intelligence that make them great at creating stories that can teach, amuse and enlighten. This author was drawn to this.You may wonder what a child understands about freedom, the environment, tolerance and self-worth. This book is for sensitive kids who want to know more about these tough topics. The themes are presented in small pieces in a safe and interesting setting, with colourful illustrations throughout. Moral questions are woven into the dialogues with the characters, with some humour and fun. The aim is that bedtime stories like these will encourage meaningful and loving conversations between parent and child. The imagination has a power that can take us anywhere. The experience can be thrilling and the lessons learned can be life-changing.Parents may not know how to broach a subject. These stories open a door for them to do so. The door is open. So, are you just going to stand there, or are you coming in?

Prove It All Night

Can there be anything more uplifting than a great rock concert?

A concert where words like brilliant, fantastic, superb, amazing and incredible can never do it justice. They don’t even come close.

If you are blessed to have seen that one special gig that actually changed your life, a gig that you wished had never come to an end, then maybe, just maybe, you’ve been in the presence of greatness.

A night to remember that will never fade from your memory, however long you live. It’s as fresh today as it was all those years ago. It was a rock and roll epiphany.

Sugar and Glide's Great Adventures

Glide, an English seagull, meets an extraordinary Australian sugar glider who can transport them anywhere just by reading books! Suddenly they’re exploring African savannas, sailing as pirates, and even meeting Cleopatra. But the homesick sugar glider needs to find her way back to her family.To help her new friend, Glide sneaks them onto a cruise ship bound for Australia. But their journey takes an amazing turn around the world! They discover fascinating animals, vibrant cultures, and countless stories coming alive in the ship’s library.Join this unlikely pair on an imaginative global adventure. This whimsical tale sparks wonder as the magic of reading and an incredible friendship open doors to exploring the world’s cultures through stories.

Game Breaker

Recently widowed Jack Marshall wants a stable job and a holiday in Fiji to reconnect with his kids. But an ambitious terrorist leader has plans to kidnap Jack for his own purposes.What follows is a dark and gripping thriller set among the turquoise waters of the Pacific, where ex-Navy Seal Jack is forced to use every skill he has to save both his kids and the woman he has fallen in love with.It’s a fast-moving tale of intrigue and adventure, where everything may not be as it first appears, and where only Jack and his family can save America from impending disaster.

Ralph's First Christmas

Christmas is an exciting time, full of hustle and bustle, food, friends, family and merriment.In a busy household with his loving family, young puppy Ralph tries to make sense of ‘Christmas’ with all of its strange and confusing traditions. In trying to be a ‘good dog’ poor Ralph doesn’t always get it right!Follow Ralph in this hilarious Christmas escapade as he comes to terms with a visit, from an unexpected stranger to his home…

The Endless Wars

Human civilization has come of age. Today, we enjoy unprecedented comfort and convenience compared to our predecessors a couple of centuries ago. Yet, human relationship, like animals in the wild, has largely remained primordial in nature. Regardless of the narratives and justifications, brutal methods are still in use to dominate weaker people and societies to unscrupulously access their resources and usurp power for territorial control and/or influence to survive and thrive. Those who accumulate more resources, climb higher up the societal dominance hierarchy which further guarantees access to more resources and power. The struggle is endless!This poetry book, The Endless Wars, is a “must read book!”. The author, David Lubari Biar Lominyo, based on his experience living through numerous civil wars in his own country, the Republic of South Sudan, as well as his long international humanitarian experience working in armed conflict situations in Africa and the Middle east, presents powerful, immersive poetic reflection of brutal action of man in armed conflict environment. He poetically and emotionally highlights the struggles, and the cries of vulnerable people. He further reflects on the determination of nations such as Ukraine now, fighting for freedom against external invasion. Lubari notes that where poor people have struggled and installed a democratically elected government in power, the primordial instinct of the leaders, colluding with the unfair world, may still take advantage of the unequal power relationship with their impoverished population. He offers tools for peace building and leadership skills to improve on societal stability and performance. 

Schism

Early 21st century America simmers with colliding ideologies, torn between nostalgia for a romanticized past and yearning for an impossible risk-free future. When such disparate values clash, eruptions lay bare our deepest divisions and resentments, triggering uncontrolled hostility. Utopian visions devolve into vehicles for personal vendettas and blood feuds, capable of cascading into uncontainable turmoil.This provocative character study peers into modern America’s soul, chronicling the relentless unravelling of societal fabric against gathering storms. Is stability mere illusion when all moorings have been severed?