Keep Stepping - A Step-By-Step Journey to a Clearer View of Mental Well-Being

Mike Owen, born with two congenital heart defects, battled with cardiac issues until the age of seven, when he underwent open heart surgery that changed his life.

For the following 31 years, Mike was plagued with intense and disabling heart palpitations. In 2004, the cause of the palpitations was diagnosed and, after a short cardiac procedure, for the first time in 38 years his heart was stable.

Life became easier. His confidence grew. But so did his workload. After three years of work-related stress, his heart succumbed to a new type of palpitation which would blight his life for the next four years. After taking steps to reduce the frequency and intensity of his cardiac problems, Mike finally felt like he had turned a corner. However, in 2017, he was plunged back into despair following a series of dramatic events.

When his Occupational Health Doctor gave him an unexpected Mental Illness diagnosis, Mike embarked on a new path. He now had to deal with psychological issues, learn mindfulness techniques and work through the trauma of his childhood and the uncertainty of having spent so many years living with his heart problems.

With his faithful dog, Coco, always by his side, Mike confronted the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental illness, in his own way. He found physical, emotional, and mental stability thanks to his diagnosis, and this is his uplifting story.

Keeper of the Red Shawl

This romantic novel begins in the Victorian Era and is based on the eventful life of my grandmother, Frances. It tells the tale of the four men who helped or hindered her path to freedom. Fate was unkind to Frances, but throughout her life, she battled forward fighting convention and the class system.

The story starts when her well-to-do, but aged, parents marry her off at the age of 17 to Jack, a cold-hearted widower with a young son.

Respectfully she did as she was told but this was her first mistake. She became the brunt of his sarcasm and abuse in the bedroom.

Fortunately, Jack soon met with a suspicious end!

Then, along came a dashingly handsome James…

But wait, there’s someone else watching this particular saga unfold, patiently biding his time!

Keeping Abreast of the Situation

You are a fortunate person when you wake up in the morning, count your blessings and can look forward to the day ahead. You work for a good company, earn a decent salary, have a job you enjoy and have work colleagues that are friends.

Your home life is just as good. You finish work for the day. Your partner has cleaned the house. You go to the pub for tea and meet friends, return home and snuggle up in front of the TV before bed. Tomorrow is another day.

We all know these times of contentment are not consistent. At work, communication and systems can fail. At home, jobs won’t get done. It is all beyond your control.

All individuals have doubts and insecurities. There will be some impact or consequence even on those who hide behind their fake smiles, those keeping their feelings bottled up.

The question is: what happens when one appointment takes the cork out of that bottle?

Keith the Koala Goes to School

Keith the koala was so excited to start school; he had been looking forward to his first day for so long. All he wanted was to have lots of friends, as he only had one friend and that was Ned the newt, his favourite toy, who went everywhere with Keith.

He could not wait to see what his school experience would be like and had been imagining how fantastic school would be, but things don’t always go to plan.

Follow Keith the koala on his school adventure, meet his teacher Miss Carol the crocodile and his classmates: Burt the bear, Harry the hyena, Ronnie the rhino, Patty the possum and Zoe the zebra and share his experiences.

See how Keith the koala deals with situations that he feels are his causing and see how his classmates approach the circumstances.

This is an anti-bullying book to show children that it is not okay to make others feel sad at school and for those children who are unhappy to talk to an adult to resolve the issues, as nobody should feel that they don’t want to go to school because of bullying.

“We are all different, that’s what makes this world interesting.” 

Kertamen

A front-line game of cat and mouse between cops as tough and cunning as the conspirators – a murderous, satanic cabal intent on influencing the 2014 Scottish referendum. Kertamen is a fast-paced thriller involving recurrent darkness, some moral dilemma and portal-stepping into Jerusalem in 30 AD, seen primarily through the eyes of Detective Inspector Chuck Kean of the Drug Squad. Kean is running a deniable investigation into a masonic cabal among the Edinburgh establishment, who are allegedly linked to child abuse. His team soon experience various unanticipated twists including the discovery that the background on the faction is an intricate one with links to Rosslyn Chapel and a migrant Templar, Adam de Gordon.

The clandestine investigation quickly becomes entangled within the foundation roots of a much bigger political conspiracy encased within the 2014 Scottish Referendum. Martone resurrects the political climate, passions and concerns of the voters, whilst cannily revealing a conspiracy, akin to that of Dallas in 1963, lurking within the shadows. Connections to the oil and the arms industries, whose peripheral strategies are somehow aligned with the cabal, develop while Kean discovers that he is involved in an age-old supernatural struggle between seraphs and fallen angels. One angel – Dai, mentors Kean in what develops into his own moral quest, after revealing to him that the referendum, along with other events around the globe, are all the chess games of the divine.

Keta: The Last Black Dragon

In a normal late summer night, Keta, an ordinary eighteen-year-old girl, is abruptly ripped away from her life in her village. After surviving a rape, she discovers she possesses a tremendous and destructive power, a power that she cannot control, a power that can either save or destroy the world as we know it. Helped by Edward, a mysterious spearman with dark armour, and his brother Alexander, an herbalist with a strange past, she begins a journey seeking to learn how to control her magical power.

She has no clue that to obtain such control will decide the fate of every single life on earth: to be saved or to suffer the Eternal Darkness.

Keys to the Heart

Born during WWII the heroine experiences the love of her life at a young age. Her aim is to become a famous concert pianist but there are trials, disappointments as well as success.

Emotional and financial problems scar her adult life, but her heart frequently dictates her subsequent response, with more than one disappointed male admirer. Her life abroad proves exciting followed by another major relationship on her return to England. Will she finally find lasting happiness in her career and love life?

Kick Like a Girl

Francesca is a young girl who wants to play football in the park with the boys. But will they let her?

When she is told that girls can’t play football, Francesca leaves the park feeling sad and believing that girls and boys can’t do the same things. That is until her mum steps in with wonderful stories of famous women who were brave, strong and had the self-confidence to achieve their goals. After hearing these stories, will Francesca, along with her friend Ila, find her inner confidence and bravery to challenge the boys to a football match?

This book is designed to remind young girls and boys everywhere that they are strong and brave, and that with confidence, dreams really can come true!

Kidnapped by Grandma and Grandpa

Rupert is a four-year-old boy, with a great imagination and a hunger for excitement. Luckily for him, his fun-loving grandparents share his infectious spirit. This story sees the three adventurers whizz off to Monaco to take part in the Formula 1, but will they stand a chance at winning and will Mum and Dad believe their wondrous tale?

Kim's War

Kim was only seven years old when he watched soldiers burn his home down.

He never saw his family again after he drifted into the jungle on his own.

Thankfully, he remembered their instructions on how to survive and did so for three years, until he found sanctuary.

He took revenge before settling down into a new good life. But he always remembered to listen carefully to his elders.

Kinderbarton

Delve into the captivating world of a three-year-old as he navigates the bewildering realm of adults in Kinderbarton. In this heartwarming tale, Stephen Barton, a typical toddler with a vivid imagination, observes the humorous and unpredictable actions of grown-ups. Expecting the world to align with his own understanding, Stephen’s playtime adventures can take unexpected turns, sometimes leading to tears.

Living with his parents and older sister, Stephen’s quest for attention and his strong-willed nature shine through. Yet, when faced with adults who seem to engage in incomprehensible actions, he demonstrates that young children have minds of their own, following their own natural instincts, even if it appears bewildering to the grown-ups around them.

Through joyful and poignant moments, Kinderbarton captures the essence of a toddler’s world, where curiosity and self-expression intertwine in fascinating ways. Join Stephen as he embarks on a journey filled with ups and downs, unveiling the captivating and often surprising aspects of a child’s perspective.

Kindness is Cool - Ellie the Elephant

Ellie Elephant shares her ideas on how to spread kindness amongst her friends on the magical island of Huppet Hill. Join Zac and Zara as they discover a hidden secret in their attic, where a magical window and rainbow leads to a wondrous land of learning and adventures. Here you’ll meet the other animals from Rainbow Rock and interact with the story through animal yoga poses and, in a world where you can be anything – choose kind like Ellie!