Live. Live. Repeat.

What would you sacrifice for all the riches in the World? Your name? Your face?

Your soul?

Mike had already lost everything when he found himself sitting next to the stranger at the bar.

He listened to an implausible tale, too tall to be true.

What followed would change everything for him, forever.

Money can't buy happiness. But what about ALL the money in the world...?

Liverpool Kids of WWII - Part 1

The Liverpool Blitz is over…

The seven-year-old boy who was evacuated in The Green Gates Story, comes home after many months away, and is faced with changes to his life: house moves, new districts, new faces…

No sweets, because Mum’s used the coupons for sugar.
What are bananas?
What’s ice-cream?
White bread?

Upon his return to his home city and with his evacuation experience behind him, he views his life ahead as a series of hurdles, but the War is ongoing…

Toys? – Pretend games and a good healthy imagination.
Free-time? – Fun of collecting waste paper, scrap metal, bones and rags, in support of the war effort.

His first trip into town, shopping with Mum, and the surprising sight of big blackened shells, once shops, now dark spaces between buildings, which had suffered direct hits, torn apart innards and burnt deposits.  
Blast waves obliterating shop windows and doors of adjacent buildings, displaying:
Heaps of broken bricks
Shattered concrete supports
Splintered wood floors hanging drunkenly, with massive heaps of dust and debris deposited on the piled remains, awaiting attention and clearance.

How to cope with the unnecessary death of a classmate, killed at play, after accidentally falling through the blitzed roof of an unsafe bomb-damaged house?

When the supply and demands of shortages cause the theft of a family bicycle.

Kids discovering the incomprehensible: German POWs sitting smoking, chatting and laughing, employed in collecting and stacking usable bricks from a bomb site, watched by a grey-haired bespectacled British soldier sat in his parked army lorry when he was not reading a dog-eared copy of Lilliput magazine.  
Same kids, frowning and mindful of captured British soldiers packed into overcrowded huts inside barbed-wire enclosures, overlooked by machine-gun towers, in the Fatherland!

Liverpool Kids of WWII, Part 2

The boy was growing into youth – not yet a teenager – but was bright enough to know his country was in a war that it mustn’t lose, that his brother and uncles were also part of this deadly struggle…

Melodious harmonies and helmets were heard and seen at the impromptu Christmas party his mum and dad had arranged. He was as inquisitive as could be because it sounded like the Americans had arrived with Uncle Jim for the little house party he’d eavesdropped about over the last few days.

“Gosh a’mighty!” he heard one over-the-pond voice exclaim. “You got gas lighting but no electricity in the house, huh?”

The front room was alive with noise generated by adults, both seated and standing, in a happy conversation. Already, a smoky fuzz was forming from lit cigarettes, held firmly between thumbs and forefingers and used sometimes to emphasise a point or two in the friendly interchange of chit-chat.

The first thing he noticed was one policeman’s helmet and two American army white military police garrison caps grouped together at one end of his mum’s upright piano top. Railway policeman, Uncle Jim was in boisterous good humour with the two Americans.

Suddenly, his young eyes lit up as he spied a crumpled untidy mess of military equipment in the corner of the room, which drew him onto it immediately. He could see a US army belt with what looked like a brown wood baseball bat attached, as well as a set of handcuffs.

Living in Interesting Times: Curse or Chance?

These are the memoirs and reflections on the most acute issues of the contemporary world by a boy from the Estonian countryside who, through accident and pure ambition, ended up as a professor at Moscow University and adviser to President Gorbachev on matters of international law. After a stint as head of Estonian diplomacy at crucial moments in the restoration of its independence, he later became a centennial professor at the LSE and chair of international law at King’s College London. This is not a traditional autobiography. Besides reflecting on issues he dealt with while advising Soviet leaders, such as Yakovlev in his speech on the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact or the status of the Kuril Islands, and their repercussions in today’s world, the book analyses the roots of the crisis within liberal democracy, the upsurge of populism, the rise of China and the re-emergence of Russia as a great power. A Marco Polo fellow at Jiaotong University in China and recently awarded the highest Russian Order for foreigners – the Friendship Order by President Putin, Professor Müllerson, who lives in London, feels equally at home discussing the renewal of great-power competition, the problems of the European Union including Brexit, the conflict in Ukraine, as well as the negative impacts of political correctness both in the former USSR and today’s West. Having lived equal thirds of his life in three different worlds and worked in and visited many countries as a UN diplomat, he is a man who understands small country mentality, though being ‘spoilt’ by great-power mindset. 

Living The Dream

Cornwall has the most beautiful landscape you could wish to set your eyes on, made still more dramatic with the evening silhouette of St Michael’s Mount in the background.
That was exactly the view Lori and his Cornish wife, Irene, had as they took over the tenancy of their first public house in the village of Portscatly: a beautiful village with many lively characters, each with their own little story to tell. Jean’s story will tug at your heartstrings, whilst Steve’s tragic tale will show you that a moment of madness can change your life forever. Typical families and friends keep village life moving.
The landlord’s foreign name has not gone down too well with the crowd. “It’s enough to make a man curse,” some would say. “And now they are taking over our pubs too,” some others would say.
So will Lori and Irene win over the locals, as they tirelessly try to get involved with the local community?

Living Through The Great War at Home: How the People of Bromley Faced the Challenges of War

Living Through the Great War at Home tells the story of the people of Bromley from the month before the outbreak of war to the Armistice in 1918 and the celebration of peace in July 1919. Although it shows how men were mobilised, volunteered, conscripted and left to ‘follow the colours’, it is a book about the people of Bromley and how their lives were challenged and changed during the war, how they supported their own boys in the army, how they dealt with the problems of war, the restrictions of DORA (Defence of the Realm Act) and the threat and reality of the Zeppelin raids. We learn of the generosity of the people in supporting their ‘boys’, caring for the Belgian refugees and the wounded—the VAD hospitals and how women rose to the challenge, both in terms of filling the gaps in the workforce left by the men and struggling to put food on the table as rising prices and shortages finally led to rationing. The work is based on real information from the local newspaper, together with research to put them into context and understand the stories better.

Living with Jo

Who doesn’t dream of finding the love of their life?

Lonely, quirky Oliver Birch certainly does, and he knows

who she is. He’s adored her from afar for thirty years.  

But there’s a problem.

Joanna is happily married to somebody else.  

Then, one day, out of the blue, she arrives at his apartment.

And not just to visit. She’s here to stay.  

For Oliver it’s a dream come true, provided he can keep

a handle on where two-dimensional fantasy ends

and reality begins.

Will she be his saviour … or will she gradually drive him

towards the unwelcome hands of a psychiatrist?

Living with Jo is a love story with a difference. It explores a world familiar to many who find themselves single and adrift in later life. Sometimes they come across unusual and imaginative ways to fill emotional gaps in their lives. In Oliver’s case, it’s an imaginative step too far …

Living With My Friend 'GAD'

Empower young readers with tools to navigate Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) through this enchanting tale. With captivating illustrations and relatable prose, we follow Poppy and her unique imaginary friend, GAD. As Poppy learns to cope with her anxiety, she’s aided by her loving parents, the wise Mr. Purple, and the enchanting Miss Sparkle. This story reassures children that they’re not alone in their struggles and introduces them to transformative strategies. With GAD as a potential superpower, the techniques shared by Miss Sparkle can be embraced by parents and caregivers to further support their child’s journey.

A portion of the proceeds of this book are donated to Young Minds to support their vision for change, and to ensure that no young person feels alone with their mental health. To find out more visit: www.youngminds.org.uk

Lochranza

Welcome to Anoone, a world where magic and science share a sometimes uneasy co-existence. Ben Troon is a trainee mage, or wizard, at the Dundonald Academy of Magecraft. He meets Bliss, a fellow student, and they fall deliriously in love. But they are torn apart when Ben is sent to the Magisterium, the heart of Magecraft, in the distant city of Lochranza. When he finds he has lost Bliss to another man, Ben becomes deeply depressed. His mentor, mage and bookseller Ailsa Bleakwill takes his case to the Archmage, Caerlugh. Caerlugh gives him a mission, to travel around the whole of Anoone, and to write a record of his experiences in a journal: the Book.

It is a journey where Ben will discover himself as he learns about his world. He is introduced to his travelling companion, the mysterious Motria, and together they set off into the unknown.

Logan and the Time Machine

Once upon a time, there was a little boy called Logan who loved having adventures. One day Logan decided to go back in time to see the land of the dinosaurs. So, he grabbed his bag and his hat and tied his shoelaces tight and then jumped into his magical time machine. The time machine whizzed and whirled and wooed and suddenly went Bop! And then disappeared!

When Logan travels back in time to the age of the dinosaurs in his magical time machine, he never anticipates a chance encounter with a little dinosaur would result in an unexpected friendship. But with new dinosaur friends come new dangers.With the sudden arrival of a large T-Rex can Logan be brave and save his new dinosaur friend?

Get set to go on a wonderful journey with dinosaurs, time travel and new friendships accompanied by beautiful illustrations that will captivate the imagination of kids of all ages.

Lokemele's Quest

An emotional and deep journey in which Rosemary (Lokemele) introspectively fights with her personal demons.

Will the pain of betrayal, loss, temptation, and the forbidden fruits of love haunt her until her dying day?

Will a guilty secret be her ultimate downfall?

What role will Keoki play in her life?

And the mysterious, beautiful Ocean Tia - will she be Lokemele’s saviour, or will she add to her woes?

Will Lokemele find her quest for inner peace; or will serenity of her mind, heart, body, and soul forever remain elusive and out of her reach?

Lola and Beau - The Lost Frisbee

Flying saucers, colourful planets, shining stars and erm... a playful game of hide and seek with aliens?

Not your usual day at the park! But one that Lola and her trusty pooch Beau won’t forget in a hurry!

An intergalactic adventure for all to enjoy.