Am I Different?

An enchanting and uplifting tale of a little boy named Jack who is struggling with dyslexia at school. Sometimes it is difficult to understand why we are different, even though each and every one of us is unique. This story teaches us that despite the struggle and realisation of being different, just like Jack, one is still capable of fulfilling their dreams.

Amal and the Wish

Amal is a little girl who likes to play with her unicorn toy. One night, she makes a wish: that her toy would grow into a super giant. But Amal faced a big challenge after that wish. Is she going to be able to figure out the solution? Read the book to find out.

Amanda – a Would-Be Killer

This tale is about the lives of three people who became friends at university and how their lives became a nightmare.

The beautiful Amanda was torn between Harry and Simon, but was she right to marry Harry when Simon took a job in Norway?

When Simon returned from Norway, he had a great idea and went into business with Harry, maintaining the services of a major hotel group.

One night, Harry was called out as the air conditioning in their client’s major hotel had failed and guests were complaining. On this visit, he saw Simon followed by Amanda coming out of a hotel suite. They were gone before he could get his wits together.

Harry finds out from the hotel’s night porter that this is a regular occurrence so he sets about investigating what is going on. He sets up surveillance cameras and is dismayed what he discovers about Amanda and Simon’s undercover relationship.

When Amanda is told how Simon has been using her, she sets out for revenge and her plan nearly works. At the same time Harry has found out how Simon came into money and set up a disreputable ‘Gentleman’s Club’ where they recruited women from abroad to satisfy their members.

What follows is quite dramatic.

Ambra's Winter On The Farm

Join Ambra, a young blackbird filled with hope and excitement, as she embarks on an extraordinary adventure in Ambra’s Winter on the Farm, a heartwarming children’s book. After a long separation, Ambra experiences the joy of being reunited with her beloved family, whom she thought she would never see again. However, her best friend Doug the hedgehog is in deep slumber, peacefully hibernating.

Now residing on a bustling farm with her caring mum, dad, and three playful brothers, Ambra eagerly anticipates the wonders that the winter season will bring. Little does she know that this particular winter will be one of the harshest in half a century, setting the stage for a series of captivating events.

Follow Ambra’s journey as she faces the challenges and surprises of this severe winter, filled with snow-covered landscapes and frosty air. Discover the heartwarming tales of the farm’s other enchanting animals, as they navigate the wintry elements and come together in unexpected ways.

Ambra's World

How can a seven-day-old blackbird survive after her nest was destroyed by workmen who were unaware of the nest?

Find out how she escapes the cat and how a most unusual animal befriends her and even teaches her to fly.

Learn about their many adventures together.

An Adoration of Beauty

Darius Bukhari, lecturer of Renaissance Art at The Courtauld Institute of Fine Art in London, is left with a mystery after the visit of Judith St John James, who brings him letters from long ago concerning the disappearance of a painting by famed Florentine artist Sandro Botticelli.

Back in the 15th century, Botticelli creates a wondrous new painting in his artist’s studio in Florence. The painting, the first copy of The Birth of Venus, is overpainted, stolen and vanishes.

In London of the mid-Victorian era, two young men – Dr Thomas Fielding, physician to the elite, and Viscount Dearly, famed poet and forebear of Judith – set out for Italy to follow in the footsteps of the Romantic poets. They end up in a dingy Roman junk shop where they make an extraordinary discovery.

Following their return to London, Tom Fielding, chased by a criminal gang, is forced to leave England immediately, taking the painting with him. He travels through Central Africa with Dr David Livingstone and then once more the painting disappears.

Finally, Darius and Judith embark on a journey through Africa attempting to discover the final resting place of the missing painting.

An Age of War and Tea

2021 HFC Gold Medal Winner for Historical Fiction

An epic tale of intrigue, betrayal, and revenge, set in the turbulent era of sixteenth-century Japan. Sakichi is a provincial Samurai boy who reluctantly becomes ensnared in a conspiracy by a Shogun determined to reclaim his power. It is within this developing turmoil that events emerge to forever shape Sakichi’s life. With his life now shattered, Sakichi discovers that he is adopted, and his biological mother is a ruthless assassin, who is determined to prevent him from discovering the true identity of his father.

With such high stakes at play, Sakichi’s life is placed in grave danger. Rival factions compete with each other to assassinate him and his mother before he discovers the truth. Should the identity of Sakichi’s father become common knowledge it would not only threaten the rule of a powerful war lord but plunge the nation into greater turmoil and bloodshed.

Acclaim for An Age of War and Tea

“This book is one for the ages and ranks right up there with Shogun by James Clavell. For anyone who loves an immersive story, full of power struggles, life-changing secrets, and the full richness of the ancient exotic history of Japan, then this is must-read.” 

-HFC Awards/Book Reviews

An Agony of Flame and the Fury and the Mire

A two-part climax to The Last Vigil, An Agony of Flame and The Fury and the Mire, concludes the story of the fall of Constantinople. Here is an intense evocation, both of the gruelling eight-week siege itself and of the chaotic as well as terrifying aftermath.

In part three, Niccolo and Demetrius serve on the great Roman land walls, enduring bombardment and nocturnal hand-to-hand combat. Nestor-Iskander reappears, a deserter now from the Turkish camp. Niccolo is badly wounded, recovering in Theodora’s house in the suburb of Studion. Then comes the night of the final Ottoman assault when, after a valiant defence, treachery leads to massacre (including the death of Demetrius) and Niccolo finds himself among a scatter of survivors. 

Part four centres on Niccolo’s frantic attempts to find a way through a city, now being systematically sacked. Moreover, he must think of others. Demetrius might be dead but Nestor-Iskander has survived and demands refuge. Then there is Theodora locked up with the faithful in Hagia Sophia. Can Niccolo reach her before the marauding enemy? So, he travels deeper and deeper into his adopted city’s heart of darkness. Nestor finds protectors, loses, then regains them. Theodora is found then lost forever. Mehmet appears once more; Cinnamon never reappears. Finally, after the city has been overwhelmed and pacified, Niccolo sets sail westward across the Mediterranean, not home to Venice but to an Atlantic shore where a new age of exploration is about to dawn.  

An Alphabetical Menagerie

Are you baffled by the word "axolotl"? Do the words "unau" and "vicuña" mean nothing to you? If so, this book will enlighten you, and thanks to the illustrations, give you an idea of what they look like. It may also alert you, if you need alerting, to the threat to the existence of many species brought about by human activity.

The author wrote the verses originally to humour himself in the midst of the Covid pandemic, when he was obliged to self-isolate. Subsequently, he thought they might entertain his sister's grandchildren, or indeed anyone else's, especially if they (the verses, that is) were accompanied by illustrations. It is the author's hope, however, that the book will appeal to young and old alike. If the verses don't make you laugh or at least smile, the illustrations by Dave F. Smith should.

Oh, and by the way, just in case you don't know your alphabet, this book will provide you with ample opportunities to learn it.

An Amazing Cooking Class

In this first book of a series, country boys Billy and Lionel meet an elf, Alfred. They are invited to his village hidden in the local bushland. This starts a series of adventures and even joining a cooking class with Chef Lou Mae. As they get to meet more of the community they realise there is another world down here. Madam Erle causes all sorts of problems and Billy saves the town from a horrible flood. It is a wild ride for the boys.

An American Comedian Lost In Bavaria

Travelling is one of the great pleasures in life. You are completely anonymous which means you can act like an idiot, say stupid things, wear a big ugly T-shirt, then go home and brag about how savvy you are. But when you live in a foreign country, you’re an idiot 24 hours a day. The language is the first hurdle, good luck with that. The few things you get right celebrate them, post them on FB for your friends to see. So they think you’re doing well in your new life living abroad. After a few years, your friends will say things like “I could never live in a foreign country” and you will become defensive. “Good, then don’t move here.” But don’t give up on acclimating, over time things will get better. You will start to learn new words in another language, then use them inappropriately which will make people laugh. You’ll make new friends who you can’t talk to because a simple sentence takes forever, and no one has an hour to listen to you. People will start to wave to avoid talking to you. If you’re lucky some will speak your language and you’ll stick to them like glue. You’ll know you’re beginning to fit in when you stop asking for ketchup. But no matter what you do or how long you stay, you’ll always be a fish out of water.

An Apprentice's Life

My book is about my Engineering Apprenticeship which was during the years 1960-1966. My apprenticeship was in the Royal Ordnance Factory in Woolwich, the ‘home’ of the Royal Artillery, and the biggest gun being made at that time was the 120mm Tank Gun. The smallest was the 81mm Mortar. Included in my book is my life outside the factory, and some of it is set in beautiful parkland where my mates and I would get up to all sorts of pranks. There is included on my part an attractive woman down the canal.