The Tale of a Hip

The Tale of a Hip is an account of the author’s 80-year life to date, through a period of huge social change, during which, technology has taken over from nature. It is the story of true love lasting six decades, despite the fact that physical aspects of the relationship were less good than they might have been, due to an unsuspected structural problem that only came to light when Pamela and her husband, John, took up dancing in their 40s.

The mystery of Pamela’s shifting bones is unravelled piece by piece, from art-influenced early years in Yorkshire, through the excitement and romance of working in a burgeoning post-war London, to marriage and, later, to obsession with dancing, resulting in back and hip issues for many years.

The Strength Within

December 1979, Annie was three months pregnant with her second child and in excruciating pain. She couldn't walk, couldn't stand, couldn't sleep. In just a year, Annie had gone from being an active young woman to almost entirely incapacitated. Going from one doctor to another, after 18 months, Annie finally had a diagnosis - it was a malignant Ewing's tumour the size of a tennis ball on her knee. Cancer. Almost in the same breath, Annie was told she would have to have her leg amputated above the knee and then told the baby wouldn't survive the surgery…they both defied the odds. She was 26 years old and 26 weeks pregnant. Annie has demonstrated amazing courage sharing her story and overcoming adversity, further setbacks and living life to the full, encouraging the reader to believe there is light at the end of the tunnel, even when you can't see it.

The Story of Lord Leon and the Gaffer Above

The Story of Lord Leon and the Gaffer Above is a true story to inspire you on the journey of life. Leon Parrish’s story will show you that anybody can transform their own world.

If you have ever wished that you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, then the author has a simple message for you: why spend your life wishing when you can fulfil any dream by just doing things yourself?

So jump aboard the train of self-belief and make it happen. Enjoy Leon’s journey, and more importantly, find ways to enjoy your own. And always keep smiling.

The Story of a Provincial Armenian Woman

‘Fel’ grows up in an Armenian province. What do we know about Armenia? A small Christian nation, locked between large powers, some of which are hostile. Preserving the Armenian culture is of paramount importance, but what is “culture”? As valuable as it is to the elder, the youth seek their own new values. This story is about an extraordinary young woman who struggled between respect for her country, love for her family and her own desire to be independent, preserve her self-esteem and live her ambitions. Through her eyes, we see what tensions a teenage girl in Armenia is subject to when she follows her own emotions and preferences. She takes the reader into her world filled with dilemmas, loyalty conflicts and confrontations. When her life story unfolds the reader is dragged into the astounding turmoil that results from her choices in life. Choices that are always inspired by her emotions, her personal principles and never-ending willpower to find respect, understanding and happiness, for herself and her loved ones.

This story is certainly an inspiration.

The Stars Will Always Shine

The Stars Will Always Shine describes how life has changed in Britain from the 1950s until the present day.It also details some of my hilarious travel adventures, particularly in America, and contains illustrations of some of my oil paintings.Two decades of my life were spent fighting the establishment for justice with considerable success, hence my decision to leave the UK in 2010 to live in a remote cabin in Maine, USA.

The Secret Back Door

In this gripping autobiography, I share my experience of holding on when everyone else let go. With every ounce of strength, I gripped tight, silently screaming on the inside, unable to surrender or relinquish my right to live my own life. Despite the choices of those around me, I had none of my own.My sanity teetered on the edge between a frenzied, rabid dog and an existence of task-oriented groundhog days. I didn’t recognize myself, yet the merry-go-round kept turning, and I couldn’t step off. I had already witnessed more than my eyes should have seen, but leaving wasn’t an option.The reason why? She devoted her life to protecting me from bullies, silently absorbing their scorn. Now the tables have turned, and it’s my turn to protect her. No matter the cost, I vowed to love her, keep her safe, and give her my undivided attention and lifelong support. We’re in this together, no matter how long it takes.

The Road to Westminster

Nothing in life is impossible provided you never lose sight of your goal and are willing to be flexible at all times and totally dedicated to achieving your aims. Setbacks crop up at the most inconvenient times, but they give you the opportunity to make changes, accept new challenges and achieve your targets in ways you could never have thought possible.
Never give up, never lose sight of your objectives. Be ruthless when assessing your progress. Take chances when you need to. Everyone needs to speculate to accumulate. Go for it at all times.

The Pink Princess Pencil

Embarking on a life-altering decision on his wedding day, Andrew’s journey is shadowed by a turbulent childhood due to his father’s abandonment. Despite painful rejection, his mother and grandmother’s unwavering love become his anchor. As life unfolds, he grapples with the fear of resembling his estranged father. Rejection’s sting is just the beginning, leading to questions of whether Andrew deserves his fate. This authentic tale invites you to judge and offers a harrowing glimpse into a smiling façade masking profound pain – a story where clues abound, waiting to be discovered.

The Penzance Smash

This is a story about love and family. It captures a period in time, the post-war era, when people were beginning to put their lives together again after the horrors and shortages caused by the Second World War. Whole communities were springing up all over the United Kingdom in newly built housing estates and this story is focused on one family within such an estate. It also tells of a sport, homing pigeon racing, which was once so very popular amongst the working classes but has now almost disappeared.

Through this setting, the author evokes a very moving and visual tale of the hardships faced by one family and recounts how one man brought up two young boys, giving them the best life that he could. There were no manuals or self-help groups then, but this man quietly went about raising his boys and teaching them the values that he believed would be necessary for their futures. He taught them to be independent, to be respectful and to never give up matter what life threw at them. Most importantly, he showed them what real love is.

The Padre was a Hooker

The commandment “Thou shalt not kill,” would seem to make it unlikely that a committed Christian would ever choose to pursue a career in the armed forces, where killing the enemy is, at the very least, a real possibility.

Becoming an army chaplain might well be seen as an even more astonishing choice for someone seeking to serve God.

And yet, the British armed forces have had chaplains since the beginning of warfare itself. Men and women from the traditional established churches who accompany the troops into the very face of the foe, seeking to care for the spiritual and moral welfare of the troops.

Despite all the changes in the society and warfare, the decrease in church attendance and the weakening of the spiritual profile of our nation, military leaders still want a padre to accompany them into action.

For 40 years, Stephen Blakey was one of these padres. With humour and insight, he shares the joys and the struggles of being the ‘man of God’ amongst what is sometime a pretty ungodly community.

The Needle and the Damage Done

The Needle and the Damage Done is the story of a boy from a small Irish village who became an adventurer, multi-award-winning doctor and physician to the stars. Part travelogue, part thriller, part celebrity tell-all, the memoir is a whirlwind of adventure and a fascinating insight into the colourful life of Dr Patrick Treacy.

Cosmetic doctor Patrick Treacy grew up in rural Northern Ireland during The Troubles. Determined to become a doctor, he raised money for medical school in Dublin by smuggling cars from Germany to Turkey. He studied biochemistry at Queens University Belfast and medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons. While working in a Dublin hospital, he was accidentally jabbed with a needle from an HIV patient. He took blood test after blood test for many years until he was confirmed negative. Initially overwhelmed by the experience, he moved to New Zealand, away from everyone who knew what he was going through: his girlfriend and his colleagues. Thus, he began a peripatetic existence, working as a doctor around the world. In Saddam Hussein’s Baghdad, Treacy was arrested and imprisoned, spending days wondering whether he was going to be hanged as a spy. He worked as a ship’s surgeon in California and with the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Australia. On returning to Dublin, Treacy set up the Ailesbury Clinic where he pioneered the emergent field of cosmetic dermatology, championing treatments regarding the use of botulinum toxin and dermal fillers. His award-winning research brought him numerous international accolades and many celebrity patients, including the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson, who came flocking to his door.

Central to this memoir is Treacy’s personal journey: his efforts to escape the conflict of The Troubles, coping with the fear that he may have contracted HIV, getting over his lost love and surviving the crippling Irish recession. Most of all, it gives us a fascinating insight into his award-winning research on the influence of Botox ® on the brain and how he developed protocols to reverse the damage being done to patient’s faces as a result of the complications of dermal fillers.

The Mystery of Operation Alphabet

For many years my knowledge of my grandfather, John Thomas Merrikin, was very limited.

All I knew of him was that he came from Amber Hill, Lincolnshire, and was for many years a police officer in Leicester. At the beginning of WW2, my grandfather was called up into the Naval Reserve first of all on HMS Devonshire, and then Stoker First Class on HMS Acasta.

8^th June 1940, grandad John Thomas Merrikin died in the Norwegian fjords after the Scharnhorst, and Gneisenau blew up HMS Acasta, and as they sank into the cruel freezing cold sea Nick Carter launched a torpedo at the Scharnhorst and damaged her quite badly.

It wasn’t until I joined the GLARAC (Glorious, Ardent, Acasta) Association in 2008 that I realised that HMS Ardent, and HMS Aircraft Carrier Glorious, were also bombed by the two German battleships – both the pride of Nazi Germany. The two British destroyers were accompanying HMS Glorious on convoy. I also became aware of a huge conspiracy as to why 1531 servicemen were killed, and only 43 servicemen survived without Admiralty intervention.

During the lockdown of 2020-2021, I decided to do some of my own research on the worst British naval catastrophe of WW2, and I began to write The Mystery Of Operation Alphabet to bring to life 8^th June 1940. I did this by putting photographs on as many names of the war dead and survivors as possible to bring them to life too. I also wrote down stories from books and articles of what happened to the war dead and survivors in their own words, and also of their loved ones, rather than writing using my own words, as I wanted the servicemen to have their own voice.

The Mystery of Operation Alphabet has endless photos of the different ships, lists of the war dead, and also I have written down as many explanations and conspiracy theories as possible as to why the three ships were blown up and 1531 men were killed. I did this by bringing to light the opinions and theories of Admiralty, naval historians, government officials, and members of the GLARAC Association so you can make up your own minds as to what happened.

One of my main aims is to bring to light the bravery of commanders Barker and Glasfurd of HMS Ardent, and HMS Acasta, plus Nick Carter, leading seaman of HMS Acasta, the man who shot the Scharnhorst, to hopefully get the government to give these men military honour and recognition for what they did on 8^th June 1940. Amazingly, even the commanders of the German battleships saluted the British ships HMS Glorious, HMS Ardent and especially HMS Acasta as they sunk in the Norwegian fjords to honour their bravery.

Last but not least, I would like to uncover why the government has kept the ships’ records under lock and key since 1940, and why they aren’t going to be made public until 2040/41.

So why not read this interesting and intriguing book to find out more?

Elaine Merrikin Trimlett Glover.