A Bit of Good Luck

A young man slings his duffel bag over his shoulder and begins a journey of a lifetime.

In this true story, young Frank learns more in a day than all his life up to that point but, ironically, he’s left with more questions than answers! Do lobsters whistle? Are sleep and driving mutually exclusive?

Now, over 50 years later, Frank recalls that day, the highs and lows, the stops and starts and the emotional end to his odyssey. With his mission to meet up with his father at the opposite end of Ireland, this funny, yet poignant story paints a landscape that is fading over time and will leave you wondering where life’s true characters have gone. Have they really disappeared? Or are they waiting patiently, thumbs out, waiting to be picked up again?

Readers will never predict the trials and tribulations of Frank McGurk in 1960s and ’70s Ireland – neither did Frank.

Where exactly is no man’s land? Was the smuggling run ‘a washing machine too far’? And what were Frank’s true dealings with the oil sheikhs from the Middle East?

Potholes without the plot holes, A Bit of Good Luck (and other short stories) evoke a bygone era where a journey was an adventure, and the open road was an open mic for every character to stand up and take a bow.

A Bare Chronicle of Existence

On the very same day as his brother, Arnold enrolled to serve in WW1. He signed up for the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves and in April 1915 set sail on HMS India. A few short months later, he found himself floating in the North Sea. This is his story and the story of the men who found themselves interned in Norway for the remainder of the war. It is a story of loneliness and love. Of conflict and of isolation. It is a story from WW1 that is rarely told but one that deserves to be.

50 Shades of Awkward

There comes a time when you look at yourself in a dirty bathroom mirror and think, this cannot be all there is. I am speaking directly to the heart of every woman who, at this very moment, feels invisible, unloved, unworthy, trapped, tired, ugly, awkward, aimless, chubby and old. This book is for you.

Eight years ago, I was married for the third time to a guy I met on the Internet and barely knew. This is a raw look at life through the eyes of a middle-aged woman as she comes to grips with parenting, dating, divorce, dieting, financial and mental health meltdowns, and her brutally honest way of dealing with it all.

Through horrific mistakes, gut-wrenching pain and laugh-out-loud life mishaps, I hope it will help you see that life isn’t at all bad.

3 Boys, 2 Dogs, 1 (Ex) Husband and Absolutely No Idea

‘I never thought, when I met my husband at 18, got married at 25, had my third baby at 30 or even two years ago when I started writing this book, that I would find myself in the position I am now… a single mum to three boys, two dogs with a now ex-husband.

This is a brutally honest account of life since I weed on that stick. Pregnancy, haemorrhoids, cabbage leaves, mum mates, tantrums, holidays, hormones, sex, dogs and divorce.

This is definitely not a guide to parenting but it may make you feel a little less alone on the journey.’

284 Munros

Since the Rev A E Robertson first accomplished the feat in 1901, over 6,500 people have registered their “compleation” of the Munros with the Scottish Mountaineering Club. There are records for the fastest round; for “compleating” in a continuous walk, or in a single season; for the greatest number of rounds; etc.

David Barraclough took a more leisurely approach, taking 51 years and 164 days to walk 2,086 miles and climb 690,000 feet between ascents of Sgùrr nan Gillean, his first Munro climbed when he was fourteen, and Beinn Dòrain, his 284th. David’s book is more than a diary of his achievement. He includes descriptions of the often non-standard routes he took to the summits and tries to rationalise the many changes that have been made to the Munro listings over the years. Beyond the mountains themselves, he discusses the effects on both access and the environment of the dams and enlarged lochs associated with hydro-electric power schemes, and the more recent threat to the wildness of Scotland’s more remote areas from industrial-scale wind farms. Throughout the book, David’s lifelong love of the Scottish mountains shines through.

1996

It’s 1996, apartheid is in its death throes, I meet Daniel by chance in Johannesburg. Together we hatch a plan to escape the country and embark on a road trip across the USA. It is clear we are trying to escape ourselves and our dysfunctional white upbringing.Near the end of the road trip, which acts as a primer for a much larger individual trip around the world, I meet Kim. I write to her with my insights, thoughts, and feelings throughout my world trip, she never once replies. The journey exposes my upbring and my country of birth for the dystopia it was, and I use my various experiences whilst venturing into former communist countries and populist South American dictatorships, to analyse and explain the unbearable whiteness of being during those days in South Africa. The story takes a surprising twist at the end of the trip with me going to see Kim, where I come face to face with a horrible truth.

1984 – Diary of a 16/17-Year-Old

Transport your mind back to 1984 – an era where there were no mobile phones, no internet, no nothing...

Immerse yourself in this poignant diary of an innocent 16/17-year-old... living every day to the max! 

Enjoy reading her intriguing, witty and delightful diary... 

1958

In 1958 three brothers and two ladies embarked on a road trip of a lifetime. Travelling for four months, starting in Cape Town across Africa through Europe and finishing in London in a VW Kombi, they got to see and do things that most people will never get the chance to. It was a foolhardy trip, with the most inappropriate and basic of equipment by modern standards, yet the pioneer spirit, companionship, raw tenacity and finding of a soul mate saw them overcoming all obstacles. This book is the daily diary account by 26-year-old Joan as she describes her maiden voyage of sights, companions and recounts the numerous travelling challenges detailing an era long gone.

10 Days of Dad

Dad and I rarely saw eye to eye. We fought so much when I was growing up, I think we yelled ‘I hate you’ more than ‘I love you’.

But Covid-19 changed all of that...

It was meant to be an enjoyable holiday, the cruise of a lifetime, but really it was the giant floating petri dish that allowed Covid-19 to dock on Australian shores.

Through tragedy, came forgiveness and second chances.

Dad, you are a cockroach – an atomic bomb couldn’t kill you...a virus named after a beer has no chance...

"Oneness" The Unity of Opposites: Innovative Transformation

This book is a take on ‘Paradise to Hell’ real-life stories, about real-life under-performing businesses located in real-life countries, operating in real-life industries at a time of real-life challenges in the name of innovative transformation. My life as an international business consultant; Impresario. From India to Indonesia. From Bangladesh to Australia. From Silicone Valley to Malaysia. From the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere. From West to East. From on-shore to off-shore. From debt to equity, from low cost, low skilled staff, to high cost, high skilled staff. From single function to multi-function, from life to death. In the life of a ‘dare devil’, frequent flier, international consultant – in what seems like a personal battle with ISIS.

"I Must Live!"

On April 30th 1975, South Vietnam fell into the hands of the Communists from the North. Countless Southerners from various backgrounds were being herded into concentration camps. The author was one of them.

“I MUST LIVE!” was the loudest scream I had ever made, which activated my survival instinct when I was tortured to the point of death. Thanks to these three words, I was able to survive in order to recount the painful and horrifying experiences to share with the readers. It was a type of experience that the readers could not possess and no one wished to have.

In short, this is my experience: Human compassion has its limits, but human evil is boundless, especially when that evil is incited and indoctrinated by the Vietnamese Communist Regime.

I hope the book I MUST LIVE! will give readers a deep insight into the darkest side of life, at the same time as to realize that they are the most fortunate people on earth compared to the life of the author.