The Day I Chose to Live

You know that shy, quiet boy? The one with the knobbly knees, bobbly elbows and a silly haircut? Well, that was me. I was an intelligent child and a decent enough sportsman. I had plenty of friends but I didn’t smile a lot. I’m not a boy who had a tough upbringing. To all intents and purposes, my childhood was idyllic. I was afforded every opportunity and never wanted for anything. I was born into a loving family and grew up in leafy suburbia, a far cry from anything that could be seen as deprivation or hardship. I lacked a little confidence but really the world should have been mine to make of it what I wanted. I should have been full of excitement and enthusiasm for my life ahead, but unfortunately happiness continued to elude me and I became preoccupied with one obsession. My desire to be dead.

The Hop About

A man, an amputee, a dual amputee, wanders the West alone on half of a foot to discover what life has to offer. He takes off, running the only way he still knows how, in a car. A car procured from selling his prosthetic leg (the expensive one) on eBay.This true tale follows him on an adventure to angelic views in Zion National Park, to the top of the world in Death Valley, to mingling with the rainbow people, to pushing himself around in a wheelchair on the streets of Las Vegas, Nevada. The story turns back to how he found himself ‘hopping’ about and the drug addiction which caused it.While purposely estranged from his family, he learns mingling with others to accept differences and to resist judgement. Also, the deep importance of family. And most importantly that ‘we are not defined by our mistakes’.

Sleeping with the Gasman

Who or what is an anaesthetist? That strange individual who attends a patient on the morning of major surgery and says, “Hello, it was you I was looking for.”

Is that person a technician? Is that person a doctor?

As the patient, you are about to put your life entirely in their hands. As a patient would you not like to know more about this shady character, the gasman or the gasoose?

Sleeping with the Gasman is written as a story by an anaesthetist. It is based on personal experiences, observations, stories and anecdotes.

Ultimately, the patient and the gasoose are both human, or are they?

White Slave

A man who is 6'6" and nearly 400 pounds casts a big shadow. Charles 'Big Chick' Huntsberry lived beneath his own shadow. He always set out to be the best at what he was doing, to be the top dog. When Chick wins an arm-wrestling contest, it leads him to a profession as a bouncer at the big campus bar. Rumours start to spread about the huge bouncer at the club. Chick starts hearing stories about a guy who would fight a whole motorcycle club and turn over cars. The person in these stories turns out to be Chick himself. An old bouncing associate calls Chick and tells him about a music artist who is looking for a bodyguard. Chick, needing a change, tries it out. The rest is music history.

British Sporting Champions

You do not leave school one day and win an Olympic gold medal the next. This book is about 50 sporting champions and how they got started. It contains a biography of each followed by their career records. It shows in detail their achievements from school, youth, under 20, under 30, to seminar level, from county, area, national and international honours. It is a multi-sport book that should appeal to multi-sport lovers.

That's Livin' Alright: A Biography on David Mackay

As in most industries and businesses that are successful, there are the individuals that are out front and take most of the credit for being resourceful, creative and innovative. These can be people that welcome or seek the spotlight of fame and notoriety or simply those that have it thrust upon them by circumstances beyond their control but in most cases, there is usually a driving force behind their success, a clever machine that dominates the whole concept of achievement, ultimately instigated by one person of foresight and of a gifted talent. This is the case of Australian Record Producer DAVID MACKAY, as he is the man responsible for so many hit records and TV themes around the world. This is his story with many contributions from the stars he has worked with such as, Barry Gibb, Bonnie Tyler, Sir Cliff Richard, Francis Rossi and Eve Graham (New Seekers).

Swinging Sexties

Most women, whether married or single, have at one time in their life had secret thoughts about dominance. Whether it’s behind the closed doors of bedroom antics or living out a fantasy of role play, they are happy with this level of excitement, I wasn’t. I found myself on a path of discovering a world of curiosity and intrigue. I, like many others, had pondered and wondered if I could actually live out and divulge in such sordid encounters. Constantly asking myself questions of judgement, I  found that I had balls of steel upon my chest experiencing every encounter with blindfolded confidence.

My story will lead you on a journey of discovery, dominance, excitement and most of all, self belief to knowing your ultimate life limits.

The A to Z of Alfie Zeller

Dip into The A to Z of Alfie Zeller to find: Petty Officer Sam Zeller, who swam the Channel long before Captain Webb, in a straight line, without body grease in search of escargots; Pierre, who invented Chicken Marengo and was promoted to corporal by Napoleon; Alicia Zeller, who ran the séances at which Arthur Conan Doyle saw fairies. Meet Trooper Zeller, who survived the Charge of the Light Brigade, or would have done, if he’d been there; Zeb Zeller, whose diaries made those of Sam Pepys read like the tedious account of bowel movements which they mostly are; Herman Zeller, who put Franz Kafka on to surrealism; the Zeller who was defenestrated in Prague and fell into a rose bush; and finally meet the Zeller who, although a staunch Royalist, fought in the Parliamentary ranks at Naseby.

It is all explained somewhere and Alfie does not spare the details. If short of a few, he admits to perhaps having made them up. What, he argues, is a slightly dubious fact, if it gets in the way of the truth?

The Gift of Biography

When the Last Note Sounds

These are the recollections of the life and work of a great singer. They explore the true accounts of great happenings following the Second World War when a Renaissance of British music took place, giving birth to several great composers, producers and conductors and a school of singers that led the way to rival the Europeans. Richard Lewis was among the main architects of that Renaissance. His wife Elizabeth was with him for many years, and her reminiscences showcase what a singer’s life is like, its dramas, its humour, and what happens When the Last Note Sounds.

Peter Philips at the Archdukes' Court: Church Music in the Spanish Netherlands

This is the first published study of the church music of Peter Philips, who in his day was regarded as one of the greatest masters of music in Europe. Philips wrote against a background of the strife between Catholics and Protestants, and – being of the Roman persuasion – he chose to leave his native England and eventually settled at the court of the Archdukes Albert and Isabella in Brussels, where he acted as organist. This study explores the manner in which music changed from Renaissance style to that of the early Baroque.

A Shower of Shite

A Shower of Shite offers a gripping biographical narrative that charts the tumultuous journey of two parents as they navigate through a relentless storm of trials brought upon by their children. Their story, akin to the dramatic arcs of a British soap opera, unfolds with tragic twists and turns, an unceasing cascade of events that would seem overdrawn if not for their stark reality. These challenges, though uninvited and not of their own making, are met with a resilience that speaks to the profound sense of duty and unwavering compassion inherent in parental love. It’s a testament to the silent oath etched in the very fabric of biological bonds, a commitment to defend, sometimes even the indefensible, against the odds, all told with a humourous look back at life events faced by the family.