-
Scattered Perspectives
Our perspectives in life are ever-changing, influenced by the people with whom we spend time, the experiences we encounter, and the challenges we face. How these factors affect our minds and emotions ultimately depends on us. While others may impact our viewpoints, the power to shape our perspectives ultimately lies within us.
However, occasionally, we all need guidance or a nudge towards self-realisation. These ‘guardian angels’ can manifest in various forms, be it a colleague, a neighbour, or even a beloved pet. Often, we may not immediately recognize their influence, but suddenly, clarity emerges, and we gain the insight we’ve been seeking.
In these moments of revelation, we might find ourselves laughing or crying in disbelief, wondering, ‘How did it take me so long to see this?’
£6.99 -
A Different Drum
In any society there is always pressure to conform, to behave like those around you. Sometimes it can be difficult to stand alone, to follow your own path whether that’s by choice or force of circumstance. These stories are all about people who are slightly out of step with the world around them. Such people as:
- A young woman who thinks she is stupid but develops self-confidence when someone believes in her.
- A scientist who is convinced that the world is headed for a total flood so begins building an Ark in his back garden.
- A retired headmistress who refuses to be bullied by other residents in her apartment block.
- A 90 year old lady who defies developers, ignores a compulsory purchase order and refuses to leave her home.
These people, and those in the other stories, may not think of it in these terms but they are all marching to the beat of a different drum.
£8.99 -
Short Life and Other Stories
A diverse collection of short stories about modern life, including subjects about the boredom and monotony of factory life; the dangers of online dating and meeting a potential scammer; the trauma of having to deal with a break-in at your flat and people trying to cope with the problems of life today. There are also humorous stories about working in charity shops and serious stories about animal poaching and death. The stories, some of which are based on true events, are written with humour, warmth, and insight. They will appeal to people of all age groups and social backgrounds. There is something here for everyone.
£7.99 -
The Boy Who Had Nothing
Tim, a quiet and old-fashioned boy, is the only child of his devoted parents, Mary and David. Despite his intelligence and quick learning abilities, Tim faces constant bullying at school and struggles to make friends. As he enters his teenage years, Tim’s world is shattered when he discovers that he was adopted as a baby. Heartbroken and feeling lost, Tim finds solace in an unlikely friendship with Jennifer, a girl from a nearby farm. As their bond grows, the two become inseparable, and Jennifer’s presence in Tim’s life sets in motion a series of events that will change his destiny forever.
£6.99 -
Seventeen Going Under
Singer/songwriter Sam Fender has become a musical phenomenon with his passionate songs about growing up in England’s North-East.
Peter White has used those special songs as inspiration to create a collection of heart-warming short stories.
Seventeen Going Under is all about the trials and tribulations of growing up, with teenage anger and regret but also hope for the future. In Leave Fast, three young friends have to deal with the tragic death of their best mate and what to do with their lives. A chance meeting with a homeless guy changes one of them forever.
Spit of You centres on the complexities of family life, with a difficult father-son relationship contrasting with a wonderfully close bond between nana and her grandson. The Dying Light is the tale of a desperate young man determined to take his own life who finds a reason to live.
At the heart of Paradigms are the mental and physical effects of school bullying. Rhys Mackie is a beloved teacher who rails against the bullying he discovers and does something about it. Will We Talk is a quirky tale of two young 20-somethings who meet at a bar but things don’t quite go to plan.
In Mantra, Sophie Lyall believes looking out for life-changing windfalls, or trying to impress others, means you can miss the great things happening right now and the gift of life that gets taken for granted. Angel in Lothian begins with the vibrant, imaginary dream sequence of a young schoolboy that continues throughout his life.
£6.99 -
Short Story Collection
Journey through humour and heartache in this eclectic collection of short fiction. From a miner’s grim reality to a dentist’s bungled procedure and a soldier confronting his enemy, these stories shine a raw light on the human experience. Feel the chilling isolation of ‘Behind Closed Doors I Hide’ and the bittersweet nostalgia of ‘It’s Never Too Late.’ With an array of voices and perspectives, author Pearl Marie Murdoch bears witness to hardship and hope, trauma and transcendence.
Whether tragic or comic, her brief tales leave an indelible imprint. Let Murdoch captivate you with her candid snapshots of life in all its messy glory. Candid, poignant, and peppered with regional dialect, this compilation offers a vibrant cross-section of characters. See familiar struggles through fresh eyes in this collection of provocative vignettes.
£6.99 -
A Book of Stories
In this captivating collection of short stories, Michael D. Stansbie takes readers on a thrilling journey across various genres and settings. From the dusty outback of Australia to the farthest reaches of the galaxy, these tales are woven together by the common threads of adventure, intrigue, and the indomitable human spirit.
Meet a diverse cast of characters as they navigate the challenges of their worlds: a lady school teacher who defies expectations in rural Queensland, a pirate queen seeking to reclaim her lost treasure, a bandit couple turning the tables on a greedy bank, a daring ship captain rescuing a damsel in distress, a young space traveller on a quest to save her parents’ legacy, and a mysterious woman exacting her own brand of justice on the highways of Australia. Through each story, Stansbie explores the depths of human nature, the bonds of friendship and love, and the eternal struggle between good and evil.
£6.99 -
Dead Serious Too
Would Stan’s eccentric, fun-loving disposition continue to be subdued by low self-esteem and personal insecurities?
A timid child who had grown into a slightly less troubled young man, Stan was approaching his nineteenth birthday with a pledge to continue the plan he had embarked upon nine years earlier. Signs of success were emerging. Happily, Stan believed his recent experiences in both his personal and working life were far less daunting and withdrawn than he had once imagined at the age of ten. He seemed to be on the cusp of nurturing a more confident demeanour, with the potential to enrich his life in myriad ways.
With perseverance, self-control, and the support of friends and family, Stan sensed his future could develop into something beyond his wildest dreams. His destiny, however, would be shaped by how he responded to the inevitable challenges along the bumpy road of his life. While he acknowledged that some unfortunate or distressing events might strike and later haunt him, his increased confidence gave him hope that such occurrences would be short-lived and interspersed with moments of humour and excitement. Ever the optimist, he dreamed of love and happiness and possibly even forming an affectionate relationship with a lifelong partner.
Illustrated through separate linked novellas, narratives of Stan’s late teenage years and early adult life can be read as one continuous novel or enjoyed as individual short stories.
£11.99 -
A Bigot's Guide to Salvation
Which would you deem the most contemptible sinner: a gluttonous guzzler, a lusty lecher, or maybe a hubristic artist? As the reader, the judgment lies with you alone.
Stride forth and unravel the timeless riddle of humanity’s repetitive transgressions in this collection of moral fables for modern times. The tales traverse the ages, yet remain ceaseless in their relevance. None can claim immunity from sin’s snare – all who live have fallen.
From the first bite that banished man from paradise to the perpetual flaws and falsehoods that yet shackle our noble potential, this canonical catalogue chronicles the salacious sins, devious vices and egoic traps which persist in beguiling even the best of us.
£9.99 -
Lessons from the Sidewalk
Lessons from the Sidewalk is a mesmerizing exploration into the extraordinary within the ordinary. Follow icons like Leonardo da Vinci, Winston Churchill, and Alfred Hitchcock as they stumble upon everyday objects. Each encounter, from Napoleon Bonaparte’s confrontation with a tube of toothpaste to Hamlet’s run-in with a feather, offers profound insights into the human condition and the universality of experience.
This collection is an unexpected journey through history, the icons themselves, and our shared experiences, inviting readers to discover the deep lessons embedded in life’s mundane detritus. Dive into a world where the discarded speaks volumes, and the trivial transforms into treasure. In doing so, uncover the hidden wisdom of ages past and present, seeing life’s minutiae through the discerning eyes of history’s most remarkable figures.
Don’t miss this chance to see history’s greats – and perhaps even yourself – in an entirely new light, redefining the way we perceive the world around us.
£10.99 -
Be Ruled by Me, and Other Stories
There is no single, unifying theme to the 22 stories in this collection. Many have an element of fantasy. Two stories involve the intrusion of a historical period (the Peasants’ Revolt, Jacobean England) into our present-day world; another features a wholly imaginary world. Sometimes the inspiration comes from folklore, such as a shapeshifting hare or pagan aspects of a harvest festival. In one story, the fantasy is based on a dream; another describes a frightening train journey. Memory is often important: people look back on their younger lives, trying to make sense of the past.
Structure is crucial in a short story. Some of these are narrated in a café, a pub or a club. The reaction of the listeners is significant. Sometimes, characters are reading an old journal, a series of letters, a recommended book or a poem set for homework. How do they respond?
Three stories may be categorised as flash fiction. They comprise only about 250 words each and are attempts to develop the possibilities of this format.
£9.99 -
Six Sherds
The six ‘sherds’ contained here – whether fragments of a novel, or short stories, or what you will – cover a good deal of ground, from a highly apocryphal tale of an errant young Jesus to a tattooist’s caper in Polynesia, stopping off in Renaissance Venice and England at the time of Queen Elizabeth I (with the Royal personage herself making a revealing appearance).
These disparate pieces are united by the eternal pursuits of love, desire and the quest for a higher power, all wrapped up in the author’s highly individual prose style, which contrives to be at once cynical and Olympian.
‘From the stables and pastures of Andrew Motion, the late Max Harris, David K. Wong, and Sid Stebel, comes the author, so shall ye read.’
– John Lawson£13.99