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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 Happily, Stan believed his recent experiences in both his personal and working life were far less daunting and withdrawn than he had once imagined at the age of ten.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.
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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.
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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 -
A Visitation and Other Stories
A short story or two with a cup of tea is an ideal way to relax and escape from the cares of the world. None of the stories in this book are overlong, and all make for easy reading. The subjects are varied, ranging from ghost stories to little slices of life, with at least one drawn from the author’s own experience. He hopes the reader derives as much pleasure from reading them as he did from writing them.
£9.99