Not Exactly Friends

Ageing actor, Charlie Wallace is jolted back to a post-war past to find lost loves and friendships from his tough and brutal schooldays and a summer spent at Connaught Hall – whose consequences follow him today.  Protected by his schoolboy hero, Christopher Mountjoy, Charlie’s infatuation with Christopher’s sister, Isobel leads to the discovery that brother and sister have a darker side. Friendships can be fickle in a world of make-believe, where fact and fiction blur.

A passionate encounter with the girl has consequences too, when the actor is forced to abandon the stage. Past and present again collide and more events from long ago return with implications of their own. Can Charlie keep his memories safe and will he ever be reconciled to what took place at Connaught Hall that summer?

“Peter Fanning’s pleasure in language, literature and the theatre shines through this gentle, sometimes dramatic, story of growing up and falling in love in the 1940s. A sympathetic study of the agonies of self-discovery, it has romance, charm and a glorious English setting."

- Heather Neil, writer and critic, Literary Editor Times Educational Supplement.

Romeo & Julio & Friends

25-year-old Julio Clifford, a successful gay black British and South African designer returns to London, Britain, from abroad after seven years. He reunites with childhood friends and through them meets the charming, handsome and disconcertingly confident Romeo Moses. Romeo is a 29-year-old white British and Italian Architect/Model. Julio is the opposite of Romeo, he is gentle, sensible and warm-hearted.

Everything is perfect and sparks are flying but there is a problem. Romeo has a girlfriend, Julio’s older sister’s childhood friend, Poppy, who is also one of Julio’s oldest and dearest friends. Will Romeo act out his yearning for Julio? Will Julio betray his old friend in the name of love falling for Romeo’s charms?

Romeo likes how smart, independent and confident Julio is. He likes the soul within Julio. Julio likes Romeo’s charisma, assertiveness, strength, and how he cares for others.

But then, Julio’s emotionally abusive ex-husband, Hassan, arrives in town and begins to stalk him. Will it tear Julio and Romeo apart?

A story about love and friendship with many twists and turns showing Romeo and Julio’s lives unfold while they, with their friends, deal with the stress of living and working in 21^st century City of London. Romeo & Julio & Friends shows the people of multicultural Britain and their queer lives unfolding in the high-pressure modern-day world.

St Petersburg

Thalia Marguerite Titania Bobrov travels with her mother from their quiet home in Smolensk to the Capital of Russia, St Petersburg, to stay with her maternal grandmother who is the youngest sister of the Dowager Empress of Russia and mother to the Tsar. Thalia is to be presented at court and launched into the glittering society of Russian Aristocracy.

During her new life, Thalia meets and falls in love with Prince Nicholas Ivanov, cousin to the Tsar and her mother’s cousin. Set between the glittering society of the aristocracy and the harsh realities and cruelty leading to war and the Russian Revolution. 

Thalia learns new strengths as she passes between the rich and the poor. She trains with the Tsarina and two oldest daughters to become a nurse at Tsarskoye Selo which has partly been converted to a hospital for the injured Russian victims of war.

In her new life Thalia meets all the Royal family which she is related to, the famed Peter Karl Faberge, known for the famous Faberge Eggs, known worldwide, and the lecherous Father Gregory Rasputin, whose unwanted attentions Thalia has caught.

When the Tsar is forced to abdicate, and the royal family are kept under house arrest, Thalia and her family are forced to flee for their lives and make a home thousands of miles from their beloved homeland of Russia.

Take 2 in Tuscany

Thirty-something Sarah Carrington, is recently divorced and living back home with her flamboyant mother, Dotty. Having run an extremely successful business, alongside her now ex-husband, life has become rather boring. Annabel, Sarah's best friend persuades her to take on a position as a personal assistant to successful British film director, Steve Fountain. A notorious lothario.

Life on set in Tuscany is a million miles away from anything Sarah has ever done before, but she loves the mad world of filmmaking. Some unexpected attention comes her way in the shape of one of the film's major stars, Jake Edwards, which sets her pulse racing.

There are twists and turns along the way as Sarah's life is turned upside down. So hop on board the plane to Pisa for a summer of fun, where there is never a dull moment under a Tuscan sun.

The Good Life

Jimmy Cartwright, a young and handsome teenager, loses his virginity whilst on holiday in Spain. Chrissy Bennett is a young school girl who leads a normal uneventful life with her parents and two siblings. They meet briefly at school where Jimmy leaves a young impressionable Chrissy besotted before he suddenly disappears from her life.

Six years later fate intervenes to reconcile the young couple, but Chrissy can not foresee how this reunion would change her and her family's lives so dramatically, escalating into betrayal then murder.

The Lotus Petals

Is our fate predetermined or can we carve our own path in life? Fariba, the protagonist of this captivating novel, lives a carefree life, blissfully unaware of the changes happening around her and the impact of her own actions on the world.

But when a small event alters the course of her life, Fariba is forced to confront the idea that perhaps our destinies are not set in stone. As she navigates the unpredictable twists and turns of fate, she begins to question the very nature of existence and the role of free will in shaping our lives.

Tummy Bird

The robin is a bird that has psychological traits which are entirely its own. It has, at most seasons, absolute trust in man. It is the bird of the homestead, always ready to attend the garden worker, perch upon the handle of the spade the moment it is left or pick a worm from the ground.

Encourage the young generation to enjoy nature at its best, to explore their own “piece” of garden and to notice something new each day. Find out the creatures that inhabit this environment and appreciate their role; find out all the plants that grow and what they produce to aid the existence of man.

Feel happy and calm, and have fun as you work, rest and play in this amazing ecosystem.

What do the cousins, who enjoy each other’s company so much, find in Grandad’s shed?

Do they value and take care of their “find”?

From Ten Down To Three

In 1986, James collapses after a game of football at school. The cause is diagnosed as a tumour on the brain. Although treatment is successful, James will never be the footballer he was. The story of James continues on into his thirties as he falls in love, starts a family and becomes, in a modest way, a hero. In From Ten Down to Three George Roberts examines fate as events happen in James's life that leave him questioning whether things are meant to be or are simply coincidence. A phone call made in error lead to him finding love. A bang on the head reveals the presence of the tumour. Saving a young woman's life leads to an unexpected encounter. From Ten Down to Three is a delightful read full of wit and a dash of tragedy.

All I See Is You

Lennie Adams is a stage manager and aspiring director working in London’s West End. While employed on a dubious revival of Noël Coward’s nostalgic play Private Lives, she meets renowned classical actress Melanie Blaine. The beautiful woman is imprisoned in an unhappy marriage to a TV soap star.

Their mutual attraction leads to a tour romance. Back in London and struggling to maintain their affair, reality intervenes and a dramatic traffic accident triggers Melanie’s repressed guilt. She spirals into a breakdown.

Lennie wants to help Mel heal, if only she’ll allow it. Or will Melanie’s anguish overwhelm them both?

Join this stirring backstage drama of two creative spirits grappling to overcome ghosts from the past.

Out With Time

When Charles Dickens rescued Oliver Twist from the clutches of Victorian depravity, he created villains and victims to serve his purpose. Out With Time gives some of those maligned characters a chance to redeem themselves and tell their own story. To Dickens, Mr. Bumble was the pompous beadle of the workhouse and Oliver’s tormentor. Nancy, on the other hand, was Oliver’s protector, but Dickens sacrifices her to the evil machinations of Bill Sikes. In Out With Time we learn that Nancy is not simply a hapless victim but a fighter for what is right. Mr. Bumble, it must be conceded, does only what he can.

Together, Nancy and Bumble are an odd couple but also a formidable team. They strive to return a sense of civilization to the small Kentish town where Dickens started his tale. Even before Oliver makes his appearance, we see the couple wrestling with racism, sexism and even leading the way in a refugee crisis. In a curious resonance with the modern era, this story shows that the story of Mr. Bumble and Nancy is one that is not bound to a bygone age. Their destinies may be, in part, predetermined but Out With Time gives them the space to assert their own identities in defiance of any author.

Sacrifice

Hairdresser Phoebe Roberts has had a rough start in life after her parents were brutally murdered at a young age. Phoebe’s life went from bad to worse in a matter of days, her life shattering into a million pieces, however, her best friend Spring put her back together again. Living in London had its perks but the best perk of all was meeting the green-eyed sex god Lincoln Maguire, owner of Maguire Securities. A typical tall, dark and handsome feral male. Things progress fast, wrapped up in lust and love, electrifying the air around them until Phoebe bumps into the past that she thought she had left behind when she was a young girl.

The Journal

It is inevitable that sometimes change is needed in our lives. For good or for bad, we make decisions to leave behind all we’ve known, to start something new.

With all the pain that lay heavily and stubbornly within her heart and mind, a much welcomed and timely invitation from the only person she could trust and confide in, gave Beth the strength to make this big change in her life. She arrived in the charming village of Burnsall, deep in the heart of the Yorkshire dales, to begin a new chapter.

Leaving the city of her birth and everything she knew behind was a brave decision. With a determined mind, she embraces her new role as a teacher. All seems well, but her heart holds a painful secret and her diary is always in her mind. Its contents would affect her life’s journey, a journey which takes her to places that would open her mind to a whole new world…. But always hidden away is the diary and its dark secrets.