George (The Teenage Years)

This is an introduction of George to the masses. He is the representative of a whole lost generation (lost to the government and the British public) who have recently been in the news as the revelation of who they are comes out.

George tells the story of an 11-year-old Windrush boy who arrived in England from the island of Jamaica in 1965. The story is narrated in third-person and speaks of the boy’s first experience of being in a cold country, the absence of an introduction to his new family, the difficulties he faces as a new boy in a new school, the struggles to find his place, his resistance in conforming to stereotypical expectations and his fights to maintain the self-pride and independence he learnt from his early years in Jamaica.

As George progresses through the school and struggles to assimilate, he moves from being the outsider to become a cultural educator and a facilitator of his peers and brings together the different groups within his association. However, he has difficulty reconciling his family and church life with his secular associates. Through the boy’s eyes, the narrator depicts how it was at that time for the West Indian immigrant community in London and the group of unnoticed children whom they brought from the islands, how they mixed and associated with each other, their embryonic family and the indigenous population.

George and the Briton

Mark is a young British sailor who is deployed to Antioch in Syria as part of a delegation to brief the Emperor Diocletian on the liberation of Britain from a usurper. By coincidence, he meets the Tribune Constantine who introduces him to a fellow Roman Army officer, George. Mark can write in Latin so George appoints him as his clerk.

Mark is tasked to keep an account of the operations of the ‘special forces’ unit that George commands on the front line of the Eastern Roman Empire. He also keeps his own private diary and is required to provide Constantine, who is a member of Diocletian’s personal staff, with periodic accounts of operations.

As George achieves some extraordinary results and Diocletian manages to stabilise the Roman Empire following a generation of chaos and uncertainty, a new problem arises. Diocletian’s deputy, Caesar Galerius, starts seeing Christianity as a subversive religion. This becomes a challenge for George, his family, and some members of his unit.

This is the tale of Constantine and George, told through the eyes of a young soldier’s diary.

Ghost Tours of Hertfordshire and Essex

Ghosts are ubiquitous! This guide has 62 tours, which incorporate over 280 towns and villages, and more than 800 sites. Directions are given in each tour to enable the investigator to find the sites. Map references have been included using Ordnance Survey Maps, together with the map numbers, to enable the investigator to find the haunted sites. The purpose of the guide is to enable the enthusiast to seek and observe. There are notes of interest and history notes as the counties are awash with fascinating stories and legends. 

So decide which tour you are going to tackle first. You may wish to meet the phantom army at Thundridge Church ruins, the screaming woman in Water Lane, Bishop's Stortford, the Witchfinder General, Mathew Hopkins at Manningtree, or maybe the ghostly monks carrying a coffin at Belchamp Walter.

Ghostly Visions

A journey through the strange visions and visitations of characters: historical, contemporary and futuristic. The brief tales are written for easy reading and reach from ancient times to the imagined worlds of the future. Rather than horror stories, these experiences are unfolded as the strange and intriguing encounters of people who are visited by an unexpected presence, or who travel through unfamiliar landscapes both physical and mental. Many tales are set within historical worlds that may be remote but have some familiar features and some significance for our own times. The imagination of those engaged in these experiences are often stretched as they discover truths about themselves and their surroundings. Young people come of age as they witness unfamiliar occurrences and world-weary personalities find fresh meanings in the scenarios that they move through. Many of the stories explore the relevance of ancient myths to the truths that the characters find on their voyages of self-discovery.

Ginton Abbey

Set on a Friday in May, 1903…

Lord Dickie has a rather odd way of dressing for his early morning strolls around the Ginton Estate. Her Ladyship has a few secrets, and a member of staff is plotting to blackmail her. The Head Butler is the epitome of what a true English butler should be, but his love for her Ladyship goes unnoticed. The buxom maid is a bit too free with her services, whether it’s with staff, trade or the postman… until she falls in love. The dog-ugly cook has unusual nighttime activities and her lumpy gravy is blinding, literally! Will the blackmailer be successful? Will her Ladyship requite the butler’s affections? Is anyone safe from the cook’s lumpy gravy?

Hartsfield

Prepare to be captivated by the intriguing tale of Jane Clair, a woman harbouring a secret she dare not divulge to her enigmatic employer, John Ronald. In a desperate bid to preserve her job at Hartsfield, a place upon which her very livelihood depends, Jane must leave behind her cherished loved ones – Charlie, her childhood sweetheart, and her devoted grandfather – and venture into the enigmatic realm of Hartsfield. Little does she know that her life is about to undergo an unforeseen twist within the confines of this mysterious estate.

Haunted by the possibility of joining the ranks of the countless housemaids carelessly dismissed by John Ronald in the past, Jane must navigate her new role without prior experience in the world of housekeeping. Will John Ronald succumb to the allure of Jane’s beauty and captivating personality? Can she escape the fate that has befallen others who failed to meet his exacting standards?

Prepare for a journey brimming with friendship, love, and heartbreak as Jane’s path intertwines with the magical realm of true love. Delve into a world where secrets and desires collide, where the bonds of loyalty are tested, and where the ultimate power of love can transcend all obstacles.

Hatrack

In the time of Cromwell’s rule, young and out-of-work Navy navigator, Charles ‘Soap’ Karma is tricked into joining the cunning and oftentimes comedic crew of the Blunderbuss, a pirate ship captained by John Dunsworthy, set to sail from England to Cuba.

Along the voyage, he quickly makes friends, enemies and a few in between, as he experiences the true highs and lows, that come with the life of a pirate.

Heart ’n’ Mind

This poetry book is based on a journey of struggle and hurt. The hope is that the words in here take you through the life journey of Sammy and that the words help anyone who has been through similar times, if not the same. Her aim for this poetry book was to create awareness that no one is ever alone and that there is always someone out there who has suffered in the same way you have.

Yes, the poetry in here is based on loss and violence suffered and for Sammy, writing this book is her way of saying, ‘You don’t have to hurt and suffer in pain alone, write it down and turn it into help for others.’

Held

A love story spanning decades as two men not only fight the world for their love and its changes surrounding them but also one another while they battle the one thing that tears them apart.

At the tender age of fifteen, Matt and Justin instantly fall in love. While time grows and matures, so do they and their relationship. Years pass and are torn from one another as their lives take them in separate directions. The political and social constructs start to define their lives and the people who they become.

Can what we believe holds us, end up being our own destructive force, potentially being the one thing that destroys us, crumbling our lives?

Eventually, we all have to let go.

Hidden Words

‘Perspective of danger changes when reality floods through the dark. 

It takes wild events of immense forbidden love for Christopher to realise he’s been living life all wrong.

Christopher has to make serious changes in order to become the person he’s always wanted to be. 

Unfortunately, his biggest enemy is always close in his mind.’

Highland Heritage

Helen Glenkerry shook her hair back, scooping it up into a ponytail and fastening it with a lace from her sandal lying on the bank. The water in the burn was icy cold and crystal clear. Rolling her white cotton trouser legs up, she pushed some pebbles along the sandy bottom with her toes as the grasses caressed her feet. Closing her eyes and breathing the cool clear air deeply, she knew she would love living here.

The horse stood like a statue as James Mcklinross watched the girl. What was she doing here and where had she come from? There was danger here; she would have to go. He walked his horse to the edge of the burn. As she turned and saw him, he blinked; he thought she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. His voice sounded stern: ‘Where do you think you are going and where have you come from? Don’t you know you are trespassing?’

Holes in the Ground: War and Ore

When Thomas Longois Lefoy is sent to Tangiers to investigate a German plot involving Moroccan phosphates, he uncovers a sinister Soviet Union involvement in the Asturias miners’ strike of 1934 and its unforeseen consequences for Andoni Arriola, a Basque metallurgist. As he delves deeper into the case, he finds himself caught in a web of intrigue involving the Spanish Civil War, the injury and death of British intelligence agents, and the protection of Britain’s interests in the iron and copper mining industries. As he travels from Tangiers to Gibraltar, Huelva, and Bilbao, he witnesses the devastating effects of civil war and the destruction of open-cast mining. Along the way, he encounters Heinrich Rathenau, a German industrial chemist seeking refuge, and becomes embroiled in a dangerous game of espionage and political maneuvering that reveals the high stakes of international trade and the human cost of war.