Ladybirds - Tales on the Wing

As a youngster I loved getting, and subsequently owning, a brand new ‘Ladybird’ book. I especially liked the smell of the pristine pages as I turned them for the very first time. There was an aroma to their ‘inks’ that was distinctly ‘Ladybird’. What a joy! What a childhood memory!

These new tales came into being from the front covers of specific ‘Ladybird’ books, so to them I am clearly indebted. I just let my imagination do the rest once the seed was sown. They are both weird and wonderful, and abound with fact and fiction, truth and lies, deceit and lust. Very unlike the little books themselves, and if you take the trouble you will surely see what I mean. 

Last Keeper's Lighthouse Stories

The very nature of lighthouses captures the imagination. Being marooned on different lighthouses throughout my career has produced many memorable incidents and humorous stories. Diverse locations like Lundy, Alderney, Wolf, Sark, all have something unique to offer. Rock tower lighthouses, land lights or island lighthouses, each one is different. Cooped up on a tower and being pounded by heavy seas is not only exhilarating, but frightening as well. Fog signals can play a huge part in a good duty period and the relief for going ashore is always welcomed. The characters are what makes this book such a good read. It gets your chuckle chops in overdrive, especially at some of the antics on the lights. A month’s duty is filled with incidents and the constant change in weather conditions has an effect on everything that you do. These stories will show how hardship goes hand in glove with humour whilst aboard.

Laura's Year

In January 1976, it is an excited, but nervous family of four who board a Jumbo jet, to leave England to begin a new life in a small town, on the Persian Gulf in Iran.

Adrian, an ex-Royal Naval Officer, thought this new job in Iran would be a chance to earn big money, and although neither parent had wanted to disrupt their children’s education, they thought it was worth the risk, giving them both valuable life experiences, and a chance to see ‘something of the world.’

Once settled in their new home, with the children happily enrolled in an excellent international school, they immediately made friends with like-minded ex-pats, and got involved in an active and well-established social scene, with parties and functions most weekends, and daily trips to their ‘club’ in town, which housed a bar, and swimming pool.

Caroline and Alex, having made friends at school, as well as with some local children, who lived in mud huts, in the desert at the end of their road, also seemed happy with their lot, but Laura becomes pregnant, which threatens to disrupt their idyllic lives, and events that followed, appear to have changed Laura’s, once devoted and loving husband’s feelings towards her.

But, had Laura changed? And that was why her previously, caring husband didn’t fancy her anymore.

How was she to get their relationship back on track, when there were so many exciting distractions and choices which held his attention, which didn’t include her?

Leaving Behind

All his life, Malcolm Tutt wanted to be found. Now on the eve of turning fifty, he realised that sometimes life may never find you and if you wanted it bad enough, sometimes you would have to go and look for it yourself. The only problem was that he would have to die, if he wanted to live.

A young woman finds out that her husband is having an affair with her best friend. She decides to confront him, but before she does, she hatches a plan to catch them in the act of betrayal. As she gets closer and closer to discovering the truth about her husband, her anger towards them grows. Like a cheap paperback novel, her life begins to unravel until one night she commits a terrible act, and in the process, finds out what a scorned woman is truly capable of.

Leaving Behind is a collection of short stories that explores the lengths that people will go to when they are desperate, each with an unexpected twist.

Legend of the Opal Dragon

A rollicking Outback adventure set in the desert region of South Australia, where illicit Asian opal buyers enlist a couple of bushies from Coober Pedy to find the cave of the mythical Opal Dragon in the Flinders Ranges. A series of events keeps checking their progress on the way, what with camel races, black trackers and two crafty prospectors stopping their headway. Kate, a worker at the local pub, is abducted by the Asians, in an effort to force the two prospectors to reveal the cave of the opalised skeleton of the Australian dragon, Megalania priscus. The local tribal people were right on their tail and stealthily intervened to rescue Kate and spirit her away during the night. The tough Outback Police, a Flying Padre and Army reinforcements were right on the trail of the mobsters, who fell foul of the difficult conditions of the Outback, which caused their downfall. Possibly the spirit of old Arkaroo, the maker of the waterways of the Ranges, intervened to stop the finding of the dragon. As well, a rugged camel catching team saves an injured small dog, Kate learns to ride a camel well for the next races and one of the Coober Pedy protagonists, Chook, and his big dog Bitzer, deals with the knife-wielding crim in a most unusual way. Laconic Aussie humour, like the flies, pervades the story, with the opal dragon having the last laugh.

Letters to Doberitz

This unique and compelling story has laid dormant for a 100 years. Inspired by real events and based on my own family during the First World War, Letters to Doberitz is set between a German prison-of-war camp, the battlefields of France and family back in Bristol, as father and son endure very different wars. These were real people. They are my ancestors and family who left an extraordinary tale to be told. A lie is made in the name of love, with letters written compounding the deceit for years, all to protect the man that they loved. This is their truly unique story.

Lieutenant: Tales from the Super Continent

In the far-flung future, humanity has regressed to an endless warring period. Skill with a forged weapon is king now. Jesse was born on the streets but has always dreamed of becoming a warrior himself. Maybe even a lieutenant? But in this world of endless warfare can anyone take control of the whole continent?

Life On A Page

Step into the mind through others’ eyes, and feel what they feel for a moment.

Step in the shoes of a lonely person, isolated from everyone and read their thoughts.

Imagine if you could see through the eyes of another, but the person was never able to tell you how they feel?

Embrace love, happiness and sadness all at once, and come out the end with a fresh perspective on life!

Life Stories: the Odd Bits

People say, “When life deals you lemons, make lemonade” as if they knew the recipe and of course could lay hands on the other ingredients. The people between the covers of this book tried to follow the initial advice, and this is the result: not exactly lemonade, not exactly soup, not exactly toxic but more or less what you might expect if you tried making lemonade from substitute ingredients such as cabbage stalks, bacon rind, honey, brewer’s yeast and fermented socks.

PLEASE NOTE: this is not an approved recipe. You can try it in the safety of your own home, but the author takes no responsibility for the results, he can make an educated guess...

Life Through Poetry

Life through Poetry is a selection of poems that look at life through the lens of an author who has experienced a lot throughout the years.
Just as seasons come and go, these poems reflect moments in time: some funny, others sad; some justifiably angry, others thought-provoking. All show a deep understanding and sympathy for those whose lives have been marked by misfortune.
These poems will take you through a life lived and make you question the world around you. Some poems will resonate with the reader; others will bring a new perspective on topics that the reader has not experienced.
Either way, Life through Poetry is a book that adults can read and enjoy as well as reflect on. While not everyone has had the same experiences in life, we all have lived; and this book is a celebration of that.

Light Behind the Shadows

Light Behind the Shadows is a collection of poems that will touch most people who read them, for they deal with many aspects of life as we know it. Each poem is well-made and imaginative but not hard to read. Susan Skinner is not afraid to face many difficult subjects and fundamental thoughts that face us all. There is often a sense of hope and light in many of these poems that will possibly give people courage in their own experiences. These poems each have their own individual rhythm that suits the theme they are dealing with. Susan has always been convinced that there should be music and rhythm in poetry because those two attributes have made us mentally dance ever since we were taught nursery rhymes and responded to them unselfconsciously when we were very little. Poetry is for enjoyment and those quiet moments in a busy life.

Lightning Nerve

Fourteen years ago, Zara Bolt lost her parents. She lost her sister. She lost everything.

The McGillycuddy Academy for the Kings and Queens of Nature is not just any school…

It’s like any other year at the academy for Zara and her friends: midnight parties, breaking the rules, fights in the hallways, the usual.

But the new teacher is anything but ordinary. And the closer she looks, the more her family’s past begins to haunt her.

Zara Bolt must not get distracted. And falling for the new guy is certainly a distraction. But how can Zara keep focused if her heart is finally opening up after 14 years? Her world is falling down around her, but will she get caught in the backfire?