Opposites

It is New York, 1932. Sarah and John would never have met if it wasn’t for their mutual acquaintance Margaret Wilson, who was killed in a hit and run accident. Or was she? John’s relationship with women, up until he met Sarah, had been cold and artificial. He has never been in love before and finds himself out of his depth. Also, he is not able to explain his life choices to Sarah, as it could put them both in danger, especially as he is not sure he can trust her.

John’s life is all about power and control and Sarah’s is all about peace and the spirit world. Visually they are a perfect match, but in everything else they are worlds apart. For John, Sarah is the woman of his dreams. For Sarah, John is a cold-blooded mob leader. Or so she thinks. She can’t make her mind up, since he is always a kind and generous gentleman with her.

Orvil: Trial and Error

Orvil sits alone in a diner to celebrate his 21^st birthday. He feels lonely and abandoned...his new girlfriend just dumped him and his mother recently died. He has no idea who his father is. He hates his first name, lives in a rundown trailer, had sacrificed his studies at City College to care for his ailing parent, and drives trucks just to scrape by. Totally lost since his mother’s death, his free time revolves around eating junk food and chugging beers in front of the tube. As he’s feeling sorry for himself, he perceives a gunman entering the diner and firing his AR-15 at everyone in sight. This experience forever changes Orvil’s life. Powerful and insightful, humourous and tragic, through trial and error, Orvil Smith’s story takes us on a tour of modern America from the rural to the urban, from the poor to the rich, and from the righteous to the corrupt.

Oteng's Poems: Files of Wisdom Dialogue

Oteng's Poems: Files of Wisdom Dialogue; a collection of poems penned in a vibrant notion of an intuitive poet in an intrinsic verse... Conspired to inspire every reader to find solace in all emotional moments and events - only poems can do.

These wise words of wisdom are a mirror to reflect and a chance to resonate to all the inner thoughts and feelings within, relating to general life ordeals and experiences as well as nature as a whole.

Othello and A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Cunningly, and little by little, Iago begins to undermine Othello’s faith in Desdemona’s fidelity whilst appearing to be reluctant to say anything at all…

“So, speak to me your feelings, the good as well as bad.”

“Oh my Lord,” replied Iago, “such an order makes me sad,

For although in acts of duty, in every way I’m bound,

As a man who’s free, I am not bound, to give my thinking sound.”

“Why, say my thoughts were vile and false…as thoughts can oft times be,

What if I were mistaken Sir, would you then take note of me?

Why then build a troubled mind, with what is vague…unsure?

It would not serve your interest so…do not press me, I implore.”

“My interest?” Othello asked, “What is it that you mean?” 

“I’ll explain Sir,” said Iago, “let me set for you…a scene.

Steal the purse of a man or woman, very little have they lost,

But, steal from them their good name…and they cannot count the cost.”

Other Man’s Grass

Relationships between couples can deteriorate over time.

After twenty-five years of neglect and selfishness by Paul, Rita finds herself driven by lust, excitement and the attention of an attractive man: her husband’s friend, David.

Paul is shocked and hurt by Rita’s desertion and he decides to take himself on an adventure by helping another friend deliver a yacht to Portugal. There, he meets two women who persuade him to join them on their yacht travelling to the Canary Islands. Therein, another adventure unfolds which both surprises and excites him.

Meanwhile, Rita and David’s relationship continues to flourish, until one day after work, Rita returns home to find David dead. During investigations, the detective inspector finds secrets of which Rita was not aware.

It turns out that David was attracted to Rita for much more than she ever realised.

Ottilie Rose, A Collection of Poems

This book is many things but firstly it is heartfelt. It is about a father, a human observing life in every way it presents, through his personal struggles and the struggles of the world. The many big questions posed are underlined by the hope that the world can be a better place for his young daughter for whom this book is titled and all the children of the world and the future. Many books will be written about this world, its challenges, and its complexities. Ottilie Rose attempts to wade through all that through poetry such that through the artistic exploration of the human condition we might discover something more beautiful about us.

Our Future Selves

Imagine waking up inside someone else’s body, and in a different century. What would you do? How would the new world around you react to you? This is what happens all the time to Zak Emblin, an editor from 21^st century Birmingham, UK, and Sarah Templeman, a prison service doctor from twenty second century New Palm Springs, USA, who are ‘reincarnaters’, connected across time by a shared soul.

Imagine you are a bright, young scientist, Carmen Fry, who stumbles across the truth behind reincarnation. All you need is a subject to prove your theory to the world, but you can’t find one. Until one day, when you are chatting online, you find Zak, and are immediately attracted to him.

This is the story of three people, caught in a love triangle, sharing a secret that no-one else will believe, that when we die we form a connection with a future self, who shares our reincarnated soul. A connection so strong that sometimes we can become that future person and they can become us. We can swap bodies across time.

Our Lost Boy

A tragic secret, a broken family, a lost boy – who was Edward, and what happened to him?

Life for Jen and her family, including 11 year old, autistic son Ned, hasn’t always been easy, but things are improving. Ned is thriving in the right school, and getting the support he needs to navigate his way through an alien and sometimes frightening world.

But Jen is troubled by something from her past. She’s haunted by a nightmare that has disturbed her since childhood, and she’s increasingly uneasy about her relationship with her cold, distant parents - what are they hiding from her?

‘Our Lost Boy’ follows Jen’s search for the truth, taking her back to her childhood home in Yorkshire where shocking memories are reawakened.

Jen and her mother, Maureen, have been pulled apart by a tragic secret, but when the truth is out can they mend their broken relationship? Can Jen forgive Maureen, and can Maureen forgive herself?

And what about Ned - can the 21^st century offer him, and others like him, the future that Edward was denied?

Our Man On Mars

Will they end up killing one another? That’s what concerns the authorities as much as the scientific and technical hurdles of sending folk to Mars. So they address the human issues, as they would in an army, by appointing a chaplain.

The Church of Scotland considers this post just right for Steve McKay, one of their more wayward recruits. Steve finds he is off to a parish more remote and barren than he had ever imagined. However, he discovers that the remoteness creates a heightened awareness of the meaning of life and they share some Earth-shattering revelations.

Deep thinker he may be, but Steve is no saint. He muddles through offering his brand of care and support, both in the chaplaincy and increasingly in the Mars Bar. A misdemeanour on his part finally leads to Life on Mars in a way unforeseen by the authorities.

Our Perfect Place

The story begins when David Ashby comes home on a weekend pass, he is a Captain in the Army. He finds his home bombed and his two children in the care of an ARP Warden at the side of the road. Shirley, his wife, arrives. She had been to meet the children from school due to the air raid. David takes his family to his parents’ farm in Dorset. The story is both happy and sad but they love their life in the village, a perfect place.

Out Among the Moondust

Forty years after the world’s four strongest nations banned all wars, fostered equality for all, and made major leaps in education and research, the Custodian of the World Ralph Rathbone looks at the gruesome picture appearing on his computer: the mutilated body of the chief geneticist at his laboratory in Rosamund, California.

Two years ago, when his father Jordan Rathbone’s planet hopper was lost in space, Ralph earned the title that his father held for many years, by winning all martial arts bouts. Now the four autocratic rulers, the Big Four, summon Ralph to come and solve this murder.

Ralph had heard the stories of the Big Four’s greed, self-interest, and disregard for the population. It was rumoured that they kept the population in a state of stupor with free drugs readily available: to make it easier to keep them in subjugation. Ralph realizes that he has to outwit these icons—no easy task as they are highly educated and held in deep respect by a large percentage of the population.

This is the story of one man with the interest of his people at heart, pitting himself against four multimillionaires who, for years, had been held in high esteem by the population.

Out Of 2020

2020 was different for all of us. It may have been difficult but if we look at it through a different lens and see how we can grow then it becomes a new experience – a way “Out of 2020.”

It is only when things become a challenge that we learn to grow and evolve. The last few years have become the start of a new revolution towards an experience we all need to achieve our purpose.