Transit to India

Changing times bring changing outlooks but even back in 1984, well before the plethora of today’s health and safety laws and risk-averse attitudes, an overland school trip to far-off India was considered somewhat extreme. And doubly so, given that travel through Iran was unavoidable despite Iran at the time suffering the upheavals of the Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamic Revolution and engagement in a bloody war with neighbouring country Iraq.

The idea behind this 10000-mile, eight-week journey was to present a ‘retired’ old school Ford Transit minibus to the charity ‘Lepra’ to aid its life-saving work among India’s rural poor. Ten pupils aged 12 to 16, accompanied by two teachers, made up the delivery crew, in so doing possibly making the longest school minibus trip ever undertaken. One of the boys travelling (aged 15 at the time) said recently: “Surviving all the adventures and hairy incidents, all I can say is that I set off as a boy and returned as a man.”

Whatever It Takes

In 1915, the world is in turmoil. A war, the likes of which has never been seen, involves much of the known world. An Englishman, John Norton Griffiths, proposes using miners to tunnel under the enemy lines and destroy them from below. Once his idea is accepted, other countries of the Empire decide to raise similar tunnelling companies. Canada, New Zealand and Australia provide companies of men, drawn from mining and trades backgrounds, to assist in the defeat of an aggressive enemy, intent on domination.

These men are asked to do the unthinkable, in less than satisfactory settings. They dig long tunnels and blow up hundreds of men at a time, whilst all the time, not knowing how close the enemy was to them, trying to do the same thing. For these men it was a war in the dark, a war of nerves. Some held, some did not.

We follow the life of one man through his wars, the one he is fighting without and the one he is fighting within, whilst at the same time, he falls in love, however improbable it may seem. We experience how the decisions of one person can continue to impact several generations after.

When the Knives Rattle in the Drawer

Ryan Tanner is an average family man battling alcohol and the demons from his childhood, while struggling as a husband and a father. Drowning in a life that often makes no sense, he turns to an insightful, no-nonsense psychologist as a last resort to try and save his volatile, but altogether beautiful marriage with his beloved wife Tess. Surrounded by Ryan’s drinking, memories of their traumatic childhoods and the gut-wrenching lows of married life, When the Knives Rattle in the Drawer is a cathartic recount about understanding the damage that life can cause and searching for the strength to be the best partner and parent possible.

Set in two different worlds, the story evolves between the couple’s small-town family life and wild, alcohol fuelled nights in the inner suburbs of Sydney. After meeting at 17 years old, they have been married for 23 years and play a simple game: 20 questions, ask anything you want. They explore every aspect of trust, love, fidelity and desire before they go to the club. A club where they enter a world of primal sexual energy, a world where wild things happen.

When ‘Will’ is More Than ‘Won’t’ - Your Journey Begins

I’ve always been a dreamer, wanting more from life than it was giving me, whilst still making the best of what it did.

I never thought in my darkest moments, or wildest dreams, that one day I would, with my partner of ten years David, find myself in a Land Rover we called Lizzybus driving around the world.

If I had imagined this, it would have been nothing like the reality of it, of blistering hot desserts, snow-covered mountains, civil wars, and uprisings, with our life depending on each other and Lizzybus.

From the very first moment I stepped foot on African soil, I wrote about the reality of living two feet from your other half 24 hours a day. The intimacy, hygiene, isolation, and loneliness, so far removed from my life to this point. But slowly, without even realizing it, it became part of me, and me it, seeing only the wonder, the joy, and the privilege.

An IT Contractor Life

This book is an excursus of Max’s career in both data and analytics, in general I.T., and the heavy metal underground of Italy in the mid-80s. This dichotomy has characterised Max’s adult life, which is highlighted in the book and everything Max does with his spare time. Sometime filled with sad moments, some hilarious stories and some great advice for I.T. professionals and metal heads alike, it’s mainly the story of a man like you and me who cannot say no to anybody and has a focus and resilience that only a few possess.

Kingdom of Wolves - The Journey

Kingdom of Wolves – The Journey is a true story of survival and the soul’s journey to freedom, reclamation, redemption, and wholeness of spirit. The author was a silent victim of domestic abuse that spanned a period of three decades, she was not only held captive by her abuser but also her own low self-esteem, fears, and insecurities. With this book she takes you on a journey through the psychological and emotional labyrinth of the minds of both the victim and the abuser simultaneously, giving the reader a unique insight into the perilous and malignant world of domestic abuse.   She demystifies any previously held misconceptions that are often attached to victims, by providing an intimate account of her personal experience with domestic abuse, her subsequent survival and how she overcame profound fears and great adversity in her quest to find her individual strength, purpose, and authenticity. The author also brings to light the necessary reformative processes that needed to occur in order for true rehabilitation and transformation to take place, clearing the path for her to achieve her ultimate goal of atonement and freedom.

The Gift - The 7 Laws of Success

Do you find yourself questioning why stress gets to you so easily? Why you constantly get angry and upset? Why things do not seem to go your way no matter how much effort you make? Do you feel that something is missing, and you cannot quite pinpoint what it is?We fall ill and resort to traditional medicine to get cures. By taking medicines and drugs, we are healed, but frequently the same illness returns. Medicine is just a short term fix to our problems in order to allow us to get back on our feet and back in action.Similarly, in life and in our constant search for happiness, we resort to short term ‘fixes'. We buy material things to make us feel better; we chase powerful cars, big houses and fall into the vicious cycle of lust, all for the sake of contentment and happiness that is nothing but temporary.Doing this satisfies the mind and brings joy for a while, until we feel down again and go in search of something else: a better car, a better house... even a better partner. We need to break this obsession by getting to the root of the problem. It takes time, but ‘THE GIFT' shows us a long term strategy to achieve lasting happiness, success and most importantly - peace. Using the 7 laws is like taking alternative medicine to cure our wounds in life, not just tackling the surface of the problem, but going right down to the core.Read this book, apply the laws. See with your own eyes where it takes you.

The Hop About

A man, an amputee, a dual amputee, wanders the West alone on half of a foot to discover what life has to offer. He takes off, running the only way he still knows how, in a car. A car procured from selling his prosthetic leg (the expensive one) on eBay.This true tale follows him on an adventure to angelic views in Zion National Park, to the top of the world in Death Valley, to mingling with the rainbow people, to pushing himself around in a wheelchair on the streets of Las Vegas, Nevada. The story turns back to how he found himself ‘hopping’ about and the drug addiction which caused it.While purposely estranged from his family, he learns mingling with others to accept differences and to resist judgement. Also, the deep importance of family. And most importantly that ‘we are not defined by our mistakes’.

Learning from Albi

Scruffy, deaf, and homeless, life on the streets is tough for young Albi. What could the future possibly hold for an abandoned Spanish Podenco puppy that has been hit by a car and can’t hear? Yet despite a traumatic start, Albi’s life changes when he is rescued, brought to the UK, and fostered by Lois Sinclair, founder of the rescue charity, Gracehounds, and a passionate dog lover who has shared her life and home with numerous canine companions. Before long, Lois and Albi’s lives become interwoven.

With Lois’s nursing background and Albi’s intuitive nature, the pair soon find themselves volunteering in the animal healthcare sector. Albi also develops a reputation as a transition dog, offering support to other dogs and their owners during times of loss.

But Albi is a free spirit. He also has health issues. And while his sensitive nature earns him many friends and admirers, there will be challenges ahead, including surgery. As Albi continues to enrich Lois’s life, questions remain. Albi may have found a forever home but can the love and hope which bind him and Lois sustain him? And does this unique animal have the strength to live the life that every dog deserves?

A Leadership Shift

Rooted in over 40 years of seasoned experience and rigorous scholarly research, A Leadership Shift beckons leaders towards a courageous transformation in organizational ethos. This pioneering narrative seamlessly translates intricate scholarly theories into a practical, proven implementation methodology, illuminated through a real-world case study. It’s the first of its kind, melding profound subjects like organizational oneness, quantum field linkage to leadership, the human biofield’s potency, and the ripple effects of thoughts and spiritual emotions in the workplace, into a comprehensible step-by-step methodology for leaders.

The discourse extends into gender diversity and the ramifications of women empowerment programs, converging multiple facets into a singular vista. While various scholars have shed light on the subjects broached in this book, its distinctiveness emanates from melding science with practical experience and morphing it into a tangible methodology to tackle genuine organizational challenges.

A Leadership Shift not only unveils the science of evolving a culture to attain organizational oneness but invites readers to perceive the human dynamo from a fresh lens and foster a leadership metamorphosis to unlock workplace potential. It demystifies the science and the method, making it accessible for leaders to adopt and apply sans complexity.

Offering a structured methodology to aid leaders in overhauling organizational culture and ingraining change capabilities within the system, this book elucidates the methodology, provides a meticulous depiction of its implementation, and the ensuing outcomes. Bolstered by over 160 scholarly citations, four decades of global know-how, and academic action research, A Leadership Shift demonstrates the profound impact of this methodology on organizational performance, fuelled by an enhanced sense of belonging within the organization.