Jan Hurst-Nicholson

Jan Hurst-Nicholson

About

Jan Hurst-Nicholson has been reliably informed that website biographies are usually written in the third person, giving them the air of being penned by an authoritative third party (allowing the author carte-blanche to embellish without the restraints of false modesty).

Hurst-Nicholson is the author of several published books, both children’s and adult, and of numerous articles, humorous articles and short stories (some of which have won awards – modest cough and pause for applause), plus an occasional dip into poetry. While volunteering in a charity bookshop, customers often asked for ‘something to read on the plane,’ so she put together a compilation of her published stories and articles, added some other fun stuff and titled the book ‘Something to Read on the Plane.’ Three of the short stories are chapters adapted from her novel But Can You Drink The Water? which was a semi-finalist in the 2010 ABNA contest (top 50 out of 5000 entries).

Personal awards: Voted ‘humorist of the year’ by the immediate family, and ‘chuckle-maker of the day’ by a customer perusing “Something to Read on the Plane’ in a check-out queue.

Hurst-Nicholson was born in the UK but now lives in South Africa with a spouse, two  dogs that are forever on the wrong side of the door, three elderly cats, and the occasional visiting troop of boisterous vervet monkeys.

 

Murdo

Murdo

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<p>When Jessica Bryant pesters her wealthy parents to allow her to have a dog as a pet, the answer is a resounding &quot;No&quot;; but they soon come to regret their decision when thier home is broken into one evening whilst they are out and their daughter kidnapped and held for ransom. The kidnappers, in the form of four seedy and incompetent characters wearing Disneyland-type masks, take her hostage and keep her incarcerated in a place from which there appears to be no escape. However, they reckon without the resourcefulness of our heroine, and the courage of a wonderful stray dog who comes to her aid and whom she names 'Murdo'. And so begins an exciting and humurous accounting of the couples' adventures together as they consistently foil and outwit the abductors whilst on the run together.<br /> This is a lovely story of the friendship between a girl and a dog, bringing out themes of responsibility, camaraderie, redemption, salvation and self-sacrifice. It includes some wonderful dialogue sequences as Jessica teaches her new four-legged friend how to communicate with her, with additional delightful conversations between the animals when a rabbit and a sparrow join forces with them in an effort to outwit the kidnappers and restore Jessica safely back to her parents' home. </p>

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