About
I am a writer from Hull, in the North of England, living in Belgium.
I also help run a publishing company called Night Publishing (http://www.nightpublishing.com) which is dedicated to the cause that "all good books should be published", via its Night Reading (http://nightreading.ning.com) community.
I have currently written 10 novels and one business book, and edited one collection of short stories:
1. Blood & Marriage
2. Little Fingers
3. Girl On a Bar Stool
4. Shade+Shadows
5. Fishing, for Christians
6. The Ghoul Who Once
7. The Dance of the Pheasodile
8. The Blue Food Revolution
9. (Just like) El Cid's Bloomers
10. Mission
11. Marketers from Mars (brand marketing book)
12. .... at last! (short stories, editor and contributor)
My most popular books are 'Girl On A Bar Stool', 'The Dance of the Pheasodile' and 'Missio'. 'The Blue Food Revolution' gets love / hate reactions.
A King Under Siege: Book One of The Plantagenet Legacy
Description
<p>Richard II found himself under siege not once, but twice in his minority. Crowned king at age ten, he was only fourteen when the Peasants' Revolt terrorized London. But he proved himself every bit the Plantagenet successor, facing Wat Tyler and the rebels when all seemed lost. Alas, his triumph was short-lived, and for the next ten years he struggled to assert himself against his uncles and increasingly hostile nobles. Just like in the days of his great-grandfather Edward II, vengeful magnates strove to separate him from his friends and advisors, and even threatened to depose him if he refused to do their bidding. The Lords Appellant, as they came to be known, purged the royal household with the help of the Merciless Parliament. They murdered his closest allies, leaving the King alone and defenseless. He would never forget his humiliation at the hands of his subjects. Richard's inability to protect his adherents would haunt him for the rest of his life, and he vowed that next time, retribution would be his.</p>
Story Behind The Book
'Shade+Shadows' is based on a real charismatic healer - Jack Temple, who used to be the 'healer of last resort' in the UK until he died. If there was no hope for you, you went to Jack and he obtained extraordinary, even miraculous, results.
He also had bizarre methods - much more bizarre than those attributed to Alan Harding here. His main approach was divining but he also worked with concentric Hebrew texts and mineral water. What the hell, it worked. Apparently he looked remarkably like Yoda in Star Wars.
The other part of the story comes from my Amnesty International days and the way the secret police and the 'justice' system work in Saudi Arabia.
The idea that brings both elements together is that cancer is related to imbalance and despair in the body, and terrorism is related to imbalance and despair in the body politic.
Reviews
<p style="margin:0pt;" class="MsoNormal"><strong><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">Comment from Bob Ellal, author of 'By These Things Men Live':</span></strong><em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb"></span></em><em><span style="font-style:normal;font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb">Absolutely brilliant! I was captivated from the get-go, and the story intensified with every page. Gripping, with completely unexpected plot lines which culminated so neatly. As expected, the writing was flawless and I love how you used dialogue to propel the action. Amazing command of the English language, which you explore but never as an end in itself.</span></em><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10pt;" lang="en-gb" xml:lang="en-gb"></span></p>
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