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Philip Catshill
About
My first EBook Crime Thriller 'Who Else isThere?' features Mike Newman and his friends who tackle a growing band ofruthless killers, rapists and robbers. Oh yes, these bad guys are in thepolice! The tag line is, “If you can’t trust the police, who else is there?”
Amazon UK
Smashwords
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/76811
My Second novel in the Mike Newman series
Suffer Little Children
AmazonUK
AmazonUS
Smashwords
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/99143
This year, I reached the magic age of 60!
I looked back over the years and thought, hey! That was quick!
But that’s life.
If I was to balance the days of my life that I could say were happy, againstthose that were not, well, the balance would tip very quickly to the happyside. I have had 60 years of happiness marred only by a few months of sadnessand a couple of despair.
In fact, apart from those times when bereavement has waded in, I can honestlysay that I have lived 60 years in bliss, apart that is, for those few weekswhich signified the end of my first marriage.
The first twenty years of my life were full of adventure. As kids, we had agreat home and a mother that still makes us laugh, even 25 years after shedied.
The tragic loss of my 12 year old brother when I was ten, threw my childhoodfamily into turmoil. It was never the same again.
As a teenager I had countless adventures in the Army Cadet Force. Almost everyweekend and evening there was some activity going on. When I wasn't ACF'ing, Iwas projecting films in the fleapit (I saw Bonnie and Clyde twice or threetimes a day for weeks!) It was a great time and towards the end of my teens,the late 1960’s, life for almost everybody was at its best I think. Everythingwas an adventure. It was a great time to be alive.
I very nearly joined the Army and even once, attended for assessment for ahelicopter pilot in the navy but my ears had been damaged in childhood so Ifailed the balance tests. My third choice, the police, proved to be the best. Iwas once asked to describe my job in two words, 'A joke' I said, and it was. Itwas a laugh every single day bar one, and they paid me for it!
I married at 20 and parenthood followed after 18 months and, well, we areestranged now but for the next twenty years, I was a happy husband, family man,a dad to two lovely daughters who I called my princesses. A major stroke when Iwas thirty threatened my career but I beat it. I got back to work after 18months. A couple of years later, I was able to drive again and we bought acaravan in Wales. The end of the eighties was a wonderful time, especially withmy oldest daughter. We had a great time and great adventures. It's not everydad who takes his daughter off road driving!
But a younger man became embroiled with our family and those twenty years cameto an abrupt end. I don't think we will ever agree the reason but it ended withme having a breakdown and one regrettable act which cost me my wife, myprincesses, my in-law family, quite a few so-called friends, a home andeverything single thing I had ever treasured or possessed. Four minutes ofmadness ended it all.
At these times of sadness and despair, I turned to prayer, and thank God!Prayer works! Ok it wasn’t immediately but I persevered, I prayed and itworked.
The last twenty years, I can honestly say, my God given twenty years have beenas happy as any other in all of my life, indeed, now that I am free from theconstant rows, fault finding, and desperate need to struggle against illnessjust to keep my family in a home, it’s noticeably happier!
With my second marriage, I inherited two wonderful stepchildren of similar ageto my own children. I've seen them both married, have their own homes andprosper. Now it is the turn of my five grandchildren. (I have another, myyoungest natural daughter has a child but, well, my daughter, her mother won’tlet her see me and now, she calls that younger man Granddad. Hurtful, even cruel are the words that springto mind but hey, that’s not my choice but there you go, there is nothing I cando about it.)
But for everything I have lost, I have gained a thousand times over. My wife isfantastic, my home is beyond belief and life is just too wonderful to worry.
I have a wonderful, successful, prosperous life, full of family and friends. Ifmy family from that middle twenty years don't want to be involved, well as Isay, that is their choice and I think my present family will agree with this,their loss as well.
it.Since reaching my 60th birthday, I have decided to remember my previous marriage and the family that we shared, as the people they were then, in our happy times, rather than be acquainted with the people they seem to have become. I have so much love in my life there isn’t room for anything less.
I'm glad I don't harbour any ill feelings because I think hatred consumes you quicker and more effectively than cancer.
Life is for loving. We only have one crack at it and I am determined to enjoy every single minute of all that remains, and I can do that because when I was at my lowest and called out to God in despair, he was there!
Prayer works, prayer heals, try it, and persevere with it.
Life is wonderful. Live it. Enjoy it.
Learning to Breathe Fire: The Rise of CrossFit and the Primal Future of Fitness
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<p><b>The absorbing, definitive account of CrossFit's origins, its explosive grassroots growth, and its emergence as a global phenomenon.</b><br /> <br />One of the most illuminating books ever on a sports subculture, <i>Learning to Breathe Fire </i>combines vivid sports writing with a thoughtful meditation on what it means to be human. In the book, veteran journalist J.C. Herz explains the science of maximum effort, why the modern gym fails an obese society, and the psychic rewards of ending up on the floor feeling as though you're about to die. <br /> <br />The story traces CrossFit’s rise, from a single underground gym in Santa Cruz to its adoption as the workout of choice for elite special forces, firefighters and cops, to its popularity as the go-to fitness routine for regular Joes and Janes. Especially riveting is Herz’s description of The CrossFit Games, which begin as an informal throw-down on a California ranch and evolve into a televised global proving ground for the fittest men and women on Earth, as well as hundreds of thousands of lesser mortals. <br /> <br />In her portrayal of the sport's star athletes, its passionate coaches and its “chief armorer,” Rogue Fitness, Herz powerfully evokes the uniqueness of a fitness culture that cultivates primal fierceness in average people. And in the shared ordeal of an all-consuming workout, she unearths the ritual intensity that's been with us since humans invented sports, showing us how, on a deep level, we're all tribal hunters and first responders, waiting for the signal to go all-out. </p>