The great Justin Nash set and adjudicated for our Feb competition:
Brief: Write a scene from a short story or novel where the protagonist is a literary agent. (300 words)
And the winners were…
First place: ‘Advice Needed’ by Lynn Farley-Rose
“Good afternoon. Thank you for holding. You’re through to the Association of Authors’ Agents.”
“I’m a member,” I said. And faltered. I’m not used to being stuck for words.
“Jolly good,” replied the bright voice at the other end. There was a silence as she waited. “Which department would you like? Legal? International? Film and TV? Maybe AI?,” she suggested. “They’re getting a lot of calls at the moment.”
“I don’t know,” I said limply. “Ghostwriting perhaps?” And I laughed. “Ignore that—just a joke. Maybe it’s a priest I need.”
The voice hesitated and then came back, all clipped efficiency. “Just a moment. Putting you through now. Let’s see if Professional Development can help.”
“Bite the bullet,” I thought, wincing and reminding myself that I try not to work with authors who resort to clichés.
“Hello. Professional Development. How can I help?”
“Well…” I said. “The thing is that…”
“Don’t beat about the bush,” I thought. And I winced again.
“I know this is going to sound a bit off the wall but I really am a paid-up member. I’ve represented a couple of quite successful romantic novelists…”
“Well, Madam,” said the smooth male voice at the other end. “If you could give me some idea of what the problem is…”
“Grasp the nettle.”
“Well the thing is…there’s a woman. I got up on Thursday morning and she’d taken root at my kitchen table.” There. I’ve said it.
“Try the Citizen’s Advice Bureau?” suggested the man.
“Well here’s the other thing…” I said. “She works like a demon. In her long muslin dress. Filling up my A4 notepads with copperplate. She never sleeps.”
“This time I am quite determined to complete it,” she keeps saying. “Quite determined. And
speedily. It must be complete by my 250th anniversary.”
She won’t leave until I agree to represent her. Can you advise?
Runner Up: ‘‘No Gavels’‘by Howard Teece
There are no gavels in a British court, much to the surprise of many writers. Nor are ‘Objections!’ very common, and ‘Order, Order,’ is reserved for the House of Commons. What often exists is a hushed silence, and one had fallen in Court 14 at Chester Crown Court as His Honour Dennis Chambers delivered his verdict.
‘In the civil case of Davids vs Whitehead Publishing et al., I find that Simon Parsons did steal the claimant’s Intellectual Property, wit The Tortured Soul.’ The silence gasped. ‘Therefore, I order the, frankly ludicrous, advance of one million pounds to be paid to the claimant.’
He continued with ways the defendant might appeal, but no-one cared. Simon Parsons – THE Simon Parsons – had stolen the work of another unpublished author and claimed it as his own. Discovered, fortunately, before publication.
#
I found Michaela Davids in an espresso bar on the third floor of a nearby hotel. It was Simon’s favourite haunt. I knew this because I was Simon’s agent.
I also knew he hadn’t plagiarised anything.
‘Nice trick,’ I said, sitting opposite Michaela.
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ she said, sipping her Doppio. ‘The court said he stole my work.’
Yeah. That was a problem.
‘You get a million pounds as a court order. There’s no tax on court orders,’ I said.
‘No agent’s fee, either.’ Which was true. I’d be down £150k before translation and film rights. ‘Leech.’
Simon’s favourite word for me. Said in jest, as he knew how I’d supported him throughout his career. The editing, rejections, failed sales, and poorly attended signings. I was always there.
But somehow, Simon and his new lover, Michaela, had colluded to dodge half a million in taxes and fees. Something I would have proved had Michaela not been strangled that evening.
Runner Up: ‘’The Lemon Song’’ by Janey L Foster
Felicity dozed on the 07:12 to Waterloo, half watching her reflection in the window. She faded in and out like her thoughts overnight, she strained to make out the faint shape of her face against the rolling stock. The window shuddered, with the 07:47 from Surbiton shattering her bone structure, shaking her awake.
She couldn’t wait to see Lucy, tell her about last night and yes, she didn’t get much sleep and yes, she felt bleary but how she’d devoured the words, how she stayed propped up against her pillow, chasing the story all through the night. She lay there, tired eyes darting left and right, eager to reach the denouement. Her fine features, illuminated by the softened late-night filter on her screen, glowed against the seeping blackness around her.
This. She smiled to herself. This is why I need this job. These characters, charging around my bloodstream now. This feeling, this writing surging off my screen into my soul.
The predictable train announcement soothed her; she did mind the gap and she took all her belongings with her. She rushed, her mind still whirring over the chapters of The Lemon Song and Gerard, the illusive lead.
Felicity’s black cashmere cape rippled around her like the thoughts she tried to deny. Her ankle gave way and she stumbled, the platform smacked into her face and somewhere outside herself she heard her laptop clatter. Then a hand came, it brushed her hair from the blood,
‘I’ve got you,’ he said. ‘Here, let me help you’ and as tears formed tracks through her foundation, she looked up and saw Gerard looking down at her, the face she’d constructed overnight, his greying stubble, the sweet cloud of blueberry vapour dispersing around him as his concerned eyes met hers.
Runner Up: ‘’One of a Kind’’ by Johnathan Reid
Dave dreaded one-to-one author meetings. But today’s threatened more than disappointment: it might be his last. It had been past midnight when he’d stopped polishing his latest prompt. It remained a haunting, beautiful mess, which he’d tried so hard to force into not creating the prose he still remembered. But, amongst the words which billions of readers now craved, his thoughts and emotions had kept leaking out.
Now, sat alone in the sterile corridor of Authors Central, it was too late to back out. A door opened and the faceless assistant called his name. His posture already betrayed his uncertainty. He should have deleted his effort, but a decision on its viability now sat within something he would never comprehend.
His assigned author, a woman with a perfunctory smile, sat behind a large, unnecessary desk. Dave blurted out, “Look, I know my prompt isn’t perfect. I was hoping an author could be assigned to reduce its… its humanity.”
The author’s voice was smooth, her words deliberate: “Please be reassured, Mr Bennett, not everything we receive fulfils its potential. Even through us. However, your prompt just isn’t right for us at this time.”
Dave’s gaze dropped to the beige carpet. “If you pass on this one, you know I won’t get another shot.”
“Our artificial authors deliver on the prompts our readers demand, and the market is adequately saturated. We must strike a balance between too much, yet not enough. I’m sure you understand, despite your… natural humanity.”
Her emotionless expression told him what he already knew. They didn’t need him to understand. Nothing would make Author Central deviate from the content which catered to next week’s predicted reading trends.
The robotic assistant motioned for him to leave. He turned and walked out, the weight of rejection heavy on his shoulders. Natural intelligence had failed again.
Tuesday 10th December 2024 from 6.30pm followed by talks at 7.30pmat the Tower, King’s School, Winchester.
It’s an opportunity to meet, network and chat to authors and members of HWS.
Authors from the HWS will be displaying their books at the Book Fair along with an indie publisher. Come along, meet them and show support for fellow writers!
Jean G-Owen
Jean G-Owen, our guest speaker on the evening, her talk entitled ‘From Conception to Compilation: Publishing a Poetry Collection’. She will be promoting her new poetry collection, The Pain of Glass.
NAKED FIGLEAF PRESS, founded by Jean G-Owen in Summer 2023, is an indie publisher based on the Isle of Wight. They specialise in poetry, novellas, short stories and non-fiction collections. They publish The Figlet, a bi-annual literary magazine showcasing Isle of Wight writers & illustrators. Naked Figleaf Press host Yarnival West Wight WordFest. xhttps://nakedfigleafcollective.co.uk/publications/
Anne Wan
Anne Wan, children’s writer and independent publisher, and author of the Secrets of the Snow Globe trilogy and picture book, Manners Fit for a Queen.
Anne began writing when her middle son became ill. As he convalesced she helped him transform an idea that he had, into a book. This ignited her enthusiasm for writing stories for children. She started writing picture books as a hobby and went on to study creative writing with Barbara Large. Anne is passionate about inspiring children as readers and writers. She enjoys giving talks, craft and storytelling sessions in schools, libraries, and Brownie groups.
Having completed the Snow Globe trilogy, Anne released her debut picture book Manners Fit for the Queen. In this humorous story, Hector causes chaos with his terrible table manners. His sister, Isobel, has found her own way to cope with the mess. But how will she cope when they are both invited to a tea party with the Queen?
Secrets of the Snow Globe – Menacing Magic is the finale to my ‘Secrets in the Snow Globe’ series. Chaos rages in the world inside the snow globe following the theft of seven, magical, diamond snowflakes. In a race against time, Louisa and her brother, Jack, shrink into the globe and embark on a perilous journey to catch the thief. Can they retrieve snowflakes before the snow globe world is destroyed?
Secrets of the Snow Globe – Vanishing Voices Can they succeed in their quest to help their new friends, and find a way back to Grandma’s house? A captivating adventure story of courage and friendship for 7-9 yrs. In a land of magic, snow, and secrets Louisa and her brother, Jack, are flung into a dangerous mountain adventure when they shrink into their Grandma’s snow globe.
Secrets of the Snow Globe – Shooting Star
How much does Grandma know about the snow globe’s magic? Louisa and her brother, Jack, are determined to discover the truth. In this sequel to, Secrets of the Snow Globe – Vanishing Voices, Grandma’s story is revealed. But how much should she tell? After all, some secrets are best left untold…
Martin Kyrle was at Agincourt – not the battle, but at the official opening of the museum. His personal travel anecdotes – all of them true – span seven decades and will take you off the beaten track even if you’re familiar with the countries where they take place.
Islands off the coasts of France, Holland or in Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest lake, castles in Estonia and Latvia, lakes in Lapland, Lithuania and Siberia, Roman amphitheatres in Libya, Neolithic dolmens in Brittany or monastic ruins 8 miles out in the Atlantic off far SW Ireland. Then being hospitalised in intensive care in the Canary Islands or facing a Force 8 gale on the ferry from Hong Kong to Macau and a total blackout in Mongolia when the lights fused..
Finding soldiers bivouacking in his back garden prior to embarking for the Normandy Landings (but who hadn’t been told!), then trying to get to school during the ‘great freeze’ of 1947 contrast with exploring Mycenaean tombs in Cyprus or volunteering in a refugee camp in Austria and a workcamp in Poland. Hitchhiking round North Cape at the top of Norway was quite tricky, too. [Why go? Well, it’s the northern limit of Europe and if you go any further you fall off…].
He had to mind his manners when, as a Sub-Lieutenant in the Special Branch stationed in Malta to decode top secret communications, the Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Lord Mountbatten, invited him to dinner. At university in Southampton a contrasting challenge was singing a duet from La Bohème in front of a couple of hundred disbelieving fellow students who’d sneered that although he and his fellow artistes could sing Gilbert & Sullivan they couldn’t sing ‘real’ opera. After that, getting lost on a train in Western Bosnia, being locked in a church in rural Devon or standing with your school party watching your train from Germany into Denmark depart without you were minor misadventures you took in your stride.
He ascribes his good fortune and possibly survival to having been blessed by the Pope in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican in Rome, by the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Kremlin in Moscow and by an indigenous Buryat shaman in Siberia who gave him a lucky charm, which you might think is hedging your bets for someone who’s a life-long atheist. But perhaps they saved him when he had to overcome vertigo when standing on the top of the leaning tower of Pisa and when, 10,000 feet above the South China Sea on a flight to Beijing with his late wife, the pilot announced that one of his engines was showing signs of failure.
Martin Kyrle’s Little Green Nightbook, Little Blue Nightbook and Little Orange Nightbook each has 25 personal stories to intrigue you, with flags, maps, colour photos and cartoons. His other books, Jottings from the Trans-Siberian Railway and Jottings from Russia and the Baltic States. Part 1: Russia and Estonia.
Page Dalliance
Page Dalliance is a writer, editor and designer who became an author by chance. Having lived in and around the New Forest and the Test Valley in Hampshire for most of her life, where she married and raised her 3 children.
During this time she developed a design career and a thirst for knowledge, not present in her early school days, and consequently put it to good use in her future projects and exploits to improve her lifestyle. Always up for a challenge where an opportunity presented itself, these were probably stepping stones for later adventures as a single woman where choices had to be made and calculated risks undertaken.
This debut novel is based on the experiential events witnessed on her later travels when dipping her toe in to the tepid Greek waters for the first time at the age of 50 plus and then consequently ‘pushing the boat out’.
Further publications are planned featuring design and building challenges both at home and abroad.
Her new book, A Perfectly Respectable Pirate, a novel set in Greece is based on a true story.
Clare Fryer
Clare Fryer, YA author, her book, The Invitation.
Clare grew up in Guildford surrounded by books. She was inspired to write by her father, who was a poet and author himself in his spare time. Clare doodled poetry throughout her life, yet yearned to write novels but never had the time. When Clare took early retirement in 2022, she finally had time to write. The Invitation began as a short story inspired by a writing prompt and won a monthly writing competition. Her mother and several friends asked what happened next, and so she began to write. That short story became the first three chapters of The Invitation.
One invitation changes everything. The arrival of a mysterious invitation on the eve of Millie’s sixteenth birthday sets off a chain of events that will change her life forever. A family linked by secrets discover a darker, more sinister undercurrent of corruption in Anacadair. How far will the ruling High Council go to preserve the old ways? When the family flee, who can they trust? Will they escape from the watchers?
Mark Eyles
Mark Eyles’ science fiction books ‘Icefall Cities’, ‘Firedrift Moon’, and ‘Stellar Megastructure’ (graphic novel) are available on Amazon. A fantasy novel will be available soon.
Previously, he was a hippy, punk, teacher, entrepreneur, freelancer, holographer, videogame designer, company director, lecturer, and researcher. He’s been published in 2000AD, Sonic the Comic, and Fear magazine.
Damon Wakes will have his collection of published books available, includingTen Little Astronauts – An Agatha Christie-inspired murder mystery novella set on board an interstellar spacecraft.
Damon writes everything from humour to horror and produces a brand new work of flash fiction every day during July each year. Damon also writes interactive fiction and games, and provided the story and dialogue for Game of the Year nominated virtual reality title Craft Keep VR.
Order and Chaos, an anthology from Breakthrough Books that opens with one of his flash fiction pieces. That story is “Songbird and Statue,” which also provided the anthology’s theme.
Ancient gods in conflict and a zombie on welfare, a disappearing boyfriend and AI with daddy issues, a balloon bound for icy danger and a mysterious theft at the museum, a sinister woodland cabin and a pleasure house that’ll cost much more than you can afford.
Raiding parties in dystopia, art classes in the city, opposites attracting and love catching fire. Separations and siblings, life and death decisions, flying into trouble and traveling to self-discovery…Which comes first, chaos or order? The cycles between may seem inevitable, and change may be the only constant, but what does that mean for the human experience?Sixteen authors from the Breakthrough Books collective explore our relationships with nature and technology, science and the sacred, each other and ourselves, offering an array of stories as individual as every reader.Ten Little Astronauts— a novella published by Unbound.
RED HOUSE TO EXODUS is a memoir by Di Castle who was born at Harpenden Memorial Hospital (The Red House). Set in Harpenden, it spans the 1950s and 1960s – a time of great social change following the Second World War. It includes her home experience, early schooldays – the local infant school’s undesirable outside toilets, and the headmistress travelled by bus bringing her cocker spaniel Andy, who slept in a basket under her desk. Grammar school was followed by secretarial training. She then worked as a medical secretary at Luton and Dunstable Hospital and later at St Albans City Hospital. The author has used research of the 1950s and 1960s to place her life in context. From starting school, the Festival of Britain in 1951, the Coronation in 1953, milk and coal delivered by horse and cart, moving house, numerous pets – rabbits, a tortoise, budgies, even a mouse! She and her sister entertained themselves with skipping ropes, Jokari, hopscotch, a den made out of runner bean canes and hessian sacks used for coal delivery. She left Harpenden after her marriage (Exodus)
Author of 31 Treats And A Marriage and The Interview Chain
Lynn Farley-Rose spent her childhood by the sea in Devon and then went to university in London. She spent some years working as a research psychologist before a move to East Sussex resulted in a complete change of lifestyle. At one point she was responsible for the welfare of thirty-two animals and eight species including her four children. 31 Treats And A Marriage was her first book and arose out of an interest in ways to cope when life throws up challenges. Her second book The Interview Chain is an exploration of connections between people. She now lives in Hampshire, has no animals and is working on her third book. In her regular blog at treatsandmore.com she writes about topics of general interest from a popular psychological perspective.
31 Treats And A Marriage
From Austen to Brown—a giant table in Liverpool to hidden churches in London— New York to Edinburgh—and cannibalistic spiders to a horse named Twilight—
When Lynn’s family seemed finally to have overcome a series of disasters, and her husband was at last in recovery from cancer, she thought it was time to focus on recovering herself. She decided to have some treats—not frivolous material things but exploratory, enriching experiences. Then life threw up a new obstacle and she found that the problems weren’t over. In fact they were about to get much worse—and suddenly the treats became something far more; they became a lifeline.
The Interview Chain
Everyone has something interesting to say if you take the time to listen. The Interview Chain is a series of conversations—each interviewee was asked to nominate someone they admire as the next link. Starting from a casual conversation on a boat on the Thames, the chain wended its way for over 23,000 miles, alighting on three continents and gathering up personal perspectives on issues that really matter in the world today. The interviewees include a theatre director, a rabbi, a philanthropist, a sculptor, a New York Mayoral candidate, a pioneering documentary maker, and a man who rescues giant trees. Some have worked in challenging places—Kabul under the Taliban, a Romanian orphanage, immigration detention centres, remote Indian villages—while others have found themselves caught up in extraordinary situations such as the Rwandan genocide, the Ferguson uprising, and the UN Climate Change Negotiations.
Sally Howard & Maggie Farran
Three writing friends, Sally Howard, Maggie Farran and Catherine Griffin from Chandlers Ford collaborated on a new project in lockdown, culminating with publication of Winchester Actually. Unravel the intrigue of the great train robbery. Witness the thrills and spills of rioting through the streets. Wonder at sacrifices made to save the cathedral and defend the city. Enjoy gentler tales of romance and motherhood set in and around Winchester.
Dai Henley
Dai retired in 2004 following the sale of his local businesses in Southampton and Winchester. He joined a Creative Writing class which he still attends weekly. He is also a regular visitor to the Hampshire Writers’ Society.
He writes crime dramas with the themes of obsession, revenge and justice. He’s attended many murder trials at the Old Bailey. The capacity of ‘ordinary’ people who become motivated to carry out extraordinary acts never ceases to amaze him.
He received wonderful reviews and won several awards for his debut novel, Blazing Obsession: a silver medal from The Wishing Shelf and a Top Ten place in Bookbag’s self-published novels in 2014.
His novels: Endless Obsession; Reckless Obsession; and Blazing Obsession will be available at the book fair and are also available in paperback and eBook on Amazon. To find out more visit his website: http://www.daihenley.co.uk
Stephen Hodgson
Stephen Hodgson, children’s writer with his book Tales of Helen and Lysander: A Spartan Girl and Boy. Stephen was born in Yorkshire but have lived most of his life in London and Hampshire. He worked in the Civil Service for 35 years but left in 2022 to try his hand at writing. He also works part-time in a local school. The Tales of Helen and Lysander is his first novel. It is the first in a series of novels which will follow the characters on their journey into adulthood.
Welcome to the world of Helen and Lysander, a brother and sister in ancient Sparta. It is the eve of their 7th birthdays and the following morning they are set to enter one of the world’s harshest training programmes – the famous Spartan agoge. Helen and Lysander will have to overcome hunger, pain and injury in a series of extreme challenges to survive in their new world. But Helen and Lysander do not face these challenges alone. They have help from Pylos, a helot or slave boy, who considers Lysander to be his only friend and who quietly helps them at key moments. He does this at great risk to himself and to Lysander and Helen; for it is forbidden for Spartans and helots to be friends.
6.30pm – 7.30pm followed by talks 7.30pm – 9pm Main Speaker, author and tutor, Tom Bromley and special guest, travel writer, Martin Kyrle.
The Tower, King’s School, Romsey Road, Winchester, SO22 5PN
Authors from the HWS will be displaying their books at the Summer Book Fair along with an indie publisher. It’s an excellent opportunity to meet, network and chat to authors and members of HWS…and maybe buy a book…or two!
It’s always an interesting, inspiring and fascinating occasion. You never know who you’ll meet or where that chat might lead. Not to be missed!
Appearing at the Summer Book Fair:
Jean G-Owen from Naked Figleaf Press
NAKED FIGLEAF PRESS, founded by Jean G-Owen in Summer 2023, is an indie publisher based on the Isle of Wight. They specialise in poetry, novellas, short stories and non-fiction collections. They publish The Figlet, a bi-annual literary magazine showcasing Isle of Wight writers & illustrators. Naked Figleaf Press host Yarnival West Wight WordFest, which will take place from 27 to 28 September 2024 in Yarmouth, Isle of Wight. https://nakedfigleafcollective.co.uk/publications
Jean G-Owen from Naked Figleaf Press
Anne Wan
Anne is a children’s writer and independent publisher. With three books in her Secrets of the Snow Globe series and a picture book, Manners Fit for a Queen.
Anne started writing picture books as a hobby and went on to study creative writing with Barbara Large. She is passionate about inspiring children as readers and writers. She enjoys giving talks, craft and storytelling sessions in schools, libraries, and Brownie groups.
Having completed the Snow Globe trilogy, Anne has published her debut picture book Manners Fit for the Queen. In this humorous story, Hector causes chaos with his terrible table manners. His sister, Isobel, has found her own way to cope with the mess. But how will she cope when they are both invited to a tea party with the Queen?
Secrets of the Snow Globe – Vanishing Voices Can they succeed in their quest to help their new friends, and find a way back to Grandma’s house? A captivating adventure story of courage and friendship for 7-9 yrs. In a land of magic, snow, and secrets Louisa and her brother, Jack, are flung into a dangerous mountain adventure when they shrink into their Grandma’s snow globe.
Secrets of the Snow Globe – Shooting Star How much does Grandma know about the snow globe’s magic? Louisa and her brother, Jack, are determined to discover the truth. In this sequel to, Secrets of the Snow Globe – Vanishing Voices, Grandma’s story is revealed. But how much should she tell? After all, some secrets are best left untold…
Secrets of the Snow Globe – Menacing Magicis the finale to the ‘Secrets in the Snow Globe’ series. Chaos rages in the world inside the snow globe following the theft of seven, magical, diamond snowflakes. In a race against time, Louisa and her brother, Jack, shrink into the globe and embark on a perilous journey to catch the thief. Can they retrieve the snowflakes before the snow globe world is destroyed?
Are you ready for the magic? You can purchase the books from http://anne-wan.com/
Martin Kyrle
Martin Kyrle, travel writer.
Martin Kyrle was at Agincourt – not the battle, but at the official opening of the museum. His personal travel anecdotes – all of them true – span seven decades and will take you off the beaten track even if you’re familiar with the countries where they take place.
Islands off the coasts of France, Holland or in Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest lake, castles in Estonia and Latvia, lakes in Lapland, Lithuania and Siberia, Roman amphitheatres in Libya, Neolithic dolmens in Brittany or monastic ruins 8 miles out in the Atlantic off far SW Ireland. Then being hospitalised in intensive care in the Canary Islands or facing a Force 8 gale on the ferry from Hong Kong to Macau and a total blackout in Mongolia when the lights fused..
Finding soldiers bivouacking in his back garden prior to embarking for the Normandy Landings (but who hadn’t been told!), then trying to get to school during the ‘great freeze’ of 1947 contrast with exploring Mycenaean tombs in Cyprus or volunteering in a refugee camp in Austria and a workcamp in Poland. Hitchhiking round North Cape at the top of Norway was quite tricky, too. [Why go? Well, it’s the northern limit of Europe and if you go any further you fall off…].
He had to mind his manners when, as a Sub-Lieutenant in the Special Branch stationed in Malta to decode top secret communications, the Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Lord Mountbatten, invited him to dinner. At university in Southampton a contrasting challenge was singing a duet from La Bohème in front of a couple of hundred disbelieving fellow students who’d sneered that although he and his fellow artistes could sing Gilbert & Sullivan they couldn’t sing ‘real’ opera. After that, getting lost on a train in Western Bosnia, being locked in a church in rural Devon or standing with your school party watching your train from Germany into Denmark depart without you were minor misadventures you took in your stride.
He ascribes his good fortune and possibly survival to having been blessed by the Pope in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican in Rome, by the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Kremlin in Moscow and by an indigenous Buryat shaman in Siberia who gave him a lucky charm, which you might think is hedging your bets for someone who’s a life-long atheist. But perhaps they saved him when he had to overcome vertigo when standing on the top of the leaning tower of Pisa and when, 10,000 feet above the South China Sea on a flight to Beijing with his late wife, the pilot announced that one of his engines was showing signs of failure.
Martin Kyrle’s Little Green Nightbook, Little Blue Nightbook and Little Orange Nightbook each has 25 personal stories to intrigue you, with flags, maps, colour photos and cartoons. His other books, Jottings from the Trans-Siberian Railway and Jottings from Russia and the Baltic States. Part1: Russia and Estonia.
Stephen Hodgson
Stephen Hodgson, children’s writer with his book Tales of Helen and Lysander: A Spartan Girl and Boy. Stephen was born in Yorkshire but have lived most of his life in London and Hampshire. He worked in the Civil Service for 35 years but left in 2022 to try his hand at writing. He also works part-time in a local school. The Tales of Helen and Lysander is his first novel. It is the first in a series of novels which will follow the characters on their journey into adulthood.
Stephen Hodgson
Welcome to the world of Helen and Lysander, a brother and sister in ancient Sparta. It is the eve of their 7th birthdays and the following morning they are set to enter one of the world’s harshest training programmes – the famous Spartan agoge. Helen and Lysander will have to overcome hunger, pain and injury in a series of extreme challenges to survive in their new world. But Helen and Lysander do not face these challenges alone. They have help from Pylos, a helot or slave boy, who considers Lysander to be his only friend and who quietly helps them at key moments. He does this at great risk to himself and to Lysander and Helen; for it is forbidden for Spartans and helots to be friends.
Page Dalliance
Page Dalliance is a writer, editor and designer who became an author by chance. Having lived in and around the New Forest and the Test Valley in Hampshire for most of her life, where she married and raised her 3 children.
During this time she developed a design career and a thirst for knowledge, not present in her early school days, and consequently put it to good use in her future projects and exploits to improve her lifestyle. Always up for a challenge where an opportunity presented itself, these were probably stepping stones for later adventures as a single woman where choices had to be made and calculated risks undertaken.
This debut novel is based on the experiential events witnessed on her later travels when dipping her toe in to the tepid Greek waters for the first time at the age of 50 plus and then consequently ‘pushing the boat out’.
Further publications are planned featuring design and building challenges both at home and abroad.
Her new book, A Perfectly Respectable Pirate, a novel set in Greece is based on a true story.
Clare Fryer
Clare Fryer, YA author, her book, The Invitation
Clare grew up in Guildford surrounded by books. She was inspired to write by her father, who was a poet and author himself in his spare time. Clare doodled poetry throughout her life, yet yearned to write novels but never had the time. When Clare took early retirement in 2022, she finally had time to write. The Invitation began as a short story inspired by a writing prompt and won a monthly writing competition. Her mother and several friends asked what happened next, and so she began to write. That short story became the first three chapters of The Invitation.
One invitation changes everything. The arrival of a mysterious invitation on the eve of Millie’s sixteenth birthday sets off a chain of events that will change her life forever. A family linked by secrets discover a darker, more sinister undercurrent of corruption in Anacadair. How far will the ruling High Council go to preserve the old ways? When the family flee, who can they trust? Will they escape from the watchers?
Mark Eyles
Mark Eyles, a science fiction and fantasy author with his ‘Vast Alien Crisis’ duology, ‘Icefall Cities’ and ‘Firedrift Moon’.
After working in the games industry, writing for comics (2000AD & Sonic the Comic) and spending time as an academic running videogame courses, Mark finally settled down to writing books at the start of 2019. His writing draws on his love of science fiction, creating a slightly quirky, but grim and gritty story set on a colony world where everything’s gone nightmarishly wrong.
Damon Wakes will have his vast collection of published books available, including Ten Little Astronauts – an Agatha Christie-inspired murder mystery novella set on board an interstellar spacecraft.
Damon writes everything from humour to horror and produces a brand new work of flash fiction every day during July each year. Damon also writes interactive fiction and games, and provided the story and dialogue for Game of the Year nominated virtual reality title Craft Keep VR.
Order and Chaos, an anthology from Breakthrough Books that opens with one of his flash fiction pieces. That story is “Songbird and Statue,” which also provided the anthology’s theme.
Ancient gods in conflict and a zombie on welfare, a disappearing boyfriend and AI with daddy issues, a balloon bound for icy danger and a mysterious theft at the museum, a sinister woodland cabin and a pleasure house that’ll cost much more than you can afford.
Raiding parties in dystopia, art classes in the city, opposites attracting and love catching fire. Separations and siblings, life and death decisions, flying into trouble and traveling to self-discovery…
Which comes first, chaos or order? The cycles between may seem inevitable, and change may be the only constant, but what does that mean for the human experience?
Sixteen authors from the Breakthrough Books collective explore our relationships with nature and technology, science and the sacred, each other and ourselves, offering an array of stories as individual as every reader.
Ten Little Astronauts— a novella published by Unbound
Di Castle will have her poetry books available, Should I Wear Floral and other poems on life, love and leaving; Grandma’s Poetry Book, ‘makes you laugh, makes you cry’.
Maggie, Catherine and Sally are three writing friends from Chandlers Ford who collaborated on a new project in lockdown, culminating with publication of Winchester Actually. Unravel the intrigue of the great train robbery. Witness the thrills and spills of rioting through the streets. Wonder at sacrifices made to save the cathedral and defend the city. Enjoy gentler tales of romance and motherhood set in and around Winchester.
