Every June and December, the Hampshire Writer’s Society holds a Book Fair showcasing our talented authors and their books. For the first time since December 2019 we will be holding the Book Fair in the Stripe Theatre Building at the University of Winchester on Tuesday 14th December from 6.30pm – 7.30pm.
The Book Fair is an opportunity for members of the HWS to show and market their books either self published or published with mainstream publishers. This is always an exciting time as members share their dedication, hard work and success. For non-published members, it is an excellent opportunity to browse, support and chat to fellow writers as well as pick up hints and tips about their route to successful publishing.
As it’s December, this will be a chance to buy a Christmas present or a treat for yourself to read on the dark winter evenings.
It may be a good idea to have some cash with you should you be tempted to purchase the irresistible book or two!
Photos from December 2019 Book Fair.
Meet the Authors who will have stalls at the Book Fair
Sam Knight
At the age of 24 Sam Knight sold his bookshop in Cardiff city centre, entered journalism and became a feature writer and columnist with the Western Mail. His career in corporate communications included PR Director with a McCann Erickson advertising agency, the oil and airline industries in the Middle East, retiring to South Wales and is completing his move to Kings Worthy next year. He is married with one son.
His writing has appeared in magazines including Planet and Red Bulletin and poetry read on BBC Radio Wales.
Paperbacks published under his Carys Books imprint: The Milford Ultimatum, a thriller about Palestine, and a collection of well-reviewed short stories, Peacock Goddess. Kindle editions on Amazon.
Heath Gunn
Heath was born in Sheffield, grew up in Rotherham and left home at eighteen to join the Royal Navy, as a Helicopter Engineer.
He has lived in Hampshire, along the South Coast ever since, as he loves being near the sea.
Heath is the CEO of Hampshire based disability charity, Enham Trust; and has been the Lead Singer of Rapid Tranq, a rock covers band since 2007.
Alongside a varied and colourful career to date, Heath has written for years, producing stories of various lengths, poetry and picture book stories for young children.
Prisoner was the first in the DI Baxter series, closely followed by his first gangland crime thriller Khan in 2020.
Heath’s latest crime thriller, No Remorse was released on the 1st of October this year and is the second DI Lomas Baxter story and the follow up to Prisoner.
Heath’s publishing journey
I chose to go the Indie-author route after speaking to lots of writers about their experience with agents and publishers and wanting to have the control over things like my cover, final edit, publication date etc. I launched my debut novel in November 2019 on Amazon and so far its been well received with mainly five star reviews. I’ve sold about 750 copies so far and had over 100,000 pages read on Kindle Unlimited.
The cover design for both my books was done by Stuart Bache at Books Covered. This, and the money I’ve spent getting my stories professionally copy-edited are the best money I’ve spent to date.
I’d advise anyone getting to the point of having a finished novel, to go through the editing process, with a good copy-editor.
I learned so much from my editors on Prisoner and Khan. Without doubt, this improved my writing and the quality of the finished books.
Links
Website http://heathgunn.com/index.html
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/heathgunnauthor/?modal=admin_todo_tour
Twitter https://twitter.com/Heathgunn
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/heathgunn1/
Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heath-Gunn/e/B0825WP5CF/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1
David Keighley
Poems, Piety, and Psyche: Progressive Poems for Rebellious Christians by David John Keighley
Confronting the crisis facing Christianity, this anthology of post-modern, progressive Christian poems, with a rebellious tone, demythologizes Christian theology. Poems, Piety and Psyche is a brave departure from literal Christian dogma and challenges the outdated ideas of doctrine and Scripture to disclose hidden truths still valid today.
This volume is an attempt to revitalize the church and reshape its future for current congregations and the missing generation of young people, scientifically literate, who are exiled from the church through its inability to absorb contemporary teaching of biblical criticism, the reality of evolution, the false idea of a God “up there,” and an institutional insistence on an unconvincing supernatural theology. Christianity must be adapted to incorporate these and change, or it will die.
David Keighley reclaims the original gospel message and takes us on a turbulent and challenging journey to the heart of what it is to be truly Christian. There is in these poems an emphasis on the teaching of the historical Jesus while rejecting nature miracles, the virgin birth, and bodily resurrection. Jesus’s divinity is that we can see God in him in the same way as we see God in the lives of each other, if we look closely enough.
Newly published paperback book of progressive Christian poetry. (130 poems, 230 pages)
Published in USA
About Reverend David Keighley
David Keighley is a retired Anglican priest of forty years, and a teacher, psychologist, and poet. He has maintained his professional and lifelong interest in the relationship between psychology and spirituality, and currently works as a psychotherapist. His performance poetry show, also entitled Poems, Piety and Psyche, combines his three main interests: poetry, spirituality, and the human mind. He is the author of a school nativity play based on the Old Testament: Christmas Past, Christmas Present (2006).
You can read samples on the Amazon page of his book. As well as the Preface which outlines his motivation and theology.
David’s Website www.davidkeighleywriter.com
There is a SHOP page for book purchase there.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Poems-Piety-Psyche-Progressive-Rebellious/dp/172528071X
Maggie Farran, Catherine Griffin & Sally Howard
Winchester Actually by Maggie Farran, Catherine Griffin & Sally Howard
We are three writing friends who collaborated on a new project culminating with publication in Lockdown.
Join a magical tour of Winchester
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.
Winchester Actually
From vivid recreations of the city’s past, to touching moments in modern lives, experience the city from inside in twelve original stories by local writers.
Amazon Review: ‘Warm and well told stories. I really enjoyed the ones connected with Winchester’s past. I was particularly moved by Maggie Farran’s story about the diver, William Walker, and his near-death experience as he worked underground shoring up the foundations of the ancient Cathedral.’
Available to buy from P&G Wells, 11 College Street, Winchester.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Winchester-Actually-Sally-Howard-ebook/dp/B088QK6Z1N
https://www.facebook.com/Winchester-Actually-106075881163010/?view_public_for=106075881163010
Sam Hayward
About The Author
Sam grew up in Hampshire and after an administrative career, returned to full-time education to study Journalism. She graduated in 1997 with a BA (Hons) from Solent University and subsequently worked as a publications officer for a local cancer charity.
In 2000, she moved to Somerset with her husband, a retired Naval Commander, and worked as a part-time sub-editor for a regional newspaper.
In September 2013, she gained a MA (Hons) in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University. Her debut novel Black to White was inspired by the loss of her husband to cancer in 2008.
Black to White by Sam Hayward
Grieving widow Susie Chester is trying to turn her life around with a little help from Peter, her gardener, who just might be her Guardian Angel, or a product of her imagination. When white feathers start to appear around the house, she feels strangely comforted and begins to rebuild her life with a renewed sense of spirituality and a deeper understanding into the mysteries of life and love. Her journey, from the depths of despair back to happiness, brings her much more than she could have hoped for.
Where to buy it:
Black to White can be bought via a tab on the home page of my website www.sam-hayward.co.uk This takes you direct to the Amazon page where it’s available as an e-book or paperback.
It’s also available from P & G Wells Book Shop, 11 College Street, Winchester SO23 9LZ. Tel. 01962 852016 http://www.pgwells.co.uk/
Links:
Website – www.sam-hayward.co.uk
Rob Stuart
Rob Stuart is a local author who has lived in Chandler’s Ford since 2003. He was born in Germany where his father was a UK Ministry of Defence officer on the East German frontier. Rob has been a bookseller, civil servant, wine bar owner and EFL teacher. He has taught English in Cyprus, Kuwait, Spain and Germany as well as in the United Arab Emirates University. He finished his teaching career as lecturer in Academic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is now retired and divides his time between writing and travelling.
Rob is a member of the Hampshire Writers Society.
A Place in the Country When yuppies Mitchell and Jocasta Dever move into Yew Tree cottage in the Hampshire village of Itchen Prior they fondly imagine they’ll be starting a new life of bucolic bliss in a rural idyll. In fact, things don’t turn out like that. What they find is a seething pit of incest, sexual jealousy, paganism, exploitation, sharp business practices, feudalism and murder.
Just what you would expect in Hampshire!
Appearance and Illusion Dr Wendy McPherson is a thirty-something academic English lecturer approaching a mid-life crisis. She has not been in a stable relationship for two years, drinks too much and is bored with her job. The offer of a teaching job tutoring the son of the Central Asian country of Kesheva offers her a possible life-changing experience. But when she’s caught up in a violent revolution she finds her life in great danger and makes new discoveries about love and trust that turn her life around.
Uther Pendragon 410 AD. Rome withdraws the legions from Britain to try and protect the Empire from the inroads of the Barbarians. Uther Pendragon is the last prince of the Belgae, left to defend his lands from the inroads of the invaders. Tutored by Merlin, he is trust into manhood by the tumultuous times into which he is born. Betrayed by his allies he is forced to flee to the Roman province of Brittany where he is recruited by the Roman warlord Aetius. He becomes a player in the drama of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in the West; a lover of the Empress Dowager; the father of the Once and Future king Arthur and friend of Attila.
Contact Rob: rstuart78(AT) yahoo.com (replace (AT) with @)
Dr Cheryl Butler
Dr Cheryl Butler is a writer and historian, and has published three Southampton Records Series volumes on the Southampton Mayors Book of Fines; as well as the oral history of Itchen Ferry Village We only wore shoes on Sunday; a book on Tudor Southampton: Rioters, Revellers & Reformers; and Powder, Prisoners & Paintings – The Story of God’s House Tower. She has organised several large award winning community heritage projects including The Stinking Fish of Southampton, Jane Austen 200. She is writer director of the site specific Sarah Siddons Fan Club Theatre Company. Her novel, The Theatre of the World is set in Elizabethan England, based on original material from Southampton town archives.
latest books:
St Mary-over-the-Water; The story of Pear Tree Church 2020
The Remembrance Books of Robert Knaplock 1575 and John Jackson 2021
Telling Other hiStories: early black history in Southampton c1500-1900 2021
Featured Book
Jane Austen & Southampton Spa
Jane Austen’s time in the bathing resort & spa town of Southampton is often unrepresented in biographies of the author. She visited as child (and almost did not survived the experience), as a teenager making the most of all the balls and assemblies, and as an adult when her thoughts were returning to writing. The book looks at the influences that Jane’s time in Southampton had on her novels, at her social circle and what life was like in one of England’s premiere resorts.
Available from P&G Wells www.pgwells.co.uk as well as The Jane Austen Museum, Chawton, Tudor House Museum, Southampton or direct from the author.
twitter @CherylHello
Lynn Clement
The book The City of Stories and is published by Chapel Town Books. It is a collection of flash fiction, short stories and poems, some of which have won or been ‘placed’ in Hampshire Writers’ competitions.
The stories and editing have all been completed during lockdown, with the help of Allison Symes (Hampshire Writers’ Society member as my editor via Chapel Town books.)
The stories are mainly observations around ordinary people, dealing with extra-ordinary things in their lives. There are some gothic horror or sci-fi and humorous stories too. An eclectic mix. Something for everyone. The poems are hopefully moving. An easy read book to enjoy with a cup of tea or tipple of your choice, or slip in a pocket or handbag for a train journey or waiting for an appointment or for a friend to arrive for coffee? Essentially it is cafelit.
The tag line is – ‘What goes on behind closed doors?’
The City of Stories by Lynn Clement – published by Chapeltown Books
The Bridgetown Café Bookshop: The City of Stories (thebridgetowncafebooksshop.co.uk)
The City of Stories: Amazon.co.uk: Clement, Lynn: 9781910542811: Books
John Kelly
John Kelly’s career was in Telecommunications, specialising in corporate telecommunications, working for the Post Office, GEC, Ford Motor Company, British Leyland, J.P. Morgan Bank and Grand Metropolitan. The managing an information and software business with friends. I began writing in 2002 and have become “hooked.”
I write for response, not for a living. I seek reaction to what I write, but small scale. I am testing my imagination, so my third major attempt is a novel about Trolls. In between writing poetry and short pieces for family and friends. The major impact on my writing was Tony Venables of Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. The very simple “Show not Tell” has been key.
I am now retired and live in Hampshire.
Cork out of the Bottle is a short collection of my poem’s, essays and comments. It tells of my growing old and some of the joy and new experiences. The title expresses the release of feelings in this last era of my life.
Links to John Kelly:
For both my books if you have comments, please post them on the Amazon page for the relevant book.
For personal contact use my email: j_kelly566(AT)ntlworld.com ( change (AT) to @)
Dai Henley
DAI HENLEY – Award Winning Crime and Thriller Writer
| At last! After almost four years of head-scratching, filling plot holes, character-building and countless edits, Endless Obsession is now available in paperback and eBook on Amazon and at all major booksellers worldwide. It has received terrific reviews: ‘Excellent characterisation and superb plot with an ending that took my breath away.’ The Bookbag. ‘A compelling thriller packed full of twists and a host of captivating characters.’ The Wishing Shelf Awards. For more details of Dai Henley’s previous award-winning novels and Endless Obsession, please go to: http://www.daihenley.co.uk where you’ll also discover descriptions, be able to read excerpts and find links to ordering if you like what you see. |
Martin White
Martin White was born in Southampton in 1975 and is frankly amazed to still be alive today. He did not do well at school, dyslexia and immaturity played their part. After leaving school he spent far too much time dancing to rave music in fields, and after a few brushes with the law, he finally fell into the catering industry and worked as a chef, a private security guard and drug worker.
He hung up his chef’s knives in 2017 and went back into full-time education and is currently studying Creative Writing at the University of Winchester. His work is inspired by his own life events, that are at times unsettling.
Martin White lives in North Hampshire with his partner Lyndsay and three stepsons and their dog Maggie. He says writing is the best job in the world.
FAZE : The City of Addicts
Cane & Faze – The two substances the city of addicts crave. They’ll do anything to get their hands on the brainwashing drugs. Even if it means becoming slaves to the System.
Adria never knew who her parents were or where she came from. Mikhail and Vasiliy raised her in their luxury villa and seedy nightclub. It was the only world she ever knew. That, and sensational highs. For the past few days Adria has endured sexual assaults, violence and withdrawal. Horrors she never imagined she’d fall victim to.
Nothing will ever be the same again.
Little does she realise she is connected to much larger forces.
Forces that want to put a stop to Faze addicts’ suffering.
That want to destroy the System.
Before the System destroys everyone.
Di Castle
Di was born and bred in Hertfordshire. She always had a love of words and started writing as soon as she could hold a pen. After her youngest daughter went to school she began a career teaching in Further Education, while collecting a hoard of unfinished manuscripts. Later, her writing took precedence and, since becoming a regular attendee at the Winchester Writers’ Conference/Festival, she has enjoyed success in their competitions gaining two first prizes and highly commended for articles on a range of subjects. She began writing Grandma’s Poetry Book when her first grandchild was born in 2000. A few earlier versions of poems were published in poetry magazines.
Di enjoyed a nomadic existence in Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, Middlesex and South Bucks, spending 20 years in Swanage from 2001.
She has three daughters and seven grandchildren and now lives in Southsea.
Grandma’s Poetry Book charts the first time grandmother’s sometimes wobbly journey and as such is a nostalgic memoir capturing the many facets of those fleeting easily forgotten moments. Some verses will make you smile or even laugh and some may make you cry.
Grandma’s Poetry Book is her first poetry collection and is a popular gift for new grandparents.
Should I Wear Floral and other poems on Life, Love and Leaving
After the success of Grandma’s Poetry Book, Di found more humorous poems spanning the last 30 years and as such they form a social commentary on changes in society. The poems cover mobile phones, the look down generation, people on cruises, bereavement and divorce as well is five poems dedicated to Swanage. Many of these poems originated in news stories such as the deaf girl who couldn’t get into Oxford but also touch on her own experience – she was brought up with a profoundly deaf sister.
Fat Chances was prompted by the burgeoning obesity problems in the early years of the new millennium. The poem, 2003, was inspired by news stories around the end of 2002 and the New Year. The Boomerang Generation was a term used in 2001 for the growing trend for post-graduate or working youngsters to return home to live, as soaring house prices and lack of affordable rental property played havoc with their finances and accommodation.
One of the most popular poems is ‘They’re Always There’
Both books can be bought via her website www.dicastle.co.uk and her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/dicastlewriter/
she tweets @dinahcas
Her memoir of growing up in the 1950s and 1960s is planned to be out in spring 2022.
Damon L Wakes
Anne Wan
Hampshire Writers' Society 