Me and My Shadow

Me and My Shadow – Memoirs of a Cancer Survivor is a brutally honest account of one teenager’s struggle to understand and deal with the most feared diagnosis known to society: cancer.

At 18 years of age, John Walker Pattison was thrust onto a roller coaster ride of emotional turbulence – his innocence cruelly stripped from him; his fate woven into the tapestry of life.

After years of failed chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments that ravaged his physical frame and almost destroyed his psychological stability – his parents were told that he would not survive. Yet, today, he is one of the longest surviving cancer patients in the UK.

Eight years after his unexpected recovery, the news that all parents fear, his daughter is diagnosed with terminal leukaemia. Yet like her father, she too would defy the odds and go on to become an international swimmer.

Pattison turned his life full circle and became a cancer nurse specialist at the same hospital that made his diagnosis decades earlier. He prescribes chemotherapy and cares for individuals with the same cancers experienced by both him and his daughter.

Throughout his journey, Pattison’s inspirations were the space rock legends, Hawkwind. He would get to play on stage with his heroes at the Donnington Festival in 2007.

More significantly, he found solace throughout his cancer journey in the history and spirituality of the Lakota Sioux Nation. In 2018, he would spend time on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation with the indigenous people of South Dakota. The same people who, unknowingly, supported him through life's greatest challenge: cancer.

Meandering With The Months

Embark on a journey of nature’s beauty and wonder with Meandering With The Months, a collection of poetry that takes you on a lyrical journey through the seasons. Each month is like a slice of cake, each with its own unique flavour and essence, inviting you to step inside and immerse yourself in the natural world. Whether you’re exploring the great outdoors or curled up in your favourite chair, Meandering With The Months offers a chance to wander, contemplate, reflect and relax. Be transported through a kaleidoscope of colours and emotions as you travel through the year, discovering the treasures each month has to offer.

Meanwhile Back at the Nest

Only through dialogue with nature and the animal kingdom can we hope to fathom the human condition. Such conversation enables us to establish a fresh benchmark by which to gauge the significance of what it takes to be human in a truer sense of the word. This collection of poems represents the findings of a man who is still very much a work in progress!

beyond observer’s books

and climbing boys

there nests a bird

that only takes

to wing

to prey

on feeble-minded men

designed for toil

and useful days

but who stand too long

and gaze

gathering sunlight at its tail

it swoops unseen

and strikes

with song caresses

ear and mind

while talons grip

the heart

and choke all talk

this bird

part nightingale

part hawk

Medicine World

Join Cassie Calcium and her playmates on an epic adventure as they embark on a journey to perform the exciting task of Twinkle Fishing. But little did they know, their trip would be full of unexpected twists and turns. Will they be able to catch anything on their journey? Will the sun continue to shine on them? And will the reluctant Anne Tiseptic finally agree to join in on the fun? Find out in this exciting and thrilling children's book.

Melancholy of the Heart - Echoes on the Wind

From an early age Ruth had always struggled to fit in. Her only solace was provided by the abundance of nature she enjoyed living by the beautiful North Cornwall coast. She took pleasure in seeing the resilience of sea pinks, small pink flowers clinging to the cliffs and the warm coconut aroma of vivid orange gorse. As an only child she felt lost and isolated until her gift made itself known to her. This gift gave her a reason to live in a world she barely understood. She was not prepared however for the toll on her emotional and physical self her gift would exact from her, never knowing when she would be called upon to help those no longer of this time find forgiveness.

Memoirs of a '90s Schoolboy

An entertaining and irreverent read, Memoirs of a 90s' School Boy is a book that'll bring you back in time to childhood and the ups and downs of primary school days. The ridiculous situations, elaborate observations, and honest brain farts of a child who thinks he's got it sussed; will make you laugh out loud. Described by BAFTA award winning comedian, Daisy Cooper (the force behind BBC3's 'This Country') as 'the funniest thing she has ever read'. This book needs no further introduction, just get on and read it and see for yourself.

Memoirs of a Failure

Tormented by an impoverished childhood, plagued by incessant bullying, and damaged by an abusive and violent relationship. Homelessness and broke, following failure after, failure, how does someone find the strength to keep coming back?

Memoirs of Faeries

Katie was eight years old when her grandma died, leaving a secret untold. Thanks to a house move, a visitor and an old leather-bound diary given to her from her grandfather, Katie begins to piece together the truth.

She is the heir to an almost-forgotten magical kingdom and with a little help from her grandma’s diary and some strange dreams, she realises that she must reconnect with her ancestors and make amends before it’s too late.

Memoirs of the Village Idiot

‘How is it possible that life, for the life of it, could be painful and joy-less? Yet it has survived for ages?’…

Is the ability to see the world in its most unflattering state, without reason nor rhyme, a gift or a curse with a pinch of mental instability?

Memories and More

The basic idea of this book is to share life experiences, and thereby give comfort and encourage smiles, by showing my own and others’ reflections on different life-situations. I am sure that many of them are comparable to those that occur in your life, or to others around you. By sharing experiences, we all learn something. Women are probably sharing thoughts more often than men. Many of the events in this book have also been discussed in female groups. They have not all been personally experienced by me but are the consensus from these fruitful discussions. Now I am pleased to share them with you. Among the experiences discussed in this book: heartbreak, the #MeToo movement and my own experiences, divorce as its complication as a parent, and my own thoughts about the pandemic. I also share with you my thoughts about the aging process that we all must endure, if we are lucky enough to live that long, since life is still a gift given to us all. We ought to remember that and enjoy the journey.

Men Over 60: Don't Quit Now!

Dr. Dorsen, a fellow in the American College of Sports Medicine and retired internist, is a cum laude graduate from Dartmouth College with his medical degree from the Rutgers New Jersey University School of Medicine, and residencies in medicine at Johns Hopkins and Hennepin County Hospital Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has served at the United States Paralympic and Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, and as a team physician for the U.S. Olympic Cross Country Ski Team. He is the author of The Vikings Change the Play Against Alcohol and Other Dangerous Drugs; Dr. D’s Handbook for Men Over 40: A Guide to Health, Fitness, Living, and Loving in the Prime of Life; Up from the Ashes: One Doc’s Struggle with Drugs and Mental Illness; and over 300 human interest and juried articles. He has spoken on sports medicine and related medical issues at US and world cross country events where he himself races. He lives in Eagan, Minnesota with his partner, Nada.

“Dr. Dorsen offers an antidote to time and a commitment to daily respect for your body and mind. With insight and clarity, he encourages us to make health a daily habit.”
- David Feldshuh, M.D., Ph.D., Pulitzer nominee for Miss Ever Boys’ based on the Tuskegee Study, professor of theater at Cornell University, and practicing emergency room physician.

“If we are going to help make a healthy world it is essential that men become kind and soft and step down from the altar of power. These things were not spoken in medical school maybe because most all the teachers were male, and psychiatry did not address the unhealthy features of the male personality. Thank you, Peter, for showing the possibility for a healthier world, making healthier men.”
- Patch Adams, M.D., a physician, comedian, social activist, clown, and founder of the Gesundheit! Institute, “Patch” is the author of the film,” Patch Adams” (1998), “Bringing Good Health to You” (1998), and “House Calls”(1998).

“Men Over 60: Don’t Quit Now! supplies helpful information for men in their senior years who want to stay active and healthy. To share this type of information with senior men is an admired goal of Dr. Dorsen and myself. I recommend Dr. Dorsen’s sequel to Dr. D’s Handbook as a helpful guide to anyone interested in this age group.”
- Barry Mink, M.D. was catcher for the Cincinnati Reds out of high school with 40 years as a practicing internal and sports medicine at the Aspen Clinic. Dr. Mink has been the team physician for the US Biathlon Team and Nordic team physician at both the 1980 and 1994 Winter Olympics.

“I came to this book for the information, but I stayed for the inspiration. There is lots of new information, even for an experienced physician. But more importantly, this book offers the inspiration to implement a healthy lifestyle as we pass from our 60s and beyond.”
- Edward Feinberg, M.D., MPH, chairman emeritus department of ophthalmology; faculty retina-vitreous service.

Mental Health Matters – Volume 2

Mental Health Matters – Volume 2 will give you an insight into mental health through poetry.

My own mental health battles have been difficult, I hope to grow as a person and make people believe in themselves. I also want people to relate because at some point we all struggle with mental health.

Mental health can make you feel like you’re living a constant nightmare that will never end. But things do get better, I’m living proof of that. I hope to share my poems with you because life is precious and, most importantly, you are precious. Sometimes in life we just survive instead of living. If you ever feel like this. I hope you realise how beautiful a place this world is. Remember. it’s raining but eventually the sun will rise.

While in the darkest of places, I found poetry a beautiful way to express emotions. so give it a go and read some of my poems: some happy, some deep. Whatever it is you’re looking for – a poem to cheer you up, a poem you can relate too – this book has it all.