Far From Worries

A couple of years ago, the author moved next door to the King of Thailand working as an editor of an online magazine published in Hua Hin, a seaside town. At the time, the king lived there permanently in his summer palace known in Thai as the Klang Kangnon palace, which delightfully translates as ‘Far from Worries’. The book is a chronicle of the author’s year there, but in a larger sense, it is a portrait of contemporary Thailand; part memoir, part history and part travel book.

Fast Fashion and Flaneurs

Bill Wonder, the tyrannical billionaire fashion tycoon is found splattered on the pavement outside his fashion school in the West End of London.

Was he pushed from the balcony, did he jump, or it could have happened because of his high heel shoes?

The mystery of his death is stitched together by Sadie Silver, a hapless fashion history teacher, who needs to understand the incident to uncover her family’s sartorial secrets.

But wait, could she have killed Bill? 

After all, she was the last person to see Bill alive, and he really seemed to hate her new look.

Fastovski's Tales of Hampstead

Imagine that Isaac Babel’s Cossacks wassail together with Runyonesque Liverpool Jews outside the plate-glass window of a Hampstead café where a Klezmer band is playing to a packed and tea-drinking congregation of jazzmen, Hasidic scholars, surrealists, old soldiers, and retired strippers; and you have the tone and temperature of this unique and unclassifiable memoir – no, not memoir, more a stream-of-consciousness novella – no, not a novella but a piece of autobiographical fiction – no, not autobiography but a picaresque drama conquered from the unreliable and fertile brain of the eponymous Fastovski.

And who is Fastovski? Is he real or invented? Is he perhaps the alter-ego of real-life jazz pianist, Klezmer swinger, big band leader and flaneur, Wallace Fields, who stares at us from the book’s frontispiece in shades, Diaghilev coat and moustache, over a cup of strong black coffee? Fastovski’s not telling and anyway, who cares.

This is a book to be devoured, disseminated, denounced, and delighted in. It belongs to all who think art and life are one and that the Arch-Savant of Canterbury, Issy Bonn, Rashid the Manic Berber Chef of NW3, and Mrs Karl Popper, have an equal claim on history. I haven’t had such a good time since I shared Sir Ralph Richardson’s motorbike with a parrot and a striking grandmother clock.

Piers Plowright
August 2008

Fate and The Lady

Fate and the Lady follows the modern day story of district nurse Christina Wise and her chance meeting with enigmatic ex-quarryman Mercy Slaughter and his friend FJ.

Christina will be tested in her feelings for this man and his obsessive need to right a wrong committed against himself and his friends during a medieval battle re-enactment only a couple of years previously. His compulsion risks putting them all in mortal danger and even result in an international incident.

Will Christina be able to save Slaughter from himself, or will he continue in his path of self-destruction?

Add to the mix a French politician and his sidekick with an axe to grind; a hardcore group of Englishmen with vengeance in mind; and a mysterious Turkish billionairess with her own designs on Slaughter; and you end up with a volatile mix of sex, intrigue and bloody hand-to-hand combat.

Feathered Friends

Imagine what could have happened if four birds had decided to go on the adventure of their lifetime. Especially if not everything goes according to the plan! They will not only make new friends on their way but encounter a few dark characters too.Will they come back home safe? Will they learn and discover few things about each other?The feathered friends spread their wings and soar through Europe making the old saying ‘A friend in need is a friend indeed’ a reality.Let’s go on the adventure to discover beautiful landscapes and places from the bird’s eye view.

Feed the Fire

Feel The Pull. Answer The Call.

Anya, a young woman who keeps to the shadows, is drawn out into the light and learns the hard way that magic can never really die. Her days of thieving turns into a fight for survival.

James, an older man with a bad leg, passes the time tending to the sick and wounded. Some people see him as a saint, others whisper about darker secrets he holds.

Runa is haunted by her past with Anya. One choice Runa made drove them apart. She now works for one of the gangs in the Capitol, just trying to keep one step ahead of the Capitol guard.

Inara is a bright and upcoming guard; she is driven by a deep sense of right and wrong. But is it possible to hold on to morality in the face of destiny?

The Capitol is divided, the west side is filled with the rich and privileged. The east side is filled with the poor and forgotten. The Castle with the King stands in its middle.

Magic will come at a price… one they might not be willing to pay.

Feelings of the Moment

Ahmed, a young man hailing from the Middle East, relocates to America to study. In the US, he sees, and is excited by, a sexual freedom uncommon in his homeland, and vows to live his young life to the full. Initially staying in Colorado with a married couple, Ahmed seduces Debbie, who is unappreciated by her husband, and his voyage of passion begins.

More encounters with American women follow, as Ahmed invites them to surrender to both themselves and to him; though with his appetite for sexual exploration unsatiated, he returns to the United Arab Emirates, applying the same methods, albeit covertly in a more conservative society, to embolden the women he meets to revel in their sexuality, and make their lustful fantasies a reality.

Ahmed realizes that the women he meets both at home and abroad, even those enjoying a Westernised sexual liberty, are oppressed in their own way, unable to express themselves as they truly desire, with some of them starved of intimate pleasure by husbands who have settled for a boring, predictable way of life. Acting on this, he encourages them to explore their deepest desires, and as they surrender to those hidden yearnings and the feelings of the moment, they embrace each other’s bodies with zeal, satisfying needs that, for some, have been left unfulfilled for years.

Feelings So Big

“When things get tricky, do you ever feel like your feelings get so big inside you that you can’t keep them in any longer? And do you feel like they’re too big for you and you just don’t know what to do and how to feel better?

I do, I have a plan…’

When little people get big feelings, they don’t always know how to manage them or how to work through their feelings so they’re not so big and not so scary. This book talks about a plan that every little person can try which will hopefully help when they get Feelings So Big!”

Fia the Fairy

There once was a fairy who was not quite the same…

Meet Fia, a little fairy who is different from all the others. One day she decides to change that. But will she be happy with the changes she makes?

Fia learns an important lesson about being herself and will help other children to learn this too.

Fighting To Sleep

Sleeping is like breathing and eating, we all need to do this, but what happens when out of the blue you suddenly discover you are awake all night and the little sleep you do manage is barely enough to get by on and nothing you do seems to help? You try everything you can think of, but the trouble is the less you sleep the more you are unable to function and think properly. Learning to cope with every day is an effort and you are trying to combat being perpetually tired and depressed. Then days turn into weeks and weeks into months and even medication doesn’t seem to work. Even though on the outside you look normal, you do not feel normal, EVER. What happens then? Are you able to live as usual? Should you accept this and just try and manage or do you fight? This is the story of one woman’s attempt to free herself of insomnia and get on with life because, as we know, we all need sleep.

Filo Fanfare

Unlock the secrets of filo pastry and discover a world of culinary delights. This authentic pastry, dating back to the 15th century, has a rich history that includes the famous baklava, a sweet treat created to commemorate the 40 days of Lent, with its 40 layers of thin, flaky pastry filled with nuts and spices, and soaked in syrup.
From savoury appetizers to decadent desserts, filo pastry is a versatile ingredient that adds a touch of elegance to any dish. Whether you’re a seasoned baker or just starting out, this fully illustrated book will teach you how to work with filo pastry and create impressive dishes that will delight your senses.
So why wait? Dive into the exciting world of filo pastry and start exploring its endless possibilities today!

Final Settlement

Life during South Africa’s apartheid times had been idyllic for the white residents of a small village in the picturesque Nede Valley. Ken Chandler witnessed this when he moved there from England. However, he thought things would need to change following the abolition of apartheid and he saw that the nature and governance in the nearest towns and smaller townships had changed rapidly to suit the needs of the Zulu and Indian residents, but nothing had changed within the Nede valley.

How they were to maintain a “whites only” village was a major concern for its residents, but how were they to achieve this? Would it be amicably achieved or would they need to resort to violence? Eventually, change was brought about in the village, but not in a way that anyone would have envisaged.