Lyrical

Lyrical is a contemporary fiction novel set in the mid to late nineteen eighties.  The setting focuses primarily around the County of Angus on the north east coast of Scotland. Lyrical depicts the ever-revolving changes within the lives of its characters.  As you build their personas, the author tantalises, frustrates and teases the reader as she shapes the characters traits, dislikes and passions within your mind

The author uses two of the main characters, Louise Dixon and Charlie Grey to demonstrate the choices, growth and development (inclusive of maturity) they encounter as they make the transition from young adults to adults. Louise Dixon has grown up in a single parent family with her dad, Daniel. The book relays the struggles, demands and emotional challenges that a single parent family encounters over the years: the mid-1980s social norms inclusive of a nuclear family, two parents with two children to differ from these created predjucies, individuals being judgemental against father. Thankfully, this was beginning to change when marriage rates went down as couples decided to live together and divorce rates went up in the late 1980s.

Mabel Murphy

It’s 1920s London and the world is in a deep economic depression. Times are very hard and the city is rife with unemployment, poverty and disease. One family in East London
have managed to keep themselves afloat, housed and fed, despite having one parent with a long-term mental health condition, but that is all about to change as their teenage daughter is catapulted into a series of life events which are traumatic, heartbreaking and shocking but which make her become a much stronger and more resilient human being than she ever dreamed possible.
This is a harrowing story of innocence, shame, hostility and vicious cruelty from the very people who should be caring for those in need, but it is tempered with love, hope and the potential to change one’s situation given the right opportunities.
Although fictional, this was a true story for many women of that time and is based on several older women whom the author met and supported whilst an NHS nurse in the large hospital system.

Macbeth and Julius Caesar

Macbeth, with the murder on his mind, has a vision.

“Is this a dagger I can see… see but cannot touch?

The hilt is turned toward my hand, but still… I cannot clutch.

It is a dagger… of the mind to lead me to his room

Although unreal, it’s like the one I draw to seal his doom.”

He draws his dagger.

“I must move soft, that no one hears my footsteps on the stone

In silence then I make my way, my presence never known…”

A bell rings.

“The signal sounds, the time has come for Duncan… it’s a knell

I go… it’s done, I send him now to heaven, or… to hell.”

He enters the room.

End of Scene 1

Maddie and the Talking Bird

Join Maddie, Harry, Emilio, and Christian on an adventure to help their feathered friend, Birdie, learn to fly in this heartwarming children’s story. The children, with arms and not wings, try to help Birdie, but they need help from Mr Grumpy Owl. Join the children and Birdie on their journey of friendship and determination in Birdie’s flight.

Maddie and the Talking Jug

Do you know everything in your garden? When Maddie went exploring, can you possibly guess what she found?

Maggie, the Dog with a Heart: The Adventures of a Jack Russell Terrier, Book 2

What’s so special about Maggie? She looks pretty much like most other dogs of her breed with one exception… there are two large black spots on the side of her body that join together to form a heart when she curls up. That’s why she’s also known as “the dog with a heart”.

A New Home for Maggie is a charming story about a special Jack Russell Terrier puppy who must leave her first home after being adopted by her forever family. She is worried about moving to a new home and leaving her friends and family behind.

As her first car ride comes to an end, Maggie gets a glimpse of her new home for the first time, a three-story brick and stone house at the end of a long and winding concrete pathway. After several days of exploring, Maggie discovers some favorite places and quickly falls into a familiar routine. She even makes friends with the birds and squirrels that inhabit the enclosed yard!

Change can be difficult, but Maggie soon realizes that, with the love and support of her new family, she has become comfortable and content with her new surroundings. This place is her home and these people are her family!

Magic Mickey and the Golden Dragon

How on earth did the twins Michael and Freya become trapped on an old-fashioned pirate ship?

Michael and Freya wake up to find themselves trapped aboard “The Golden Dragon”, an old pirate ship controlled by the wicked Captain Nastypants. 

Mummy and Daddy are nowhere to be seen. 

The terrified children wonder “how did we get here”?  

More importantly, HOW DO THEY ESCAPE?

Magical Mysteries

When five children - three brothers and two sisters - huddle together at home to wait out a thunderstorm, they have no idea that they are about to experience a magical, sometimes frightening, but always spiritual journey into the distant past.

The world they find themselves is full of fantastical creatures such as evil locusts, stubborn mules, giant caterpillars, and cherubs. As they go on a journey, they witness the miraculous influence of ‘Jaycee’ and realise the importance of following his actions and how to apply them to their own lives.

Magikal Mumbai Flavours

‘Food and culture go hand in hand; as life moves on, we win some and we  lose some. There are times where we have to learn to adapt, infusing our  life with flavours. So far, my life – including my journey from the  classroom to the restaurant – has been blessed with some very old as  well as very new recipes of warmth and love.‘Basic Indian cooking  revolves around a healthy lifestyle, and in this wholesome book you will  learn to cook old regional dishes like Malvani chicken (from  Maharashtra on India’s west coast), Mangshore jhol lamb (from Kolkata on  the east coast),  Laccha paratha (from the north), Kerala lamb curry  (from the south coast), as well as modern fusion dishes from the global  food village, such as Mexican chimichangas, Arabic ouzi, Mexican chaat,  butter chicken pizza and spiced pesto fried rice – all with an Indian  twist.‘It has been an absolute pleasure and source of pride to share  the tips and tricks I have inherited to make Indian cooking an  experience for you, whether you are cooking alone or with your family  and friends.’CHEF SEEMA DALVI

Main Attraction

Have you ever dreamed of meeting your favourite celebrity, your dream guy. They are just like us norms. They dress the same way, just have better clothes, more money. Imagine getting to know the real person. The fame and celebrity is just their job, it isn’t who they are. Can fate and destiny really bring opposites together to fall in love? Enjoy Sandy’s adventure with fate and destiny. Will she find true love for once, friendship, heartache or will it just be a dream? Will she get everything she has ever wanted?

Making Old Bones

Gramwell Glade is Making Old Bones.

A care home, purpose built around a Georgian folly castle façade in Essex, Gramwell Glade is making a fortune for business developer Akin Akindele who, armed with an MBA foresaw that high end care homes were going to return significant returns on his investment.

It’s Making Old Bones of Pauline Graves’ career since moving from hospitality to head up the staff at Gramwell Glade and putting her misplaced hopes in a liaison with Akindele.

It’s Making Old Bones of the dedicated carers who support its sundowners while supporting their own families on the small fiscal returns their efforts bring on the ‘living wage’.

It’s laying old bones to rest. For many of the residents their time at Gramwell Glade is their first experience of surrender when it comes to real life responsibilities. That onus now falls to their ‘children’ who now have their parents’ Powers of Attorney and who are handing over the funds that would otherwise satisfy a mortgage sufficiently large enough to buy their own castle.

If we know someone who works in the care sector or spends their twilight years in a home, if we visit family or friends who have moved on into residential care, make no bones about it, something like the Gramwell Glade experience could come to us all.

Malory's Grail

The final book in The Malory Trilogy relates how Sir Thomas Malory’s dying wish to see his great work Le Morte D’Arthur safely placed in Winchester Priory is finally fulfilled by his fictional friends. Interwoven with the unfolding story of the manuscript is the historical struggle for the English throne. The dynastic upheavals of the time are inseparable from the journey of Malory’s precious manuscript from prison to print. The action moves between London and Brittany where Henry Richmond is planning his triumphant attack on the usurper, Richard III. Far away in ‘The Other Place’ Sir Tom hears the good news.