Jacaranda, Mr James

James Harris has a busy, professional life in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital. He needs a complete break, and returns to the subtropical Island of Madeira, to its capital, Funchal, in spring and autumn. There is a slight air of mystery about Mr James as the locals call him. He likes to be incognito, but also a bit of a socialite. He likes to wine and dine, and considers himself a bit of a gourmet.His taste in music is electric. His tapping feet can lead him to the dance floor, with relish!He is not normally an emotional man but, one afternoon, in the square by the cathedral, he has an unexpected and profound emotional experience – a thought-provoking experience.All his senses are explored on this subtropical island. And, of course, the sight of the vibrant, purple-blue Jacaranda trees features heavily in James’ daily life, as he strolls along the avenues of Funchal.James is presented with opportunities which he simply cannot refuse, and quite unexpectedly, he becomes the ‘main attraction’ on the dance floor, with the lady of his dreams! Does James lead a double life? Mr James can be incognito, a suspected spy, a man of mystery, yet a socialite, and sociable with it! Who exactly is Mr James? 

Jack the Ripper?

Readers are transported to Victorian London and introduced to Inspector Doyle, a modern-day detective with eternal life, who discovers that he has been wrongly named as ‘Jack the Ripper’, the Victorian serial killer. Nobody wants that label at any time in history, so with the aid of time travel he returns to the year 1888 in an attempt to clear his name.

Another complication for Inspector Doyle is that his modern-day daughter, Flora, who he has left behind to travel back several centuries, is becoming increasingly suspicious of her father’s identity. This is after making her way into his Shrewsbury study, that she is forbidden to enter.

The only good thing about returning to 1888 is that Inspector Doyle is able to rekindle his relationship with daughter Alice and wife Eleanor, who he had to leave behind all those centuries ago. Alice can then only but marvel at her father’s abilities to answer a question that only he knows the answer to, because he has travelled into the future and back.

The story references many Victorian objects that have been meticulously researched and then used to tell a story that is only possible through time travel and a rather clever inventor who may or may not be still alive. Many elements of the original Jack the Ripper case are also detailed as are the horrors of Whitechapel.

Find out whether Inspector Doyle manages to clear his name by discovering who the real Jack the Ripper is, and expect a twist at the end that involves both daughters and a Victorian book that, unlike the rest of Inspector Doyle’s objects, is unable to exist in parallel between the two time zones.

Jasmine and the Wisdom of Trees

Just imagine that we can find all the answers to our questions in Mother Nature.

Jasmine is looking for her dog, Woof, and does not know if she is wise and strong enough to find him. The trees in the forest are wise and tell her what she can do.

Jimbo's Assumption

Homo sapiens: development is deviating from projections. With 10 billion Earth-years of galactic experience, the Intelligence, the ethereal presence led by the Energy Masters, discerns something special in this complex creature and its accelerating scientific capabilities.

Their sub-processor and Earth project manager will surely explain. After 100,000 years with his client, the Homo sapiens, can 221 offer enlightenment?

Jimbo, a hesitant hero, knew that Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital, was a great place to grow up and study science. Summer, 1996: pleasingly unexceptional, with good friends in a wonderful city. The recent creation of Dolly the Sheep gave him vacation work, cataloguing mathematical models. Happy days. Until his sleep is interrupted by the nebulous 221, obliging him to rescue the models from nocturnal thieves. A chase ensues, across and underneath the city, but armed gangsters are no match for Jimbo’s new night vision and his galactic minder, 221. The police are doubtful.

221 tries to account for his client’s extraordinary progress, while the Energy Masters struggle from suspicion through bemusement to inconclusiveness. Fortunately, Jimbo participates, while he sleeps.

A story of human development, described to our hero in 100 seconds. Meet an eclectic assortment of scientific wizards who created our modern world. Humour exists, galactically rare. 221 believes the human brain is the galaxy’s most complex machine, running on only 20 watts.

Set in beautiful Edinburgh and the wider Milky Way.

Joint Enterprise

On a winter’s night, in a grubby alleyway, in a northern town, Josh, a 17-year-old A Level student, is found stabbed to death.

The police investigation soon focuses on the four people who were in the alleyway with him that night – Josh’s girlfriend, Naomi and three members of a local gang, involved in drugs and violence.

The three gang members are charged but the police start to look more closely at Naomi. New evidence emerges which seems to point to Naomi.

Could Naomi be complicit with the gang? Is she a victim or a suspect? Or are the police looking in the wrong place? Soon her lawyers become Naomi’s only hope of a life beyond this nightmare.

An emotional exploration of the impact of a murder on family and friends combined with the roller coaster ride of twists and turns which make for a high-profile criminal investigation and trial.

Journey to a New Life

This is a story about the long and traumatic journey of two hard working Irish families at the time of the great famine and potato blight in Ireland in the mid nineteenth century when the country was governed from London and the poor were suffering greatly from starvation and disease.

The Doyle and the Gill families both became victims of the arrogant and ignorant son of the local landlord and magistrate and were forced to leave the land of their birth.

In different ways they suffered on the first sea leg of their respective journeys to the port of Liverpool in England where they became united.

They decided that their eventual destination was Canada and to achieve that dream they had to earn enough money by working for an extended period in Liverpool and industrial Lancashire.

Finally, they travelled by sailing ship to Canada. How would they fare? Would their dream eventually come true?

Journey to the Centre of Ourselves

Journey to the Centre of Ourselves is a path into discovering who we really are. It speaks the stories of fantasy and real life. It encourages us to live for the now, laugh in the moment and love whoever we desire. Life’s too short for anything else. It has assisted me in walking through my past to discover who I was, the present to stay the course and the future to reassure myself that living my dreams is a star to always reach for. No matter what they are, I encourage the readers of this book to do the same. Create, walk and cherish your own path of dreams. Know that your head and heart work together to make sure your life shines as brightly as the dreams you follow. It may take more courage, strength and preservation than maybe anything has before but, as cliché as this sounds, I’m a small-town girl with a big dream and I’m getting to live it. As long as your heart is in everything you want, never be afraid to dream. One more thing to you riveted readers out there; no matter how alone or in the dark you may feel, there is always light. That light always stays, never diminishes and provides all of us with the inner strength we need.

Journey's Bend

A poignant collection of short stories with a vivid mix of relatable characters confronting a bend in the road. The lucid prose, rich in imagery, illuminates people’s unyielding courage in challenging times.

Dealing with bereavement, displacement and renewal, the creative tales twist and turn through the vagaries of life. In the opening story, Gran absconding from a care home makes her escape in a red Reliant Robin, an epochal vehicle from her courtship days. Courageously, in ‘Wind Horse’, Maggie harnesses her wild emotions and canters on to fresh green meadows.

Using varied settings and compelling voices of all ages, Journey’s Bend celebrates the resilience of the human spirit. Tinged with humour, the touching stories will resonate with a wide range of readers scrambling through change.

Jupiter

The story of Isaac Marcu Moritz and the great affliction of his childhood caused by a lightning bolt launched by Jupiter, god of the sky, the father of gods and men, and the patron of Rome. 

The bolt kills his aged mentor whose knowledge of history and languages is transferred to the traumatised mind of the boy. He is plagued throughout his life by visions and torment of Rome’s ancient rulers and gods.

Growing up on the family farm his skill in the capture of flies by hand learned by watching his grandmother’s action while at the packing table leads to success in rural land sales and a posting in a university entomology research program of hand-fly-capture. He establishes Snap-Zap-Solutions with the aim of eradicating the pestilence to improve the human condition.

Will he ever understand himself enough to empathise or forever live in abeyance wondering who or what is really driving his life?

Justifiable Killings

Derek Hardy, a reserved man living in a Manhattan apartment, has long been haunted by memories of relentless bullying from his past. These scars have manifested as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and haunting nightmares. To cope, Derek has relied on meditation and visualization techniques, often imagining the bullies meeting grim fates.

However, when these coping mechanisms falter, Derek’s suppressed emotions threaten to overwhelm him. Succumbing to his darkest impulses, he embarks on a chilling spree, exacting revenge on those who tormented him, starting with his boss, Desmond Buckley.

This tale delves into the profound effects of trauma and the dangerous consequences of emotions left unchecked, illustrating how even the most unassuming individual can be pushed to the brink.

Justin At Large

When Millicent Pemberton’s acting career comes to a disastrous end, she seduces a wealthy Scottish Duke and moves into his impressive castle. Pregnant with Justin she raids the Duke’s safe and disappears with a fortune in banknotes.

22 years later, a fiercely dominating mother, Millicent and her American lover move to the USA selling her family home, leaving him to be introduced into an alien world.

A Pandora’s box of events challenges his sanity. He’d been arrested and jailed briefly for a trumped-up charge of rape. Mentally, physically and sexually abused by a collection of crazy women (including a randy teacher and her class of equally randy 16-year-old schoolgirls).

Locating his mother in the USA, Justin accompanying her to a bank is taken hostage by three armed gorillas during a raid. He is whisked away into the wilds to be harassed by a gang of women thieves. The Duke, recognising Millicent from a TV newsflash and realising Justin must be his son, races to rescue him with a bunch of mercenaries.

Justin’s story has so many unpredictable events you are forced to turn over the page to learn what happens to our guy next.

Kadazar

On the night of his birth, Kadazar, a griffin, receives a prophecy. It claims that he will become a great king of Lastania. When still a child, he befriends Evening Star, adventurous yet disliked by others for her unusual abilities.

When Kadazar turns sixteen, a cruel and powerful dragon, Midzar, invades the peaceful land of mythical creatures. Their home is changed beyond recognition. Many lives are needlessly lost.

Thrown together to get revenge on Midzar, the friends need to bond like never before…

An adventure to experience, Kadazar is the story written by an adolescent as her spine-tingling debut.