-
Two definitions: Poetry is human speech. Poetry is maximal language. The Letter Box is both. In the ancient Chinese form Qing Ping, syllabic verse comprising two quatrains (4/5/7/6, 6/6/6/6), the poems are spare and lucid, eminently readable. Yet, dense in syntax, prosody, imagery, and allusion, they can be demanding, lending themselves to contemplation and explication. They are also funny and sardonic. The nostalgic voice, in reference to letters and other old forms, is wry and double-edged. The human speech is primarily mine – of course, the authorial voice. But each poem also has a speaker independent of me. The maximal language? That is also my responsibility. But it is principally your language as interpreters with the power – by reading them aloud – to make the poems your own.
The Letter Box
Writers, readers,
Senders, receivers,
Signifiers, signifieds,
Once connected us all.
Look in the letter box,
There you’ll find a packet,
Open it now, and read
My hundred poems for you.
£7.99 -
Kerry, an eighteen-year-old sixth-form student, attends her Grandad’s funeral and learns something she never expected: he was a war hero.
At the wake, she is guided to a secret box hidden in the attic. Inside, she finds documents and items that reveal a side of her grandfather’s life she never knew existed. Before settling down to raise a family, he lived a life filled with mystery, courage, and hidden connections.
He leaves her with a task: to tell his story.
What Kerry uncovers includes secrets, foreign ties, and truths so extraordinary they seem stranger than fiction.
£9.99 -
As he grows older, Alex Melas becomes determined to uncover the true story of his grandfather’s grandfather. He has heard much about this remarkable ancestor and sets out to learn more about the man known as Heinrich.
When Heinrich was eight years old, his father would read to him each night from Homer’s Iliad. The boy would imagine the ancient city of Troy vividly, dreaming of its lost grandeur and the landscape that once surrounded it. But when Heinrich turns ten, tragedy strikes. His mother dies of grief after learning about her husband's long-time affair, and Heinrich is forced to leave school due to financial hardship.
For years, the dream of Troy seems lost. But thirty years later, as many men do at the age of forty, Heinrich remembers the passion of his youth. Now a wealthy man, he sets off in search of the ancient city.
To the world’s astonishment, he finds it. Yet in uncovering Troy, Heinrich discovers something even more profound: he finds himself.
£7.99 -
The Fantastical Chronicles of Montgomery Plum
Satan’s had enough of Halloween. It’s become as dull as dishwater, and it’s beginning to make her miserable. This wasn’t what Halloween was supposed to be about when she created it. Halloween was supposed to be her night of fun. Her very own, very special night of fun. Her very own, very special night of fun, when she can murder and torture and torment anyone she pleases, and as much as she pleases. That’s what Halloween was supposed to be all about. That was real fun.
So now she’s knocking the whole thing on the head and having one last Halloween party that will live forever in the fears of everyone. And she’s bringing friends along as well. But unfortunately for Satan, the Universe had decided to level things up and provide her with a bit of competition... just as it should be.
And so, as Satan and her gang of hell hounds entered the Old Chapel expecting an easy slaughter for her last hoorah, what she got was something completely different. And a lot bloodier than she could ever have expected. Now that’s real fun.
£9.99 -
Tales from the North and West!
Llandudno and York, I love them both equally! One for the sea, smells and aromas that float about the place, and the big seaside skies and the light they give off. The other, for its ‘past’! A ‘past’ that consumes me completely as I step onto its pavements and breathe in its air.
But are these tales true, I hear you ask? Well, all I can say for certain is that there is some semblance of truth in all of them. As there is some truth in most things that we come across. Some characters were still alive at the time of writing and publication. Those that died are sadly still dead. Some of the events in these pages really did happen. I can testify to that personally because I witnessed some of them for myself.
That is all I shall say on the matter. It is up to you now, the reader, to decide for yourselves.
I can say no more.
£8.99 -
Inspector Dillon and the Case of the Serial Killer
It’s 1950, and Harry Dillon, an Irish, Oxford-educated young detective inspector at Scotland Yard, finds himself drawn into a chilling new case. The investigation begins with the murder of a young woman in Whitechapel, her body left with an unusual clue: a black knight chess piece. Soon after, a second murder occurs, leaving behind another chess piece – a black bishop. As the killings continue, Fleet Street seizes on the macabre story, branding the culprit a ‘chess-crazed serial killer’ and drawing chilling parallels to Jack the Ripper.
Harry Dillon is no stranger to complex cases. With the help of his close friend and future brother-in-law, DI Jim Wilson-Smythe, Harry previously solved the case of the Missing Girl, which began with a murder in a remote Cornish cemetery. Jim is now engaged to Harry’s younger sister, Milly, while Harry himself shares a budding romance with Jim’s sister, Katherine. Adding to the mix is Sarah, Harry’s confidante and neighbour in London, who also played a vital role in his earlier investigation.
As the chess-themed killings escalate, Harry faces a web of suspects, red herrings, and cryptic motivations. Determined to uncover the truth, he unravels the bizarre trail of clues in a case that grows increasingly difficult and complex. But can Harry catch the killer before more lives are lost?
£9.99 -
This book is a collection of short stories which convey a message of warmth, friendship, helping others, self-belief and being re-united with something. They are imbued with moral values which help children to develop and differentiate between things that are right and wrong.
£8.99 -
Professor Shultz, working at a London hybridisation zoology centre, has achieved the unachievable by artificial fertilisation, creating the monster of all snakes. He successfully crossbred the largest venomous snake, the King Cobra, with the largest constricting snake, the Anaconda, producing an exceedingly large, very aggressive, and extremely dangerous snake he called The Kingaconda. This huge serpent can kill either by constriction or a venomous bite.
The Kingaconda escapes from the facility, going on a killing spree and viciously killing anything and everything that crosses its path.
Detective Inspectors Brett Webb and Brandon Walker are deployed to track down and kill the monster before the death count continues to rise.
£9.99 -
This is an inspiring, engaging and entertaining read, combining clear experience and knowledge with a powerful authorial voice. It is a challenging book, written with an authority based on knowledge, research and personal experience. It examines in considerable detail various aspects of our Christian Faith, based on an intriguing and perceptive survey of the major characters whose lives illuminate the pages of the Bible. The author’s informal style engages the reader, regardless of personal faith or prior conviction, whilst the depth of research and analysis, presented with clarity and striking honesty, provide a contemporary and relevant insight into the love of God for humanity. The assured writing style, attention to detail and clarity of the arguments set out in this work will intrigue and fascinate the reader and provide a clearer understanding of God’s purpose in this troubled world.
Surely a ‘must read’ for the enquiring mind.
£9.99 -
A Most Extraordinary Journey of Self-discovery
Saint Germain:
“Thank you for the opportunity that
I may come and speak with each one of you,
and in each case it is a delight
to my heart to experience you. It is
an affirmation in two directions of
our being and therefore every
conversation is worthy when we
approach it in this way.And live your
lives please, if you may, if you
choose, if you will, if you want, in that
same manner, so that every
conversation matters, every
interaction counts, and everything
is done with the highest
intention possible.ӣ18.99 -
A young woman answers a knock on her door and her whole world begins to fall apart. And from that moment Jarnie, of mixed race, lives in constant fear that the man she loves will discover that she is not the person she was born to be.
The uninvited caller sets this fast-moving love-story thriller alight with conflicting yet heart-warming racial tensions between Greg, her brother, and Jago, her white lover, in a country of upside-down values. All three become, directly and indirectly, enmeshed in gun-running activities to bring down a racist government. Both are hunted by security forces and though Greg and Jago have opposing views on insurrection, they must work uneasily together against a common adversary who wants them both dead.
Neither Foe nor Friend is a riveting adventure story with great psychological impact that will make readers pause for moments to ruminate on some scarcely believable true-to-life events.
£9.99 -
For the Londoners in this collection of short stories, the city is a challenging environment. A maze of brick, concrete and glass, it crowds people together, pushes them into places they don’t want to go and incessantly reminds them of their smallness. Here, people are surrounded by neighbours but feel alone. They long for greenery but are confronted by grey. Cut off from others and cut off from nature, they measure seasons by the ebb and flow of emotion rather than by the passing of weeks and months.
These city dwellers cope as well as they can with the problems they face. Their stories recount with gentle humour quirky incidents and unexplained events amongst the contradictions and absurdities of everyday life. An undignified tube ride to work, a landlord bent on eviction, and the opinion of drinking mates—these are the things that shape the lives of the Londoners in Seasons in the City. Some stories are uplifting; others are much darker. As they unfold, they reveal their heroes’ concerns, insecurities, aspirations and, above all, obsessions.
Although each separate story stands on its own, taken together they provide a kaleidoscopic impression of London, a portrait of the city seen through the eyes of those living there. London, after all, is the sum of its inhabitants. It is left to the reader to decide whether that sum suggests spring will triumph or if the city is headed for permanent winter.
£7.99
Discover