Tales from the Sea

Tales of the Sea is a semi-autobiographical novel based on my life at sea between 1957 and 1969.

In its pages the reader will meet the characters with whom I sailed and their antics. They will experience nights ashore and visit through my eyes exotic places. Read about the different ships, old and new as they plough across the oceans carrying the products of the world Throughout there is the sea and its dangers. The sea can be angry or benevolent.

The essence of the novel can be summed up in a poem:

The Call

The sea is calling, always calling

Even when the sailor has long left voyaging behind.

The sea calls, ever calls,

Over the noise of this sometimes dreadful life.

To sail away , to leave this life behind,

But to where?

That is what adds to the thrill.

Let the voyage be long or short,

Let the oceans be calm or fierce,

In the urge to sail away,

Lies man's eternal quest

For something new.

Why oh why does man always strive after the new

When accepting the present would save a lot of heart ache.

It has long been a mystery to me but,

More than in any other profession,

The sea  offers a greater chance to satisfy this need.

The sailor never arrives

Because each new port is a stepping stone to the next

And on to the next

Until the nomadic lifestyle grows too much.

It maybe that the sailor observes other people

Settling into a pattern of life which brings rewards

Such things as family and home,

Anchored to other views of living

Rather than constantly on the move.

So the sailor leaves the sea

And puts down roots.

Or does he?

The sound of a seagull screaming ,

The wind moaning around the roof of his house 

The sound of waves lapping on the shore

Will awaken in the hidden recesses of his mind

The longing to feel the excitement once more

As the ship goes silent,

Ready to leave for the sea.

It can be purchased through Amazon, smashwords and createspace.

Princess Daphne

My latest fantasy novel PRINCESS DAPHNE has just been published at www.createspace.com
It is the forth in the Rombuli Saga series.

' It has been six years since the war between the elves of the Golden City and the invading Black Elves from Nelwee who came through a time and place rift from another planet. After the defeat of the Black Elves on the Sacred Mountain, Edward Eastland had found a way to send them back through the rift. 
Since then Edward has been missing the tension and fear that had been part of his every day life during the war. At times now he could almost feel the tingle when he entered an alien space. At times he missed the fast beating heart while creeping through enemy territory. Then there had been the pulling in of his power to help his friends or himself when they had encountered danger. All this had been missing over the six years.
He had settled down as the appointed Governor of Rombuli and Sandaria. Times were peaceful. His daughter and son were growing up. Kitty, his wife thanked her God every night that her family were together and safe.
One day with no warning the dragon Umbrossa lands in meadow behind his home with a message from the elves of the Golden City. An alien creature has been captured wandering the streets of the Golden City. It does not speak their language but can speak his name. A search deep in his memory could not bring forth any knowledge of an alien creature that might know his name. Curiosity started to infuse his thinking. If he answers the call of the elves, will this draw him back into the world he thought he had left for ever?'

This novel follows from:
THE TEACHER OF THE ROMBULI
THE RETURN OF THE EXILES
THE PRISONER OF PARISON.

All can be purchased as paperbacks from www.createspace.com or www.amazon.com or www.amazon.co.uk
As an ebook from www.smashwords.com, www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk for downloading to kindle, ibooks and other ebook electronic readers.

A Legacy from Mary

My second thriller follows on from the first Brotherly Love.

A Legacy from Mary

Ken Flood was an academic and events in the wider world did not effect his life. Then his friends Joshua and Mary were killed. The only connection was a country called Mengambi, Joshua was a Mengambian and Maria untook short courses in the country. Suddenly Ken was caught up in the game of power excersised in Mengambi when he agreed to take Mary’s place teaching on the short courses in Mengambi. What he wanted to find out was if there was more to his friends deaths than reported. Can he survive the pressure from his employer in Mengambi and the request by his brother to gather information.

This can be downloaded from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, ibooks and other ebook readers.

As a paperback from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk and www.createspace.com.

Brotherly Love

My first thriller novel!
Can be downloaded as an ebook from kindle, ibooks and other sites for ereaders.
As a paperback from www.createspace.com, www.amazon.com or www.amazon.co.uk

This is a story about fear, of somebody out of his depth in a world made strange to him by events he cannot fully comprehend.
It is a novel about Ken Flood being pulled by family loyalties along paths of experience which would be best left unexplored.
Ken Flood lives a quiet life with his wife, Doreen, and two daughters in Plymouth, working as a lecturer in the University. He minds his own business and is relatively happy with life. Until, that is, his brother Norman arrives unexpectedly one day asking for help. Norman works for the government or so Ken assumes.  What his brother asks appears to Ken to verge on an attempt pull him into the murky waters on the edges of crime. Ken has to decide quickly whether to help his brother out of brotherly love or let his brother face his unknown pursuers alone.
Reluctantly Ken agrees to help and soon finds himself outside the law, being chased by people he does not know, trying to deliver a mysterious package, given to him by his brother, to a man he has never met in London.  Along the way there are chance encounters with people who through friendship are willing to help.
Will Ken manage to stay ahead of his pursuers? Can he keep those who help him safe from intimidation? Will he find out who are his friends and who are his enemies? Is his brother using him to hide his own criminal activities?

Womens' equality

I was lying in bed drinking my mug of tea when I heard an item on the news which made me sit up. Luckily I did not spill the tea. It was a woman telling girls that they should take up cheerleading to get exercise. There appeared to be no hint what this implied. It means the girls putting on small skirts and tight blouses to stand waving pom poms at the side of the pitch while their men go out to play sport. Sport is not for girls. Leave it to the macho men. It has always stuck me as strange that in the land where feminism is entrenched there is still this idea that women should stand around and cheer on their men.
Then I got to thinking further. There is still a tendency in the shops to have areas for girls toys and for boys toys.Girls have dolls etc. boys have cars. The packaging for girls is pink, for boys blue. Even Lego has gone along with this trend in designing Lego for girls and boys.

In my latest fantasy novel Princess Daphne, King Ironbrew of the Iron Hills dwarfs said. “ Bancudgel why did you let Dustin and Organta go with this Edward Eastland? Especially Organta. Fighting is no business of a female dwarf. They should be at home providing a comfortable place for the dwarfs to return to. Their place in life is to cook, clean and look after males needs. That includes producing an heir.”

It strikes me that in a great deal of society this is still the case. What a great deal of talent and skill is being wasted.

C0-0p

A question that rings through my head. I wake up to the COE of the Co-Op threatening to resign because somebody leaked his salary details. Then we hear his projected earnings are to be over £3 million. This is absolutely unbelievable. When he was appointed  the CEO of the Co-Op he must have had some knowledge of what business he was joining. What he wants to do is change the nature of the busines. The only trouble with that idea is that the new organisation would not be the co-op. It would be just like any other retailer.
It occurs to me that the co-op should set an example to all other businesses. Why does somebody feel that their contribution is more than 100 times greater than the lowest paid worker. They might think they are superior but by that magnitude?
Maybe a system where basic pay for the boss was 10 times the lowest salary. On top of this there should be a bonus pool at the end of the year. Everybody employed should then share the bonus according to their wages. This way all contributions to success would be recognised.
If the CEO of the co-op is so upset at earning 100 times other employees he should go.

Book Promotion

Have just submitted some of my ebooks into the smash words read an ebook week. The promotion discount off the price of the books for one week.
Tales from the Sea is now at 75% off
The Teacher of the Rombuli, The Return of the Exiles and The Prisoner of Parison at 50% discount.

To see go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/category/1/newest/1