Weirdo Tales for the Littlie Mind

dear reader,

i must warn you that the following may entice you to a collection of stories that could leave you feeling curious and even a little odd. in these pages you will meet the part of me that is still a littlie, who often played alone finding solace in the sanctuary of imagination, yet struggled with the desire for a friend. don’t be fooled by the seemingly ordinary plot lines, there is more to these stories than meets the eye. within these pages you will find contentious topics that challenge societal norms, or stories that encourage children to think critically and form their own opinions, all in the hope to provide a neo-pedagogy-of-mutual-child-adult-parenting-experience. 

while these stories are perfect for littlies who may be eager to explore the weird world of the self, this children’s book is for all.

and while the tales may seem strange, they are full of magic, dreamy adventures of self-discovery and journeys of growth, hope and renewal. you’ll learn the joys of decluttering the mind from dull forgettable thoughts. you’ll witness the magic of watching something grow and thrive. you may learn the lesson that true comfort can come in the simplest of forms. the endless, arduous journey to search for true friendship is matched by the raw emotional struggles of our weird and wondrous mind. 

so if you are brave enough to venture into the world of the weirdo tarot, i invite you to turn the pages and explore the mysterious and peculiar, weirdo tales for the littlie mind.

yours weirdly,

the weirdo tarot

(be weird it’s normal)

Whatever It Takes

In 1915, the world is in turmoil. A war, the likes of which has never been seen, involves much of the known world. An Englishman, John Norton Griffiths, proposes using miners to tunnel under the enemy lines and destroy them from below. Once his idea is accepted, other countries of the Empire decide to raise similar tunnelling companies. Canada, New Zealand and Australia provide companies of men, drawn from mining and trades backgrounds, to assist in the defeat of an aggressive enemy, intent on domination.

These men are asked to do the unthinkable, in less than satisfactory settings. They dig long tunnels and blow up hundreds of men at a time, whilst all the time, not knowing how close the enemy was to them, trying to do the same thing. For these men it was a war in the dark, a war of nerves. Some held, some did not.

We follow the life of one man through his wars, the one he is fighting without and the one he is fighting within, whilst at the same time, he falls in love, however improbable it may seem. We experience how the decisions of one person can continue to impact several generations after.

When Lily Ponds Ripple

ENTWINED LIVES

A SECRET THAT RIPS THEM APART

TWINS ON A TURBULENT VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY

A sugar plantation, a waterlily pond, and a decades-old deception are the backdrop for When Lily Ponds Ripple. It is a forceful narrative about the West Indian twins, Florence and Charlotte Montague. Their rivalry for the same man underscores just how close loyalty and betrayal are.

The revelation of a family secret takes the Barbadian sisters from their sheltered island to London and Germany. In Frankfurt, Florence becomes a notable author, while Charlie’s career leads her from the London stage to Hollywood. Despite their geographical separation, the sisters cannot escape one another, far less their shared history. To face the future, they must confront the past together.

When the Knives Rattle in the Drawer

Ryan Tanner is an average family man battling alcohol and the demons from his childhood, while struggling as a husband and a father. Drowning in a life that often makes no sense, he turns to an insightful, no-nonsense psychologist as a last resort to try and save his volatile, but altogether beautiful marriage with his beloved wife Tess. Surrounded by Ryan’s drinking, memories of their traumatic childhoods and the gut-wrenching lows of married life, When the Knives Rattle in the Drawer is a cathartic recount about understanding the damage that life can cause and searching for the strength to be the best partner and parent possible.

Set in two different worlds, the story evolves between the couple’s small-town family life and wild, alcohol fuelled nights in the inner suburbs of Sydney. After meeting at 17 years old, they have been married for 23 years and play a simple game: 20 questions, ask anything you want. They explore every aspect of trust, love, fidelity and desire before they go to the club. A club where they enter a world of primal sexual energy, a world where wild things happen.

When ‘Will’ is More Than ‘Won’t’ - Your Journey Begins

I’ve always been a dreamer, wanting more from life than it was giving me, whilst still making the best of what it did.

I never thought in my darkest moments, or wildest dreams, that one day I would, with my partner of ten years David, find myself in a Land Rover we called Lizzybus driving around the world.

If I had imagined this, it would have been nothing like the reality of it, of blistering hot desserts, snow-covered mountains, civil wars, and uprisings, with our life depending on each other and Lizzybus.

From the very first moment I stepped foot on African soil, I wrote about the reality of living two feet from your other half 24 hours a day. The intimacy, hygiene, isolation, and loneliness, so far removed from my life to this point. But slowly, without even realizing it, it became part of me, and me it, seeing only the wonder, the joy, and the privilege.

Whispering Shadows

Money, the need of an estranged parent, paedophiles or trafficking, these are the usual motives for kidnappers. If their plans fail, fear and panic may end in murder.

It is June 1995 in Sydney, Australia. Detective Chief Inspector Martin Janson is investigating a heinous crime: a small boy is missing. It appears random, and motiveless. Janson is frustrated, there are no witnesses and few clues.

A troubled Irishman who is said to have a ‘mysterious gift’ which he uses in the TV show ‘Spirits and Mind-blowing Magic’. His manager, a flamboyant, loud showman; a known paedophile, a children’s entertainer and a Scotsman, are all suspects.

The Irishman, Kieran Madigan, may be a phony, and his ‘mysterious gift’ a nonsense, thought up for the TV show. Barchester, his manager, is a liar and a fraud, but does that make him guilty?

In Melbourne, where two women are found dead, a Scotsman is a major suspect. A Scot was seen near the scene of the crime in Sydney; is there a connection?

Detective Chief Inspector Janson and his team race the clock to solve the mystery and find the murderers before it is too late to save the child.

Yuck! Food is from where...?

On each of the adventures, our characters get caught up in situations sometimes exciting, sometimes dangerous, and sometimes comical. Along with a host of other interesting characters attached to their adventures, these stories are written to help introduce children to a new way of looking at something that may ordinarily present a challenge. The adventures attached to discovering new tastes will have the reader and listener alike drawn into what happens next as both fun and danger await our brother and sister trio on their quest for information about how our food is grown and produced.

A Kaleidoscope Of New Fairytales

The book offers new fairytales. Fairytales are a magical and ageless genre appealing to all ages.

The tales open up a fascinating and wonderful world in which children and adults can be in touch with the endless beauty of being human and magical at the same time.

They offer the reader experiences of witches and wizards and dragons and trolls and many more fairytale creatures in a new and enchanting light.

A Village Betrayed

A poignant story of the impact of war on a defenceless French village during the Second World War. Four courageous villagers join the Maquis, the Resistance in Vichy occupied France, to protect their families. They are swept into a treacherous conflict where one false word or brave action can result in the torture and death of people they know and love.  One old man and a young girl survive the savage destruction that wipes out the whole community.This novel uses the recorded history of the devastation of many rural villages in the Aveyron, Lot and Tarn departments of the Midi-Pyrénées. Oradour-sur-Glane in the Haute-Vienne Department is a famous memorial to the brutality of the Second World War.

An IT Contractor Life

This book is an excursus of Max’s career in both data and analytics, in general I.T., and the heavy metal underground of Italy in the mid-80s. This dichotomy has characterised Max’s adult life, which is highlighted in the book and everything Max does with his spare time. Sometime filled with sad moments, some hilarious stories and some great advice for I.T. professionals and metal heads alike, it’s mainly the story of a man like you and me who cannot say no to anybody and has a focus and resilience that only a few possess.

Human Emotions

Each and everyone of us has our own human emotions. Days can be filled with happiness whereas other days can be full of sadness. The uniqueness of one’s emotions can very rarely be understood by others. It is really difficult if not impossible to tell others how you feel or for them to understand how you are feeling. I have tried in this book to cover the inner most boundaries of human emotions splitting my poems into different realms of human thought. Hope, fate and destiny, joy, life, the world, loneliness, love, regrets, religion and the future are all covered in this book. I hope the reader can relate to and understand my poems and bring some perspective and reasoning towards their life. We are all not the same and never can be but we all have a heart and soul. By identifying these moments of thought I hope I can bring perspective and understanding to the reader. I hope you enjoy my book. 

Kidnapped

In 1990, Alice Weil was kidnapped in Colombia and held captive in a dark, windowless cell for 269 days. She tells the story of how she found the resources hidden deep inside her to survive captivity without taking her own life, losing her sanity or developing Stockholm syndrome. Instead, she was able to remain calm and courageous, always being polite and making conversation to her captors and using her time in ways that she would later be able to draw upon her daily life. The story tells of how she realised that experience contributed to who she is today and upon her release, she was able to face her beloved father's passing, continue being a devoted mother and wife, and lead a normal, productive life. She also learned that she was capable of closing the gap caused by the time she was not part of her family's life or the outside world.