White Socks and Chalk Dust

Proof that truth is often stranger than fiction, this hilarious and poignant account of the unlikely journey of a mobile soft-drink salesman and sometime band member to school headship, is made still more compelling by virtue of the fact that all events leading up to and during this metaphorical mountain climb are entirely true…

Why I Wrote wot I Wrote

As Joanna Lumley notes in her preface, Bruce Denness has always trod a precarious path between serious science and philosophical frivolity. The science reached its peak at the British Geological Survey and Newcastle University in the 1970s but even then – and certainly since – he always looked for the funny side of whatever he was involved in, which may explain why his research has seldom been taken seriously.

Bruce was born in 1942 on a farm in the Isle of Wight, where he grew up. His career then took him to the mainland (or England, as it is known on the Isle of Wight) and several countries in the Caribbean, South America and the Far East before he settled back on the Island again in 1984. Experiences gained during those years have contributed to the many letters that Bruce has since had published, mainly in The Telegraph and New Scientist. Admittedly, some of them may also have been influenced by regular visits to The White Horse Inn at Whitwell, Isle of Wight for invigorating Shiraz treatment.

Writing in Wet Cement

All these years later, nightmares of that marriage wrack my sleep. Heart pounding, I am cowering, running, trying to escape. My whimpers awaken the man now beside me, who loves me with only sweetness, kindness and laughter. He cradles me, dragging me back from the past into the joy and safety of my current life. I stare into the darkness of the night and memories. I wonder, not why did that marriage fail, but why did I allow it to last so long? To the outside world, it looked perfect. Only my mother and closest friends knew the inside reality of my life and how I was caught in the velvet trap of psychological abuse. Jayne Lisbeth was a privileged child, yet death and loss tore apart her world from an early age. The explosion of the free love and feminist movements of the 60s and 70s provided a renaissance, which slipped away during her marriage and motherhood in the 80s. Then, discovering her mother's past secrets illuminated the connections between their generations. Through that she found the courage to escape and create a new future. In deeply personal ways, Ms. Lisbeth reveals the depths of pain and elevation of joy by sharing her most intimate life experiences through sensually evocative words and painterly writing. Writing in Wet Cement is a tale which resonates with all women.

You Don't Have to Be a Champion... to Be a Winner!

From fitting wheels to wheelbarrows in a builders’ merchant, Brian rapidly climbed the business ladder and became a Xerox salesman. He was unaware that the professional selling skills he was learning would one day propel him into the glamorous and overtly commercial world of F1.

A disastrous debut at a racing driver school was the spark that lit his passion for motor racing. Aware of the need for some serious financial backing to be able to take part, Brian embarked on a variety of highly innovative and often extremely entertaining ways of securing sponsorship, including working with the cast of a top 1970s’ BBC sit-com, as well as with John Cleese, of Monty Python fame.

A chance meeting on a plane with Max Mosley offered an opportunity of managing one of the most popular F1 Grand Prix circuits. This, in turn, led to the heady heights of a factory drive for Mercedes and the establishment of South Africa’s first racing driver school.

It was only a matter of time before Brian’s exceptional sponsorship-acquisition skills took him to F1, where he quickly made a name for himself by securing multi-million pound deals with three of the most sought after global corporations.

However, Brian’s greatest achievement in motorsport was to establish the Motorsport Industry Association in 1994, in a bid to secure government recognition of the industry in its own right. Once again, Brian’s sales skills played a key role.

Without ever becoming a household name as a motor racing champion, Brian’s story of how he most definitely became a winner is not only inspirational, but highly entertaining, amusing, often irreverent and informative.

You Don’t Have to Be a Champion... to Be a Winner is the story of Brian Sims, who left school in 1963 with just 5 GCE O-Levels and a shattered dream of following in his father’s footsteps as a Royal Air Force pilot.

Endeavour to Rise – Misdemeanours, Musings, Meditations, Mistakes and Mastery

Autobiography by way of a confessional, this book is a ramble through the author’s experiences, impressions, opinions and ideas formed over seven decades. This autobiography sees the author regret her failed relationships, financial mismanagement, folly and fecklessness. It also sees her celebrate success, achievements, courage and a lifetime of service as a nurse.This book is a call for you to recognize yourself as a unique miracle of creation. It offers some cautionary tales and urges you to rid yourself of guilt, blame and shame and to think for yourself.Exploring the eternal questions about the meaning of life e.g. ‘Why are we here?’, ‘Is there a God?’ and ‘Why is there so much suffering?’, this book invites you to reflect on your own life, your truth and your reality so you can shell your emotional baggage. It can also be seen as an exercise in vanity and self-indulgence.

A Seasonal Footprint

My journey has been of global proportions. The sometimes spectacular, sometimes sombre, often-times splendid, at times spiritual, most times satisfying, brings perspective to the distinctive scenes each season displays. Each holds its own ‘colours’.A viewing of the ever-changing landscape emphasises the where, the what and the when. But, when the traveller pauses to reflect upon an exploration, an event, the deeper meanings of life may surface in the how and the why of personal experience. A journey becomes a pilgrimage when one’s life goal is placed in the knapsack. This book offers a personal reflection on a ‘journey’ that is still on-track to ultimate reality.

Beef Cubes And Burdock

The rural landscape of John Phillpott’s boyhood has changed irrevocably over the last half-century.The elm – that celebrated ‘Warwickshire Weed’ of folklore – has been lost to disease, urban sprawl continues apace and motorways now disturb the tranquillity of fields that once knew only the sound of cattle, birdsong and the rumble of the farmer’s tractor.But paradise lost? Not quite, because the river flows on through the valley as it has done for millennia, the rook ‘parliaments’ can still be seen high overhead and the bells of the church that has stood on the hill looking out over the Swift Valley for a thousand years still call out to the faithful.Beef Cubes and Burdock is an affectionate glance over the shoulder back to a time when the pace of life was still dictated by the rhythm of the seasons rather than the touch of a computer keyboard.

Broken Heart

Broken Heart tells the story of a lifelong racing cyclist with a long list of achievement who falls down to earth with a bump on receiving the news that his heart requires urgent medical attention. David has to drop his lifelong passion and come to terms with the realisation that he will need to undergo open-heart surgery. Shock, fear, and denial are just some of the emotions he has to work through.David tells the story of how he dealt with life-threatening moments and the anxieties this news brought him, as well as the adventurous and unexpected events which unfold in the months following open-heart surgery. 

Driving in Reverse - The Life I Almost Missed

Author Lindsay Wincherauk is down on his luck and headed for midlife collapse. Working two dismal jobs to pay his trendy Yaletown rent, grieving the sudden loss of two friends and family members, and dumped by the love of his life – Lindsay looks for the nearest exit. He decides on a whim to escape to Europe with his buddy Dave. By a twist of fate, his life turns completely upside down when he attempts to renew his passport and discovers he’s the main character in a dark family secret.  Reeling from the shock, Lindsay grabs his bags and blasts through 11 countries in 31 days. Wincherauk’s story moves at breakneck speed as the author describes his flight through pain and madness, spinning into surreal side trips where he meets an inferno of wild characters. Back in Vancouver, while driving a suicidal man to work, a light goes on and Lindsay knows what he must do: write his story. He’s come precariously close to self-destructing and knows that until the hidden pieces of his life are uncovered, something would be missing. Writing his way through the dark chapters, with wit and candour, he breaks through to the other side – “reborn”.

From Rehab to Life

Whether in or out of trouble, please say this serenity prayer on a daily basis: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference." Thy will be done.

Go for It - My Journey

It was at dessert time when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew older. Still today, I do remember my answer, “An engineer, because with my Meccano set, I can build so many things.”In Go for It, Dominick Dehette recalls the heady days of the 1980s and early 1990s, when his work as an engineering consultant took him to southern Africa, China and all over Asia at especially interesting political times.Dehette’s account combines an engaged eye for detail with the more-philosophical viewpoint of the seasoned traveller.

Kicking on

Kicking On by Andrew Jobling is the account of one man's journey from a very unlikely professional footballer to personal trainer, cafe owner and finally ‘Accidental Author'.Funny, candid and poignant, Kicking On is a fly-on-the-wall account of life as a young sportsman and the personal journey which ensues for Andrew Jobling following his dismissal from the St Kilda Football Club. The author's self-awareness and observation has led to this frank and humorous account of self-development, life's highs and lows, honesty and a desire ultimately to share his experiences and acquired wisdom with the wider world. This is the great debate about how much is fate and how much of life comes down to our own choices. What comes across strongly in Kicking On is the desire to teach, inform and to instruct - because Andrew Jobling has found the true meaning of life and his life in particular, an understanding which many search for and which pass some by completely. Pithy and without self-pity, this book will shed a little light into the lives of everyone who reads it.