The Miseducation of Monique Ross

The Miseducation of Monique Ross, like Ms. Lauryn Hill’s debut album, is a love story: unapologetically in a league of its own with no other author ever utilizing its concept. Each chapter in the book is named after a track from the album. Monique likes to think if Lauryn Hill’s album were a book, it would be this one and vice versa.

It's a controversial feminist memoir that reads like fiction. It's unconventional, touching, strong, immersive, authentic, thought provoking, complex, emotional, powerful, intelligent, uncomfortably bold, direct, daring, unapologetic, inspiring, empowering, uplifting, raw, uncut, erotic and full of emotion and vulnerability. And its word play would leave the late great Maya Angelou proud to know she inspired it. If it could be summed up in one word, it would be self-liberating. There is something in this book for everyone, all told from Monique’s perspective.

To the author that's what sets it apart from anything else because like her, The Miseducation of Monique Ross says all the things that everyone else is afraid to say. It gives out those inner thoughts – the ones you think to yourself and maybe would share with only your closest friends or family members and sometimes simply keep to yourself because they’re that inappropriate. It touches on everything from women's issues, mental health issues, abortion, miscarriages, divorce, dating, parenting, marital issues, family, and most importantly love and other drugs.

The Most Advanced Clarinet Book

There are 50 short studies with explanations covering many new approaches to technical problems. Followed by 27 full page studies making use of these techniques, as well as covering almost every possible technical problem regarding the clarinet

The Motoring Adventures of a Baby Boomer

The author’s grandfathers were both employed by the pre-war motor industry. His singer father, John Hanson, would test John’s knowledge of car makes on the long journeys between theatres. He has seen UK car numbers increase tenfold in his lifetime and this is a personal account of his love of classic cars before their success leads to their demise.

The motor car took him around Australia; ending up in Darwin 12 months after cyclone Tracy. He explored the wilderness, whilst as a lawyer he represented the Crocodile Dundees of the Northern Territory.

He has bought over 70 cars, enjoying their beauty, the aural pleasure of the exhaust note and addictive pleasures of oil and petrol.

From Coventry to Darwin and back – an Auto Biography with a difference!

The Mystery of Operation Alphabet

For many years my knowledge of my grandfather, John Thomas Merrikin, was very limited.

All I knew of him was that he came from Amber Hill, Lincolnshire, and was for many years a police officer in Leicester. At the beginning of WW2, my grandfather was called up into the Naval Reserve first of all on HMS Devonshire, and then Stoker First Class on HMS Acasta.

8^th June 1940, grandad John Thomas Merrikin died in the Norwegian fjords after the Scharnhorst, and Gneisenau blew up HMS Acasta, and as they sank into the cruel freezing cold sea Nick Carter launched a torpedo at the Scharnhorst and damaged her quite badly.

It wasn’t until I joined the GLARAC (Glorious, Ardent, Acasta) Association in 2008 that I realised that HMS Ardent, and HMS Aircraft Carrier Glorious, were also bombed by the two German battleships – both the pride of Nazi Germany. The two British destroyers were accompanying HMS Glorious on convoy. I also became aware of a huge conspiracy as to why 1531 servicemen were killed, and only 43 servicemen survived without Admiralty intervention.

During the lockdown of 2020-2021, I decided to do some of my own research on the worst British naval catastrophe of WW2, and I began to write The Mystery Of Operation Alphabet to bring to life 8^th June 1940. I did this by putting photographs on as many names of the war dead and survivors as possible to bring them to life too. I also wrote down stories from books and articles of what happened to the war dead and survivors in their own words, and also of their loved ones, rather than writing using my own words, as I wanted the servicemen to have their own voice.

The Mystery of Operation Alphabet has endless photos of the different ships, lists of the war dead, and also I have written down as many explanations and conspiracy theories as possible as to why the three ships were blown up and 1531 men were killed. I did this by bringing to light the opinions and theories of Admiralty, naval historians, government officials, and members of the GLARAC Association so you can make up your own minds as to what happened.

One of my main aims is to bring to light the bravery of commanders Barker and Glasfurd of HMS Ardent, and HMS Acasta, plus Nick Carter, leading seaman of HMS Acasta, the man who shot the Scharnhorst, to hopefully get the government to give these men military honour and recognition for what they did on 8^th June 1940. Amazingly, even the commanders of the German battleships saluted the British ships HMS Glorious, HMS Ardent and especially HMS Acasta as they sunk in the Norwegian fjords to honour their bravery.

Last but not least, I would like to uncover why the government has kept the ships’ records under lock and key since 1940, and why they aren’t going to be made public until 2040/41.

So why not read this interesting and intriguing book to find out more?

Elaine Merrikin Trimlett Glover.

The Naked Negotiator

Would you like a higher salary? Are you nervous and unsure about how to ask? You’re not alone. Research shows that a third of men and more than half of women are uncomfortable asking for a pay rise. This is no trivial matter. Over the course of a typical career, allowing your employer to consistently pay you below the market rate for your role can deprive you of hundreds of thousands of pounds. It doesn’t have to be this way. Engaging and entertaining, The Naked Negotiator will arm you with knowledge and confidence. In what often feels like an unfair struggle between experienced, knowledgeable managers and apparently powerless employees, you need no longer fear this most daunting of career challenges.

The Needle and the Damage Done

The Needle and the Damage Done is the story of a boy from a small Irish village who became an adventurer, multi-award-winning doctor and physician to the stars. Part travelogue, part thriller, part celebrity tell-all, the memoir is a whirlwind of adventure and a fascinating insight into the colourful life of Dr Patrick Treacy.

Cosmetic doctor Patrick Treacy grew up in rural Northern Ireland during The Troubles. Determined to become a doctor, he raised money for medical school in Dublin by smuggling cars from Germany to Turkey. He studied biochemistry at Queens University Belfast and medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons. While working in a Dublin hospital, he was accidentally jabbed with a needle from an HIV patient. He took blood test after blood test for many years until he was confirmed negative. Initially overwhelmed by the experience, he moved to New Zealand, away from everyone who knew what he was going through: his girlfriend and his colleagues. Thus, he began a peripatetic existence, working as a doctor around the world. In Saddam Hussein’s Baghdad, Treacy was arrested and imprisoned, spending days wondering whether he was going to be hanged as a spy. He worked as a ship’s surgeon in California and with the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Australia. On returning to Dublin, Treacy set up the Ailesbury Clinic where he pioneered the emergent field of cosmetic dermatology, championing treatments regarding the use of botulinum toxin and dermal fillers. His award-winning research brought him numerous international accolades and many celebrity patients, including the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson, who came flocking to his door.

Central to this memoir is Treacy’s personal journey: his efforts to escape the conflict of The Troubles, coping with the fear that he may have contracted HIV, getting over his lost love and surviving the crippling Irish recession. Most of all, it gives us a fascinating insight into his award-winning research on the influence of Botox ® on the brain and how he developed protocols to reverse the damage being done to patient’s faces as a result of the complications of dermal fillers.

The Original Idea

A young person struggles with their own mortality after the death of their father. As they ponder this question, the great question which we must all face at some time or another, and filled with anxiety, their thoughts turn to the first law of thermodynamics: ‘the total energy in a system remains constant, although it may be converted from one form to another.’ Perhaps as one being dies, another is born, and life remains but only changes form and shape. Might this experience of suffering provide the key to accepting their own finitude, and help them push through the grief of losing a loved one?

2:

After the death of a beloved parent, a young adventurer known as the Young One embarks on a mysterious journey of metaphorical encounters. Perhaps they can help him understand a dying man’s final words, and finally discover the meaning behind the Original Idea.

The Padre was a Hooker

The commandment “Thou shalt not kill,” would seem to make it unlikely that a committed Christian would ever choose to pursue a career in the armed forces, where killing the enemy is, at the very least, a real possibility.

Becoming an army chaplain might well be seen as an even more astonishing choice for someone seeking to serve God.

And yet, the British armed forces have had chaplains since the beginning of warfare itself. Men and women from the traditional established churches who accompany the troops into the very face of the foe, seeking to care for the spiritual and moral welfare of the troops.

Despite all the changes in the society and warfare, the decrease in church attendance and the weakening of the spiritual profile of our nation, military leaders still want a padre to accompany them into action.

For 40 years, Stephen Blakey was one of these padres. With humour and insight, he shares the joys and the struggles of being the ‘man of God’ amongst what is sometime a pretty ungodly community.

The Penzance Smash

This is a story about love and family. It captures a period in time, the post-war era, when people were beginning to put their lives together again after the horrors and shortages caused by the Second World War. Whole communities were springing up all over the United Kingdom in newly built housing estates and this story is focused on one family within such an estate. It also tells of a sport, homing pigeon racing, which was once so very popular amongst the working classes but has now almost disappeared.

Through this setting, the author evokes a very moving and visual tale of the hardships faced by one family and recounts how one man brought up two young boys, giving them the best life that he could. There were no manuals or self-help groups then, but this man quietly went about raising his boys and teaching them the values that he believed would be necessary for their futures. He taught them to be independent, to be respectful and to never give up matter what life threw at them. Most importantly, he showed them what real love is.

The Pocket Guide to a Sales Career

The Pocket Guide to a Sales Career is written to help anyone who wishes to make a career in sales. Tony Yardley is not a regular author who wishes to promote a small part of his job as his inspiration. He has spent over 50 years in sales and he wishes to pass it on to anyone that is seriously considering taking it up as a career. It is aimed at people leaving school or college or anyone changing careers in mid-life.

This book tries to cover as many aspects of sales as possible including interviews with professionals. Some of these might items might seem basic depending on your experience but please persevere, because a reminder of what you already know can be as good as learning it the first time.

A successful career in sales will give you a skill set that you will be able to transfer to many other businesses, whether you’re employed or self-employed, and will always give you an income even into old age.

Selling is not about getting someone to buy what they do not want. In fact, it is about selling something to someone that improves their business or their life.

Success in any business is to identify a market and supply that market.

The Power of Being Known: A Heart-Centered Journey Connecting to Self, Earth, Lineage, and Love

The heart’s technology is more advanced than a cell phone and is the first organ to be created while you’re in your mother’s womb - chosen to be first for a Divine reason.   Connecting to the heart daily is the key to gaining access to the truth, wisdom, love, and healing you are worthy of receiving.

To know yourself begins by knowing that you are one cell, one of many, and together, co-create your heart and entire Being. 

Choosing to know yourself from deep within and allowing yourself to be known opens the heart to be seen, loved, heard, felt, and supported in the present moment– which means you get to experience the richness of life wholeheartedly.

 This book shines light on what’s been hidden underneath the surface and gently leads you on an inner exploration for you to feel safe and empowered to alchemize fears, integrate a new way of Being, embody the truth and power of who you are, and love your Self (your cells) from the inside-out. 

This book can be read over and over again to support you in every phase of your heart-centered journey.

So, let’s begin!

Be still, feel, ask, listen, breathe, receive,

and know.

– Dr. Sofia Costa

The Price Tag Is on You

What price tag are you wearing?

EDUCATION

Moulds us into human resources

ECONOMIES

buy our time

GOVERNMENTS

label us since birth

MEDIA

sells our attention and emotions

HEALTH

packages our bodies

BELIEFS

manipulate our minds and souls

TECHNOLOGY

turns us into semi-gods & semi-robots

But behind each of these systems there is a secret. One that can help you work with them, change them and turn them to your and humanity’s advantage.