Transition

This book traces the journey of a young man who has had the good fortune to achieve his two boyhood dreams – to be a soldier, and to build bridges.

Dan spent 20 years as a soldier, made up of 14 years in the Regular Army and then 6 years in the Reserve, completing service as a Lieutenant Colonel. Dan experienced 12 months active service in the Vietnam War as a troop commander, followed by two years in Papua New Guinea building a road to Kokoda.

He achieved his second aim of bridge building by being involved in the construction of two major bridges across the Brisbane River – the Merivale Rail Bridge and the Gateway Bridge. Between those two, Dan commenced his own business as a contractor building bridges, but the enterprise was not financially successful.

The book concludes with details of varying experiences as a professional engineer, culminating in the successful completion of a road in Samoa, by solving technical and managerial problems, and surviving the horrendous Cyclone Val in December 1971.

Find Your Joy and Act On It

In Find Your Joy and Act On It: Insight Comes When Wonder Stirs, Sulaiman Hamed guides readers on a journey of personal transformation and purposeful living. Drawing on a wealth of motivational insights, this book emphasizes the importance of living with intent, harnessing inner strength, and maintaining focus on one’s goals. Hamed challenges conventional thinking, encouraging readers to turn obstacles into opportunities for growth and to embrace success as an everyday practice. Whether you’re looking to improve your mindset or achieve your dreams, Find Your Joy and Act On It offers a fresh, inspirational approach to living a fulfilled and impactful life.

Why Uncle Albert

This tale is the ripping yarn of a young boy who had the desire to become successful driven initially by the desire for money and the ambition to become successful at everything he did. Never satisfied with his position in life, he was always looking for that step up the ladder, the constant quest for promotion and betterment. Slightly younger than the likes of Richard Branson and Alan Sugar, and certainly not as wealthy, but the author had that same drive and determination. Read the book and perhaps you will agree.

Hurricane Heaney

Hurricane Heaney is a fish-out-of-water memoir of a gay Indonesian man, Ben, who finds himself marrying into a salt-of-the-earth Irish family. Unlike many stories involving LGBTQ+ protagonists, this is not a tragic tale about a traumatic coming out, nor even about the novelty of living in a gay marriage in Ireland’s catholic bible belt.

It’s about how landing in the loving arms of a large yet close family acts as an emotional mirror to Ben’s early life in Indonesia, giving him, in fact, a safe space to process what drove him out of one family in Indonesia, and into the encircling airs of another in Ireland. Invoking the specific situation of a gay man crossing the world seeking – and finding – redemption through love, it presents a unique and uplifting ideal of what gay strength looks like.

Through tears, songs, rants and a lot of laughter, the book explores, in a humorous way, universal truths about family values, rituals, obligations, and their core foundation, love.

My Schizophrenia

Khaled was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1998. After spending 25 years in a medicated haze of stupour and depression, he is now determined to transition from illness to recovery. For many years, Khaled’s outlook was dominated by despair, but in 2021, the death of his mother became a pivotal moment in his life. He decided it was time to bring balance and order to his existence.

Though his mother never witnessed his progress, this book stands as a testament to his journey towards wellness. My Schizophrenia serves as a journal chronicling Khaled’s path to recovery, as he uses his writing to deepen his understanding of himself and his illness. Despite being diagnosed for decades, Khaled had never truly engaged with his recovery or well-being until now. This is his first book, offering an intimate look at his past and present, and inviting readers to join him on his transformative life journey.

Naked Truths: Adventures in Art

An erotic and often humorous memoir of a male life model in the UK. This is the story of a man’s unconventional upbringing in the Australian outback, a boy who became obsessed with art books, art, and ballet. He was introduced to these creative outlets by his mum, who recognised that as a ‘hyperactive’ kid, he was only ever still when he had his nose in art books. His mum also recognised the need to combine and focus his creative interests with disciplined physical activity. She therefore saw fit to introduce him to ballet classes at the age of six.

The story unfolds, building on the influence of women in his early life, as he completes his ballet exams and moves to live and work in the UK as a dancer, actor, and life model. What was intended as a ‘gap year’ in the UK became his permanent country of residence. An early, fortuitous meeting with a professional female artist in London led him to become immersed in the art world as a professional male life model, initially to supplement his income but mainly to satisfy his first love of expressive, figurative art. This, in turn, led him into a number of erotic and sometimes bizarre sexual encounters and situations with female creatives, in environments where they felt adventurous and secure enough to express and indulge in their own fantasies with him.

Third Time's a Charm

Have you ever wondered what really happens at nursing executive level in the Australian acute private health sector? Join Fiona for a look behind the curtain at what really occurs with the hiring and firing of executive nurse leaders, and learn from her mistakes with her top tips guide for any new nurse leader. Enjoy her humorous, and often unflinchingly honest account of her forty years nursing and leadership career, as well as her inspiring journey through an ovarian cancer diagnosis and her cha cha cha with this terrible disease.

Fiona sadly passed away on August 22^nd, 2024. This was her final cha cha cha.

Critical Thinking

Discover the transformative power of critical thinking in Critical Thinking: Innovative and Strategic Way. This book invites readers to elevate their lives by understanding the essential connection between mindful effort and meaningful success.

Through insightful guidance and personal reflections, the author explores how dedication, belief in one’s potential, and a strategic approach to life’s challenges can lead to personal growth and fulfillment. By embracing critical thinking, you’ll learn to navigate obstacles, seize opportunities, and refine your focus on what truly matters.

Whether your goal is professional achievement, personal enrichment, or discovering new passions, this book offers practical advice and inspiration to help you unlock your potential. Critical Thinking: Innovative and Strategic Way is your companion for embracing a life of purpose, strategy, and success.

Cancer – v – MND

Amid the chaotic world caused by Covid, Gail receives an expected diagnosis, not having had any symptoms it is a total shock to her. How does she cope with this news and get her head around it, as she is going through her treatment, the bombshell of her husbands illness is added into the mix. Life is certainly different, It’s never going to be the same again, trying to find a new normal, whatever that is, a roller-coaster of ups and downs and emotions. Trying to navigate a path that is so different, sometimes so hard and difficult, yet is now part of her everyday life. An insight into how she reacts to the turmoil of her life, laughter, sadness and love help her cope.

Be Our Voice

Art is not something you do, but rather the lens through which you choose to look at life around you. Everything can become art. Everything is art. It is a creation, a ‘something’ which transpired from nothing. The nature which surrounds us and the people with whom we share our planet have all co-created our collective experience which we call life. We are all artists of our own creation. Whether or not we are any good is irrelevant. The beauty of art is subjective and cannot be classified on a scale of good and bad. What matters is the magical thing which occurs when we allow ourselves to surrender to our creative flow, and disconnect from the crippling perception of perfectionism. Just let it go. Allow yourself to play. Allow your mind to wander and explore. Become aware of the beauty of life in your daily tasks, because it exists everywhere and in everything. Remember, you are the greatest artist of your own creation, a vessel to experience and create. You are a continuation of the never-ending process of life.

Oh Carole

This is a non-fiction love story with a tragic end, played out in the 1960s and 70s in Worcestershire, on the Hampshire-Surrey border, in the old county of Huntingdonshire and in Wiltshire.

On the way, the author sheds light on the Worcester of their courtship in the early 1960s with its pubs, coffee bars, new innovative Chinese and Indian restaurants, funfairs, a jazz club, concerts at the Gaumont Cinema and the Victor Sylvester Dance Studio free sessions on Friday nights, as well as the Cambridge of the mid-1970s and its noted resident Syd Barrett.

The author is not immune to getting sidetracked into waxing lyrical about his other main interests: music and cars.

Carole, with her quirky, childlike personality and lilting West Country banter, could turn any situation into a joyous, enchanting memory, and the author has tried to reflect this in her story. She had her own unique way of dealing with life’s challenges, like marriage, cooking, childbirth, motherhood, her husband’s “career moves” from one end of the country to the other, driving lessons, learning to swim, DIY, and being a parish councillor.

In meeting her final daunting challenge, she showed great fortitude, courage and consideration for others.

Engagement

Engagement is a biography/novel spanning two generations of a family bound by a shared commitment to improving the lives and livelihoods of poor families and communities in developing countries, though their paths differed greatly. The story opens with the meeting of Joan, an English artist and teacher, and Ion, an Irish magistrate and judge, at an official reception held in Kingston by the colonial Governor-General of Jamaica to celebrate the coronation of King George VI in 1937.

This introduction is followed by accounts of their lives and work in Jamaica, as well as the international commitments and complexities of their sons’ careers: one, a multicultural secular architect, scholar, and policy adviser; the other, a devoted evangelist and educational entrepreneur working with poor children in marginalized urban communities.