Just as the heroine in these stories, in real life Erin is a young girl who cannot walk, talk or use her hands. She has cerebral palsy. Within are subtle messages for her and many others* such as 'never give up', 'I am able just as I am', 'reading gives one so much' and 'accept me as me'. Clare Latham was asked by SpecialEffect founder Dr Mick Donegan if she could build a communication system with Erin, which she did together with her Mum and personal assistant. Erin's tenacity, ability and sense of fun then spurred Clare to write these stories from their shared experiences and, as it were, keep her going.* There are 17 million around the world living with cerebral palsy (US National Institute of Health) SpecialEffect The charity is dedicated to giving disabled people the technology to access video games and the internet, thus promoting fun and inclusion. Dr Donegan was awarded an MBE for his service to disability.
Told is the story of an alternate world within a Christmas Tree; a fully realised world, not populated by humans, but by the Tree's ornaments. Power - held by a governing fairy - is handed on to the next in line every few seasons. One fairy though - Phaedria - refuses to stand down. Forcibly removed and stripped of magic, she is banished, but formulates a plan to retake the Tree. By hunting and absorbing the Tree's lights with the help of an enslaved ice-creature, she's able to regain her powers and gather an army. The Tree's ornaments, many and varied, must put aside their differences and come together. Little do the Tree's owners (the young boy Henry and his father) know of this world, until Henry - along with his faithful teddy bear - are pulled in and embroiled in a war. On his journey Henry is burdened with a perilous mission. Kidnapped by elves, he falls into the hands of Phaedria the fallen fairy. If he wants to keep his beloved Bear alive (a stuffed teddy from home, now animated) he must agree to deliver a 'gift' to Lilly, the current governing fairy. Henry hitches a ride on a giant snowflake, transforms to a bird, meets a tiny wizened king and the winds he commands, amongst many other encounters - and all in pyjamas and a dressing gown.
Martin Kingswraith is undergoing transition to a higher level of white wizardry with the help of Penelope Epimeliad, Queen of the London tree Sprites. The date is 1885, in Victorian London, and Kingswraith has come to the attention of the Umbra, the living shadows. He has killed one of them. Without his advanced training he will be destroyed along with everyone he values.To reinforce his power Kingswraith works with Penelope to create a stave, a wizards' staff with a core of pure silver in a sheath of woven wood. Three of the Umbra come to London and establish a base in Barnes. They surround themselves with ape-like were-men called hierodules and the faceless undead, partially eaten people who fall under the thrall of the shadows... Pearson is a Foreword Indies Book Award Finalist in Fantasy with: all three books in his Preacher Spindrift trilogy and Star Weaver in his Soul's Asylum trilogy.
ROYAL GAMBIT is the third book of the Antecedent series and a direct sequel to Nova Descent; the latest chapter in this gritty space opera set in a universe of intelligent warfare, intrigue and suspense.The corporations are in disarray.As Sapphire Nova succumbs to a terrifying new enemy and Taurus Galahad recover from their wounds, it is the wronged Sigma Royal who make the next move against those who caused their home world's demise, sparking a new war that will ultimately affect millions across the populated systems.With Kurcher and his allies fighting to repel threats from all corners of the galaxy, they inevitably find themselves once again at the heart of battles old and new in their bid to survive, setting them on a collision course with corporations, mercenaries and the nightmare spawned from the Grail itself.Galahad Suns introduced you to the human empire spanning the known galaxy along with the wars being fought between corporations while mercenaries, pirates and terrorists wreaked havoc of their own. When exploration finds remnants of alien technology, it leads to a race to harness the unknown power that ultimately awakens a new horror in the void of deep space.Nova Descent brought you the fallout of the epic battle between a rogue fleet and those reluctant saviours standing in their way. When one corporation declares all-out war, it can only lead to death, destruction and the rise of new powers across the galaxy, including a threat to the whole human race the likes of which they have never seen.Now, Royal Gambit brings you the next thrilling instalment where it is the end for some but only the beginning for others. Corporations head towards a destructive endgame while those in the shadows finally emerge to wrestle control and establish themselves as new powers in the galaxy, and the mystery of the alien technology is solved, creating a new nightmare.
A mysterious meteor-like object hits the earth, followed globally by thousands more, creating vast amounts of vapour, but little damage. Within weeks men are suddenly and inexplicably impotent, their sperm infertile. Doctors' surgeries are packed, and markets across the globe begin to collapse. Experts conclude it's an alien invasion...
John's family history starts with his English and Belgian parents and grandparents in two World Wars. He follows with major debates in his career e.g. vaccinations and the anti-vaccine lobby, the role of badgers and TB, meeting children with thalidomide, and his time in Uganda under Idi Amin's dictatorship is chilling but still funny and up-lifting
Two storms dam a river where a pandemic isolates the author. Told is about environmental pollutants in the dam, but also the transformation from busy contrail skies to blue and verdant water scenes... and a pair of geese that make this their home. Then kayakers tackle the obstacle, boaters try to remove it, a swan performs... and a fox attacks...
The strange case of the 'Depleted Men' would lead the Professor and his young ward Martin Kingswraith both white wizards, into the darkest corners of late 19th century London. Help will arise from the strangest quarter, but Kingswraith must face his deadliest challenge - and he must travel to the subterranean heart of the ancient city - alone
The world seems to have gone mad. But why and how did it come to this? A wry look at the state of the UK (and beyond), focusing on the appalling standards of governance and leadership we see today, and the ineffectiveness of our myriad institutions, like those responsible for regulation, justice, broadcasting, overseas aid, and much more.
Amidst power struggles raging across known space a devastated Sapphire Nova set in motion plans for revenge against their enemies. Uncertainty spreads and with Kurcher himself under the protection of Echo other organisations look to gain the upper hand. A new nightmare emerging from the shadows brings with it only the promise of oblivion
"Through the eyes of an elderly tiger that befriends young Poppy, this is a quest to encounter some of the charismatic creatures that live in the jungles of India. Gently woven into the tales of each of these lovable characters are important lessons about the health challenges children face all over the world today, from which we can all learn"
Early in the 20th century, with camera-frenzy as rife as `models' for amateur photographers, Brooklyn's young beautiful Melia Nord takes off high-kicking uninhibitedly on a Wild-West-bar set. Mesmerised, the novice crew - producer, director, scriptwriter, set designers - learn their tricks in this humorous depiction of the movie industry
Kitty Munroe's rite of passage and need for redemption. After the family moved into an old farmhouse in pretty Eden Bridge her husband is accidentally killed underneath his beloved classic car. Then she discovers he was having an affair with his brother's wife. Redemption takes the form of an extraordinarily valuable English Delftware plate
An undergraduate with little experience of life or socialising, Kurt is shocked when he wakes to find humanity has developed incredibly terrifying abilities - and he has telekinesis. Authority has crumbled, power is literal. Kurt and friends find one person with a semblance of control and her intentions are dubious. And, still he has to socialise
The second volume in Derek E Pearson's Sci-Fi adventures of Milla Carter
Following the destruction of the Body Holiday Foundation, the extraordinary life story of telepath Milla Carter continues in Derek E Pearson's Soul's Asylum trilogy. Now, the adventures conclude in this volume.
In this sequel to Doogie and the Rollers, having found the promised land of Dungalore, Doogie and his friends decide to investigate its mysterious and magnificent pyramid. But what begins as an adventure quickly becomes a race against time for Doogie and his friends to save their fellow dung beetles, battling through booby traps of fire and glass, and escaping a ferocious shark, a hungry crow and an angry lizard. Finding an unexpected ally with a shocking revelation, Doogie leads his friends through the pyramid to face a terrifying new enemy. Will he be able to defeat them and save his friends?
Lethal is rarely this lovelySensuous telepath Milla Carter knows that a business which generates dollars from selling extreme pornography and murder as ';quality entertainment', won't roll over easily. She'll have to use her lightening quickness and enhanced senses like never before if she's to outwit and annihilate both the Body Holiday Foundation and its hired assassin. For the sleekly-beautiful Su-Nami, part human/part machine, killing is a game and the spoils an edible feast. SURREY LIFE: Pearson's galactic-sized imagination delivers a compelling image of a chic, high-tech society infused with a toxic strain that feeds on extreme violence. It's a disturbingly twisted vision of the future and Pearson's tough, unflinching narrative almost dares the reader to look away from the monstrousness. Don't, because Milla Carter, his feisty, sexy heroine, is the weapon of retribution.A Time To Prey is a gripping read that boldly and intelligently explores the vision of an ugly, amoral future in which goodness must fight for survival. In this dystopian nightmare, privacy is non-existent, life is cheap, killers have fan clubs, while the only individuals who count for something are those with money. Milla's crusade has a biblical quality in which she is elevated as a force of hope against the corporate anti-Christ of the Body Holiday Foundation. Good will survive, but at what cost? For anyone offended by swearing, violence and explicit sex then A Time To Prey won't be an easy read. Yet it's worth remembering that nothing about the content is gratuitous. Pearson is simply encouraging us to think about the type of future we could end up getting. The blunt ';in your face' tone of the narrative may be crude, but it works.
The young couples holiday to die for, Milla Carters and Franklyns, looks in danger of becoming just that. The future depicted is dysfunctional, cold and frighteningly voyeuristic. Corporate power presides, with no respect for privacy. Saturated with hard core pornography this world has lost the power to even be offended.SURREY LIFE : Imaginative and sexually explicit. Yet the edgy ';in your face' writing and tightly structured plot are damn near impossible to put down.An older couple, ex-glamour model Ruth and her rich husband Pearce, had engaged Milla and Franklyn to swap bodies, in a process called ';Transition'. The lure of such a Body Holiday, reacquainting intimately in younger bodies, was simply irresistible to them.Unfortunately the dream vacation descends into a brutal game of survival. The couples are pitched against a malevolent force thats always one step ahead. Can they escape the nightmare, or are they destined to spend the rest of their lives on the run trapped in each other's bodies?SURREY LIFE : Chilling amounts of gore and explosions of Armageddon proportions give the story the adrenalin-coated rush of a Grand Theft Auto game. Yet there's also a quasi gallows humour running through the narrative. It's Milla who really stands out. She's a woman of action, the shining light in the darkness, which is why her anger is palpable when a shocking plot twist exposes a terrible betrayal. Yet Milla's integrity is a contradiction. By rights, it shouldn't exist in a world that disparages decency, yet somehow it stays intact.
2013 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award Finalist, Horror. Christopher Ritchie shows hes a skilful writer, with his The ordinary a 2015 IndieFab Awards SILVER WINNER.A world where nothing is as it seems.SURREY LIFE magazine: This brain-twister of a novel, by horror author Christopher Ritchie, has won plenty of acclaim and deservedly so as he takes the reader on a frightening, disturbing journey that tests the imagination, pushing it beyond the limits of normal.When officer Joe Gullidge is sent on a routine police call, the situation rapidly descends into a sequence of horrifically unsettling events that eat into the very depths of his soul. As Gully is dragged into a reluctant search for the truth, his conscious mind struggles to separate reality from the suggestion of a parallel world. Is Gullys journey a metaphor for the deeper reality of an inescapable past - or is the explanation more straightforward than it initially appears?House of Pigs doesnt fall into the easy read category given the complexity of its ideas and multiple layers of interpretation - but these are strengths not weaknesses. This is a grippingly surreal novel with an edgy narrative and visual touches reminiscent of Stephen Kings The Shining.Horror Novel Reviews: Needs to be read to even begin to grasp Ritchie's vision. His alternate worlds may throw you for an entertaining loop.Rebbie Reviews: will horrify you with some really gritty and gory events I love the imagery and the pace.
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