TIN BATHS, HOT SUMMERS & ROCK ‘N’ ROLL moves humorously and heart-warmingly through the tumultuous cultural changes of the last half of the 20th Century and tells of when we were young.
Times when Social Distancing was limited to those who had a bad hair day with the school nit nurse.
When Zoom chatting was by two tin cans and piece of string stretched across the street from your friend’s bedroom.
The WHO knew nothing of viruses but sang songs to tell your parents to FF…ade away.
Lockdown was where we hid from our mothers in the camp dug underneath our bonfires when they called us in for bedtime.
And our free school dinners included the delights of liver with huge grizzly pipes running through it. And of course, serving live frogs’ spawn for dessert was still environmentally acceptable.
A delightful and passionate read for all baby boomers and also those who would like to know why their parents are so grumpy these days’
RELENTLESS MISERY
The truly cursed are Sunderland AFC supporters whether from blood, birth or sheer bloody-minded inclination… And the sworn enemy? Newcastle United of course. Not that this is a book about just Sunderland and Newcastle’s love-hate relationship with football. It’s about the lot of football supporters travelling to faraway places- like Brighton, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Bristol – and unfulfilled and disappointed England supporters following their national side to the industrial wastelands of Germany and France as well as Scottish rivalries such as Celtic v Glasgow Rangers not to mention the trials and tribulations of poor Patrick Thistle fans.
Funny or tragic – you decide!
FOOTSTEPS ON THE TEIGN
Da Vinci Code meets National Treasure, with a bit of Monty Python thrown in as our heroine Françoise and her friend Jack are pursued by secret societies, the KJB, the Vatican, MI6 and always those damned French, as they search for a secret that has lain hidden for centuries and will change the known world when found. A tale of mystery and suspense, a pinch of romance and lots of fun taking us across through the stunning West Country and Paris in a kaleidoscope of historical truth and modern day conspiracy with a cast of characters that include Knights Templar’s, Kings and Popes, Holy Roman Emperors, Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene, modern day smugglers, spies, villains and pirates masquerading as normal people in the bars and work places on the River Teign. Will the charming Françoise survive her pursuers and find and solve the mystery of what her ancestor lost in Teignmouth three centuries ago and why was he mad enough to go there in the first place? Will the world be ready for the amazing secrets revealed?
CONTRACTING WITH THE DEVIL
Do you sometimes believe you have made a contract with the Devil at work? Have you sold your soul and paid the Ferryman his fare to transport you to the Purgatory of your work? Well think yourself lucky you don’t have to face the Demons that pursue Jack, Kitty and The Big Yin face across America and Europe as they seek the elusive secret to paradise – psychotic American Special Forces, ancient Welsh Druids, the Corsican Mafia, Dutch gold bullion dealers, Glaswegian hitmen, Norwegian shipping magnates, IRA paramilitaries, Turkish hangmen and of course the normal sort of lunatics who come from Middlesbrough. A story of violence, profit, love, and the final hope of redemption.
A TURKEY AND ONE MORE EASTER EGG
Hilarious fictionalised insight into the multi-cultural world of oil contracting and big business populated by the maddest bunch of people you’d never want to work with…
‘You must have an amazing imagination Davey to come up with these fascinating characters and stories.’ So said the Principal of a School after she’d read my books.
Sadly, I disappointed her, and also terrified her slightly, when I said that actually they were real!
Well, to me and my imagination, my characters are real. They are the product of working, living and drinking across the world with some exceptionally funny and bizarre people. Nothing is stranger than the truth.
From a humble beginning in the coal fields of Durham UK , through University and medical research, Contracting for the Devil, living the dream in an Oriental Paradise, retiring to a lost West Country world of Smugglers and Holy Grails I have watched the crazy things people do and say. Consequently, my adult writing makes me both chuckle and cry. I hope it does the same for you.
”What if statues could come alive again and help poor refugee children in distress?”
I woke up at 2 .am with that thought ringing through my head. It was the same night after my first visit to see Ray Lonsdale’s famous red poppy decorated statue of the war weary soldier, Tommy, on the cliffs in Seaham Harbour, County Durham in 2021. Tommy’s tired, despairing face haunted me so much that by 7 a.m. I had the storyline of my first children’s book. My darling wife is the world’s best Early Years little cherub teacher who has read to thousands of children around the world the most wonderful children’s books so I woke her up and told her the story. She loved it and so do lots of others who have read it. So I hope you and your children and grandchildren enjoy Tommy and Zahra’s adventure and also learn that even in despair there may be peace and hope – a story for the child within you who still believes that fantasy may well be reality.
There are more to come if our Lord and Saviour allows me a few more years to tell the tales.
APS BOOKS/APS PUBLICATIONS 