Writing
My writing interests are divided between novels and poetry... scroll down.
Novels
My first book, 'A Bowl of Dry Soup', published by UKA Press, is available from many sources, including myself. (click here to read a sample)
To order online, please click on the links below. Contact me directly here to order (it's cheaper!) or click on the following links Alternative Bookshop/Amazon.
A Bowl of Dry Soup
What is happening to Gerald Bovington's life? A routine and comfortable, if unexciting existence in a small, South Yorkshire town, is suddenly shattered with the arrival of life changing news from Australia. His life is completely changed by the discovery of two elder sisters and a brother, the covert produce of a now deceased, accident prone and eccentric father. Old wounds are re-opened and characters, both old and new, leap in and out of his life with bewildering speed and inject more action, controversy, doubt and pain into just two weeks, than in the whole of his previous fifty-one years. A previously unread will bequeaths an inheritance, which tests the new family's resolve and attracts the interest of a blackmailer. The ultimate solution has a significant impact on Gerald's future.
Sample review. "I gestured for him to mind his own business", October 21, 2004
Reviewer: A Pawlett, Wentbridge, West Yorks United Kingdom
Some really great laugh out loud stuff in here. The tone ranges from outrage at life and this world's crazy nuances, through farce and into the kinds of deep reflection and self-realisation that families bring out in us. The characters jump off the page and the there is clearly a lively imagination at work. The people that populate the book will remind you of the allies you cherish and the grotesques you endure. There is a strong and reassuring feeling throughout that the book is grounded in a reality that will feel familiar to many a "normal" working northerner. The phrasing is current and real and sounds fresh. Made me really wonder what happened next... I took this book on holiday (we had a lovely time together).
Head for Justice
Cameron Head leads a simple life. A forty one year old divorcee, he lives alone, helps to run a pub and occasionally sings in a country and western band (although he doesn't like it too much). A stint on jury service re-acquaints him with a judicial system he experienced in a former career as a prison warden. But all does not go smoothly and the result leaves him with a strong sense of injustice, outrage and inadequacy. This impacts on his personal life and relationship with his casual partner, Claudia. Work and play conspire to make him realise his belated affections for her and as he learns that her future plans do not involve him, he makes some life changing decisions. However, before they can be realised, he unwittingly becomes re-united with the case that caused him so much angst in court. Finally, he is able to readjust the balance of justice and life but not before causing further mayhem in the process.
Poetry
Here are a few sample poems from my booklet, 'Jewels In My Pockets'
NIGHT SWIMMING
I’m night swimming at last
I took the plunge, as they say
Deep water looms beneath
Motivating the way
To where? You of course
Your direction is roughly ahead
I gauged the distance before I began
When I bore more confidence in my tread
I tried all the ways to reach you in light
I could see you, my prohibited prize
But with each stroke onlookers noted
With disapproving x-ray eyes
And I know you are there
But your beacon is blended in black
And your voice, hardly a whisper
Says “No, turn back”
But I cannot and you know it
Your words lack conviction
You draw me to you
Your defence just a fiction
The strength in my body
Is as false as this purpose
Fuelled by adrenaline
To perform in this circus
Of sin and deceit
Of breaking moral arrangement
For a temporary souvenir
In transit engagement
I’m night swimming to you
My delirious head above water
The demons below
Beckon me to their daughter
I strike on and this thought
Panics me as I learn
That the shore where I started
Calls me to return
And I lose my faith in this tide
My turmoil spreads to my limbs
And drains them of power
As I hear nautical hymns
Enticing me to surrender
My soul to the deep
Where so many have foundered
Too many still weep
But I must survive in this channel
And fight all these voices
Restrain all the forces
Confusing my choices
Help me, can you?
Am I losing or winning?
Can you see me out here?
I’m the one who’s night swimming.
LOST FOREVER
On the deck the wind pulled its knife
And my ship sank with your treasure aboard
In the deep I lay with the spoils
That no Triton could ever afford.
So I slept on the rigs in the dark
Where night suffocated the day
And this church never opened its doors
When the spirit mariner wanted to pray.
Nirvana - the goal of the psalm
Hard core of impossible schemes,
Lay lost as my bargaining skills foundered
In the current of desolate dreams
And the wind never whispered your name
No shells ever mimicked the tide
I was there, with the wheel in my hand
But your jewels lay dead by my side
And at last the souls of this ocean
Spoke in a tongue I could hear -
“Your vessel will only re-surface
When you leave the ghost of your riches down here”.
SOLDIER
I will be a soldier
And I will learn to fight
I base this key decision
On what I believe is right
My family will support me
They all understand
That I have faith in passage
That turns me from boy to man
And history sits behind me
Where my father watches by
I remember him by serving
In a cause for which I’d die
I’ll take my place in regiment
And follow the green tide
Inside a passion that reveals
My honour and my pride
Now I am a soldier
A different, ordered life
From one where insecurity
Cut through me like a knife
I am trained to deal with routine
Conditioned in my role
To understand that my contribution
Supports a greater goal
But I take my orders nervously
Here in the 23rd
I hang on every syllable
Of each commanding word
That takes me closer to my fate
And through this thick veneer
I doubt my strength and faith in God
As the confrontations near
I was a soldier
I listened to my peers
At first I doubted all of them
As they revealed their fears
But as the fire drew closer
It numbed me to the bone
No safety in great numbers
My soul was cold, alone
I tried to act as I’d been trained
But battle took my breath
I was more prepared for fighting
Then I ever was for death
And so I ask this question:
Was my effort worth
More or less than each full day
Of my twenty years on earth?
THE THICK PLOTTENS
Guy Fawkes
Secret talks
Shadowy figures
Fingers on triggers
Whispers louder
Lethal gunpowder
Ready to blow
In cellars below
Heavy footfall
Skin starts to crawl
Parliament’s best
Soldiers arrest
Defendant charged
Stories enlarged
The guilty hung high
Ha! What a guy!
'Jewels In My Pockets' is self-published, priced at £3.50 and can be ordered directly from myself by clicking on the 'Contact' page. These are some of the titles of my other poetry contained in the booklet or waiting to be included in the next one: a clear insanity, chancers, education, men of war, this place, never, one eye closed, the cup, trophy, perspective, night swimming, queuing theory, snowing beasts, spirit cleansing, the battle hymn of the boxing nun, the pen is almighty, the rose, the souvenir, tonight, the plot thickens, fresh kills, the day of our lives, take me back to Mexborough!, time, time questions, the feast, your choice, a stone, falling inside you, I still have dreams, nature's answer, intimate, soldier, a lessening love, a reindeer's lot, energy, exploding poetry, haiku hate, hello, love at first sight, sad class, she loved elvis, lost forever, the word, the root of all evil, the rape of peace, commuting strangers, my name is peace - my name is war, men's curse, luck, guilty by inadequacy, a roof above my head, a stone, dialogues and disclosures, church, dog fight and the ok kennel, god's waiting room, graffiti, it's not cricket, jerome kiel, journeying waters, liar, lost in space lost on earth, love life, missing, muse for eternity, natural light, real name, religion, send for the angels, sharkie, shipman, sight, summer terms, the bells of sleep, the mountaineer, the short life of a spud, the swordsman, timeless, the uncrowned king of ireland, when, with a smile, ..... and many, many others.
Seven poems (this place, night swimming, the souvenir, exploding poetry, fresh kills, falling inside you and island) were published in 'Unexpected Illusions' by Forward Press Ltd in August 2003.
To order a copy please go to the 'contact' page.
Published poetry so far:
The Day of Our Lives (Anthology Publication: Shaft of Light) Published 19.2.03 Softback ISBN: 0754344223 Hardback ISBN: 0754344215
The Thick Plottens (Anthology Publication: Across the Skies) Published 12.3.03 Softback ISBN: 0754344304 Hardback ISBN: 0754344290
The Cup (Anthology Publication: Individual Voices) Published 12.3.03 Softback ISBN: 0754344363 Hardback ISBN: 0754344355
This Place (Anthology Publication: A Crossroads in Time) Published 20.3.03 Softback ISBN: 0754344347 Hardback ISBN: 0754344339
