A cracking new novel from our Geoff!

PRESS RELEASE - January 2022

Cruel Deflections is the stunning new novel from Geoff Brown; which will be published on 17 January 2022 by TSL Books.

It’s the mid nineteen-seventies when Luca Vento, an idealistic young lawyer uncovers endemic corruption in Puglia in the heel of Italy. He flees his homeland before the Camorra can silence him, settling in Edinburgh and becoming a successful restaurateur.

Nearly four decades later Luca and his daughters are embroiled in a huge international police operation to nail the head of the same mafia clan and his collaborator, a prominent UK businessman. A female executive headhunter plays a dangerous role as the story unfolds. A shocking revelation sets the scene for a startling finale.

The novel chronicles a cycle of betrayal, revenge, retribution and redemption and how chance events can hijack lives and spin them away from what seemed to be their set course.

“A complex and intriguing novel. I was carried along by the compelling storyline and a real desire to know how it would all end.” Michael J Lansdown author of Adam’s Lock and The Land Beyond the Seas.

“An exciting read with lots of setting detail and insights into Mafia operations…what a tour de force.” Brian Bold author of Quota, Roadworks and The Extra Miles.

“Great pacy opening and sense of local colour, place, food and atmosphere…really compelling and unusual storyline.” Judy Mcinerney author of The Pumilio child.

“The writing is very readable and the ‘voice’ is clear and confident…” Rory Scarfe, Publisher, The Blair Partnership.

“I really enjoyed Cruel Deflections…characters, location and plot are all convincing. I recently read a Montalbano and this book more than stands comparison.” Nick Brookman, Book Club leader.

About the Author:

Geoff Brown was born in Lancaster. After graduating with an MA in Modern History from Sidney Sussex College Cambridge, he had a business management career before spending thirteen years as a partner in Heidrick and Struggles a leading global headhunting firm. Geoff is widely travelled with a particular love of Italy which he has visited dozens of times. He is a member of Watford Writers. Geoff lives with his Danish wife in Hertfordshire.

Mike celebrates his second book in the trilogy

PRESS RELEASE - 1 December 2021

This month sees the eagerly awaited publication of The Land Beyond the Seas by Watford based writer, Michael J Lansdown.

The book, the second in a planned trilogy, brings our fifteen-year-old hero William Parker, face to face with thieves, murderers and enemies of the state in a sweeping tale that travels the globe from Georgian England to Britain’s fledgling Australian colony. Following in the footsteps of Adam’s Lock published in 2017, Mike delivers a heart rendering and soul-searching story of the harshness and realities of survival in the age of Redcoats.

Mike, a member of Watford Writers, is a PGCE tutor and MA in education supervisor with the University of Buckingham’s education department, a position he has held since retiring from his second Headship in 2015. Prior to completing 18 years as a Headteacher, Mike worked in London teaching in both the primary and secondary sectors. Before this, Mike taught English as a foreign language (EFL) to adults in London and in Sweden; however, he started his career teaching geography, geology and physical education to secondary pupils.

Mike says,

“Having left William languishing in a boat, newly arrived from London, facing an uncertain future as a fifteen-year-old convict, I felt I had to go back and help him in his bid for survival! In the Land Beyond the Seas, I tell his story as he goes from callow youth to young man, negotiating the rules and expectations of the Colony, most unwritten, where the greatest dangers come not from the authorities but from your fellow prisoners. William’s story is one of stoic resistance, of knowing which battles are worth fighting, and, above all, of holding onto those things that you hold dear and believe in. I hope I leave him in a better place and that all his trials and tribulations have been worth it – but that is for the reader to decide.”

The Land Beyond the Seas is published by TSL Books

Ten years after I published ROAD WORKS, a nostalgic travel memoir told through the prism of family car journeys over forty years, I’ve co-written a sequel, THE EXTRA MILES – on roads still to travel.

Not so many cars this time, and just ten years of travels, but lots of wry humour from my co-writer and travelling companion, Anne-Marie. For all of us, every journey is a personal experience and we relate ours together with over hundred coloured pictures.

We hope you’ll enjoy riding with us across England, Ireland, Scotland, France and New Zealand perhaps recalling some of your own visits and maybe discovering new places you want to explore.

THE EXTRA MILES by Brian Bold with Anne-Marie Groves is currently available as a paperback from www.lulu.com and hopefully soon from Amazon too.

Long term supporter of Watford Writers is Linda Spurr who has written a super beginner's guide to writing fiction.

25 chapters cover everything from the reason to write, forming an idea and taking this right through all the important stages to editing and finishing.

Linda was a journalist for newspapers and the BBC for 20+ years, specialising in sport. Linda then became a freelance travel writer for magazines. Now she write novels and a writing blog.

Linda's novel Pathway To the Gods was shortlisted in the Wilbur Smith Adventure Prize four years ago. Read here for details.

A Beginner's Guide to Writing Fiction is a must for all those who write fiction.

Click Here to order A Beginner's Guide To Writing Fiction

A THANKLESS CHILD

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GEORGIANA JANE HENDERSON

(1771 - 1850)

By Susan Bennett

Published 2020

This book provides a flavour of a period of history known as the Enlightenment through the eyes of a young girl born in 1771. Georgiana Jane Henderson (nee Keate) was known to actors, actresses, artists, naval men, emigres and even a South Sea islander and visited England's spa towns. She had her portrait painted by Angelica Kauffman RA and John Russell RA.

Susan Bennett MA is an Honorary Faculty Fellow at Brighton University; and

Honorary Secretary of and Editor for The William Shipley Group for RSA History.

Susan is also a dedicated member of Watford Writers .

Wonderland by Andrea Neidle

Published in 2019

Andrea’s poetry has been published both here and in the USA, broadcast on Radio 3, Radio London and Harlech TV. She worked as a copywriter at major London ad agencies and then moved into teaching, leading the Postgraduate Advertising course at West Herts College.

The author of “How to Get into Advertising” (Cengage Learning, 2002) and the founder of Get Into Advertising training workshops, Andrea lives in Bushey, Hertfordshire.

www.andreaneidle.wordpress.com

Wonderland is published by TheWoodland Press.

Kelvin and Henry by John D.Ward

Published in 2019

Kelvin Williams has lived in an orphanage since his parents died in a car crash nearly ten years ago. Now, his Uncle Henry has arrived to take him out of the home, but Kelvin never knew he had an uncle or any living relative. Is Henry really his uncle? Why has Henry waited so long? He promises fun and riches, but can Kelvin trust him?

Henry introduces Kelvin to his world of bars, crooks and gamblers. It is 1963, and there is social political and racial upheaval in the southern states of America and Kelvin has to grow up fast in Henry's world.

Lucifer's Child by Gideon Masters

Published in 2019

What do you do when you're dying? You've tried every conceivable trial and crank cure and travelled the world to do it. You've blown all your savings, all to no avail. The wife you love faces a future without you and no money. If you're a man of action, you seize any opportunity, however insane, to safeguard your wife and to take your mind off things. So when John read the crazy advertisement in the paper: "EXPERT BODYGUARD REQUIRED. HIGH POSSIBILITY OF DEATH. LEAVE FOR FOREIGN PARTS WITHIN THE WEEK. THREE MONTHS OR LESS, DEPENDENT ON ABILITY TO SURVIVE. 75,000." he, of course, applied. And when he met the gun toting lunatic who placed the advertisement, naturally he accepted the job. It was a lot of cash. His life was over anyway. How could he know it was also about to explode into a new beginning? A beginning filled with dense reality, sexuality and violence of dreams and nightmares.

Friday's Child by Rosemary Morris

Published in 2019

London. 1822

Since the day her oldest sister entered society, Lady Elizabeth imagined the pleasures of her first London Season. Unfortunately, when she is old enough to make her debut, no member of her family is available to chaperone her in London. She accepts her Great-Aunt Augusta’s offer to bring her out in Cheltenham. Elizabeth looks forward to living at Augusta’s grand house near the lively, popular town where people drink mineral water at pump houses and enjoy the social life. Determined to be the perfect debutante, she cannot imagine creating a scandal. It is fortunate she cannot foresee the future. Modest, loving and giving. Elizabeth is blessed with beauty and a fortune. It would not be surprising if her ‘head is turned’ by admirers but she is not a flirt. When she sees Mr Yates she sets her heart on him, but she is not attracted to Sir Victor who has an exotic background, and amber eyes like a tiger’s which unnerve her. Both gentlemen made their fortunes when they served in the East India Company. Will they lead her into trouble? Will one of them be the perfect match for her?

The full list of Rosemary's published works can be seen at: http://rosemarymorris.co.uk/

A cracking new novel from our Geoff!

PRESS RELEASE - January 2022

Mike celebrates his second book in the trilogy

PRESS RELEASE - 1 December 2021

A THANKLESS CHILD

Wonderland by Andrea Neidle

Kelvin and Henry by John D.Ward

Lucifer's Child by Gideon Masters

Friday's Child by Rosemary Morris

Short but Tall Stories by Brian Bold