Gerald the Great of Gorokoland … a fairy tale without fairies … and not much of a tale either! (Paperback book or Kindle edition)
Gerald finds himself in love with the beautiful princess and the only way he can marry her is to take over the shambolic, bankrupted and immoral kingdom of her stupid father, the king. Having got the king out of the way – in a way he could not have imagined – he now has to deal with the corruption, starvation and senseless slavery of spirit that has beset this insane place. He stumbles from accident to accident and, somehow, manages to find order, beauty and love, all at the same time … with the help of some unlikely characters, including the aged Harry Hawk, a reluctant sun and a whole host of unlikely people and creatures.
This is not a serious book but it has a serious message … seriously!
About the book:
This book is best read sitting down as that was how it was written. It is also written slower for the slower readers and we would suggest that you keep your reading speed below 30,000 words per minute lest blurring, vertigo, lack of comprehension, measles and political correctness occur. You could also be booked (ha! ha!) by the reading police, for speeding, when they stop reading. Another suggestion is that you move your eyes and/or your head back and forwards rather than moving the book in front of your eyes. This is a new development in reading technique and, although cutting-edge technology, has now been tested successfully on 2,500 sheep, 30 goats, 400 emus and 3 humans and all experienced vast improvements in their romantic lives. Their reading suffered but who cares when you’re in love.
This is an unfairy story – a fairy story without fairies. The Fairy Union complained about this to the Arbitration Council and I have now agreed to include them in the sequel. There are many other people not included (my mother, the Pope, St. Francis of Assisi, Mussolini to name a few) and if you feel a need to be included in the sequel to the sequel your claim will need to be into the Council within three days, after which they break for their 15-year-long Christmas holiday.
This is a story for children and adults alike (though they’re not really alike are they?) but there are a few big words (like wheelbarrow and porcupine) that adults may find difficult. I suggest that you keep a child within yelling distance to help you with the difficult bits.
An Olympic Challenge (Printed book or Kindle book)
To escape the relentless tedium of his insurance job, his marriage and his do-nothing life, Arthur Bayly retreats into his imaginary world of James Bond, KGB agents and exotic scenes of eternal sunshine.
Mary Collins left the grinding poverty of her Scottish home with high hopes of wealth, love and beauty. That hope quietly, slowly died as she climbed the ladder of success in the insurance industry. Feeling lost, she returns home to realise she doesn’t belong there either.
With a mix of personalities from several countries, cultures, religions and organisations, there is conflict and romance, brutality and gentleness, fear and hope.
Despite (or because of) the fear, uncertainty and physical danger in which they find themselves, they eventually, in their very individual ways, find release from boredom and discover love and a totally new way of being and living. They also discover the futility of trying to be someone else (e.g. James Bond or Andrew Carnegie) and the importance of being themselves … an Olympic challenge for anyone.
The story is inspired by the disappearance of a free-energy machine in New Zealand, the author’s experience in the London banking scene, his shock at the daily drudgery of commuters to London – and their belief in the inevitability of their dismal existences – and by A Course in Miracles. The book is an attempt to show people that there is always hope for a less dismal life.
Circles of Gold (Printed book or Kindle edition)
A modern day fable about a time we’ve forgotten to remember … He was born with a defect he could not change. He was different and could never be like other boys, other men, other people. His disfigurement eventually drove him from his family, from the village and out into the world as a troubadour, a teller-of-tales … well, more precisely, a listener-of-tales. In solitude, with his trusty horse, he found a softer world without sniggers and demands and a world of peace and the silent whisperings of his soul. However, the solitude never lasted for long. The more he searched for that softer world, the more the sharp and abrasive one encroached upon him … till, one day, he met someone he didn’t want to turn away, someone who yearned for the disfigurement he had …
The Royal Bank of Stories (Printed book or Kindle book)
From the dimly-lit winter of our past, from the waking-lit spring of our now and from the brightly-lit summer of our future, these stories remind us of who we’ve been, how we are and where we’re going.
Looking at us in just-now, from our has-gone and to-be can change the perception (and our world) we’d so easily taken for granted. With gentle humour and canny insight, Philip helps us realise we’re not necessarily destined for more of what we’ve always had – that we can, indeed, change anything in this thing we call LIFE – Latent Intelligence Furthering Experience.
This right royal bank of stories can, indeed, give us a right royal bank of new perceptions and, thus, experiences. If not now, then when? 184 pages.
