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The Book Cellar – Barry Morris
The first in a collection of sublime, outlandish and supernatural tales. Barry Morris uses his unique style, taking the reader on frenzied voyages to far-off lands and fractured time anomalies, and leisurely walks through the everyday happenings of ordinary people.
The anthology contains a wide variation of stories including: The Book Cellar, a seemingly condemned bookshop receives a visit from a mysterious stranger; No Extra Time, a reluctant Football Association referee is transported back to the killing grounds of the western front to resolve a long running dispute, and The Importance Of Being Ernie, a high functioning premium bonds computer acquires sentience after forming a relationship with a disabled woman. Plus: The Talisman, will an apparently bogus amulet finally yield good fortune? Gate 17, an enigmatic messenger takes a disenchanted England football supporter on a nightmare excursion; Suicide Ride, a shell shocked war veteran replays his final moments as he heads for an underground station; Stolen Childhood, an entrepreneur’s identity is threatened after a burglary, and Swansongs, two lateral stories detailing the history of a 1950’s Buick Sedan and the life of a Bewick’s Swan as they undertake their final journeys.
The anthology also includes a collage of chronicles from the author’s life.
Doctor – Greg Stokes
Two hilarious tracks from the Black Country comedy writer performed by black Country Theatre, and recorded at Rocket Cottage Studio in West Bromwich.
1) Doctor - Black Country Theatre perform this favourite from the Lamp Tavern shows. It starts with Bert and Edna bemoaning the fact that Dudley Council have started putting sculptures on the car parks now, but soon, a visitor from th’off needs to see the Doctor...
(First performed at the Lamp Tavern, Dudley, 23/12/05)
2) The Reduced War Of The Worlds - Barry Harper narrates an alternative War of the Worlds in which the Martians land on Kates Hill. With Joanne Webster as Julie, and the many voices of Greg Stokes as Oggler, the gunner, the Martians, the Vicar, and many others. (First performed at the Lamp Tavern, Dudley, 28/04/06)
3) Doctor - Greg is joined by Louise and Brendan for an alternative version of Doctor.
Tried By Prejudice – Greg Stokes
"He just lay there motionless, blood oozing from his head. I thought he was dead."
Ken Simmons in Tried by Prejudice
A Midlands community watch in horror as children are picked off one by one by an unknown killer while in a Gulf state the ex-pat community look on approvingly as the locals administer justice..... then rough justice strikes someone they know while at home the people have their culprit..... Or do they?
Tried By Prejudice is a powerful drama set in the Arabian Gulf and English west midlands. It is a tale of murder, revenge, justice, and a torrid love affair between people who just won't go with the flow, people who won't look on while others are Tried By Prejudice.
For full synopsis click here
The Sportsman – Clarice Hackett
"Well if you want my opinion George you could have done a lot worse than Rose."
Ma Harris in The Sportsman
Based on the life of George Harris who became a local sports legend. Through playing for Villa, Albion and Coventry he achieved the working man's dream of owning his own pub which he renamed THE SPORTSMAN. The novel tells the tale behind the headlines.
Clarice Hackett's writing brings to life the early years of the 20th century; the coal and steel; the heat and the noise; the poverty and deprivation… and above all the passion for sport which drove men like George Harris.
But George was driven by other passions too. The prospect of a marriage into respectability paves the way for a secure future…. Will things go George's way, or will they go the way of Rosannah, barmaid at George's local.
The Sportsman is a story of love unrequited which displays a passion for life set against the grim backcloth of the Black Country at the turn of the last century.
"I'm regularly asked to recommend reading which would give a quick dose of life as it was… This novel fills that request better than anything else that comes to mind." Stan Hill, The Blackcountryman
"This story has everything, it should be made into a film or TV programme…" WABC Radio
The Hairy Mouse – Clarice Hackett
"Are you longing for your roots Doris?" Harriet asked.
"I'm not surprised, the Black Country isn't a very
pleasant place to live in."
"'Etty', it said urgently. 'Etty it's me, Emily, your mother.
Speak to me Etty or the contact will be lost.'"
From The Hairy Mouse
A second novel from Clarice Hackett set at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries telling of two entrepreneurs who join forces to open a new coal mine. They want to keep it in the family so a marriage is planned between their offspring. But a complex web of deceit emerges involving questions of spiritualism, inheritance and love. In short another brilliant piece of writing from Clarice Hackett describing in vivid fashion a bye gone Black Country.
For full synopsis click here
Only Sixteen – Carol Hathorne
At Only Sixteen she was too young to…
...do a lot of things in the adult world she was about to enter.
But at Only Sixteen she was old enough to start going out to work
Old enough to command the attention of older men
And ultimately, old enough to know.
Set against a backdrop of the emerging rock and roll youth scene in the Black Country of the early 1960s, Only Sixteen charts the stories of Pam Sheldon, Marie Townsend and Jenny Day as they leave school behind for the big exciting world of work and relationships.
At turns, hilarious, touching and poignant…
Another brilliant novel from Carol Hathorne.
The Kingstown Agenda – S.G. Grey
An impending, emotive Referendum on the contentious question of whether or not to abolish Sterling and replace it with the Single European Currency - The Euro - for the voters of the United Kingdom; is the highly charged background against which is set a narrative of suspicion, hostility, deep division, intrigue, treachery, anger, violence and murder; that opens with a phone call to a Security Service safe-house in central London - and a current password then correctly given - information concerning a death imparted - a series of orders issued; all from a surprising source...
...And Alex Smith's tour as the Senior Duty Officer on the graveyard shift at the safe-house, is about to be extended into some challenging, murky and very dangerous territory indeed...
Faerie Dust – Louise Mary Stokes
Stephen is at home looking after the kids while Sally is away on a residential course...
Louise Mary Stokes’ first full length novel, Faerie Dust, charts the life of Sally as it unfolds when she does not return home to resume her roles of loving mother and dutiful wife.
Guided by her faeries, to whom she is known as Lilac Rainbow, she struggles to be herself rather than the person others would have her be.
Faerie Dust is a powerful novel of self discovery which explores the pressure to comply and the spirit of individuality, and culminates dramatically as the two clash and only one can prevail...