My Published Books

Son of My Father — Memories of a Sixties Child 

Publication date, 2022

 

Growing up in 1960s/70s Britain, I learnt that ordinary lives can hold extraordinary truths. Son of My Father: Memories of a Sixties Child is the end result. It is a raw, unflinching account of a childhood shaped by the pressures of a troubled household.

Set against the backdrop of postwar Britain, the council estates, changing social expectations and making ends meet, this is the story of a father and son relationship that is both fragile and fleeting. It is about the need for connection and the small mercies that kept a family moving forward through both good and bad times.

Until it all came to an end.

With stories that read like gritty drama, this memoir traces the slow fracture of family life, the rites of passage that mark youth, and the resilience that emerges from hardship.

Honest, evocative, and occasionally funny, Son of My Father: Memories of a Sixties Child, invites readers into the day-to-day realities of an era often romanticised by nostalgia for the past. It shows what it was really like living through that time: a no-holds-barred account of the sounds, the tension, and the moments of happiness and disappointment.

This is a memoir for readers who look for real life family drama, and coming-of-age stories. It is a story that reads like fiction but doesn't shy away from the hard truths.

Currently available as an e-book to buy, it can be downloaded from Amazon. 

Pages: 192

Price: £2.99

It is also free to read for members of Kindle Unlimited.

But now you don’t need a Kindle to read it. It is also available for download from Amazon as an EPUB or PDF.

Amazon link here: Son of My Father 

 

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Hands In The Dirt — Notes From A Vegetable Garden 

Publication Date, 2026

 

Gardening and growing food, like writing, is a passion of mine, so I put the two together. I turned my gardening journal, the notes I made as the 2025 growing season progressed, into a book.

For those who enjoy gardening and growing their own food, this book may be an excellent fit. It offers insights and practical tips that can enhance your gardening journey and help produce a fruitful harvest.

Hands In The Dirt — Notes From a Vegetable Garden, is the end result.

Here’s the introduction.

Hands In The Dirt is about a vegetable garden, but it is about more than just growing food. It plots my progress through the gardening year, 2025. The planning stage, the Great British weather, learning from mistakes, and slowly building confidence in what the garden can provide.

It journals my attempt to be as self-sufficient for as long as possible, as season by season, the garden reveals its lessons.

Along the way, the small details that define a garden, and the patience needed from slow growth are revealed. From early planning, seed sowing, spring optimism, summer maintenance, autumn harvests, and winter reflection, it records the practical realities of working toward greater self-sufficiency.

Rather than offering rigid instruction, Hands In The Dirt, tells a story of food growing as it actually happens. There are hints and tips, but it is also about observation and persistence. As the year passes, it captures the rhythm of tending crops, giving notes on what worked, and what didn’t.

In the garden, there is always something new to learn.

So, whether you garden a large plot or a few containers, the ups and downs of gardening life will be familiar. Written for all levels of gardening experience, Hands In The Dirt is a reminder that gardening success is built slowly, one season and one lesson at a time.

Currently available as an e-book to buy, it can be downloaded from Amazon. 

Pages: 100

Price: £2.99

It is also free to read for members of Kindle Unlimited.

But now you don’t need a Kindle to read it. It is also available for download from Amazon as an EPUB or PDF.

Amazon link here: Hands In The Dirt

 

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When I Was a Lad — Growing Up in 1960s and 1970s Britain, A Memoir of Family Life, Change and Coming of Age

Publication Date, 2026

 

What did it really feel like to grow up in Britain during the 1960s and 1970s?

When I Was a Lad is a personal account of growing up during one of the most dynamic and turbulent periods in modern British history. This memoir invites readers to experience a changing nation through the eyes of someone who lived it.

It is a Britain that feels both familiar and yet different.

But beyond the personal memories lies a bigger story.

This was the Britain of the swinging sixties and the troubled seventies. From the post-war austerity of the early 1960s to the economic and social upheavals of the 1970s, this is a story that captures what it truly felt like to be there. At school, home, work, and play.

We saw the decline of old industries and the rise of new ones. There was a growing sense that the old certainties no longer applied. Through personal stories, When I Was a Lad tells how these changes were experienced. It is about growing up and coming of age in uncertain times.

Readers who remember the era will find themselves transported back, perhaps recognising moments from their own lives in the author’s experiences. Those who did not live through it will gain an intimate look at a time that continues to shape Britain today.

When I Was a Lad balances honesty and a little humour that does not shy away from the challenges of the time. But neither does it lose sight of how the past informs the present. The good times and the not-so-good. From the rhythm of daily life, shaped by family, work, and making ends meet, to the challenges of growing up in a world where nothing stayed the same for long. Just real life.

This is not an academic history book. It’s a real life story unfolding alongside a nation in transition. And once you start reading, you’ll find yourself asking, ‘How much has really changed?’

And how much, perhaps, hasn’t?

Currently available as an e-book to buy, it can be downloaded from Amazon. 

Pages: 95

Price: £2.99

It is also free to read for members of Kindle Unlimited.

But now you don’t need a Kindle to read it. It is also available for download from Amazon as an EPUB or PDF.

Amazon link here: When I Was a Lad