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BOOKS
THE CANTERBURY LOCKDOWN TALES
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is still, after six hundred years, a great read. Comic, bawdy and topical.
It is early 2020 and a group of pilgrims is meeting at a Blackfriars hotel on the Thames, to walk to Canterbury. They are a mixed bunch, characters all, some English, some from overseas. The leader, Geoffrey, introduces them at dinner, the night before they depart. They assemble in the morning, when to their surprise the walk is cancelled as Lockdown is imposed to protect from the COVID-19 virus.
They agree that they will convene and tell their tales online, one each evening, as some compensation for their interrupted journey. These are their stories.
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HERONLAND
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Duncan’s diary entry, Amsterdam, 1982. “A flock of herons far above the lake is being attacked by a huge cloud of black crows.”
This fable is of the Heron Nation who have lived by the Great Lake for centuries. Suddenly, their very existence is threatened by an invasion from the north by hordes of the Black Crows intent on destruction and slavery of the Herons.
Led by Pelun, they decide to leave and seek sanctuary. A great Exodus takes place but they are forced to fight many battles with the Crows on their journey.
There are many parallels in this tale to faith and personal struggles against adversity. Will libertarian values and freedom triumph over radicalism and tyranny?
THE JELLY BABY PAUL McCARTNEY TROD ON will be issued in one volume and be available on Amazon Books soon. It consists of an amalgamation of a memoir, a diary, and poetry from the sixties.
The first part (Growing up in the 60s) is the story of the author growing up in the 1960s with particular reference to the emerging folk, jazz and blues music scene in London on the cusp of the Swinging Sixties. He recalls his time as a student and participation in the protests in Grosvenor Square outside the US embassy and his observations of the protest movement against the Vietnam War.
The second part (The Bus Around America) is a diary of a pioneering trip made on the only students’ union charter flight and the first to New York in 1966. Duncan was joined by a fellow student, Chris Moss. They managed to buy two Greyhound Bus tickets which took them across the US via Niagara Falls, Chicago and the Mid-West, and from Seattle to Victoria and back to New York via Mexico and Arkansas. The book is about their adventures and observations and of the many people they met en route. Some of the opinions are not in line with today’s language and attitudes, but nevertheless are a true record of the trip.
CORGI: IT’S WORLD THAT MAKES THE LOVE GO ROUND
Duncan wrote a lot of poetry in the sixties (and still does) and managed to get a few published in BREAKTHRU poetry magazine.
Then Corgi books produced an anthology of poetry from the era, and one of his poems, an anti-drug poem, ‘SMOKE MORE POT’, was included.
A selection of his poetry will be included as part of an upcoming issue of the two biographies.
THE TALES OF THE BOS
In the early eighties, Duncan and his family lived in Amsterdam, near the Amstelveen Woods (the Amsterdamse Bos).
These stories, of a White Wizard and a Black Witch, were told to his children as stories as they walked in the parks and by the canals and woods. They were published as a private book and a children's play.
Suitable for children aged six to ten.
Available on enquiry.
STOPOVER STORIES
Initially published by The Book Guild.
‘An atmospheric and eclectic short story collection with a twist in the telling.’ Book Guild Review.
These travel short stories are all based on truth. They either happened to the author in his worldwide business travels, or to people he knew. They conjure up the atmosphere of place and character to excite and amuse the reader.
‘The Headdress’ was shortlisted for Granta magazine.
Available shortly on Amazon Books.
THE KNIGHTS OF STANMERE
Two brothers enter a magical kingdom by discovering and turning the key stone, which stands at the entrance to their local park. They have many adventures - destroying giants and witches, slaying dragons and rescuing badgers.
Suitable for children aged seven to eleven.
Available by enquiry.
GOBBO OF GOBLIN ALLEY
The goblins, elves and pixies sleep during the daylight, invisible to us all, and come to life at night.
Gobbo is the head of a group that lives in Goblin Alley. When their existence is threatened by the invasion of many horrible creatures, he enlists the help of two children who live in a house whose garden backs onto the alley. He climbs a ladder and knocks on their window and the children agree to help him trap the monsters so that their new friends can live safely.
The first of these stories illustrates a template for parents to follow when reading the tales.
Available by enquiry. Suitable for children aged two to six.