East India Company

Lady Clive & Friends

During the eighteenth century some remarkable young women crossed the ocean to India to seek their fortunes. Margaret Maskelyne who married Clive of India and was sister to Nevill Maskelyne, Astronomer Royal, was one of the cleverest – and funniest. YouCaxton Managing Editor Bob Fowke will be exploring her life and the network of her friends, at Bishop’s Castle Town Hall on Wednesday 21st February at 2.00 pm in a talk that relates to his upcoming book.

‘Women were an essential element within the Company from its earliest days. The gravestones and memorials around Saint Mary’s Church in Fort St George, Chennai/Madras, bear ample testimony; around a quarter of them are of women, several dying early in childbirth. But those tragic deaths tell only part of the story. It took courage, ambition and a spirit of adventure to travel to the far side of the world in search of love and fortune and the young women who undertook that journey were exceptional people, setting out of their own accord, sometimes with only the grudging consent of parents or guardians, and confidently accepting the risks. Many of them traded independently and some were of high intellect …’

fiction, Front Page

The Swinging Pendulum of the Tide
Chris Green

The Swinging Pendulum of the Tide
Tom is an Anglican clergyman battling with his beliefs. He can’t come to terms with his wife’s tragic death in a car accident. He’s on his way to the remote Welsh island of Bardsey where he hopes to rekindle his faith away from the rush and demands of everyday life.
Beth is an Arthurian scholar on a quest to uncover the truth behind Bardsey Island’s claim to be Arthur’s Avalon. But, abandoned by her former lover, she too has her demons.
They meet in the bar of a hotel on the mainland where they are staying, before setting off to Bardsey on their separate quests. It is the beginning of a long and tortuous path which they must both tread. But it is a meeting that is destined to change their lives for ever.
Published: January 2019
Paperback: 372 pages
Price: £11.99
ISBN: 9-781912-419548

£11.99 (+ £2 postage)
Number of copies:


Available on Amazon

After an early career in broadcasting (Granada TV) and PR (Britain in Europe Campaign 1975 and Queens’ Silver Jubilee 1977) Chris Green has worked in the cultural industries for 40 years. He was Popular Events Director of the City of London Festival (1978-1991), Director of The Poetry Society (1989-1993) and Chief Executive of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers & Authors (1998-2008). He co-chaired the Music Industry’s Broadcasting Committee at the time of the 2006 BBC Charter Review. He contested Hereford and South Herefordshire for the Liberals (Liberal Democrats) in 1979, 1983 and 1987 when he came within 1200 votes of winning. He currently works as an independent arts consultant from his home in rural Herefordshire. He is chair of the Education Charity ‘Learning Skills Research’, a board member of Hereford’s Courtyard Arts Centre, a member of the newly formed Herefordshire Cultural Partnership and chair of the Francis W Reckitt Arts Trust. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a Freeman of the City of London. He was awarded the BASCA Gold Badge of Merit for service to the Music Industry in 2009. ‘The Swinging Pendulum of the Tide’ is his first novel.
Reviews...

poetry

Another Book
Andrew Page

9781912419067 The art of words

00487

the only boy on earth
awoke with a joy
as big as the moon
with a cold nose
he crept past embers
to witness
a pillow case
bursting
with a mothers love

Other books by Andrew Page...
A Book
Published: December 2017
Paperback: 102 pages
Price: £5.20
ISBN: 9-781912-419067

£5.20 (+ £2 postage)
Number of copies:



Available from Amazon
Reader Reviews...

artbooks, poetry

A collection of personal poetry illustrated by John Tordoff
Reinhard Tenberg


Poetry soup recipe

Slice half a pound of words into
six abstruse metaphors
and lay in large pan of figurative speech;
pour rhythm stock over the broth
and heat up gently,
but don’t hyperbole
cook on low heat until all the
ingredients make your heart leap up
like a rainbow in the sky.
Published: 1st Jan 2018
Paperback: 64 pages
Price: £10.00
ISBN: 9-781912-419050

 Available from Amazon




For me, poetry is a form of meaningful conversation in shorthand. If there are a handful of poems and artwork in this collection that speak to you or touch you, we shall be pleased to have found some common ground. Some of the poems have been set to music or have been recorded and can be freely accessed on my website via the poetry tab.
www.reinhardtenberg.com

All proceeds from the sale of this book will go to
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Reinhard studied English Literature, Linguistics and Politics and taught at the universities of Bristol, Palmerston North (NZ), Middlesex and Cambridge before joining the Foreign & Commonwealth Office where he spent the latter half of his career. Reinhard writes full-time now. He also writes short stories and poetry and has now embarked on his second novel. He continues to live in Cambridge.
Reader Reviews...

9f1f8e59-107d-4faf-83b1-645a88e6fa2e._CR0,1.0,331,331_UX460_ Caroline Gilfillan
5 out of 5 stars Beautiful combination of poems and illustrations

What a beautiful book! I love the combination of poems and illustrations, and the whole thing is immaculately produced. I enjoyed the mix of humour, observation and reflection: the poems are so varied. I had to smile at 'Senior Citizen's Prayer'. Other poems were touching: 'Through the looking glass' and 'Bones in a box', for example. The illustrations are colourful, stylish, witty. All in all a wonderful book, with proceeds of sale going to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), a most deserving cause. Do buy it.

travel, Uncategorized

An Army Veteran’s Journey by Narrowboat
Martin Farmer

9781911175797 Looking back a furniture van would have been a more practical and much quicker way to relocate, but not so much fun. Convinced by watching far too many Youtube “The end is nye” documentaries the author decided that drastic measures were needed to safe guard his future. At the same time and probably more realistically fulfilling a long and growing need to escape from his institutionalised lifestyle and exile in southern England. Financially the only options available to him were a cardboard box, or a boat. It was a close run thing but he eventually settled on the life a float choice. As an ex soldier extensive travel and a nomadic life style were familiar. Although |other than the Harwich to Hamburg ferry clueless about anything that floated The story begins in a marine in Watford where a suitably priced boat was purchased. It was decided after a year or so of getting the hang of things and wasting lots of money, that a change of scenery and a different boat was becoming more than just a dream…or nightmare! 
Published: Jan 2018
Paperback: 222 pages
Price: £9.00
ISBN: 9-781911-175797
Available from Amazon
After getting reacquainted with an old buddy the decision was made to travel the two hundred and ten miles by canal to chirk in northeast Wales, alone…almost. Not a romantic tale of hot and sunny days filled with relaxed and tranquil cruising. Trying his hardest, the entire journey was completed in nineteen days, despite boasts from some that the journey could be completed in around four to six days. If the time taken wasn’t a record then the number of mishaps, encounters with interesting characters and the abysmal weather surely was. A slightly tongue in cheek account of a sometimes reluctant and of course grumpy-ish boater. The adventure takes us via one or two tangents from a “lock virgin” to almost expert helmsman… who still hates canals and boats!
 
Reader Reviews... B GIBSON A book that kept me on the edge of my ... A book that kept me on the edge of my seat waiting for the author to join the fish, or see what other bit of boating equipment he would loose next. ie tennis balls on a boat? A must for anyone thinking of taking to the water for the first time with information on what to do and what not to do. Amazon Customer Excellent read, witty and funny it gives a great ... Excellent read, witty and funny it gives a great account of what it is really like on the water, (canals). A must for all Narrow Boat enthusiasts.  
Events

Shrewsbury Festival of Literature

The Self-Publishing Expo of the Shrewsbury Festival of Literature is being held this year, on the 25th November 11am-2pm, at the University Centre, the former Borough Council building in Frankwell. Bob Fowke, Managing Editor of YouCaxton Publications, will be master of ceremonies. A number of publishing experts and some successfully self-published authors will be speaking and will be available to take questions.

 

Events

Bleddfa Centre

‘You’ve Written a Book, Now What? Routes to Publication: an Information Day’ was a day-long workshop held at the Bleddfa Centre in Powis on Sunday 22 October. It was chaired by Caroline Sanderson, writer and associate editor of the Bookseller. Around forty writers attended and there was a series of talks and discussions by published authors, publishers, a literary agent and from YouCaxton, represented by Bob Fowke our editor. It was a very productive day and especially interesting in that it spanned the gap between traditional trade publishing, independent publishing and self-publishing. Bleddfa will be holding more workshops in the future.

 

 

belief, fiction, Front Page

An imagined early life of Jesus by the former dean of Salisbury Cathedral
Hugh Dickinson

9781911175834 The most profound mystery of Christian theism is the affirmation that the man Jesus of Nazareth was also Divine. Exactly what that means has been a matter of constant debate for two millennia. Christian theologians have made use of a great variety of physical analogies and metaphysical concepts in the attempt to give a rational account of this belief, but the metaphysical algebra no longer has much traction for most people and divinity is not within the reach of materialist rationality. In order to emphasise the presence of the exceptional in him it has been natural to give greater narrative weight to the Divinity of Jesus of Nazareth than to his humanity, which has effectively been shrouded in the glow of the Divine The purpose of this brief essay in imagination is the belief that unless we grasp the biological earthiness of Jesus we cannot fully understand his the Incarnation.
Published: Oct 2017
Paperback: 86 pages
Price: £4.90
ISBN: 9-781911-175834
Available from Amazon
The Very Revd. Hugh Dickinson, Dean Emeritus of Salisbury: Queen’s Scholar at Westminster. MA Oxford, Chaplain Trinity College Cambridge, Chaplain Winchester College, Bishops Adviser in Adult Education Coventry Cathedral, Vicar of St Michaels St Albans, formerly Dean of Salisbury, retired in the Cotswolds, distinguished poet and painter.
Reader Reviews...