Books published by TSL Publications

Confused by the title? Speak to retirees and most will tell you, 'Never been so busy in all of my life!'This little book is really an anthology of my work since I retired some twenty years ago.

Meet Barney the wise old owl, talkative Hetty Hen and neurotic Helen Hedgehog the Parish gossips, Harry the irritable Heron, and countless other delightful characters including Ben and Esmerelda, our two Shire horse heroes, in this timeless and heart-warming story of how two wonderful horses finally found enduring happiness."I was sad when the story came to an end!!Really, really loved reading it¿"Insightful, informative and amusing, the story conveys messages on many levels.Parents will appreciate reading it to younger children, while older ones will enjoy being stretched a little to learn new words and concepts and to gain new knowledge.

And why If it Falls?It comes from an expression in Spanish-if you drop something, you don't say 'I dropped it', you say 'it fell'-the implication is that some things just happen. They are nobody's fault.They are out of our control.

Melanie and her partner Henrietta are two small-time crooks who have chosen crime as their hobby rather than their living. From the sleepy village of Mallowmarsh, Mel plans to steal a valuable double row of pearls belonging to the late, wealthy Claribel Louise. These she intends either to sell on, or give as a present to her partner Henri whom she rightly believes would rather not take part in these dodgy, amateur escapades. But try as she may to pull off the perfect crime, Mel's efforts turn to dust giving rise to chapters of humorous misadventures.

In The Travellers the absurdity of life - a world without God and joy - is brought to consciousness through the encounters of Alvin, Cecil and Blair at a train station. It is underpinned by the philosophy of atheistic existentialism as depicted in works by Samuel Becket, Eugene Ionesco, Jean Genet, Harold Pinter and Edward Albee. The Travellers is a play in three acts which has all the features of absurd plays - with the absurdist formula of (aclp2t) + (afi2lms) + (tc) - action is reduced - characters are reduced - language is reduced - plot is reduced - place is reduced - the sense of alienation, fear, isolation, insecurity, loneliness, mystery and suspense - and the tragic-comic scenes - nothing is happening - but everything is happening.

Do you love a play on words? Do you love to be taken on a journey from the comfort of your armchair? If so, this book could be for you! As a taster...STEPHEN: Well, don't forget my cousin's a seamstress if that helps. I know she's busy with some items this evening, actually. JIM Is she making 'em? STEPHEN: No, Altrincham. To start with, anyway, then later I expect she'll also be doing her usual trick of linking together two or more garments by twisting the ends around each other.JIM: Oh, you mean she'll be ...STEPHEN: Nottingham. Of course she has been known to make a complete pig's ear of what previously were perfectly good items of clothing. JIM: Oh, so she ...STEPHEN: Wrexham, yes. The Grand Tour of the British Isles, from which that excerpt comes, is one of this six-part comedy series written with radio in mind but where the individual episodes could be presented as part of a theatre company's comedy night. From place names to people and from songs to stars, this is a feast of wordplay to satisfy even the hungriest stomachs. What are you waiting for? Tuck in!

Set in the UK, Love's Register tells the story of romantic love and climate change over four generations. Told by five members of the Lavender family, it begins in York, UK, in the middle of the free-love 60s, and ends with the night sea journey across the vastness of Oceania. The family voices, plus others, take us through generational conflicts in the 1920s, open relationships in the feminist 80s/90s and a contemporary late-life love affair. Led by a cast of varied, in-depth characters whose stories intersect surprisingly, with plenty of passion and humour, Love's Register is a coming-of-age family saga and modern psycho-logical novel that explores the way we live now.

When Elvis Met MarlonTwo huge handsome American icons (literally and physically!), who, in their later years became gross physically. I imagine them meeting at a diner in New York and how they would converse - Marlon Brando, through his best movie lines, and Elvis Presley through his best lyrics.The WaiterThis is a story about the American dream and the immigrant. Irving Caitlan has opened up a new kosher diner in Queen's. Like many immigrants he has changed his name to disguise his ethnicity.Lenny is a wannerbe actor working as a waiter. He is waiting for a miracle to happen and has his eye on the big chance.The Oldest Swingers in the BusinessThis is a story about "swinging" pensioners in Florida. Gordo and Joy hold regular swingers parties for the more avant garde. Madelaine and Arnie come along to see what is on offer.Divorce Party PrepBella and Sadie are grandmothers on either side of a family, in Brooklyn, New York. They have a 60-year history of feuding and fall outs. Today they're preparing for their granddaughter Judy's divorce party.

London in the future: third world poverty, tuc-tucs on the streets and an authoritarian tyrant in Downing Street.The Prime Minister addresses the nation during the blitz - but it isn't Winston Churchill.The Ghost of Christmas Past copes with the age of the internet.The strange premiership of Jeremy Corbyn.These twelve stories are about what might become of us - or what might have become of us, if things had panned out slightly differently.

Sally is miserable in bed with measles but she has been given The Quilt which takes her on magical journeys. Each time she strokes a patch on the quilt she becomes a time traveller attending a Victorian Christmas party, a funfair in the 1930s, going on an escapade with Bonnie Prince Charlie, joining in a medieval Mayday, going on a Georgian Mystery and becoming part of a fairy tale fantasy.

Contains original material on an under-researched period in British and South African history. An unusual approach - writing colonial history from the perspective of all the countries involved, this work sheds new light on greater historical processes of British and German rivalry in Africa and the development of an independent South Africa. The East African campaign has held little place in national memory - for Britain, it has been a 'romantic' side-show whilst for South Africa, a reminder of its failure to unite the two dominant white races and acquire the port of Delagoa Bay in Portuguese East Africa. Using new material gained from original research, Anne Samson reassesses the importance of the campaign to the young South African dominion in attempting to prove its coming of age and pursue its imperial desires. "Britain, South Africa and the East African Campaign" is a comprehensive study from multiple perspectives of the key players that will illuminate this under-researched period in colonial history.

The author is a huge fan of Alan Bennett's work, having studied Talking Heads at A-level.All the characters in Reckoning are fictitious, it tells the story of individuals who find themselves seemingly in an impossible situation, with their backs against the wall. But fate plays its hand and tables are turned.6 monologues: 3 for men and 3 for women, all approximately 10 minutes long

The case studies in the book illustrate how our earliest relationships affect all future relationships. This book shows that where early attachments have been damaged, people suffer throughout their lives. The stories highlight how therapy can help to understand and heal the damage in order to create fulfilling relationships in the future . Hazel Leventhal trained as an attachment-based psychotherapist at The Bowlby Centre, where she chaired the Clinical Forum for several years. She has worked as a Samaritan and is a member of The Alzheimer's Society for whom she has done some publicity work. She co-edited the book Dementia - An Attachment Approach published in 2018. She now lives and works in Bedfordshire.

From the author of "Strongbow's Wife" and "A Purgatory of Misery" comes another searing account of a terrible period in Irish history. When a government official exposes the unpalatable truth about the famine in mid-nineteenth century West Clare he is called to account by the men he accuses. Abandoned by his masters, he has only his strength of character and the love of his wife and daughter to sustain him as he fights famine and disease in a land teeming with destitute men, women and children.

Wilfred Bussy was the Editor of the Police Review who and published a series of articles covering the early history of the BSAP. The fact they were written soon after the events described, by a serving member, adds an immediacy which is of value. Starting in 1886 Bussy describes the various units which, after many campaigns, eventually evolved to form the British South Africa Police. The events of the Matabe and Mashona uprisings are covered in detail as also is that other great active service period of the BSAP in early years, the Anglo-Boer War. Written in a highly readable style, this is a valuable contribution to the history of the BSAP.

From the playwright Melville Lovatt comes Bus Stop Blues. This new collection of four short comedy dramas will not only amuse, but make audiences realize that waiting for a bus can be a lot more exciting than they may have at first thought! With plausible, entertaining characters, these little gems are indeed perfect for being staged professionally or by an amateur company. The two monologues, First Love and The Dream are in the same high quality league as his monologue collection, Standing Alone.

"What use," he reasoned, "is survival at any cost ... if we become little more than animals?" Believing each other dead, Greg and Emmie fight to survive in a post-apocalyptic world of isolation, desperation and vigilantes. Their own child lost, Emmie traumatically conceives a child she hates. Even should they find each other, Emmie's tragic secret and Greg's drastic transformation threaten to destroy the foundations on which a new future together might be built in the harsh wilderness around them.

This book centres around a wonderful holiday my husband Douglas and I had in Sri Lanka in 2017, with friends George and Sylvia, exploring our immediate surroundings and travelling further afield in this wonderful island. Each day brought new experiences ranging from relaxing to exhausting, amusing to thought provoking, straightforward and the very opposite!The holiday provided an ideal opportunity to chat and reminisce about previous holidays we''d had with sons David and Andrew or cousins and friends. Our holidays have changed hugely over the years from simple caravan holidays in our Scottish homeland to jetting across the world, adapting to different climates and cultures. Journey with me as we holiday in Sri Lanka and recount tales from around the globe: Iceland, America, India, Hong Kong, Norway, Spain, Italy, London, Madeira, South Africa, Dubai, Canada, Austria and AustraliaMy hope is you''ll feel you''re on holiday with me as you read.