BOOKS
Pennykid Books
We publish for friends and relations only, so our selection is naturally limited but I'm sure you will agree, the choice is diverse. Music, poetry, short stories, full-length books, children's tales, history, geology, exploration of uncharted lands etc, etc. In fact, something for everyone. They are available from Amazon for paperback and Kindle versions or Smashword for Kobo and other e-readers.
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Take a look. You may be pleasantly surprised!
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* Please note: Smashwords prices are shown in US dollars and may differ from that advertised on this page.
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Stephen E Pennykid
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Chief Inspector Robert Casey - the whole story
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GRAVE CONCERNS - The Robert Casey Cronicles
Chief Inspector Robert Casey makes a sudden decision to retire from the police force but it seems his investigating days are not yet over. When, during the early weeks of his retirement, a mysterious package arrives giving details of what could be unsolved murders, he begins to look back over his career. Can he solve the riddle and what danger will he put himself and those close to him in?
This book is a compilation of the first five Chief Inspector Robert Casey Short Stories, previously only available as eBooks. The five stories with some additions and minor alterations chronicle Bob Casey’s memories of past cases and subsequent investigations, putting his life and that of some of those closest to him in danger.
Paperback
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£9.99
Amazon
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Smashwords *
Chief Inspector Robert Casey Short Stories
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THE BLACKBERRY WAY MURDER
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Why would Chief Inspector Robert Casey suddenly announce his retirement? He had constantly told his colleagues that too much experience was being wasted in the pursuit of budget cuts. What two events separated by almost thirty years had caused him to arrive at his decision? This is the first of the Chief Inspector Robert Casey short stories.
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TRAGEDY
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Chief Inspector Robert Casey has been retired only five weeks when the package arrives. The content would change the course of his retirement.
This is the second short story in the series taking the reader through the some of the experiences of a career policeman from his initial investigation as a detective constable to his eventual retirement.
However, his investigating days may not yet be over...
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THE SOUND OF SILENCE
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The third short story in this series sees ex-Chief Inspector Robert Casey looking back at his first involvement in a murder investigation in an effort to identify the sender of the package which so intrigued him and upset his equilibrium in the previous story.
How would his unofficial investigations affect his retirement plans, his relationship with his ex-colleagues and more importantly his relationship with his wife? Would they lead him down a dangerous path?
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GRATEFULLY DEAD
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Gratefully Dead, the fourth short story in the series, sees Robert Casey finally coming face to face with the serial killer he has been so desperately seeking. The shocking climax will test whether Casey's beliefs and morals are more important to him than his own survival.
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AFTER THE ORDEAL
After his shocking encounter with a serial killer, ex-Chief Inspector Robert Casey attempts to rebuild his battered body and shattered emotions. Returning from a recuperative sabbatical, he is asked to investigate the long-ago disappearance of a teenager. He agrees to undertake this task, unaware that the consequences of his search will lead to personal life changes.
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MisHits of the Sixties
This series is a must for all lovers of sixties music.
They say that if you can remember the sixties you weren’t there. However, as a teenager at the time, the music made such an impression on me that it is still crystal clear in my mind today. I remember the excitement and anticipation of hearing new releases from a mix of both established and unknown artists.
Each book is filled with facts about the records chosen together with some personal observations.
How many of these records can you remember? Would they be your personal choice?
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MisHits of the Sixties
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Here is the author's Top 30 personal choice of singles that never reached a UK chart position higher than number 20, but which, in his opinion, deserved a far higher placing.
How many of these records can you remember? Would they be your personal choice?
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MisHits of the Sixties Volume 2 - American Artists
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This selection deals exclusively with American artists, and is my Top 20 personal choice of singles that never reached a UK chart position higher than No 20. As in the first volume, in my opinion these singles deserved a far higher placing. Includes both facts and personal opinions.
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MisHits of the Sixties Volume 3 - The 'B'Sides
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This volume deals with ‘B’ sides which the author believes could easily have been released as ‘A’ sides. In the early days of record collecting,
‘B’ sides were very important to the author. Having made few purchases, they doubled the choice of listening. Among the tracks featured are some that are instantly recognisable, but others which may appear somewhat obscure. Give them a listen and see what YOU think.​
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MisHits of the Sixties Volume 4 - Instrumentals
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The author's personal Top 20’s of singles that never reached a UK chart position higher than No 20. Indeed, one or two didn’t chart at all and another couple were released as ‘B’ sides. As in the previous volumes, facts about these selections are given as well as personal experiences and observations. I hope you will enjoy reading about my selection and maybe even seek out some tracks you may not have been familiar with.
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COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN
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In each short story in this trilogy, two people have become estranged due to their personal circumstances. In This Boy, Martin, a successful author living in the USA, receives an email from his step-brother. He reminisces over his childhood, an early relationship and what might have been had his work, success and subsequent emigration not got in the way. The News from Spain and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes have each been published individually by S & S P Publishing for Amazon Kindle, details below.​
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THE NEWS FROM SPAIN
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Penny had lost contact with her father in the months following her mother's death. Now, some years later, she had received a letter from him. Why had it taken so long for him to contact her?
The letter would take her through her father's voyage of discovery. It would provide some of the answers to their estrangement, but leave her with a life-changing decision to make.​
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SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES
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Jenny receives a letter from her estranged father, the contents of which would force her to make a potentially life-changing decision. What could have happened to compel her father to contact her now after five years without a word? And the photographs he enclosed - could she really believe her eyes? Previously published in Charnwood Tales (Panda Eyes Publishers Ltd, March 2010).​
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2 SPOOKY
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The Sins of Others, explores the consequences of wrong-doing. A man is haunted by a recurring dream. A legacy appeared to be the answer to his prayers but was this really so? The dream may provide the answer.
A Trip in Time, recounts a pilgrimage to seek answers to an oft repeated legend connected with his previous employment. His journey leads him into another world with more questions than answers.​
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THE NOT QUITE COMPLETE WORKS OF...
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When I discovered I could self publish paperback books, I decided to prepare a compendium of Steve's output to present to him for his birthday!
This book is the result. It includes everything he had written up to date of publishing (Jan 2017): most of the eBooks listed above and a couple of children’s tales under the pen-name Eddie Penny.
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This is the adventure of Pickworth,a little wooden bird. He thinks his life is dull, living as he does on a shelf in a furniture shop. The penguins next to him never want to chat with him, only with each other. How he wished he could see something interesting, and wouldn't it be nice to have the chance to speak to Penny, that nice little bird at the other end of the shelf...
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Martin Litherland​
Poetry​
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LOOK AT MY BONES - Poems of King Richard III
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What would Richard III feel about his resting place beneath a car park and his subsequent exhumation? What actually happened to the Princes in the Tower? And was Richard really the dastardly character portrayed by Shakespeare? These issues and more are discussed in these intriguing poems about the life, death and exhumation of King Richard III.
Fully illustrated.​​
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RICHARD III - Death and Resurrection
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Wonderful poems tracing the afterlife of Richard III, from violent death in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth, and resultant mythology; through the recent discovery of his bones under a Leicester car park in 2012; to reburial with honour in the nearby Cathedral. Followed by his resurrection, manifested by Leicester City Football Club winning the Premier League in 2016. Poems also cover Richard’s family and various stories and myths related to this much-maligned king. Then, alternate history based on a Ricardian victory at the battle of Bosworth, imagining a current monarch, Richard XIV.
Fully illustrated.​
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BONES TO STONES AND BEYOND
This book is essentially a compilation of poetry written by Martin Litherland throughout his adult life: poems which convey stories, anecdotes and Martin's innermost thoughts. First are the beliefs of Martin the historian, passionate about the life and death of Richard III. The exhumation of the king from beneath a car park in Leicester evoked much emotion and further piqued his creativity resulting in the poem 'Look at my Bones', perhaps a true rival to that of the Poet Laureate, read at the king's reburial. Then follows an anecdotal history from Martin the geologist, stemming from thoughts, feelings and memories of his own exploits and real life experiences whilst working in various parts of the world. Some of the poems were written during his time exploring and mapping previously uncharted areas, others more recently, remembering those times. Further poems reveal memories of his childhood and emotional outpourings of a thinker, a philosopher with a wide variety of experiences to call on, writing about his views on life. Finally as an added bonus, comes 'The Moment Trilogy': three short stories about events in the lives of three fairly flawed and unheroic characters whose lives are changed in a moment.
Fully illustrated, black and white and colour editions.
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INCA TREASURE - Poems from the Andes of Ecuador
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The legend of lost treasure of the last Inca king, Atahualpa, is guarded by remote, mist-veiled mountains in central Ecuador. Martin Litherland was summoned to explore this region; and these poems, linking narrative and photos, tell the story as he and his companions tackle this essentially unexplored and uninhabited mountain range. Read about the treasure, gold fever, and the man with one hand...
Fully illustrated.
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ROMANTIC ROCKS - Poetry of a Wandering Geologist
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Both rocks and local people form a romantic backdrop to Martin Litherland’s poems set in various remote parts of the world. Read of schoolboy inspiration in Coffee Smoke; being alone in Scotland with That Russian Spy; and the discovery of The Earliest Animal. Follow him around the world in Places I know best; and his near-death encounters in Nine Lives, before he returns home to meet the Queen in OBE Poem.
Fully illustrated.
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POEMS FROM THE LOST WORLD
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We’ve all heard of the novel The Lost World, by Arthur Conan Doyle, but did you know this land really exists? The novel was based on Col. Percy Fawcett’s discovery, in 1908, of the Huanchaca plateau in the heart of the Amazon basin. Would you have liked to explore and map this legendary plateau? In 1980–81, Martin Litherland did just that.
Fully illustrated.
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MY NAME IS EVE; BLACK IS MY FACE:
Poems of religion, evolution and humanity
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The black Eve is the real Eve: the mitochondrial Eve: she who is the mother of us all, no matter our race or creed. Apart from paying homage to her, these poems manifest other paradoxes of religion, evolution and humanity. They reflect the modern thinking person who, whilst having read all the evidence against traditional religion, would still ‘like to see his Mum again.’
Fully illustrated.
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EARLY MEMORIES - Poems of Childhood
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Martin's early memories with linking narrative and many original photos. A magical trip to Cowdray Park and an idyllic childhood in the Haslemere countryside; the death of the King, and naughty verses learned at school; life in an east Manchester manse; a schoolboy’s view of Jim Laker’s cricket Test; a great uncle lost in no man’s land; and other family members who died too young. Indeed, read about those innocent childhood years, long overtaken by today’s technology: memories so easily turned into poetry.
Fully illustrated.
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Short Stories
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ROCKY TIMES - A Geopoetic Odyssey
Can you not hear the Earth it chimes
The rhythm of our rocky times?
Fully illustrated and with a linking narrative, these poems are odysseys into rocks: into the history of the Earth and into the life of the writer, a field geologist, who explores it. He sets the scene by entering the Earth’s deep rocky past using his own experiences: starting with the first waters lapping on the shore; the first animal; and ending with the journey of our own species along the great Rift Valley of Africa, leaving us with our own, black, mitochondrial Eve: the mother of us all.
This sets the narrative for his own rocky times: those twenty-five years of exploring the Earth’s history in remote regions: the Kalahari Desert; the Andean Mountains of Ecuador, where he searches for Inca treasure; and the Bolivian Amazon, where he follows in Fawcett’s footsteps to the Lost World. But there are many dangers, which is why he introduces us to the Odyssean God of Rocks, and the perils he inflicts: earthquakes, giant snakes, vampires, plagues, death; and scientific uncertainty.
Like Odysseus, he survives all these and returns to civilisation, where he finishes his tasks by naming the rocks and producing maps and publications, before facing up to some inherent moral dilemmas, and, finally, considering those humble folk who helped him and saved his life.
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THE MOMENT TRILOGY
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These three short stories are about life-changing moments in the lives of three fairly flawed and unheroic characters. Steve, lacking self-esteem, but finding Atahualpa’s Treasure in the Andes of Ecuador; sex-bomb Freda with her Damascene moment in York Minster; and, finally, self-centred Mike who meets his destiny at the Millennium Hour in the Bear at Bisley. Read how these moments changed their lives for ever.
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John Meller
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THE SEASON THAT WAS
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Plumber Stephen Smith’s life had become tedious. He had slipped into an ever-decreasing spiral of work and beer. He was rapidly getting old before his time. But an unexpected telephone call changed everything. Now Steve Smith could do what he really wanted to do. He could write a story. And he could write it about the village cricket team of his youth. But life for Steve Smith was now even better than that. Not only could he at last explore his own clearly amazing literary skills, but he had also been given license to slag off all his old cricketing mates while he was doing so. And he was going to get paid for the privilege as well. Stephen Smith was a very happy man indeed. Steve’s chronicle of a special cricketing season is written in a match-by-match format. And his presentation is such that readers should easily identify with each of the characters, and their countless amusing little foibles.That phone call was to become a wonderful turning point in Steve Smith’s life. But there was a question constantly gnawing away at the back of the plumber’s mind: why had he received it in the first place?
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Nancy Meller
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Tim Heatley
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ARNOLD AND BEYOND - The Good Old Days
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(Taken from the book) -My maiden name was Annie Elizabeth Hopewell, known as Nancy Hopewell. In 1948 I married and became Nancy Meller. I have spent all of my life in and around the Nottingham area. For the first 22 years I lived with my family at various addresses in Arnold. Since getting married I have lived at Basford, Sherwood, Chilwell, Long Eaton and Gedling, but I’ve always considered Arnold to be my real home. This book covers some of the more memorable incidents.
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MACRO-EVOLUTION - A Theory- or Evidence-Based Science
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This book discusses the controversial issue of evolution, specifically macro-evolution and what the scientific basis is for it. It looks at what Darwin had to say were the preconditions for his theories to be ratified and at the doubts he expressed about his own published work. It also investigates what many highly qualified scientists have to say about established theories, and queries why their voices have been suppressed or ignored. In order to make the book more available to the general public it is is sold at cost price.
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Children's Books
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Eddie Penny
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Tim was small and not happy about it, nor about the way his schoolmates teased him.Although he didn’t really believe in Santa, Tim’s mum had encouraged him to write a Christmas list. He had only two wishes on his list but would they be too difficult for Santa to carry out?
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YESTERDAY'S TRAIN - An Olympic Record
Helena has a secret that she shares with her grandparents. Every Tuesday during the school holidays she spends the day with them and if the date of that Tuesday happens to contain a seven, she knows she's in for a magical time. When Helena is set a school project for the summer holidays, she looks at the calendar and realises that a certain Tuesday can help her complete it.
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Santa Rowly
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CHRISTMAS WISHES
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A compilation of short Christmas stories for young and old to enjoy. Each tale tells how Santa and his elves help children's wishes come true. The tales all have happy endings; even if along the way one or two lessons are learned.
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