Rum Bum & Whacky

   

 

Not so much about ships, more about the characters that sail in them.

A veritable richness of oddballs grace the British Merchant Navy and here are a few reminiscences about those I’ve sailed with over a quarter of a century.

It is probable that those unlucky not to have gone to sea will believe the stories are fiction, but every seaman will nod their heads knowingly and mutter,

‘That reminds me of…’

It was wonderful knowing every one of them.

Available in all digital forms from Smashwords www.smashwords.com/books/view/102648

Available in book form from Lulu                      www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/rum-bum-whacky/710498

Cheers Comrade Lenin

A first hand insight by the co-author into the life of an ill-assorted family living in the USSR during the 1960’s, during her teens. Set deep in Ukraine’s farming community, the book describes the methods employed by the Gavrishko family, during a typical summer, to not only overcome the Kremlin’s dictates and petty rules, but to use them to their advantage. The family, a self confessed war hero father who craves for a quiet life, a Lenin inspired workhorse  mother, an eccentric  grandfather who spent many years in Siberian Gulags and a nonconformist grandmother. Add a mad beekeeper uncle, a once famous alcoholic actress aunt, an arrogant Moscow based cousin and an ignorant, alcoholic Communist party  collective farm manager combination, evokes a recipe for a mad cap way of life.From the first day of spring to late autumn, the narrative places various members of the family into outlandish predicaments that are dealt with in ways that, to a western orientated observer seem quite farcical, but to the Gavrishko family were a natural way of overcoming the odds.

Available in all digital forms from Smashwords www.smashwords.com/books/view/101836

Available in book form from Lulu

http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/cheers-comrade-lenin/12130567