Books
In Search of Beira’s Hammer
Novella | fantasy | humorous | folklore | fiction
An adventure filled with silliness, folklore, grumpiness, and absurdity. In Search of Beira’s Hammer follows Scarlet and Amhlaidh on their adventures along the West Highland Way in Scotland. Scarlet travels from Berlin to look for a legendary hammer that will allow her to perfect her city. On the way, she meets Amhlaidh, a grumpy troll, who is willing to help her at a cost. Join them in their search, discovering Beira, kelpies, and other legendary creatures along their way, and find out how their adventure unfolds.
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Stories
Namibian Oasis
memoir | short story | humorous
Woken by the smell of coffee, all five of us begin to shuffle out of our respective beds in preparation of the starting day. I’ve never liked coffee myself, but I have always found its fragrance energising. Its correlation to the morning shuffle simply strengthened by its habitual morning presence.
An orchestra of teeth being brushed and showers being started is accompanied by backpack zippers in search of a clean outfit for the day. It’s still close to the beginning of our trip, so we haven’t reduced ourselves yet to sniffing the clothing that successfully makes it out of the bag; in the hope that it may not poison our companions or any wildlife that is unlucky enough to bump into us. The orchestra begins to settle, and we start making our way down the stairs following a trail of bacon aroma.
Tokyo Midnight
fiction | magical realism | urban
“Ichiro’s on the rocks, please,” a man said, leaning over a large countertop. It was a small establishment, hosting a mere six seats, all surrounding a polished wooden bartop, and of which only one was occupied. Jazz music played in the background, loud enough to create an atmosphere, but quiet enough to encourage conversation. It was lit by candlelight, whose flicker shone upon countless liquor bottles like the shimmer of moonlight upon a calm sea. Arthur had stumbled upon the bar accidentally, whilst looking for an art store on the same floor.
“Hai!” the mixologist acknowledged. He placed the cloth he was using to polish a martini glass carefully next to a tap, and positioned the glass on a shelf so gently one might consider it a priceless heirloom. He then began the process of preparing the whiskey.
Stories from my garden
memoir | essay | biographical
I remember my childhood like a Henri Rousseau painting. Vibrant colours assaulting my first encounters with the world and the heat of the tropics, thick and stagnant, forming a resistance to time. A great jungle lodged an assortment of creatures, casting its shadow upon a bridging path, asserting its presence in the pandemonium of its inhabitant’s nightly songs. This was my reality.
Poems
No life without palm trees
A missing smile at the passing of a palm tree
like a gust of winter wind – cold, yet unseen.
The setting of the clutching branches free
abruptly calm and unexpectedly serene.
A missing smile at the passing of an ice cream
travelling through the void of a mariachi’s guitar
merging into an eternal musical stream
on a journey to becoming the dust of a star
A missing smile at the passing of a beach
silenced by the laughter of a small wave.
Your absence there, yet out of reach
leaving a small but timeless breach
Published in Now That You Are Gone From This World
Grains of opportunity
Dysphoria is buried slowly beneath the sand
as silence effaces the remnants of memories
The desert seizes all it surrounds
creating a coarse new canvas for the patient
It sees no past and has no conviction
as the sun seals what is forgotten beneath the grains
And that which was once unsettled
remains but a skeleton in a timeless illusory cage
Opportunity
The ashes of the past
dance upon your solar wings
in glittering lament
The trail of discovery
is devoured by the tempest
through a deafening howl
Your words echo within the waves
“My battery is low
and it’s getting dark”