Pirates of the Caribbean star Kevin McNally among ‘wealth of local talent’ at local authors night at the Chiswick Book Festival
Image above: Local authors at the Chsiwick Book Festival
Supported by The Chiswick Calendar
Chiswick is so full of published and would-be published writers that come the annual Chiswick Book Festival, the organisers always face an embarrassment of riches. A few years ago they hit on the ideal solution – a fun night in which a room full of local authors would each have just two minutes to make their ‘elevator pitch’ as to why the audience should read their book.
This year the authors, whose sold out session on Wednesday 6 September kicks of the week of Book Festival events, includes journalist Simon Gompertz, whose book of short stories Limb of Satan we have serialised on The Chiswick Calendar website, and actor Kevin McNally, who has published his first novel, Sons of Sol.
Festival Director Torin Douglas and programme director Jo James will introduce 21 authors in a fast-paced evening of fun at the Boston Room of George IV in Chiswick High Road. The session is sold out but Waterstones Chiswick has their books in stock.
The Chiswick Calendar is proud to be supporting this and all the other Book Festival events taking place at Geroge IV.
In order of appearance the local authors taking part will be:
Calum Kerr
Calum has written a crime novel, Terrible Brothers which is rated of 4.7 / 5 on Amazon. The second of a series (Dirty Money, Terrible People was published in November 2020).
‘Diana Hamilton is a strong, successful, wealthy woman. She owns the most discreet, exclusive and expensive private members club in Mayfair. But when she decides to expand beyond London she encounters two truly terrible brothers. They have made millions over the years, importing heroin, cocaine, ketamine and illegal immigrants. But they want more. And her business looks like a soft target.’
Terrbile Brothers – Waterstones
Michael Parker
Michael ParkerMichael has published My Life, My Hurdles, described as a graphic memoir, rated 4.5 / 5 on Amazon
Michael represented his country as a hurdler in the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics. The phrase ‘get over yourself’ could not be more apt, he says. His memoir takes us through his life from childhood to ultimate success as an adult. From being sent to boarding school on his fifth birthday, to a career at Saatchi, to helping send the first Briton into space, this is the story of the hurdles experienced, from World War 2 till world pandemic now. The witty, poignant, colourful illustrations throughout are by Cecily Salt.
Jo Pratt
Jo, an award winning food writer and chef, has produced the latest in her series of ‘Flexible’ cookery books: The Flexible Baker, full of foolproof and delicious recipes where ingredients can be substituted to suit all dietary requirements and eating preferences. Rated 4.7 / 5 on Amazon.
She presents a wide range of bakes including sweet & savoury, cakes & traybakes, biscuits & cookies, pastries, puddings & deserts, including recipes for Smoky bacon scones with salted maple butter, Sweet onion and blue cheese swirls, Chicken & chorizo sausage rolls, ‘Sourdough‘ for the impatient, Multi-millionaire’s shortbread, Pecan pumpkin pie and Salted honey & pistachio puddings.
Simon Gompertz
Simon GompertzSimon, a former BBC journalist, has been raising money for the Trussell Trust, who support food banks in Britain, by donating the proceeds from his book of short stories Limb of Satan. We have published several of them here on The Chiswick Calendar. They are short stories in the thriller genre. Rated 4.8 / 5 stars on Amazon.
Meet a food bank fraudster, a klepto property agent, the church worker who ran off with your rent and London’s dawn squirrel hunters. They’re from a parade of people who were lucky, not so lucky or simply on the make during the lockdown years. You’ll visit a museum of knives, witness a signal box go up in flames, puzzle out the mystery of a missing grave and discover who the Limbs of Satan are, plus why we neglect them at our peril.
Simon Prentis
Simon has written Speech! How Language Made Us Human, a Science title which examines: What makes us human? Why are we the only animals who wear clothes, drive cars, trawl the internet, and fly helicopters on Mars? It’s all because we’ve learnt to talk: yet remarkably, we still don’t know how we did it.
Rated 4.4 / 5 on Amazon
Speech! suggests an answer that’s been hiding in plain sight – the simple yet radical shift that turned our analog grunts and shrieks into words. But its consequences are far from simple: being able to share ideas through language was an evolutionary tipping point – it allowed us to link up our minds.
Speech! traces our roller-coaster ride with language from hunter-gatherer to urban hipster: the epic tale of the struggle for knowledge against the false gods of culture, religion and identity – as we teeter toward a destination we may still resist, but ultimately cannot escape.
Desmond Morris has reviewed the book and says he agrees with its hypothesis. Yoko Ono says it’s ‘compelling read.’
Speech – How Language Made Us Human
Catherine Pepinster
Catherine was the first female editor of The Tablet, the Catholoc international weekly review, as such she is well placed to comment on matters of theology and church history.
In her book Defenders of the Faith: the British Monarchy, Religion and the Next Coronation, she explores the powerful connection between the British monarchy and religion, from its earliest times, to the Reformation, the Civil War, and ‘the reconfigured wholesome family monarchy of Victoria and her successors, whose Christian faith steered their response to the atheistic regimes of fascism and communism that threatened Europe and their royal relatives’.
She asks what part religion will play in the reign of Charles III and in the coronation of a Prince of Wales in an nation which is increasingly secular and diverse in its religious beliefs. Her book is rated 5 / 5 on Amazon.
Defenders of the Faith – Amazon
Vyvyan Kinross
Nazis on the Nile is a history book which sheds new light on Nazi influence in Egypt; an influence which has had long lasting effects according to Vyvyan, who is also the author of Information Warriors: The Battle for Hearts and Minds in the Middle East, published in April 2020.
Seventy years on from Gamal Abdel Nasser’s revolution that changed Egypt and the Middle East, Nazis on the Nile reveals the true extent of the involvement of German and Nazi specialists in building his military state.
Using official British records and CIA files released under the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act, Vyvyan Kinross paints a compelling portrait of a country rearming and reequipping for the Cold War and rocket age with the help of former German Wehrmacht soldiers, missile scientists, chemical engineers, arms manufacturers and arms dealers.
Rated 5 / 5 on Amazon.
Josephine Perry
Sport psychologist Dr Josephine Perry spends her life working with exceptional performers. In her book The Ten Pillars of Success, she has identified ten psychological pillars that the ultra-successful have ingrained within their approach. The good news, she says, is that we can all learn these mental building blocks.
She examines the methods of those who have excelled in their field, discussing their route to success. A sense of belonging, mastery, autonomy, purpose, confidence, process, courage, optimism, internal insight or gratitude – all these skills can be vital in helping us overcome setbacks that can stand in the way of achieving our goals.
‘From the double Olympic champion who is passionate about collaboration, to the James Bond Stuntman who has cultivated courage, to the Ironman athlete who harnessed the power of gratitude, each case study demonstrates how we can turn a pillar into a superpower.’
Rated 5 / 5 on Amazon
The Ten Pillars of Success – Waterstones
Richard Dikstra & Kay Hutchinson
Richard and Kay have written The Adventures of Captain Bobo – Bananas, the latest in a series of children’s books which are now also available as audiobooks and a Fun Kids radio series.
The Captain Bobo books tell the fun stories of a captain, his crew, a faithful wee Scottie dog and a paddle steamer. No matter what challenges they encounter the team always manages to win through. Based loosely (very loosely) on real events and ships. In Bananas an elephant goes missing. With time against them, and a tricky problem to solve before they can set sail, can Captain Bobo and the crew really save the day?
Rated 4.8 / 5 on Amazon.
The Adventures of Captain Bobo – Bananas – Amazon
SJ Garrae
This is the fifth crime novelby SR Garrae. Her author’s profile on Amazon says: ‘SR Garrae grew up in Scotland and then worked in international finance in London until her retirement. She lives in the UK with her family, who are somewhat bemused by but supportive of her complete change of career.’
This is the synopsis of her latest book, rated 4.1 / 5 on Amazon:
Acclaimed, sexy reality photographer Jamie Carval, desperately searching for a new theme for his next exhibition, stumbles upon dedicated, driven Manhattan detective Casey Clement and her hotshot team at the murder of a brilliant scientist.
Carval instantly decides that the intensity and unity of the team will form an outstanding show, with Casey as its stunning centrepiece. But Casey has hated photographs ever since a jealous fellow-recruit tried to shame her with a stolen copy of a shot from a college party, and she isn’t in the mood to play nice.
As the cops unravel the mess of multimillion dollar motives for murder, the trail leads them from the research lab to the door of big business. While Casey hunts for the truth, Carval fights to find a way past Casey’s resistance to his photos and the heat that’s building between them. But when the murderer starts to come into focus, can photographs save the day?
Kevin McNally
Kevin has published his first novel: Sons of Sol, a sci-fi novel described by one reviewer as: ‘a funny, rollicking sci-fi tale, laced with political shenanigans and military intrigue.’
Tony Smith and Percival Prendergast, genius graduates of the Edinburgh Space Propulsion Academy, have developed a space engine which will revolutionize travel and trade around the colonies and beyond. A project that will do a lot of good for mankind…and be very lucrative to boot!
Many are interested but some are unwilling to pay. After being abducted from the Gagarin Space station by a glamorous but unscrupulous Bounty Hunter, Smith and Prendergast embark on an epic cat and mouse chase around the solar system. Will they become the gazillioinaires they hope, rot in a Centauran jail pressed into forced labour or be blasted into space by murderous space traders? Only space and time will tell…
Rated 4.6 / 5 on Amazon.
Anita Hamilton
Anita Hamilton is a Communications, Marketing and Organisational Change Consultant, who has written a book called: How to be A Happy Woman in Mid-Life
Reaching mid-life is a time of enormous change – physically, emotionally and socially. How do you navigate these changes and be happy and fulfilled? As we emerge from the Covid pandemic, it is time to re-evaluate our lives, think about what makes us happy and what could make us happier.
Rated 4.6 / 5 on Amazon.
How to be A Happy Woman in Mid-Life – Amazon
Vanessa Nitsche
Vanessa is another children’s author. Her book Cocoa The Cat is a story about a friendship made during lockdown.
It is the spring of 2020: the world is in the grip of a pandemic. In the midst of the national lockdown, a lonely, anxious woman is self-isolating at home with no one for company but the bird-slaying tom cat terrorising her garden, whose violence she detests.
Love at first sight it is not. Until one day Cocoa, the tom cat, manages to get inside her flat and all of a sudden shows his vulnerable side. Slowly, a friendship develops between these two unlikely bed fellows. Cocoa the Cat is a story about isolation, loneliness, friendship and acceptance.
Rated 4 / 5 on Amazon.
Bernard Adams & Annabel Rhys
Bernard and Annabel have written Cosmo’s War, a play about the WW1 experiences of Bedford Park artist Cosmo Clark.
His CV on the Art UK website states: ‘Studied at Goldsmiths’ College School of Art, 1912–14 and 1918, Académie Julian, Paris, 1918–19, and Royal Academy Schools, 1919–21’.
But what happened to him between 1914, when he turned 17 and the end of the war? Portrait of Cosmo Clark, owned by The Stationers Company.
Jeremy Myerson
Jeremy is a design writer and professor emeritus in the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art. With Philip Ross, he cofounded Worktech and the Worktech Academy, an online knowledge platform and network on the future of work and the workplace.
In their latest book, Unworking – the reinvention of the modern office, they reflect on the need to jettison old ideas about the office and think more radically about the future.
Over the past hundred years, the office has been integral to the development of modern society. It has shaped the architecture of our cities, the behaviour of our organizations and the everyday movements of millions of people.
In 2020, however, the global pandemic brought our attendance in the office to an abrupt halt and triggered a complete re-evaluation of the purpose of the workplace. This book offers a panoramic view of the office and explores what happens next.
Rated 5 / 5 on Amazon.
Graham Holderness
Graham is a writer and critic who has published, as author or editor, more than sixty books, many on Shakespeare, and hundreds of chapters and articles of criticism, theory and theology. His latest book is something of a departure. Ancestors – Adventures in a Foreign Country is a novel, of which his publishers Edward Everett Root say:
‘This highly original novel by the internationally acclaimed author Graham Holderness is part historical novel, part contemporary chronicle, part autobiographical fiction. It explores the challenges of personal ancestry and heritage, and the contemporary loyalties of us all in a rapidly changing country.’
Ancestors: Adventures in a Foreign Country – Amazon
Patrick Grattan
Patrick is an expert on oasts and hop kilns. A distinctive feature of the landscape of South East England and the West Midlands, they are farm buildings for drying hops, an ingredient in brewing beer.
Published by Liverpool University Press, his book Oasts and Hop Kilns: A History is available from Waterstones.
Oasts and Hop Kilns: A History – Waterstones
Mary West & Clara Wilkinson
Mary and Clara have written a practical guide to painting murals. Making Murals explains all the key techniques and design styles you need so that you can get creative in your own home and make your walls unique.
‘Murals are a fantastic way to breathe new life into an interior or exterior space and this book explains all the essential techniques for getting started including what kind of paints and brushes to use, how to work on various wall surfaces and how to prepare the surface area to get the best results.’
Mary and Clara both studied Fine Art anad set up Living Wall Murals in 2017 to create mural art.
Geraldine Gallacher
Geraldine runs an Executive Coaching Consultancy which she started in 1994, as one of the first executive coaching providers, and now has over 50 coaches internationally serving a wide range of industries.
Her book is Coaching Women – Developing Female Leaders. It looks at changing the system rather than changing the person to introduce more women into leadership roles.
Martin Venning
Following on the heels of his debut geo-political adventure, The Primary Objective, Martin Venning has written a highly topical thriller: The End of the Road.
Terminally ill eminent Oxford professor, Des Kelly, develops a new technology for sustainable energy that can address environmental pollution and global warming. His discovery will make the global oil industry obsolete. International vested interests compete to control it and acquire his research through persuasion and harassment, trying to find the lever that will secure his co-operation.
The End of the Road – goodreads
Robert Gillespie
Robert James Gillespie is a British actor, director and writer. Notable acting credits include Keep It in the Family, At the Earth’s Core and Force 10 from Navarone. Later, he appeared in Jimmy McGovern’s Broken and Mike Leigh’s film Peterloo about the Peterloo Massacre.
He has written his memoir: Are You Going to do That Little Jump? — The Adventure Continues
Through his many roles, the gas man in Rising Damp, the long-suffering copper in Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, he is one of those actors who has worked with everyone you have ever heard of, and he has tales to tell about all of them.
Rated 5 / 5 on Amazon.
Are You Going to do That Little Jump? – Amazon
Waterstones Chiswick has all the contributors’ books in stock, so if you didn’t manage to get a ticket to the Chiswick Book Festival local authors’ night to buy a book there, pay a visit to Waterstones Chiswick.
Read more stories on The Chiswick Calendar
See also: Dame Eileen Atkins head line-up for the Chiswick Book Festival
See also: Six centuries of famous Chiswick poets
See all the latest stories: Chiswick Calendar News & Features
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Read more stories on The Chiswick Calendar
See all the latest stories: Chiswick Calendar News & Features
Support The Chiswick Calendar
The Chiswick Calendar CIC is a community resource. Please support us by buying us the equivalent of a monthly cup of coffee (or more, if you insist). Click here to support us.We publish a weekly newsletter and update the website with local news and information daily. We are editorially independent.
To subscribe to the weekly newsletter, go here.
