Would you go back?

So it’s just past the 26th anniversary of my last visit to Spain, a visit that didn’t go entirely to plan and indeed one which quite dramatically changed my life. But those 26 years have flown by and much has happened since, including getting married, having three amazing children, getting divorced, having another amazing child and more recently a grandson! As I write this I am only a few days away from returning to Spain for the first time and I can’t help but wonder if it will be a happy return.

You see, as I've said, its more or less 26 years to the day that I arrived back in the UK from Marbella with nothing more than the clothes I was wearing, ripped jeans and a white shirt which still had the lingering stale smell of smoke. I’d saved two lives, been wrongly arrested for arson and manslaughter, spent time in jail and counted each slab of the pavement as I jumped bail and hitched a lift or two to catch my flight back home from Malaga airport! As I hiked 35 miles in that furnace of heat with sweat pouring off me, I wondered if I would make it through passport control and leave the Costa de Sol once and for all. Now I'm wondering if I will be allowed to return to Spain.

Would you go back?

The story of my trip, which has been heard, read and reviewed around the world is called WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME and it features the events surrounding my nightmare visit to and escape from Marbella.

Now that I am returning to Spain for the first time and as its getting closer to the day of jetting off, how do I feel? Well, at the moment I think my family are more concerned than I am, worried about me being allowed in, even more worried that I will be re-arrested for skipping bail. To be honest, I don't think I will be as I did hear a rumour that the people who caused the fire were caught and another that the fire actually started from an accident in the hotel kitchen. But what will happen as I hand over my passport?

Of course I've been overseas many times since, to America, Greece, France, Amsterdam, I’ve even lived in Portugal and Madeira, but will I be stopped at the Spanish border? Who knows? Wouldn’t it make for a great sequel though? My family don’t think so! What do you think? 

How am I feeling about returning to Spain? Well, many emotions have started to run wild in my head and a number of words, which best describe my feelings, spring to mind: trepidation, nervousness, fear, apprehension, too many to mention. But yes I can feel the nerves kicking in, the moment I land in Spain, get off that plane and walk to passport control, my memories of my previous time in Spain, will come flooding back!

Just writing this has made me apprehensive, but I have always wanted to return to the place I thought I would never leave, the country in which I thought I would spend some of my life behind bars. Why would I want to return you may ask? To clear my name? To see if I am allowed back? All of those, but also I'm mainly going back to spend a few days in the sun and relax with my girlfriend.

So, to look on the bright side, if there ever was one, of my trip 26 years ago, well I wrote about it and the book became a best seller and since then I’ve written six more books, with many more in the pipeline. So I guess that in some ways I should be grateful for my Spanish nightmare, but I will be happy never to repeat it.

I will of course let you all know if I was admitted without being arrested when I'm sipping a cocktail or two beside the pool at the villa we are staying at. If you don't hear from me BUT instead from my girlfriend, Julie, then you will know that I have returned to the WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME! 

 Wish me luck! Check out my Amazon Page & Adios Amigos! 

It's been QUITE A WEEK!

I'm starting this post with the ending! Julie and I are writing this in Shenley Park, sitting on a blanket, with a bottle of wine, grapes and peaches, wearing t-shirts, just as the sky turns grey and it starts to rain, who says an author and co-author's life's is mundane?

 It all started a week ago when Julie and I, together with my eldest son, Stephen, set off into Central London to The Park Lane Hilton to help out at the CRUK East Herts committee charity masquerade ball.

 

 We had the privilege of helping to raise around £70k for an amazing charity, for which Julie and I are Cancer Campaigns Ambassadors, but we also got to hear the stories of a cancer survivor who has battled the illness on and off since the age of 7 and since funded he's own charity - 101 things to do when you survive.

We also heard from the most amazing woman who in fact has only a very short time left to live. She is only 40 years old. Her story was so emotional and stirred the room to a standing ovation, in fact they both did.

 One of the many highlights of the evening was meeting Jake Wood, also know as Max Branning from Eastenders. I had to tell him about how I met my now girlfriend Julie, when we took part in a charity Strictly Come Dancing competition in aid of North London Hospice.  

 We also met two dancers, Steven and Krystal who provided some of the evenings entertainment. We showed them one of our signature moves, I think they were impressed! 

 Another highlight was the live auction with celebrity auctioneer, none other than Hollywood legend and one of our own, Mr Ray Winston! I just had to have a photo with the him at the end of the evening.

 

A great night and a great cause.

 Sunday was mostly spent dealing with the final edits on MY WAY 5 about LIFE, with an early evening interlude to celebrate my nephews 21st with the family. Late into the evening and early morning, my editor and I were uploading my latest book to Amazon so it was ready to publish on Monday 16th May to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week.

 

So Monday appeared and what a busy start to the day it was with full marketing of MY WAY 5 about LIFE on social media, especially to my 32k followers on Twitter. The book features 21 amazing authors and bloggers who were brave enough to write about some very emotional events that have happened in their lives.

 I am delighted to mention that the charity SANE wrote a foreword in the book and a percentage of the proceeds will be donated to this special charity. 

 On Tuesday I was on TV, well let me explain. I had a ticket to see the ITV lunchtime show Loose Women and I was captured on camera being in the audience, how did I know this, well my daughter who was watching posted a photo on Facebook, my sister texted me to say that she had seen me and my son Stephen, tweeted me asking, "Dad, why are you on TV?" The best bit was that even before the show went live, I was chosen to act as a guest coming onto the show to warm the studio audience up. Now I know what it feels like to be a celebrity and to be applauded and cheered when making a TV appearance. I just hope it won’t be the first and last time!

 

 So now I will move onto Saturday morning, which saw my editor, co-author and girlfriend Julie and I up bright and early to take up an invitation to be on the Northwick Park Hospital’s radio station, Radio Harrow, to chat about MY WAY 5 about LIFE. We had a blast with host Gary Walker and the hour flew by. Again, I hope this won’t be the last radio show we do. You can listen to us having a good chit chat here! Radio Harrow

 

 Now I move on to today, Sunday 22nd May and a very special day because it’s my mum’s 81^st birthday and apart from one brother, who is away in Malta, the day was spent in a lovely little country pub with the birthday girl, and my other siblings, oh and not forgetting Julie of course! 

 So all in all, a very busy week and one that was certainly quite different from the previous week. I can't wait to see what the week ahead brings, I do have some quite exciting things in the pipeline so watch this space and I will let you all know about it next week.

Until then, peace and love to one and all!

MY WAY 5 about LIFE!

These truly inspirational people tell their stories in MY WAY 5 about LIFE! 

MELISSA BARRINGTON

CLIVE CULVERHOUSE

HARRISON DAVIES

KAREN FELIMOND

THERESA FORD

TAYLOR FULKS

AMANDA GREEN

WILL GREEN

TIM GURUNG

BEN HARI

VIKKI HARRIS

JULIE HARRISON

ANNE JOHN-LIGALI

FELICIA JOHNSON

INDERJIT KAUR

CIARA KELLY

CARINA PELLIUS

LAURA PRIME

CARYL PRITCHARD

MONIKA TOLIUSYTE

JULIA WHITING

MY WAY 5 about LIFE!

MY WAY 5 about LIFE!

Following the success of the previous MY WAY books, I would like to welcome you all to the next instalment of the MY WAY brand and the latest in the series is entitled MY WAY 5 about LIFE.

As you will read once you delve into this book, I have brought together 21 authors and bloggers who have bared their souls and kindly contributed their own LIFE experiences.

I wanted to publish this particular book to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week for a number of reasons. Firstly, myself and the editor and co-author of this book, Julie Tucker are both Cancer Campaigns Ambassadors for Cancer Research UK, and as such we know how important it is to spread awareness of the great work done by charities. 

We thought it would be great to have a mental health charity on board with this project and were delighted when SANE agreed to write a foreword for the book. I’m pleased to say that a percentage of the proceeds from this book will be donated to SANE to help them continue their vital work.

on to my fine and very brave contributors. As you will see these authors and bloggers, who I am delighted to call my friends, are either writers themselves, bloggers or simply people who have used writing as a means of coping with life events, experiences and issues such as bereavement, child abuse, self-harming, depression, anxiety, addiction, loneliness, domestic violence, bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, autism, suicide..... I could go on and on but you will soon read all about it yourself. Each has kindly answered a Q&A I set out for them and where applicable have submitted a sample of their work. There are also some links if you wish to pursue any of the stories herein.

Having read their contributions it has certainly put my own past troubles into perspective. Everyone has their own cross to bear but really some crosses are so much heavier than others. I applaud anyone who can turn past experiences, such as those suffered by the authors and bloggers herein, into a creative outlet which can help others who have perhaps been in similar situations.

Download a copy here! 

MY WAY 5 about LIFE

First 5* review for MY WAY FOUR!

David P. Perlmutter continues his My Way series in his new and best installment – MY WAY FOUR. This is absolutely incredible! Thirteen shooting stars. Thirteen fabulous authors who give off their talents to produce incredible science fiction stories that will grab your attention and get you excited about sci-fi. 

Check out this fabulous book that David comprised bringing in the best authors of science fiction together in one explosive literary achievement! Read about the authors bio. Find out who they are, where they’re from and what got them interested in writing science fiction. 
There are interviews of each author weaved into this book as well. And let us not forget the released chapter excerpts by the authors. Read them all, and find out who’s your favourite. 

Authors and their stories included in alphabetical order are as followed… Michael Brachman () Raymond Burke () Harrison Davies () Alex Faymen () Jonathon Fletcher () Arlene Lagos () Steve McEllistream () Kyle Robertson () Theresa Snyder () David Stevens () S. Evan Townsend () Richard A. Valicek () K.J. Waters.


With this sort of writing team, this make MY WAY FOUR simply one of the best collections you can own. ‘May the fourth be with you!’

Buy From Amazon!