Works By Henshaw Prize Winning Authors

Jonathan Mark Bayliss

Mark's parents dropped the 'Jonathan' in favour of Mark almost immediately and he once forgot how to spell his Christian name several years ago - easily done. He is originally from the former Welsh mining town of Blaenavon. Someone once described it as, 'dreary Blaenavon', well, it was until they closed the colliery and flattened the slag heaps. Now it’s an amazing and famous World Heritage Site attraction.

"What a pity they hadn’t flattened the local secondary school at the same time before I attended it!" - Mark loved that school.

Starting as an aerospace design engineer and then technical author, he spent most of his career as a successful international key account manager. His award-winning short stories and other works can be found in national magazines and websites.

To relax he’s recently ridden Tour de France alpine cycling climbs, hiked the ‘Camino’ across Northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela, snowboarded Mont Blanc’s Vallée Blanche and once managed to outrun a herd of rampaging cows across his local Welsh mountains. “Isn’t rampaging the same thing as grazing?” He is a member of the Hay Writers Circle.

Mark is a dedicated yogi and occasional lucid dreamer; both are part of the inspiration for his debut mystery novel ‘The Lucidity Programme’.

He lives in Wales with similar views to the characters in his book.

Mark’s novel received dozens of excellent 5* reviews. It’s available on Kindle or paperback. He is in the process of writing his second novel.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lucidity-Programme-past-found-voice/dp/1527275906

Jim Bayliss

Rare Earth

Today, murderous fraudsters have replaced the Victorian slave-driving coal masters in a famous Welsh valley town. Jason Price and Declan Ryan, make an astounding discovery that will rock Blaenavon. Struggling to make ends meet, three hardworking, unsuspecting sheep farmers assume the disused coalfield grazing land they own on a mountainside is worthless.

A geology professor and his vicious land-grabbing associates possess incredible information, having secretly discovered that the farmland, which surrounds a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a geological freak. Scattered amongst the millions of tons of coal spoils are precious rare-earth mineral particles – worth more than gold. People are paying with their lives for their silence. That is until Lauren Eaves, a gritty, young Australian geology student turns up to disrupt the fraudsters’ plans, risking her own life in the process.

John Bunting

Captivating Conversations

Captivating Conversations is an anthology of twenty fun-packed Tall Tales written by prize-winning author John Bunting.

These stories will amuse, intrigue and move you.  Read how a man’s greatest wish comes true at last – but not quite in the way he’d hoped for!  Learn the secret behind a landlady’s strange behaviour and discover how a man fights back against all-intrusive social media.  All these and much more.  Oh, and find out why you will never look at a tin of baked beans in quite the same way again!

Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Find the book at:.https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1999836677

Lori Butterworth (writing as L M D'Mello)

Mary Darling

In L M D’Mello’s debut novel, her eponymous protagonist, Mary Darling, abandoned on hospital steps at birth, has spent most of her early years in care. She is adopted by a genuinely caring couple who do their best to make her happy, unaware that school bullies are making her lonely life even more wretched – until an unexpected ally emerges, an ally who will become her closest friend and join her on a vital and magical journey. Mary’s life is further transformed by her discovery of unusual and powerful supernatural gifts that she finds she can use to communicate with all animals, rescuing them from cruelty and healing those in distress. This unique ability builds throughout the story and, as her powers increase and mature, she learns that her mission is to be a universal Animal Ambassador. In time, she will become equipped, not only to defeat the bullies who have tormented her at the beginning of her journey, but also for the global battle in which she must engage if she is to save the animal world from cruelty and extinction. In the course of this Herculean task, she will recruit international helpers to assist her in defeating increasingly powerful and dangerous enemies worldwide, learning about herself, growing in stature with each triumph, and making vital discoveries about her own abilities along the way, until the young woman at the end of the journey is almost unrecognisable as the lonely young girl who began it.   

https://www.facebook.com/L-M-DMello-1345861732128220/

interview published through JD DeHart - Reading and Literature Resources. Check out the link: http://dehartreadingandlitresources.blogspot.co.uk/…/an-int

Available at http://amzn.eu/6wtMU3m

Jennifer Cerys

Willow 

"Jennifer Cerys's new play 'Willow' was on at The Bunker Theatre in South London on 8th, 9th, 15th and 16th September at 8.30pm.

The play is about ex-girlfriends Gabi & Lottie, exploring love, subjectivity and storytelling.

Gabi is 100% sure she knows why she and her girlfriend Lottie broke up. Or 70% sure. Maybe 50%. Can she show it to you? The best parts, the parts she still doesn’t understand, and the parts she’s still trying to get over.

But is it possible to tell your own story, and tell it honestly? Especially when your ex-girlfriend is sharing the stage with you.

In Willow, Gabi and Lottie explore the fault lines in their relationship, and their (very) different views on the fallout.

Willow looks at how being certain and being truthful aren’t always the same thing, and what happens when someone you love doesn’t play the part you expect.

Written by Jennifer Cerys

Directed by Krysianna Papadakis

Starring Jennifer Dixon and Sophia O’Donohue

A link to The Bunker Theatre is here: https://www.bunkertheatre.com/whats-on/willow

Christine Griffin

The Road Ahead – a collection of short stories

It’s never too late to change as the characters in this poignant collection of stories demonstrate. Whether it’s learning to ride a bike in middle-age, facing up to demons from the past, dealing with loss and bereavement or embarking on a life-changing journey in later life, the humanity of the characters shines through.

Relationships feature strongly in the collection and all ages have their stories to tell. What happens when you’re fifteen and your parents tell you they’re expecting a new baby? How does Daniel cope with falling in love with a woman many years his senior? And how does a family deal with a stolen child returned to them after many years absence?  These are real people - the sort of people who might live in the same street as you or sit next to you on the bus.

Sometimes their stories play out against simple domestic settings and other stories transport you to far flung locations across the globe. But whether they’re in Albania, Greece, Dubai  or even Llandudno ,they still face the everyday challenges which we all face.

These award-winning stories will make you laugh and make you cry but above all they stand as testimony to the resilience of the human spirit.

The collection is available online or in print version from www.fast-print.net/bookshop

Don Horne

Will Your Team Achieve Results?

Leading a team in today’s workplace is challenging, particularly for new leaders.  Their focus tends to be directed towards managing a myriad of systems and processes mandated in their business, caught in a quicksand of KPI’s, cost analyses, rosters, endless meetings, and the like. They are often under pressure to implement systems and procedures to try and meet planned objectives, with people skills getting short-shrift.  The risk is a frustrated boss voice rises within them – autocratic, to control, to hand down orders, to command, to demand, to reprimand, to crush initiative, to hijack jobs in desperation.

However, they have a human side, which is expected to lead and inspire, but it gets buried under untidy piles of this technical stuff. This book, full of commonsense people skills, shows how to reveal that part which can lead and inspire, to build a leader brand. Your brand will release your true leader’s voice which endows support, discussions evolve, motivation enlivened, doubting minds come alive, encouraged. Inspiring results from boring routines.

Not only will it help new leaders, but will be a reminder for established leaders, to lift their people skills even higher, for good team results.  Which is what it’s all about.

“Will Your Team Achieve Results” is available as a paperback on amazon.co.uk

Brady's Legacy – A Novella (With Collected Short Stories)

Can we transform our suffering into meaning, into something that will last long after we have gone?

Meet James Brady, a young Australian Everyman coming of age in Sydney, Australia, at the onset of the Second World War.

Bright, creative, ambitious and hungry for adventure, he has every hope of following his dream to sail the high seas and fight for his country, knowing he has the love of the beautiful, talented Kathleen to sustain him.

But when fate deals him an unexpectedly bad hand he must learn to sink or swim - and to draw strength from adversity while he sets off on a new voyage.

In this compelling romance spanning more than two decades of tremendous change in his life, in Australia and in the world, Brady's unexpected triumphs and the comfort he finds both in friendship and in storytelling are a poignant reminder of the tremendous value of transforming our suffering into meaning, into something that will last long after we are gone.

Sen Jayaprakasam

The Sparrows of Unity

“Your entire life has been a lie…” 

Homophobic hate crimes. Racist attacks. Britain is spiralling out of control. But when loner Lucy Taylor comes face to face with an imprisoned killer, a devastating truth is revealed. 

Nothing is as it seems 
Alongside three other sixth-form students, Lucy stumbles upon a conspiracy that extends into the very heart of British society, and a terrorist organisation bent on seizing control. 

Nobody can be trusted
Now, their only chance to save humanity lies in unravelling the secrets hidden within the enigmatic Sparrow’s Path. But will it lead them to salvation, or straight into the claws of an unimaginable terror? 

Sen Jayaprakasam’s debut novel – The Sparrows of Unity – is a YA conspiracy thriller that explores racism, homophobia and bigotry in modern Britain. Written in support of the National Literacy Trust (a charity working to improve literacy levels in children and young people around the UK), he has arranged for 30% of profits to be donated to the charity. The book is now available in ebook and paperback on amazon:

http://getbook.at/SOU

Maggie Richell-Davies

Winner of our October 2015 Competition with her story ‘Till death do us Part’. After winning the competition Maggie went on to win the Historical Writers' Association 2020 Unpublished Novel Award with her book The Servant...'

 The Servant                                                

London, 1765

Hannah Hubert may be the granddaughter of a French merchant and the daughter of a Spitalfields silk weaver, but she has come down in the world.

Sent as maidservant to a disgraced aristocrat, she finds herself in a house of mysteries, with a locked room and auctions being held behind closed doors.

However - unknown to her employers - she can read. And it is only when she uses her education to uncover the secrets of the house that she realises the danger she is in.

Help might come from Thomas, the taciturn farmer delivering milk to the neighbourhood, or from Jack, a friendly young man apprenticed to his uncle's book-selling business. Yet Thomas is still grieving for his late wife - and can she trust Jack, whose uncle is one of her master's associates?

So when she discovers damning evidence that she cannot ignore, Hannah must act alone.

Catch Maggie on Twitter: @maggiedavieswr1

Or on her website: https://www.maggiedaviesiswriting.com

Rachel Sargeant

The Perfect Neighbours 

The perfect neighbours tell the perfect lies…When Helen moves to Germany with her loving husband Gary, she can’t wait to join the expat community of teachers from the local International School. But her new start is about to become her worst nightmare.

Behind the shutters lies a devastating secret…As soon as the charming family across the way welcome Helen into their home, she begins to suspect that all is not as it seems. Then Gary starts to behave strangely and a child goes missing, vanished without a trace.

When violence and tragedy strike, cracks appear in the neighbourhood, and Helen realises her perfect neighbours are capable of almost anything.

Available from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfect-Neighbours-Rachel-Sargeant-ebook/dp/B074M2VJ3P/

Or HarperCollins website:

https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780008276737

The Good Teacher 

Even the good have to die.

A beloved teacher is murdered and left in a ditch beside a country lane. His wife is found beaten and gagged in their suburban home.

Even the best schools have secrets.

New detective Pippa Adams learns that the teacher ran a homework club for vulnerable pupils. But what did he really teach them?

Even the perfect family has something to hide.

When Pippa scratches the surface of the school community, she meets families who’ve learned a shattering lesson. And finally uncovers the good teacher’s darkest secrets…

Available from Amazon.co.uk https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Teacher-gripping-bestselling-Neighbours-ebook/dp/B07GJB38F3/

Or HarperCollins website (various eBook formats) https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780008327224/

The Roommates 

Do you really know the people you live with?

THEY LIVE IN YOUR HOUSE
University is supposed to be the best time of your life. But Imo’s first week is quickly going from bad to worse.

YOU SHARE EVERYTHING
A stalker is watching her flat, following her every move, and Imo suspects that her new roommates are hiding dark secrets…

BUT DO YOU TRUST THEM?
When one of them suddenly disappears, the trauma of Imo’s recent past comes hurtling back to haunt her. And she begins to realise just how little she knows about the people she lives with…

FOUR STUDENTS. FOUR SECRETS. ONE DEVASTATING CRIME.

Amazon.co.uk: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Roommates-gripping-psychological-bestselling-Neighbours-ebook/dp/B07NKPZQ8R/

Other formats: https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780008331894/the-roommates/

Her Deadly Friend 

Her Deadly Friend – the closer she gets, the more people die

When you shake off a bully…

Picked on by Steph throughout her school days, Amy has always felt like the victim. Decades-old resentment is never far away.

But she comes back into your life…

Now Steph is a detective inspector on the trail of a serial killer and closer than ever.

It’s an absolute killer.

Murders rock the city. First one, then another. The body count reaches five and all Steph’s leads point to Amy. But are the women obsessed with a schoolgirl vendetta, or is Steph closing in on a deadly suspect?

Book 1 of Gleveham Killers Suspense series

Available from Amazon: Her Deadly Friend eBook : Sargeant, Rae: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

and also from Painswick Rococo Garden as well as bookshops.

Trudie Ellen Thomas

Take My Hand 

A selection of 12 short stories, packed with rich, developed characters, that live well beyond the pages, each story will make you think long after you've stopped reading. From tales of escape, longing, or just trying to fit in, these everyday human tales reveal all aspects of our aspirations, fears and desires. Don't rush. Take your time. Savour each story, and let each one surprise, delight and entertain.

In Trudie's debut collection of twelve short stories you'll meet a wonderful variety of characters, an overly persuasive neighbour, a jealous friend, a hen-pecked husband, a controlling lover and a someone who just needs a helping hand.
This book is packed with tales of intriguing secrets, astonishing lies and difficult questions. It’s gripping, relatable, entertaining and totally surprising.

Available on Amazon.com  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Take-My-Hand-other-stories/dp/1999581067/

Trudie lives in Buckinghamshire with hubby, children and Tibetan Terrier Winifred. She writes in her shed at the bottom of her garden - in true Roald Dahl style.She loves writing fiction; Short stories, Middle Grade, Picture books and Adult novels. She also writes a quarterly article for her village magazine - always titled Trudie Talks To... Where she writes about local residents who have special talents or gifts.Previously, an English teacher she now works as an Extra ( Supporting Artist ). Which gives her plenty of time to read and write in between takes. Her favourite role being a Muggle on Platform 9 3/4.She is part of three writing groups: Green Penn, The Super Six and The A-team and constantly feels wrapped in a hug from their supporting words of wisdom. Trudie also loves curling up in a cafe with a frothy cappuccino, a warm chocolate brownie and a great new book on de-cluttering. Her home remains quite messy!

Simon van der Velde

Backstories

This is a collection of stories each told from the point of view of one of Simon’s personal heroes, (or villains) at a pivotal moment in their lives. The writing is literary but accessible, the settings are mostly 60’s and 70’s UK and USA and the driving themes are inclusion and social justice - but the real key to these stories is that he withholds the protagonists’ identities. This means that your job is to find them - leading to that Eureka moment when you realise who's mind you've been inhabiting for the last twenty minutes.

Intrigued? Check out the free story at www.simonvandervelde.com.

The Silent Brother

When his beloved little brother is stolen away, five-year-old Tommy Farrier is left alone with his alcoholic mam, his violent step-dad and his guilt.  Too young to understand what has really happened, Tommy is sure of only one thing.  He is to blame.

Tommy tries to be good, to live-up to his brother’s increasingly hazy memory, but trapped in a world of shame and degradation he grows up with just two options; poverty or crime.  And crime pays.

Or so he thinks.

A teenage drug-dealer for the vicious Burns gang, Tommy’s life is headed for disaster, until, in the place he least expects, Tommy sees a familiar face…

And then things get a whole lot worse...

Availabel from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silent-Brother-Literary-Thriller-ebook/dp/B09Y1TKZ1T/