Geoff Le Pard: 6 books

It’s summer 1976 and hotter than Hades Harry Spittle, nineteen, is home from university, aiming to earn some money to go on holiday and maybe get laid. He expects he will be bored rigid, but the appearance of old family friend, Charlie Jepson, his psychopathic son, Claude, and predatory wife Monica...

These 30 short stories are a mixture of genres and points of view: they cover horror, espionage, through thrillers, humour, romance and MG. There is something for everyone. They were written in a month, one a day, approximately 1667 words each. They can be read over breakfast and will have you laughing and crying, thinking and cringing.

Life is fast, life is short. In a series of short fiction pieces, most under 500 words, we explore the world, its inhabitants and their trials and tribulations, their ups and downs and sideways shifts, with humour and decent grammar. You'll find something to amuse and intrigue here and if, unlikely as it is, one piece isn't for you, well, turn the page and start again.

When British freelancer Maurice Oldham saves American scientist Lori-Ann Beaumont from a pack of journalists at a ProLife conference in San Francisco, neither expects to see the other again. But six months on, Lori-Ann is on Maurice’s doorstep, bruised, penniless and desperate to find her boyfriend,...

Salisbury Square Jerzy Komaza is adept at turning a blind eye. He has allowed his father’s beatings of his sister, Maria, to continue for years. Yet one hot summer day he finally snaps, and it is Maria who sends him away from their home in Białystok in rural Poland, fearing the consequences...

With their relationship under pressure, is adopting a dog the best decision for Mervin and Landen? As they adapt to fit the animal into their busy lives a chance encounter with Dave and Sheri, the dog’s previous owners, develops into something more and the newfound friendship is tested to the limits. Life...