‘Life is serious, but is not to be lived too seriously’. Serious or humorous, my poems are always good-natured.

I write when I have something to say, and I feel I have found the right way to say it. It’s about having fun with words and meaning, using words skilfully to say things differently, and saying the familiar in unfamiliar ways.

In 2017 I self-published a collection of poetry and wit as Particles of Light, with a 2nd edition in 2025. The book has been well received and has sold well in my local bookshops.

Intersecting Lines, my second collection, was traditionally published by indie publisher Beercott Books in 2021. In 2025 Beercott Books published my third collection, titled Reflections. These two collections continue to reflect my interest in people, love, the natural world, and the human condition.

In 2025 I also compiled together the sections of wit from my 3 collections and published it as Wit ‘n Word. There are poems to move you, to surprise you, and to make you laugh. The humorous poems and one-liners are there for entertainment, to be enjoyed, though they often contain a ‘sting in the tail’. I hope readers will enjoy reading my poems and will feel I am putting their own experiences and emotions into words.

I read regularly at poetry ‘open mics’ and at local literary events, and I give talks about my poetry to community groups.

Born in Lancashire, Paul joined the British Army at 16 and served for thirteen years before leaving to pursue a career.

In 2022, Paul published his debut novel, The Stone of Radnor, a YA fantasy and the first in the Guardian of the Stone trilogy. He has gone onto to complete the series and in August of this year he published his fourth novel, a Fantasy / Sci-Fi thriller called The Emerald Passage.

Paul works full time as a cybersecurity consultant and aside from writing in his spare time, Paul enjoys country walks and helping his partner with her horses and ponies. He currently lives in Hampshire with his two teenage children and a very annoying cat.

GILLES OF BEC AND THE CAGE FULL OF BIRDS by T D OWEN

An historical novel and mystery set in 12th century Oxfordshire and Berkshire.

The Cage Full of Birds is story of real people who lived and struggled in The Anarchy of twelfth century England; a stirring tale of self-discovery, the triumph of hope over doubt and, ultimately, of good over evil.

REVIEWS

‘I have been devouring A Cage Full of Birds! I love it, truly! The characters are so well drawn,
and Gilles shines through like a Candide.’

‘Such detail, characters, description, pace… brilliantly done.’

‘What a dance you’ve done there, so good. You made the landscape and period integral
to the reading experience, not just the characters and plot.’

‘The descriptive passages are very lyrical and beautifully evocative of their local settings.’

‘Great suspense building and humour too. I have laughed out loud at many places.’

TIM OWEN is an historian, author, public speaker, teacher and battlefield tour guide with a flair for the dramatic.

Oxfordfolio is a high-quality self-publishing provider, taking you and your unique story from manuscript to physical book. We are experts in full-colour integrated books with over 40 years of editorial, typesetting and graphic design experience. We work primarily in illustrated non-fiction (memoirs, histories, travel, biographies) but have also launched Anglepoise Books for quality fiction. We aim is to provide a flexible service tailored to your specific requirements as we take you through the whole publishing process We work with personally selected artists and illustrators, copy-editors, proof-readers and indexers, graphic designers, typesetters, and UK printers to produce the best bespoke book for your budget.

Your Life • Your Story • Your Book

Luigi Kohli is an award-winning author, born in London in 1965 to an Italian mother and Indian father. He grew up in a household full of stories, with his grandparents having lived as adults through two of the world’s most turbulent events: WWII and the partition of India. A lover of books and the movie epics of the 50’s and 60’s, he was struck by one story in particular. Ben-Hur: A Tale Of The Christ (written by Lew Wallace).

During a successful period of running his own company, in 1991 he met his future wife, Hilda. It was a time of turmoil in Lebanon, a land that was to become a source of inspiration for his ambition as yet unfulfilled – to take on the challenge of continuing where Lew Wallace closed his story.

During the next 27 years he and Hilda had two children, a daughter and a son, and he focussed on a career in marketing. However, in 2022 he finally left the corporate world to turn his attention to his dream, his debut novel a historical fiction he had wanted to write since his teens. A story that is ALETHEIA.

Aletheia blends prophecy, betrayal, love and a thirst for power at the height of Imperial Rome into a tale of destiny. As hidden forces shape the fate of a rising empire, unlikely heroes emerge — bound by one man’s vision. No matter the vengeance or the course of personal ambition, there is no escaping the truth. A truth that will shape the history of the known world.

Griselda Heppel is an award-winning children’s author, whose stories for age 9 –13 are inspired by myth, magic, Greek legend and a shiver of the supernatural. Her first, Ante’s Inferno, sends 12 year-old Antonia on a journey through the classical Underworld, all the way to the heart of hell itself, to solve a 100 year-old murder mystery.

Ante’s Inferno won The People’s Book Prize and a Gold Wishing Shelf award.

Next, The Tragickall History of Henry Fowst, embroils a 13 year-old boy in Elizabethan magic and the dark arts when he decides that the best way to solve his problems is to make a pact with a smooth-talking demon. What could possibly go wrong? Er, plenty, as Henry soon finds out.

In The Fall of a Sparrow, 11 year-old Eleanor is sent away to a spooky school run by a mysterious great-aunt she has never met. There she’s followed around by a strange, awkward little boy who – to her horror – knows all about her and the past she desperately wants to escape. Unravelling the mystery awakens a long-buried family tragedy, drawing her into deadly danger.

The Fall of a Sparrow won a Bronze Wishing Shelf award and came runner-up in the Rubery Independent Book Awards and the Page-Turner Awards.

“Griselda Heppel is a born storyteller. Your children will love her books and, to be honest, so will you.”
The Wishing Shelf Book Awards