Publications and Winning Stories

Books:

The Five Acre ForestA personal tale of tree planting that tells the deep-time story of a New Zealand sand country landscape of dunes, lakes, swamps and beaches formed from an ancient shared geological ancestry. A nature-writing memoir describing the lives of native trees, birds and insects, enchanting us with local myths and legends along the way, and illustrated with 16 pages of full colour plates. Published September 2021 in paperback and digital editions.

Passionate Travellers: Around the World on 21 Incredible Journeys in History. Accompanying these 21 travellers on their personal quests, we discover what drove them, and share their incredible journeys through deserts, mountains, jungles and seas to every continent, spanning 2,000 years of history from the fifth century BCE to the 1930s. Published in paperback 28 April 2019 by Troubador.

A Biography of Story, A Brief History of Humanity. A cultural history of storytelling, revealing the power of stories in the comedy and tragedy of human affairs from prehistory to the digital age, and bringing stories from every corner of the world. Published in paper back and special hardback editions 28 March 2017 by Troubador.

Inside the Crocodile: The Papua New Guinea Journals. A rare insider view of the most culturally diverse nation on earth. Travel memoir of five years working with a development project in the remote West Sepik Province and other areas and islands of Papua New Guinea. Published in print and digital editions 28 October 2015 by Troubador.

Journey in Bhutan: Himalayan Trek in the Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon, an illustrated travelogue 2012, reissued 2015 (e-book edition only)

Writing Your Nonfiction Book: The Complete Guide to Becoming an Author, which leads the reader through the whole process from identifying a marketable idea, producing a high quality manuscript, choosing a publishing option, and implementing a marketing plan. Print and digital editions published by Troubador 2014.

Inside Stories for Writers and Readers, a resource for teaching creative writing, and for reading and writing groups as well as a personal mentor. Published in print and ebook by Collca 2013 (not currently available).

From Apes to Apps: How Humans Evolved as Storytellers and Why it Matters, a short popular-science e-book. Collca 2013 (no longer commercially available, but a copy may be requested for private study – please use the CONTACT page).

Masks of the Moryons: Easter in Mogpog, an illustrated  travel ethnography of spectacular Holy Week celebrations on a Philippine island, Collca 2011. (this ebook is no longer commercially available, but a copy may be requested for private study – please use the CONTACT page).

52 Ways to Motivate Your Staff. Management Books 2000

Green Travel Guide, with Greg Neale, Earthscan and Daily Telegraph 1999

Chapter in symposium, Anthropology of Organisations, Routledge 1994

Tourism Development & Community: four Philippine case studies, discussion paper distributed by VSO, Quezon City 1997

Dear Boss…52 ways to develop your staff,  W. H. Allen, 1988 (republished in 2000 as 52 Ways to Motivate Your Staff)

Winning Short Stories:

Modus Operandi, First in shorter short story category in Winchester Writers Conference 2011 and included in the anthology ‘Best of 2011’, and published in Words with JAM

A story Highly Commended in short story category in Winchester Writers Conference 2011

Sunlight on Stone, short-listed (top 12) in Neil Gunn Writing Competition June 2011

Runnin’ the River, First in Flash500 competition for first quarter 2011, published in Words with JAM

Two stories Commended in SIWA NZ National Short Story Competition  April 2011 and included in their anthology

Scribbler’s Progress, First in NZ Writers College ‘My Writing Journey’ Competition January 2011 

A story short-listed in NZ Writers College short story competition November 2010

Spinning on Two Wheels, short-listed (top 12) in the H.E.Bates Short Story Competition 2010 and included in the anthology.

One story Highly Commended and four stories short-listed in Flash500 competitions during 2010

Swansong in the Jungle, Highly Commended in short non-fiction memoir category Winchester Writers’ Conference July 2010

Selection of Articles and features:

Melbourne Age (Oct 2000) on Aboriginal tourism

Guardian Weekly, Letter from Vietnam (ethnic tourism, July 1998)

Columnist on human resources development for, Local Government Chronicle (weekly UK national magazine)

On various aspects of management training: features in, The Times, Times Educational Supplement, and Chief Executive magazine, among other journals and papers.