John Gillard – författare

This panoramic collection showcases stadiums, venues, and pitches, from the quirky to the historic, covering both men s and women s leagues, professional to amateur, wherever the game is played with enthusiasm and great style. For those who love the sport, either from birthright or from newly kindled passion, there s a distinct and beloved resonance and local character to each stadium. This is one of soccer s great charms, and this book is a road map to a pilgrimage to 1000 arenas that anyone in love with the beautiful game would want to visit in person: some visionary and new, some ageing but iconic, some remote yet picturesque, some tumbledown, quirky yet historical and utterly lovable but all with such genuine personality, the fans hearts beat a little faster to see a match there. This book covers the world and the game, from well-known shrines to amateur venues; from the Faroe Islands to Argentina s storied La Bombonera. Along the way, it gives the reader the feeling of being at the game, immersed in the crowd experience whether it be a rabid 100,000 national fans cheering their team or watching with two men and a dog in the Scottish Highlands.

Think about your writing from a new perspective and learn to tell a story in the most effective way possible with this flash fiction workbook. Popular with creative writers around the world, flash fiction is an ultra-short story format (usually 1,000 words or less) that distills a narrative into its most economic and impactful form. In this lay-flat paperback workbook you’ll find 101 flash fiction writing prompts, each crafted to inspire an incredible variety of very short stories. Some prompts instruct you to focus on setting or developing a specific character. Other prompts ask you to play with story structure, to begin at the end or jump right into the middle of the action. You are also encouraged to bring the journal to different locations (a coffee shop or a museum) and take story cues from your surroundings. With helpful writing tips and just the right amount of space to write, this journal is the perfect tool to jump-start a flash fiction writing practice.

Think you've got what it takes to get to the root of the crime, weed out the suspect and unearth the truth? In Murder at the Botanic Gardens there are murder mystery puzzles on every page to confound and delight gardening enthusiasts, puzzle aficionados, and armchair detectives alike. Set among the spectacular scenery of 12 of world's most celebrated bonantic gardens from Kew to Sydney, via Paris and New York, each beautifully illustrated brainteaser plunges you into cases such as Murder at the Museum Fountain and The Case of the Deadly Glasshouse. As you explore these iconic landmarks, you'll encounter a mix of map-based mysteries, logic problems and escape room-style enigmas, as well as bite-sized picture and word puzzles.Tackle the chapters one at a time or dip in at random, but beware: a final grand puzzle at the end of the book draws on clues and conundrums sown through each chapter...