Simon Parke – författare

The day I was appointed Chair of the shop union was the same day the Pope was elected. There the similarities end, however. For while his elevation took place beneath the fine art of the Sistine Chapel, with the mysterious white smoke rising, mine took place in the cold store, with nothing more mysterious than the bacon delivery and yesterday's waste...A vicar for twenty years, Simon Parke trades in his dog collar for a job on the tills in his local supermarket. Among the vegetable aisles and dairy produce he unpacks the meaning of life with his fellow workers, a colourful bunch. Sonny the security guard hates conflict; shelf-filler Winston knows he is destined for something better; and voluptuous Faith is generous with her wares - but sadly not with Simon. You don't have to be off your trolley to work there, but it helps...From checkout charlies to banana rage, from short-changed lows to cold store highs, Shelf Life is a pick-n-mix of wit and wisdom for anyone who loves life and hopes for more - no matter where they find themselves.

This book offers ten new commandments for coping with the stresses, strains and pressures of modern life. These ten new commandments are ten skilful attitudes for the attainment of your true self. 1. Be present2. Observe yourself3. Be nothing4. Flee attachment5. Transcend suffering6. Drop your illusions7. Prepare for truth8. Cease separation9. Know your soul10. Fear nothingThis handbook will set you on the path leading you back to who you really are. As Parke says, ‘When we become disconnected from who we are, however it happened, it is a long journey home. What follows is a consideration of that journey - the journey home to a beautiful life'.

This book offers ten new commandments for coping with the stresses, strains and pressures of modern life. These ten new commandments are ten skilful attitudes for the attainment of your true self. 1. Be present2. Observe yourself3. Be nothing4. Flee attachment5. Transcend suffering6. Drop your illusions7. Prepare for truth8. Cease separation9. Know your soul10. Fear nothingThis handbook will set you on the path leading you back to who you really are. As Parke says, ''When we become disconnected from who we are, however it happened, it is a long journey home. What follows is a consideration of that journey - the journey home to a beautiful life''.

Sometimes we can lose touch with ourselves so much that we spend our days going through the motions, without really experiencing our lives. In today's world, we expend so much energy looking forward, rushing on to the next thing, or looking backwards, stressing and worrying about our perceived mistakes, that we rarely still ourselves and our minds enough to be truly in the present moment.In One-Minute Mindfulness, Simon Parke uses stories and simple thoughts to help us see how we can return to the present moment and remain there. This subtle change can be startlingly healing, bringing peace into every area of our lives, allowing us to live freely and fully and to honour what is true for each of us. Both inspiring and practical, this book is for anyone who wants to come home to themselves. This updated edition includes a new introduction and fresh insights for a new generation of mindfulness seekers.

‘Excellence by the Sea’ is the strap line in Stormhaven Towers school’s publicity, but when, at the end of the summer term, the hard-drinking, hard-smoking new Headmaster, Jamie King, is found dead at the bottom of the town’s famous white cliffs, this excellence comes under savage scrutiny. Suicide is assumed at first – King wouldn’t be the first tormented soul to hit those unforgiving rocks. But unanswered questions remain. Forensics find no phone by the body and the head always had his mobile with him: ‘I wouldn’t want to be out when Eton ring!’ he used to joke. Then there is a second death at the school. With the pursuit of excellence exchanged for the pursuit of a killer who is both clever and efficient, the long dark corridors of Stormhaven Towers become an education in fear. Who will be next? Leading the investigation is the attractive and ambitious Inspector Tamsin Shah, accompanied, rather unexpectedly, by Abbot Peter, recently retired from the deserts of Middle Egypt. Known locally as ‘the odd couple’, they have worked on cases together before – surprising though that the Abbot should wish to become involved again. The ruthless Shah has brought danger to his seaside door, and through events at Stormhaven Towers, will do so again.Reviews of previous Abbot Peter mysteries, A Director’s Cut (2014), A Psychiatrist Screams (2013) and A Vicar Crucified (2013, all DLT):‘A nicely plotted, swiftly paced yarn, full of teases . . . Parke evokes the creepiness of the setting marvellously. He has a stunning ear for the way people actually speak, with pages of uninterrupted dialogue flashing by with the speed of a radio play.’ Church Times‘Highly original . . . very different from most detective stories.’ Clerical Detectives‘An engrossing page-turning thriller, propelling the reader through its multiple twists and turns and keeping one guessing until the final unpredictable – yet satisfying – denouement.’ Irish Independent

For fans of Historical Fiction.Are you looking to escape back to a time when many people thought they knew exactly what God wanted them to do?Enjoy some satisfying research and a transformation of an historical turning-point to lively effect.In this brilliantly atmospheric novel called ' The Soldier, the Gaoler, the Spy and her Lover', Simon Parke explores one of the most gripping tales in English history. He weaves together the four coinciding stories of Charles, including his extraordinary year-long imprisonment on the Isle of Wight. Robert Hammond, the poor man who found himself the king’s gaoler , Charles’ remarkable mistress (written out of the records), the super-spy Jane Whorwood and of course, the brilliant and depressed Oliver Cromwell, who is working through his own demons of religion, politics, love and death. January 30th 1649. England is not a country that wishes to execute its divinely-appointed king. Yet Charles 1 finds himself shivering on a scaffold in Whitehall, with the axe man by his side . . .

The Stormhaven Etiquette Society, a secretive affair, unafraid to name and shame those who transgressModel Services, the town’s only brothel, a discreet but busy presence in Church StreetBybuckle Asylum, a desolate shell on the seafront that housed over seven hundred mental patients prior to ‘care in the community’ What brings these three together is a cold-blooded execution that both shocks and confounds. For lying dead in the empty asylum, tied to an old metal bed frame, is a pillar of the establishment. Or is she? Sleuthing couple DI Tamsin Shah and her remarkable cleric uncle join forces once again to solve a murder mystery that reveals dark secrets from Abbot Peter’s tempestuous student years.‘Do we ever leave anything behind?’ he wonders as the killer swings the gun barrel towards him . . .‘To a long list of much-loved detective pairings, which includes Holmes and Watson, Poirot and Hastings, and Morse and Lewis, we must now add Abbot Peter and Tamsin Shah’. Church Times