Softwood Books – förlag

From collapsing graves to losing elderly folk at the zoo, from the Red Arrows Display Team to late night encounters with gun-wielding neighbours, this memoir is as unpredictable as life - and death - can be. Even While They Sleep: My Life as a Sussex Funeral Director is an honest, heartfelt memoir recounting one man's transition from an artificial teeth factory to the delicate role of a funeral director in East Sussex.With midnight callouts, burials at sea, and insights into the ever-changing trends in music, culture, and funerals themselves, this book takes readers on a journey through decades of a profession that touches every facet of human life. From the days before mobile phones to the rise of the unattended funeral, Peter Waring reflects on how his career has shaped not only his life but also his family's, in a world where grief, love, and laughter often walk hand-in-hand.Guided by faith, and inspired by a personal moment at a funeral, Peter embraced a vocation that allowed him to serve grieving families with compassion and professionalism. Through anecdotes that blend humour, sadness, and hope, the book offers an insightful look into the funeral industry and the author's journey of finding purpose in helping others during their most difficult times.Trigger warning: this book contains sensitive discussions of death, detailed descriptions of funeral and aspects of funeral preparation.

At twenty years old, Lady Marianne is obliged to venture through the gates of Magnificent House, and into a world far removed from her sheltered upbringing. Unlike her sisters, the routines of finishing school never suited Marianne's restless nature, and was not a life she wanted. Travelling with her wise mentor and coachman, Ted, she embarks on a journey that opens her eyes to the wonders of the wider world, and to a life she is much more suited to. honesty. In the diary pages written in her 'best copperplate writing', Marianne shares her scatter-brained, off-beat ramblings, with candid wit and disarming Through her eyes, we are introduced to the vagaries of human nature as she sees them, in all their bizarre variety.

Meet Matty, a 10-year-old boy who just happens to be deaf - but does being deaf hold him back? No way! He's the same as any other kid, except his deafness has equipped him with some amazing extra-bilities ... dude, he can lip-read, he can use sign, he is ultra-observant, and he has a wicked sense of smell - all super-duper handy skills in every sort of situation! It's Matty's birthday and he can't wait to meet up with his mates to show off his awesome new phone - but when they arrive at their secret woodland hideout, a gang of sinister-looking baddies with villainous plans are lurking nearby ... Yikes! Can Matty use his extra-bilities to help save his school from imminent disaster? Never one to shrink from a challenge, follow Matty and his friends on their daring, scary, and often hilarious adventure, as they set out to save the day!

From talking dogs to vampire weddings to King Arthur’s 21st century return, 90-Second Stories takes you on epic adventures in the time it takes to brew your coffee. Originally written and performed as online videos during the 2020 lockdown, Gareth Brierley’s collection of short stories have been beautifully reimagined with the help of Sadie Cook’s evocative photographic illustrations. An independent publication from People Show (est.1966), this modern folklore anthology can be enjoyed morning, afternoon or evening.

Blake Boddington has the face of an angel and the soul of a drifter. Jobless and dangerously magnetic, he survives on charm and the generosity of women who can't help but keep him 'afloat'. Brooke, a budding psychology student, sees Blake as more than a shipwreck: he's her test case, a perfect project - as well as a chance to turn chaos into something lasting. But Blake is never just one person. Shifting from tenderness to recklessness, he pulls Brooke into a life of wild adventure and devastating lows, always just alluring enough to keep her hooked, even when her safety is in the balance. For him, it's survival at any cost. For her, each heartbreak is a chance to prove she can heal him. As Brooke clings to adventure, and the promise of something more than ordinary life, she realises she might actually love Blake, despite his flaws. A true story of grit, pity and hunger, Brooke must decide whether she's curing Blake - or losing herself to him. The Professional Guest asks how far love will go before it becomes the very thing that kills you. But Brooke was never one to give up - she wants what she wants - and if she can't find it, she will make it.

At the top of the hill sits a very special vegetable plot, where magic and mischief are just as likely to be found as beans and potatoes. The plot on the hill belongs to Old Joe, but Hornbeam is the true guardian of this realm – an enchanted being who lives under the shed and looks after the allotment when the old man’s not there. All is well until Riff the ragged robin arrives in search of breakfast and wreaks havoc in the carrot patch, careless digging up Old Joe’s newly sown seeds. Together with his best friend Bella the hedgehog, Hornbeam must work his magic and restore order to the higgledy-piggledy plot. Can they replant the seeds and save the carrot patch before old Joe gets back?

Performance now, fix people later no longer works. in fact, it never has. Organisations govern everything except the people on which their survival depends. Finance has disciplines and audits. Risk has tolerances and matrices. The human system has been left to goodwill, narrative and trailing measures. If people are our most important asset, then governing their sustainability should be the primary consideration for governing bodies, Up until now, there has been a gap in the instruments available to do so. Unbreakable by Design closes that gap. The C3 Continuity Framework gives boards a way to see their organisation as the people inside actually experience it - and to govern those conditions so that continuity is built with empathy. Human Continuity emerges as a design specification: achievable, measurable, governable, and long overdue.

Matty and his mates are off on a fang-tastic Halloween adventure - are you brave enough to join them?!? With scary zombies, ghastly ghosts, and terrifically tasty tricky treats, enter at your own risk! The Deathly Duff Base Gang are rottingly ready for anything... but why are Matty's extra-bility skillz more terrifyingly amazing than ever before? And who's that living in a creepy cottage on the other side of the wind-whipped woods?!? Want to know what happens in this screamingly, spooktacular story? Come fright this way, readers... but beware the shadows, for they have eyes!

Have you ever wondered what introverts really get up to? Is it really a kind of neurodivergence? Does it actually exist at all? The Mirthful Japes of Cliff Ditheroe is the story of the author, as he navigated the choppy seas of childhood, young adulthood and middle-age, during the 'sixties, 'seventies, 'eighties and beyond, making many a false start on the way. Travel with him on a good-natured journey involving a strict, Catholic public school and the seamier side of 'eighties club culture, through interstellar space and beyond, on a bicycle named Beryl and in a Triumph Herald with an attitude problem. Ride the goblin motorway with the four heavy-metal aid bikers of the apocalypse, while being chased by a deranged boxing monk. This is a tale about beards, bagpipes and banjos; of marijuana, LSD and vol au vents... and music, music everywhere! Prepare for accounts of bizarre occult practices in the heart of rural Suffolk, brain damage and forklift carnage, all while wearing deeply embarrassing clobber (possibly involving Lycra!) Best of all, every word is true. Mostly... And there is an accordion!

What if the most useful business lessons did not come from polished success stories, but from someone who was never meant to survive, let alone lead?Most leadership advice is polished, predictable, and forgettable. It teaches people how to sound the part, fit the mould and manage within the limits of accepted thinking.The Punk Rock Playbook for Business Misfits does something different. Drawing on a lifetime in business and on stage, Stephen Norris shows what leadership can learn from the spirit of punk rock: independence, courage, authenticity, resilience, and the refusal to wait for permission.This is not leadership as image management. It is leadership with conviction. Not culture by committee, but teams built on trust, originality, and edge. Not strategy by imitation, but a sharper way to build, lead and grow in a world full of sameness.For founders, leaders and misfits who want more than recycled ideas and corporate theatre, this book offers a radically different way to build something that matters.If you have ever felt that the standard playbook was not built for people like you, this is your book.