liondale

Endings

All stories have beginnings. All things end. These ten short stories take the beginnings for granted, for the most part, playing on ideas which have defined our humanity for thousands of years - existence, love, knowledge, wisdom, fear, faith, addiction, inhumanity, individuality, desire, betrayal and the quest for youth. Yet these stories care little for their beginnings, just how things end, for that is far more interesting and telling. The denouement, the outcome – that's what we want to discover.

Each story moves towards an inexorable ending, which the players may or may not influence; they may even realise too late what they have set in motion. What would you do if you had the key to total ecstasy in your hands? How could you dare to seek the answer to the greatest question of all without knowing the consequences of asking that question? Why might you reject the very person who you know is the only one for you? What is the most irresistible and pervasive force in the universe?

The only thing that matters to these stories is the manner of their endings. These ten tales are imaginings of what might be. And when they end, there is no going back. The ending is final. Are you ready to discover your ending? Click on the link to download and read, for free, Diet or Die? a story of what might happen when you fall for the latest fad. For the whole collection, just click on the link on the right. Hope you enjoy it.

140 Stories of Exactly 140 Characters (Each)

140 Stories of Exactly 140 Characters (Each) is a Twitter-age composition which speaks for itself with its title. There are 140 stories, each comprising exactly 140 characters and each based on a simple idea, which you may or may not know, but which is a lot of fun to try to work out. Just click on the link on the right for your free copy! Hope you enjoy it.

What Words Really Mean

What we regard as the English language has grown, changed and developed over two thousands years from a dialect in northern Germany to the world language it is today, though its history stretches back even further into the past. On its long journey from ancient to modern times, English has picked up thousands of words from a variety of languages, with their fascinating histories showing the often radical changes in meaning that have taken place. What this book aims to do is to take a rather irreverent, humorous, entertaining and yet informative approach to this wonderful and endlessly intriguing topic of English etymology, imagining unlikely scenarios, bringing long-dead meanings back to life and playing with the results. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. The book looks at the history of over 900 English words, some common, others less common, but no less fascinating. While there are numerous historical references and word forms from Old and Middle English, Old and Middle French, Latin, Germanic languages, and a variety of others, this should not daunt the reader, as it is an inevitable aspect of reading about word histories. These forms are discussed and explained as simply as possible. There is also a short history of English, as well as explanatory notes on individual languages and the pronunciation of word forms from these languages. The scenarios presented are usually fantastical, to say the least, mixing up modern and historical meanings and situations. See if you can separate the real histories from the fanciful ones - it's not always clear, but that's part of the fun. Have a regular look at the cryptic questions on this site, try to work out the answers from the book and feel free to recount some of these histories to your nearest and dearest to show how erudite you are. More than anything, I hope that your imagination will be fired up to find out more about how our modern language came to be. And don't forget to look out for the second volume. Watch this space.

Click on the link below to visit the website or click on one of the links on the right to buy.

The Latin Heart of English: English language practice of words of Latin origin - Volume 1 is the first of two books for English language students practising English vocabulary based on their Latin origins. It consists of one hundred exercises with explanations for each Latin root, a short history of Latin derivations in English, notes on pronunciation of Latin words and notes on the meanings of prefixes. Download a sample or click on one of the links on the right to buy.

The Liondale English Language Series: Volume 1 is the first of a series of books for English language students practising English grammar and vocabulary from a different perspective than those of other practice books. It includes exercises on tenses, affixation, vocabulary usage, spelling, proofreading and plays on words, as well as many other exercises. The purchase of this book in any format also gives you a subscription to the same activities in interactive format, as well as a growing number of teaching ideas and activities, on our sister website eflworksheets.com. Download Sample

The Liondale Dictionary of Pronounced Meanings is a dictionary like no other, which takes a radically different look at a selection of words in the English language in a new and unprecedented light. It's a wry look at these words and gives alternative definitions of them based largely on their pronunciation. It's designed to amuse and entertain first-language speakers of English, as well as advanced second- language speakers. I hope you enjoy reading, deciphering and quoting the words and definitions at dinner parties, in the pub and at the gym.

I have more books on a variety of topics in the pipeline, so I will update this page as and when they are published. I hope you will enjoy them all.