Shropshire student sees her holiday photograph chosen for new book cover

A Whitchurch teenager, currently training to be a teacher, is over the moon after one of her holiday photographs was chosen to be the cover of a new blockbuster paperback.

Chlöe Edwards, 19, who is studying for a BA in Education at the University of Chester’s Riverside campus has developed a hobby in photography. And her candid pictures caught the eyes of Wolverhampton based editor and publisher Nic Outterside.

Now her photo of an old rural red telephone box, taken while she was on holiday in Devon, forms the stunning cover for Nic’s latest book Contacts.

After 28 years in newspaper and magazine journalism, Nic, formerly of Whitchurch himself, took early retirement in 2013. During those years he scooped more than a dozen major press awards and had an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons praising his work.

In 2015, Nic set up his own publishing house – Time is an Ocean – and his new book Contacts – Collusion, Cover-up, Conspiracy and Corruption is his 12^th paperback publication. Two earlier books – Death in Grimsby and Bones both became Amazon best-sellers.

Contacts pulls together 18 of Nic’s newspaper investigations in series of eye-opening stories from radiation contamination to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Nic said: “The idea for this book came to me last year while sorting through old newspaper cuttings and I suddenly realised just how many investigations I had broken over the years.

“The book is a culmination of 30 years research, 30 consecutive days writing and almost six months of editing, revising and proofing. It is titled Contacts because every good journalist relies on his or her contacts to break front page stories.

“But I needed a strong picture for the cover… then I discovered Chlöe’s work on Instagram and saw the red phone box photo and immediately thought Wow… that’s the picture.”

Chlöe is a former school friend of Nic’s son Nathan while both were students at Sir John Talbot’s School in Whitchurch, which makes the book tie unique.

Chlöe said: “This whole experience has been amazing from start to finish. I couldn’t believe that a quick edited snap could go so far. It has been a real confidence boost and has shown me what an amazing tool social media is too.”

One of Chlöe’s other photographs has already been selected for the cover of another of Nic’s books Western Skies, scheduled for publication next spring.

Contacts is available as a large format (6”x9”) paperback priced at £10.99 (Free Delivery) from Amazon.

A Kindle e-book edition will be published later this summer.

New poetry book written in the French Alps during the Covid 19 lockdown

• 

A sensational debut book of poetry is published worldwide this week despite its writer and editor being in a pandemic lockdown in two different countries.

Poets Don’t Lie by first-time author Lucile Boudot was entirely penned in her home town St Cergues and university room in Grenoble – both perched high in the French Alps.

And it has been published by award winning editor Nic Outterside in Wolverhampton in the English West Midlands.

A remarkable achievement when you consider that both parties were in lockdown during the Covid 19 global pandemic and have never spoken with each other!

This transcendent work forms part of a personal journey out of darkness and into light, where love and theft are in constant conflict.

Within Poets Don’t Lie readers will find the thoughts and poetic musings of a young French woman trying to make sense of the world she inhabits, with mountains and spring snow as her backdrop.

But this young woman is exactly like anyone else. She has the same fears, the same loves, the same faults, the same frailties, the same hopes, the same passions and the same emotions; and these all come tumbling out in her unique poetry.

Lucile is an 18-year-old BA undergraduate in English Literature at Grenoble University, who like many other students around the world, found her studies interrupted by the Covid 19 pandemic.

She is an avid reader and writer in English and a campaigner on mental health issues. She also writes a widely read poetry page called anonymously_yours_xx on the internet social media platform Instagram and has over 1,000 followers.

“Life is full of things we don’t know how to talk about. We try to find the right words, but they never fit, or we feel like they don’t fit,” she says.

“Human beings can’t live without words because we live in a society where we are obligated to talk. I never find the right words or I feel like I don’t find the right words.

“But when I write poetry I always find the perfect words… and in this book you’ll find the words that define me.”

Nic, who owns the UK publishing house Time is an Ocean says: “Working with Lucile has been an utter pleasure. Her writing is so deeply filled with emotion and her use of English is stunning.

“I am very proud of this book, and of her. It is amazing what can be achieved by email, WhatsApp and Instagram,” he added.

“The added bonus is I now consider Lucile as a very close friend.”

Poets Don’t Lie is available in paperback priced at £7.99 (9.47euros) from most Amazon portals

www.amazon.co.uk/Poets-Dont-Lie-Lucile-Boudot/dp/B086MN6MPC/

www.amazon.fr/Poets-Dont-Lie-Lucile-Boudot/dp/B086MN6MPC/

A Kindle e-book edition ofPoets Don’t Lie is also available for £2.99 (3.41euros)  from all Amazon portals

www.amazon.co.uk/Poets-Dont-Lie-Lucile-Boudot-ebook/dp/B086RMGRBP/

www.amazon.fr/Poets-Dont-English-Lucile-Boudot-ebook/dp/B086RMGRBP/

Award winning writer’s tenth release now available in Kindle e-book edition

SEVEN years after suffering a career ending nervous breakdown, an award-winning journalist-turned-author has now published his tenth paperback as a Kindle e-book.

The book Hot Metal – Poems from the Print Room draws its genesis and inspiration from his years in the newspaper and magazine industry.

Multi award-winning writer Nic Outterside quit his 28 year career in journalism following the breakdown in June 2013.

He began the slow road to recovery under the watchful eyes of his doctor and the support of his family. Part of the suggested therapy was for him to begin writing and talking about his life experiences.

His first paperback book The Hill – Songs and Poems of Darkness and Light, published in November 2014, was met with international acclaim and the first 1,000 print edition has almost sold out.

In 2018, he published its sequel Another Hill – Songs and Poems of Love and Theft.

In between time he also found time to write and publish a slim volume of poems in homage to the songs of his favourite album Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan.

Then at the helm of his own publishing house Time is an Ocean, Nic started editing other people’s books, including a magnum opus Asian Voices and a widely acclaimed Luminance – Words for a World Gone Wrong.

He also wrote and published two Amazon best sellers: Death in Grimsby and Bones.

Now, while completing a huge book of investigative journalism tales (to be published later this spring), Nic has returned to poetry with his new book: Hot Metal – Poems from the Print Room.

He explains its genesis: “In 1993, during my early years in newspaper journalism we would take time out every Thursday afternoon after that week’s paper hit the presses.

“I was chief reporter of an editorial team responsible for putting together the news, sport and features for one of Scotland’s most highly regarded county newspapers: The Galloway Gazette.

“This was our two hour sojourn before we began planning the following week’s edition. It was a time to escape from “Cow Halts Traffic on A75”, “Young Mum Guilty of Shoplifting at Woolworths” and similar stories to find solace and creativity in my self-centred pastime of poetry.

“So I would sit, with a mug of coffee in my hand and scribble some ideas, a few lines, and if I was particularly creative maybe a whole poem. The poems would never be read by anyone else… it was my secret hobby.

“Then by the end of last year, I suddenly realised I had more than enough poems to fill yet another book!

“They reflect the real me that has emerged seven years on from that breakdown and 27 years since those first doodles on a Thursday afternoon at the Galloway Gazette.

“The book is a litany of love, loss and angst fermented with the ideas that swam around my head all those years ago.”

Hot Metal – Poems from the Print Room was released as a large format paperback from Amazon priced £7.99 ($10.42) on 20 January.

www.amazon.co.uk/Hot-Metal-Poems-Print-Room/dp/166168064X/

www.amazon.com/Hot-Metal-Poems-Print-Room/dp/166168064X/

Now nine days later it is also available as a Kindle e-book priced just £2.99 ($3.90) (279IR)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hot-Metal-Poems-Print-Room-ebook/dp/B0848R591F/

https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Metal-Poems-Print-Room-ebook/dp/B0848R591F/

https://www.amazon.in/Hot-Metal-Poems-Print-Room-ebook/dp/B0848R591F/

Notes:

1. Nic Outterside is an award-winning editor, journalist and author. Among more than a dozen awards to his name are North of England Daily Journalist of the Year, Scottish Weekly Journalist of the Year, Scottish Daily Journalist of the Year and a special national award for investigative journalism. He was twice editor of Weekly Newspaper of the Year. In 2016 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in written journalism.
2. During his career, Nic was editor of The Argyllshire Advertiser, The Buchan Observer, The Galloway Gazette and the Denbighshire Free Press.

Best-selling paranormal paperback launch and signing at ‘haunted’ town pub

A NEW book which lifts the lid on the strange history and unexplained incidents within a small North Shropshire cottage will be officially launched at a haunted town pub.

Bones – the Mystery of Plympton Cottage written by award winning investigative reporter Nic Outterside is a true account of ghostly riddles, the supernatural, unsolved mysteries, skeletal discoveries and unexplained incidents.

The book includes testimonies from more than half a dozen people who lived in the Whitchurch cottage over a period of more than 30 years. It also includes the author’s own story of the paranormal activity he and his family encountered while resident in the same house.

Originally published on 16^th October on Amazon, the book has recently been made available at BookShrop in Green End, Whitchurch.

It has quickly become an Amazon best seller in its genre and this week the owner of Bookshrop said it was “selling like hot cakes” in her own store, as she ordered a second batch of the paperback.

Now an official launch and personal book signing event is scheduled for the weekend of the Whitchurch Christmas Fair.

The launch will take place from 3.30pm on Saturday 30^th November in the function room of the White Bear pub in the town’s High Street. Everyone is welcome.

The White Bear is one of six public houses in Whitchurch which are alleged to be haunted.

Bones – the Mystery of Plympton Cottage has been painstakingly researched and written over a period of a six years.

Nic explains: “I did not believe in any so-called hereafter nor did I believe in ghosts or spirits.

“I had been an investigative newspaper journalist for more than 28 years and by the very nature of my work had to deal in hard proven facts.

“But all that changed when my family and I moved into Plympton Cottage in Whitchurch in June 2013.

“From the moment my wife broke her leg in a hidden hole in the garden less than 20 minutes after the removal van arrived, each day we lived there was potted with what I can only describe as paranormal activity.”

But a eureka moment occurred on Monday 13^th January 2014.

“By chance on that day I discovered that seven unidentified skeletons had been found buried in the grounds of our home,” says Nic.

Bones – the Mystery of Plympton Cottage is available as a large format paperback from Amazon priced £7.99 ($9.94)

www.amazon.co.uk/Bones-Mystery-Plympton-Nic-Outterside/dp/1698966318/

www.amazon.com/dp/1698966318/

Or to buy personally at BookShrop, Green End, Whitchurch.

 

Best-selling paranormal paperback is now available at Whitchurch bookshop

A NEW book which lifts the lid on the strange history and unexplained incidents within a small North Shropshire cottage is now available to buy at Whitchurch’s only independent bookshop.

Bones – the Mystery of Plympton Cottage written by award winning investigative reporter Nic Outterside is a true account of ghostly riddles, the supernatural, unsolved mysteries, skeletal discoveries and unexplained incidents.

Originally published on 16^th October, as a paperback book and Kindle e-edition, it has until now only been available to buy online at Amazon, where it quickly became a best-seller in its genre.

Now it is also available to buy at BookShrop in Green End, Whitchurch – the town’s popular independent book shop.

The book includes testimonies from more than half a dozen people who lived in the Whitchurch cottage over a period of more than 30 years. It also includes the author’s own story of the paranormal activity he and his family encountered while resident in the same house.

Bones – the Mystery of Plympton Cottage has been painstakingly researched and written over a period of a six years.

Nic explains: “I did not believe in any so-called hereafter nor did I believe in ghosts or spirits.

“I had been an investigative newspaper journalist for more than 28 years and by the very nature of my work had to deal in hard proven facts.

“But all that changed when my family and I moved into Plympton Cottage in Whitchurch in June 2013.

“From the moment my wife broke her leg in a hidden hole in the garden less than 20 minutes after the removal van arrived, each day was potted with what I can only describe as paranormal activity.”

But a eureka moment occurred on Monday 13^th January 2014.

“By chance on that day I discovered that seven unidentified skeletons had been found buried in the grounds of our home,” says Nic.

“The unexplained occurrences in the cottage did not cease, but now we began an investigation as to when the bodies were buried and what became of the skeletons, because no-one seemed to know.

“My book documents not only the 18 months we lived in Plympton Cottage but also the investigation which followed,” he adds.

Bones – the Mystery of Plympton Cottage is still available as a large format paperback from Amazon priced £7.99 ($9.94)

www.amazon.co.uk/Bones-Mystery-Plympton-Nic-Outterside/dp/1698966318/

www.amazon.com/dp/1698966318/

A Kindle e-book edition of the book is now also available worldwide for £2.99 ($3.88)

Best-selling football book now available at city’s largest independent bookshop

A best-selling book about a supporter’s 50 year passion for Brighton & Hove Albion FC is now available at the city’s largest independent bookshop.

Death in Grimsby – 50 Years Following Brighton & Hove Albion which chronicles football fan Nic Outterside’s half a century supporting his beloved home town football team has already made more than 2,000 global sales via Amazon and other online outlets.

Now the book is also available exclusively in Sussex at City Books in Western Road.

Founded and run by Paul and Inge Sweetman, the shop is in the Brunswick area of the city. The shop has been shortlisted twice for the national ‘Independent Bookshop of the Year Award’ and won the Muddy Stiletto award for Best Bookshop in Sussex in 2018. Arranged over two floors, City Books has a large range of carefully selected books, including an extensive selection of books of local interest.

Early purchasers of Death in Grimsby have included several former Albion players including club legend Peter Ward and the personal backing of 1983 FA Cup Final and England hero Gary Stevens.

Nic has also received support for the book from the Albion’s former owner and chairman Dick Knight and current owner and chairman Tony Bloom.

This summer Death in Grimsby rose to number 2 in the Amazon football book sales chart.

The book is a collection of 21 short stories which charts the first 50 years that Nic supported his beloved Albion, starting with his first game at the Goldstone in 1967 and finishing with a match against Wolves at Molineux in April 2017, when his club all but mathematically secured promotion to the promised land of the Premier League.

Death in Grimsby – 50 Years Following Brighton & Hove Albion is still available as a large format paperback priced at £10.49 with FREE UK delivery from Amazon at: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1095979752/

And special personally signed editions of the book together with a FREE copy of Nic’s first ever paperback The Hill are also available at £8.99 plus P&P from Ebay at: www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Death+in+Grimsby&_sacat=0

A Kindle e-book edition of the book is also available for £3.00 at: www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Grimsby-Following-Brighton-Albion-ebook/dp/B07T4VMJRQ/

 

Double up with best-selling football book Death in Grimsby in time for Christmas

GRAB a copy of best-selling football book Death in Grimsby in time for a special Christmas gift for a friend or loved one.

The book which chronicles football fan Nic Outterside’s 50 years supporting his beloved home town team Brighton & Hove Albion has already made hundreds of sales in Australia, Scotland, Spain, Germany, Wales, Italy, France, Canada and the USA, as well here back at home in England.

Death in Grimsby – 50 Years Following Brighton & Hove Albion is available as a large format paperback priced at £10.49 with FREE UK delivery from Amazon at: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1095979752/

And special personally signed editions of the book together with a FREE copy of Nic’s first ever paperback The Hill are also available at £7.99 plus £2.10 P&P from Ebay at: www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Death+in+Grimsby&_sacat=0

Early purchasers of Death in Grimsby have included several former Albion players including club legend Peter Ward and the personal backing of 1983 FA Cup Final and England hero Gary Stevens.

Nic has also received support for the book from the Albion’s former owner and chairman Dick Knight and current owner and chairman Tony Bloom.

Death in Grimsby is a collection of 21 short stories which charts the first 50 years that Nic supported his beloved Albion, starting with his first game at the Goldstone in 1967 and finishing with a match against Wolves at Molineux in April 2017, when his club all but mathematically secured promotion to the promised land of the Premier League.

• A Kindle e-book edition of the book is also available for £3.00 at: www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Grimsby-Following-Brighton-Albion-ebook/dp/B07T4VMJRQ/

New book of shared humanity written in the Himalayas and edited in England

A sensational debut book of poetry and prose is published worldwide this week despite its writer and editor living 5,000 miles apart.

Don’t Look Down by first-time author Ritambhara Chowfin was entirely penned in the small hill fort town of Almora, some 5,400ft above sea level in the Himalayan foothills in northern India.

It has been edited and published by award winning editor Nic Outterside in Wolverhampton in the English west Midlands.

This transcendent work forms part of a personal journey out of darkness and into light, where love and theft are in constant conflict.

Within Don’t Look Down readers will find the thoughts and poetic musings of a young Indian woman born and raised in a part of the planet visited by very few others.

The leopards growling in the forest, the black bear snuffling among the lush vegetation, an old witch casting a spell for childbirth and the tall cedars and pines swaying in the lashing rain, may be a world away from the one you inhabit.

But this young woman is exactly like anyone else, whether they live in New York, London, Cairo, Buenos Aires, Lagos or Melbourne.

She has the same fears, the same loves, the same faults, the same frailties, the same hopes, the same passions and the same emotions; and these all come tumbling out in her poetry and prose.

Like everyone else she is human, and is trying to make sense of her life and this world.

Ritambhara is a 25-year-old graduate in English Language and Literature from Amity University in Delhi. She is the eldest of three siblings and returned to her home town for the inspiration to write about the world she knows.

Don’t Look Down is her first published book.

“Although Hindi is my first language, I love English and the UK,” she says.

“I have relations in Warrington and my dream is one day to visit them.

“I reached out to Nic earlier this year as we both had dealings with a story-teller in my town and I knew him to be a brilliant editor. He agreed immediately to edit and publish my first book. And the whole process has been a joy.”

Nic, who owns the publishing house Time is an Ocean says: “Working with Ritambhara has been an utter pleasure. Her writing is so deeply filled with emotion and her use of English is stunning.

“I am very proud of this book, and of her. It is amazing what can be achieved across 5,000 miles by email, WhatsApp and Instagram,” he added.

“The added bonus is I now consider Ritambhara as a very close friend.”

 

Don’t Look Down is available in paperback priced at £4.99 (US $6.15) from most Amazon portals

www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Look-Down-Ritambhara-Chowfin/dp/1698038674/

www.amazon.com/Dont-Look-Down-Ritambhara-Chowfin/dp/1698038674/

 

A Kindle e-book edition of Don’t Look Down is also available for £1.99 (US$2.45) (174IR) from all Amazon portals

www.amazon.co.uk/Dont-Look-Down-Ritambhara-Chowfin-ebook/dp/B07YVH8WS3/

www.amazon.com/dp/B07YVH8WS3/

www.amazon.in/dp/B07YVH8WS3

 

 

Just 20 ‘signed and free badge’ editions of best-selling book Death in Grimsby left

JUST 20 special signed copies – with free commemorative badge – of best-selling football paperback Death in Grimsby are left.

Sales of the book, which chronicles Albion fan Nic Outterside’s 50 years supporting his beloved home town team Brighton & Hove Albion have exceeded all the author’s expectations.

The book has already made hundreds of sales in Australia, Scotland, Spain, Germany, Wales, Italy, France, Canada and the USA, as well here back at home in England.

Death in Grimsby – 50 Years Following Brighton & Hove Albion is available as a large format paperback priced at £10.49 with FREE UK delivery from Amazon:
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1095979752/

But special personally signed editions of the book with a free badge are now limited to a final 20 copies and are available at £7.99 plus £2.10 P&P from Ebay at: www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=Death+in+Grimsby&_sacat=0

Early purchasers of the book have included several former Albion players including club legend Peter Ward and the personal support of 1983 FA Cup Final and England hero Gary Stevens.

Nic has also received support for the book from the Albion’s former owner and chairman Dick Knight and current owner and chairman Tony Bloom

Death in Grimsby is a collection of 21 short stories which charts the first 50 years that Nic supported his beloved Albion, starting with his first game at the Goldstone in 1967 and finishing with a match against Wolves at Molineux in April 2017, when his club all but mathematically secured promotion to the promised land of the Premier League.

• A Kindle e-book edition of the book is also available for £3.00 at: www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Grimsby-Following-Brighton-Albion-ebook/dp/B07T4VMJRQ/

Now three ways to buy worldwide acclaimed Asian Voices anthology

DUE to huge demand there are now three different ways to buy the blockbuster Asian Voices – a unique anthology of poetry and prose by emerging writers from South Asia.

First published in February this year, the 240 page large format Asian Voices paperback met worldwide acclaim for its originality and diverse content.

A Kindle e-book edition of the book has also sold widely.

Now the book has been published in a slimmed down 100 page Director’s Cut edition.

Divided by partition, war and politics, but united by creativity, brilliance and common humanity, Asian Voices brought together 20 writers from across South Asia to shine a light on their diverse societies.

In 37,000 words these contributors paint graphic pictures of love, beauty, loss, patriarchy, disease and death in their respective countries of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

From chilly Kabul in the north, through Karachi, Delhi and Kolkata to the searing heat of Hyderabad in the south, their tales in poetry and prose are compelling.

The writers include an artist from Lahore, an engineer from Mumbai, a psychologist from Delhi, a social reformer from Jaipur, two 12^th grade school students, plus many more.

The project has been pulled together by retired British newspaper editor Nic Outterside.

Nic explains the reason for the new Director’s Cut edition: “While the Asian Voices paperback sells well in the UK and Europe, its sheer size, weight and resultant costs meant many potential buyers in South Asia simply could not afford it, so were left with just the Kindle e-book.

“After consulting the writers I decided to create a special slimmed down edition, which has been judicially edited from 240 to just 100 pages.

“We hope to it will encourage many people to buy the Director’s Cut edition and some may then want to go on and purchase its big sister edition too.”

All three versions of Asian Voices are available directly from Amazon

Asian Voices has been reduced from £7.99 (675 IR) to £6.99 (590 IR)

Worldwide

www.amazon.com/Asian-Voices-anthology-Pakistan-Afghanistan/dp/1795571217/

UK

www.amazon.co.uk/Asian-Voices-anthology-Pakistan-Afghanistan/dp/1795571217/

Asian Voices – The Director’s Cut is £3.99 (337 IR)

Worldwide https://www.amazon.com/Asian-Voices-Directors-Nic-Outterside/dp/1086136187/

UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1086136187/

While the Kindle e-book is £2.00 (169 IR)

UK

www.amazon.co.uk/Asian-Voices-anthology-Pakistan-Afghanistan-ebook/dp/B07N7HY1VZ/

India

www.amazon.in/Asian-Voices-anthology-Pakistan-Afghanistan-ebook/dp/B07N7HY1VZ/

Rest of the World

www.amazon.com/Asian-Voices-anthology-Pakistan-Afghanistan-ebook/dp/B07N7HY1VZ/