The Little
Snowflake Mental
Health/Parenting/Lifestyle
Jonny McCambridge
In May 2013, 39-year-old Jonny McCambridge had a beautiful wife and a newborn son, a top job in
Northern Irish journalism and a very bright future in the media industry. Two months later, in the early hours of an August Sunday morning, an emergency doctor was offering him the choice of being
forcibly sectioned, or of voluntarily accepting admission to the acute psychiatric ward of the local hospital – the euphemistically named ‘Ward 12’. How had Jonny’s seemingly perfect life so
dramatically fallen apart?
After a brief few months of recovery and a premature return to work, he managed to struggle on
for almost three years before his distress levels became critical again, and he was forced to confront the reality – that something, somewhere, had to give. In May 2017, Jonny made the decision to
leave work, and abandon a career he’d been building for over 20 years, and look after his young son, James, full-time, as a ‘stay-at-home’ dad.
By turns poignant, heartbreakingly sad and side-achingly funny,
this book charts one man’s journey through the struggles of mental illness and the challenges of new parenthood.
‘This is not a guidebook or a manual – about how to be
a perfect parent or about how to heal yourself from depression; nor does it advocate walking away from a corporate existence in search of a deeper, simpler meaning to life. It is simply a series of
things that happened to me. How I suffered a breakdown. How I overcame the terror of losing my freedom as a patient in a psychiatric ward. How I became the world's least likely blogger. How I dealt
with trolls (who named me ‘The Little Snowflake’). How I somehow ended up in demand from broadcasters as an 'expert' on parenting. How I embraced alternative medicine. How I was told I might be the
world's greatest psychic. How I ended up being investigated by social services as an unfit father. How I tried to build a new life. How in the darkest moments, I learnt to always find something to
laugh about.’
Yet while the author does not claim to have the definitive
answer to any of the challenges he faces, his story in the telling will deeply resonate with a very wide range of readers – young fathers, young mothers, and anyone, who deep down and perhaps
unacknowledged even to themselves, feels ‘crushed by the responsibility of being a parent’; anyone who has ever suffered from anxiety, depression and low self-esteem; any of us who has ever
questioned the ‘relentless path’ of the life our society has prescribed for us, and who sometimes wonders what on earth it’s all about.
Jonny McCambridge writes the way all really good journalists do
– at a cracking pace, with an eye for pertinent detail and not a wasted word. His pithy, at times almost terse style belies the intensity of the experiences he relates; the economy of language
reflects a complete lack of self-pity; and his dry, laconic humour only adds to the poignancy of the extreme emotional states he talks about.
Jonny McCambridge was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland in
1974. After university, he trained as a journalist and worked in the NI media industry for almost two decades, holding a number of senior editorial positions, including at the Belfast
Telegraph, among them security correspondent, news editor and deputy editor.
In 2016, Jonny gave up daily newspaper journalism to
concentrate on looking after his son. He continues working as a journalist on a freelance basis, while also delivering media consultancy and communications training. He is a regular contributor on
local and national radio as a commentator on parenting and social and mental health issues. In 2017 he launched the popular blog, What’s a Daddy For? He lives in Hillsborough,
Northern Ireland, with his wife and young son.
Author’s Home: Hillsborough, N.
Ireland World
Rights
Morphine: The Blessing, The Curse Narrative Non-Fiction/Memoir
Dr Liam Farrell
Morphine is a double-edged sword. Due to its unique ability to control pain, every one of us will one day need it, but it has
extracted a terrible price on both individuals and society. In this book, Dr Liam Farrell, family doctor, writer and broadcaster – and former morphine addict – explores the
history and the science of the drug that almost destroyed him.
This highly unusual narrative will combine a lively, factual approach to the scientific and cultural chronology of the relationship
between humanity and ‘the tears of the poppy’, with powerful personal testimony which draws on the author’s own experiences of morphine dependency and his battle to overcome that addiction. As a
family doctor who, later in his career, specialised in Palliative Medicine, and subsequently became a postgraduate tutor tasked with educating other doctors in the use of morphine for pain relief in
terminally ill patients, he was well-versed in all aspects of this potent drug – including the associated risks of addiction.
However, as he demonstrates forcibly throughout the book, familiarity is no defense when it comes to a drug like morphine. Hence
the narrative will take us on two parallel journeys, whose paths will frequently converge.
In an objective, investigative vein, the author will explore how morphine become so important and why it is so effective. We will look
at the discovery of the opium poppy and its properties: the astonishing cosmic accident whereby an obscure plant produces substances mimicking the natural chemicals in the human body which block
pain. We will follow the chronology of the drug’s adoption by the medical profession for the relief of pain, especially in terminal illness. We will review the evolution of the recreational use of
the drug and its place in our cultural history.
Punctuating this narrative, the author will recount his own experiences of the drug: firstly as a doctor and then also as a distressed
relative, witnessing the seemingly magical relief which can morphine bring to the intense physical suffering of the terminally ill. Then, as a user, he will describe his first experience, the
all-too-transient euphoria of the hit and, with habitual use, the tyranny of diminishing returns which the drug imposes on the addict, almost from the first time.
Returning to factual mode, we will look at the science behind the physiology of addiction, and the reasons why morphine dependency is
so hard to break, both physically and psychologically. Again, the author will interject with his own experiences of withdrawal and what is involved in the battle to get clean. His testimony offers a
graphic exposition of the truth that, relatively speaking, getting clean is the easy part – it is staying clean that represents the real, most visceral challenge. We will look at methods of
rehabilitation used in different cultures and countries, and consider which of these might be the most effective, given that the traditional medical approach to drug addiction in this country has its
flaws.
Ultimately, this book offers a message of hope and redemption – that addicts can get better, and that, with the right support, recovery
in wider terms is also possible, and relationships with family, friends and society at large can survive, and even thrive, after the decimation of addiction. The author himself has been clean for
five years – although he continues to take life ‘one day at a time’ . . .
Dr Liam Farrell, 57, is a former family doctor, an award-winning writer and a seasoned broadcaster. He has been a
columnist for the British Medical Journal for 20 years and currently writes for GP, the leading publication for general
practitioners in the UK. He has also been a columnist for The Lancet, the Journal of General Practice, the Belfast
Telegraph and the Irish News. He wrote the entry on sex for The Oxford Companion to the Body. On Twitter he
curates #Irishmed, a weekly ‘tweetchat’ for his 11.8k followers on all things relating to Irish medicine, north and south.
Author’s Home: Rostrevor, N. Ireland
World Rights
Are You the F***ing Doctor?
Medicine/Memoir
Selected Writings
Dr Liam Farrell
‘Hospital doctors are fortunate. Their medical specialty is more predictable and they can apply more scientific rigour;
their maps are complete, easier to plot. General practice is the great unknown. We stand on the cusp of the beyond. Science takes us only so far, then the maps stop in the grey areas of intuition,
imagination and feelings: here be dragons. Lurching from heart-breaking tragedy to high farce, we are the Renaissance men and women of medicine; our art is intangible
and almost impossible to pigeon-hole. Anything can walk through our door . . .’
Family doctor, Irishman, musician, award-winning author, anarchist and recovering morphine addict, Liam Farrell began writing 20 years
ago when he entered a contest in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and was subsequently named best new medical columnist that year; by 2005, he was the first
doctor to win Columnist of the Year in the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) awards. He went on to write for many major publications, winning a series of prestigious awards.
The proposed book contains a selection of Liam’s best work, from his columns in
the BMJ, The Lancet and GP magazine, as well as from his blogs and short
stories.
It opens with a visceral and compellingly honest chapter on the author’s morphine addiction. This bleak, riveting account of the
‘horrible, squalid vice’ that ultimately cost him his profession as a doctor stands in stark, but telling contrast to the rest of the book.
From then on, we are taken on a wild, hilarious and often surreal journey through Liam’s life as a GP working on the rural border of
Northern Ireland.
We learn that a typical day for such a doctor can entail absolutely anything – from fending off cunning and ungrateful patients bent on
extracting unnecessary antibiotics, sleeping tablets, sick notes, sex and home visits, to the delicate and largely unfunny task of tending to the life-threatening wounds of passing paramilitaries in
the thick of The Troubles – no questions asked.
There’s the patient who needs a Viagra prescription for successful solitary sex, the awkward, elderly lady who finally bonds with Dr
Farrell over their mutual love of old Danny Kaye and Groucho Marx movies, and the granny who simply will not die, much to the dismay of relatives who have gathered from all corners of the globe at
great expense to witness be at her side for the crucial moment.
No subject is taboo. Lust, birth, death, Catholic aunties – they’re all here. Surgery life is no bowl of cherries, and a GP needs all
his life skills to cope – not just the stuff he learned in medical school.
And finally, there is the nation’s favourite institution – the NHS. Or rather, those who seem intent on dismantling it. A fierce
defender of the National Health Service, the author takes his sharpest scalpel to a succession of Secretaries of State for Health, the GP ‘Inspektor’, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence
(not NICE) and the Care Quality Commission – as well as all the bean counters and politicians who, it seems, have always got in the way of doctors and nurses simply doing their
jobs.
Brilliantly funny, clever, glittering with literary allusion and darkly wicked humour, this book is much more than a collection
of stand-alone anecdotes and whimsical reflections . . . With chapters loosely organised by theme – big, important themes such as death, sex, family, birth, addiction and yes, Christmas – this is a
compelling chronicle of the ever-changing face of public health policy, the never-changing nature of our collective obsession with matters medical, as well as the daily struggles – and ultimate
disintegration – of a doctor at the coalface.
For those of us who are non-medics, this will be a fascinating glimpse into what we as patients look like from the other side of the
table/end of the stethoscope – didn’t we realise that we aren’t unique in ‘bigging up’ our symptoms so’s we can get holdof those antibiotics? For other doctors, and especially GPs, it’s a wickedly
funny account of the typical dilemmas, and plain hard graft of dealing with the public on an everyday basis. For all readers, it is a deeply human story of one man’s efforts to survive the daily
grind, and a humorous but ultimately moving study of the strategies and coping mechanisms he must develop to simply get by.
Dr Liam Farrell, 57, is a former family doctor (based in Crossmaglen, Co Armagh in Northern Ireland), an award-winning writer and a
seasoned broadcaster. He is married to Brid and has three children, Jack (24), Katie (21) and Grace (16).
Liam has been a columnist for the British Medical Journal for 20 years and currently writes
for GP, the leading publication for general practitioners in the UK. He has also been a columnist for The Lancet,
the Journal of General Practice, the Belfast Telegraph and the Irish News. He wrote the entry on sex
for The Oxford Companion to the Body. On Twitter he curates #Irishmed, a weekly tweetchat for his 11.1k followers on all things relating
to Irish medicine, north and south.
Author’s Home: Rostrevor, N. Ireland
World Rights
Wilfred, Fanny and Floyd: Autobiographical Sketches from a Culinary
Genius Humor/Cats
Wilfred Ginge with Gayle Curtis
My name is Mr. Wilfred Ginge and I am a very famous, handsome ginger cat from the Mcginge clan in Northern Ireland, I'm sure
you've heard of me. I will be sharing my extensive culinary knowledge and experiences for one cat year by attempting and sampling various recipes from cooks such as Mrs. Fanny Crackhaddock and the
like and reporting on the results. I will also be giving useful household tips for those of you, like me, who have baked beans on your paws instead of fingers.
also available by Wilfred Ginge:
The Letters and Journals of Mr. Wilfred Ginge
Humor/Cats
Wilfred Ginge with Gayle Curtis
Wilfred Ginge, aspiring author and ginger cat from the McGinge clan in N. Ireland, writes to famous authors for publishing advice,
assisted by his faithful friend Gayle, who lives with him rent free. Illustrated.
Author's Home: Norfolk, England
World Rights
Carsten Krieger Photography
Carsten Krieger Photography Projects:
Ireland's Mountains
Similar in style and format to Ireland's Coast and Ireland's Ancient East, this book will explore the natural history of Ireland's mountains, the relationship
between the people and the mountains through the ages, and folklore and legends related to Ireland's mountains. The book will also include the most popular mountain trails and climbing spots.Images
will include landscape/scenic images, hillwalkers/climbers and farmers as well as images of mountain wildlife.
Ireland's Food Year - A culinary journey
Ireland's Food Year will explore the food produced in Ireland through the seasons.
From the ubiquitous cattle and sheep, fruit and vegetables to the wild foods, the book will explore in words and photographs the best that Ireland has to offer.
Each chapter will be dedicated to one season and feature what is grown and what can be harvested during the season. In addition, a selection
of seasonal recipes will feature in each chapter as well as tips for the private gardener,fruit and vegetable grower and smallholder.
Carsten Krieger is a landscape photographer based in Ireland. His first book was The Fertile Rock: Seasons
in the Burren (Collins Press, 2006), which was followed by The West of Ireland(Collins Press, 2009). His next book, The Ireland’s Glorious Landscape, was
published by O’Brien Press in Spring 2010 and was followed by The Wild Flowers of Ireland, published by Gill & Macmillan in Autumn 2010, Ireland’s Coast (O’Brien
Press, 2012) and The Irish Wildlife Year (Gill & Macmillan, 2012). His latest book, Ireland'sWild Atlantic Way, was published by The O'Brien Press
in 2015. His next two books, Ireland's Ancient East and Ireland's Beautiful North were published in 2017. Forthcoming are Ireland's
Islands and The Shannon.
Author’s Home: County Clare, Ireland World
Rights
101 Excuses ™ Humour
Written By David Feldstein
Illustrated by Frank McCourt
It all started one cold, dark, wintry night in the northern reaches of Canada. Indoors on a sheet of ice 146 feet long and 14 feet
wide, with 16 granite rocks and 2 teams of 4 men each. The sport of the great white north ... CURLING ... David and Frank met on the curling ice in Canada. Yup, that was the birthplace of
101
Excuses ™.
Here’s how it started.
Curling is a sport that requires extraordinary teamwork and skill in order to be played well. Being the ultimate team sport, it’s also
a very social game. One of the first things one notices is that no matter what happens on the ice, it’s not your fault. It could be the broom's fault, the rock, whatever, but "excuses" are flying
around all over the place.
Then it came to them. Someone needed to assemble these excuses for posterity and to arm curlers, both new and experienced, with the
excuses they need to survive the ice. David and Frank got to work. Before long they realized that excuses weren’t unique to curlers. In fact excuses are the universal language. Everyone uses them,
and everyone needs them.
So was born the 101 Excuses™ series. Of course the two of them had plenty of excuses as to why they couldn't do the series, but in the
end they realized it was their mission to supply man & womenkind with the excuses they’ll need in their journey through life. The rest, my friends, is history.
Titles include 101 Golf Excuses, 101 Sex Excuses, 101 Curling Excuses, 101 Banking Excuses, 101 Political
Excuses, 101 Homework Excuses, 101 Cooking Excuses, 101 Contractor Excuses, 101 Fashion Excuses, 101 Employee Excuses, 101 Auto Repair Excuses, 101 Poker
Excuses, and many more.
101 Curling Excuses is available as a printed book and an e book in the USA, UK and Canada: Click
here: 101 Curling
Excuses
Author's Home: Toronto, Canada World
Rights
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Literary Agents and Book Publishing Consultants
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