New-technology publisher promises traditional, top-quality reading, and the amusing as well as poignant stories collected in “THE GUARDSMAN OF MURRAY HILL” are on the bookshelves NOW!

New York, 1st September, 2009

Famous and not-so-famous patrons of the New York saloon “The Guardsman of Murray Hill” reveal many outrageous secrets in R.M. Gibson’s first re-telling of stories originally jotted down by the late industrialist Paul Lanier.

The Black Leaf Publishing Group publishes the extraordinary stories collected by the late Paul Lanier, who observed with keen eyes and ears life itself as well as fellow regulars at his favourite New York saloon. Author R.M. Gibson, Paul Lanier’s life-long friend, resurrects so far unpublished manuscripts and “The Guardsman of Murray Hill” is the first of five books to be published.

New Yorker Paul Lanier was a multi-facetted man whose varied career included paratrooper, corporate executive, consultant, entrepreneur and author. He met his colourful characters in ‘The Guardsman’, a saloon in the Murray Hill district of New York City. Even though the identities of the protagonists had to remain anonymous, their stories are true confidences collected in an atmosphere of slightly inebriated and friendly conviviality.

Quote from ‘The Guardsman of Murray Hill’:

“`[...] so the Guardsman became one of the places that Wren and Bobby used to supply their unceasing need for sex partners. At the same time, Wren “worked” maybe ten or twelve places on a regular basis. The Guardsman, however, was especially fruitful for them because of the sizeable number of regulars and their diversity.”

A spokesperson for Black Leaf said, “The characters range from highly amusing to downright bizarre, events that unfold are sometimes funny, sometimes tragic and more often than not border on the outrageous. ‘The Guardsman’ is a saloon that could have inspired the television programme ‘Cheers’. You will meet an English poet working as a janitor, an inventor without any entrepreneurial skills, read a hilarious story behind a curious needlepoint hanging and much, much more.”

From a reader: “I enjoyed this book as I could ‘dip in and dip out’.  I admired the skill of the author in his close observations of his characters and his ability to produce laughter, feelings of poignancy and anger in the reader.”

The author, Paul Lanier’s lifelong friend, R. M. Gibson, has himself led a colourful life.  After serving on a minesweeper during the Korean conflict and graduating from Indiana University he began his career working for the California company which built the Apollo Spacecraft, later going on to work in oil, basic metals and executive search businesses. He and his wife now live in Europe. For more information see his website: http://rmgibson.com. For more copies of his book contact the publishers – www.blackleafpublishing.com.

The Black Leaf Publishing Group has been established with a mission : to bring ‘old-fashioned’ top-quality reading to new audiences by employing economically-viable new publishing and printing methods. The Black Leaf Publishing Group also offer new as well as established authors the opportunity to receive individual attention and ‘tender-loving care’ in the traditional way from a dedicated team whose passion is the written word.

NOW AVAILABLE through WHSmith, Waterstones, Amazon worldwide and other stores.

444 pages

ISBN: 1849238901

Synopsis:

For twenty years civil war has torn the Empire apart; the Imperial line extinguished as the mad Emperor Quintus burned in his palace, betrayed by his greatest general. Against a background of war, decay, poverty and violence, men who once served in the proud Imperial army now fight as mercenaries, hiring themselves to the greediest lords.

On a hopeless battlefield that same general, now a mercenary captain tortured by the events of his past, stumbles across hope in the form of a young man begging for help. Kiva is forced to face more than his dark past as he struggles to put his life and the very Empire back together. The last scion of the Imperial line will change Kiva forever.

Excerpt from Interregnum:

“the man continued forward, his two weapons

“the man continued forward, his two weapons ready and swinging as he moved. Athas stood still, arms remaining folded. Quintillian tugged on the medic’s arm.

“This isn’t good” he said urgently. “Why isn’t the captain helping?”

Mercurias grinned back at him.

“He doesn’t need any help. Can’t you see that?”

The large man finally broke his slow advance and ran at Athas, the mace high and ready to drop and the sword jutting forwards at chest height. Athas continued to stand until the last moment, when he shifted his weight slightly to the left, stepped forward inside the reach of the blade and, unfolding his arms, jammed the fork he’d been holding into the man’s throat. The momentum carried the two forward a couple more paces, the fork tearing skin as the movement jarred them both. As they stopped, the big man stared down in shock and the weapons toppled from his hands. He reached both arms toward Athas, who merely waggled the fork, still buried in the man’s neck. His other finger waved in front of the enemy as though scolding a naughty child.

“Ah Ah. Play nice” he said sweetly.

The big man’s hands dropped slowly to his sides. Athas smiled at him.

“I’m now going to remove the fork” he said slowly and clearly. “You’re going to have to reach up very quickly and grasp your throat to prevent too much blood loss. After that you’re going to leave. We have a medic in the corner, but I doubt he’ll feel inclined to help you.”

Mercurias laughed as Athas continued. “I noticed an apothecary on the way into town. If you can get there without too much blood loss, you’ll be alright, but it’ll cost you a packet and you may never speak again, coz I think I touched your voice box. Be happy. I could have stuck your windpipe. Ready?”

The big man, a stunned and stupefied look on his face, nodded, causing him to wince as a fresh gout of blood pumped out around the fork.

“Go!”

Athas removed the utensil with a bold, sweeping stroke and a great quantity of dark blood splashed onto the floor. A fraction of a second later, Jorun was out of the tavern, one hand clutching his throat very tight. The sergeant bent down and gingerly, trying to avoid the bulk of the blood, picked the two weapons up from where they lay. He tossed the mace onto the bar.

“Sell it to pay for the cleaning” he said loudly.

Synopsis:

For twenty years civil war has torn the Empire apart; the Imperial line extinguished as the mad Emperor Quintus burned in his palace, betrayed by his greatest general. Against a background of war, decay, poverty and violence, men who once served in the proud Imperial army now fight as mercenaries, hiring themselves to the greediest lords.

On a hopeless battlefield that same general, now a mercenary captain tortured by the events of his past, stumbles across hope in the form of a young man begging for help. Kiva is forced to face more than his dark past as he struggles to put his life and the very Empire back together. The last scion of the Imperial line will change Kiva forever.

—— Excerpt from Interregnum ——

NOW AVAILABLE through WHSmith, Waterstones, Amazon worldwide and other stores.

440 pages

Buy at Waterstones (£8.99 – free delivery)

Buy at Amazon US: $13.99

ISBN: 1849238901

Synopsis:

It is 58 BC and the mighty Tenth Legion, camped in Northern Italy , prepare for the arrival of the most notorious general in Roman history: Julius Caesar.

Marcus Falerius Fronto, commander of the Tenth is a career soldier and long-time companion of Caesar’s. Despite his desire for the simplicity of the military life, he cannot help but be drawn into intrigue and politics as Caesar engineers a motive to invade the lands of Gaul .

Fronto is about to discover that politics can be as dangerous as battle, that old enemies can be trusted more than new friends, and that standing close to such a shining figure as Caesar, even the most ethical of men risk being burned.

—— Excerpt from Marius’ Mules ——

“Priscus raised his head to make out what was happening and saw one of the three remaining warriors, who had rescued shields from among the dead Romans, making straight for him in the press. It was always a dangerous situation; Centurions led from the front, and their high visibility made them an obvious target. The Centurionate bore a ridiculously high mortality rate, and Priscus was determined not to become just another statistic in the Legion’s paperwork. He eyed the wounded, blood-stained warrior who clutched a dagger in one hand, a large Roman shield in the other.

Reaching out, he gripped the shaft of a standard that one of his Signifers held.

“Give me that.”

The Signifer relinquished the tall, heavy and unwieldy standard reluctantly. It was an honour, though a dangerous one, to carry the standard.

Swinging the weighted pole above the heads of the men, he brought it down and angled it like a spear. Indeed, there was a spear head on the very tip, above the golden laurel wreath. Bracing himself, he pulled it back. The barbarian sneered and held the large shield over his torso, looking over the top in the manner of a Legionary, and picked up pace into a charge. The Legionaries held back. Though they could probably have tackled the barbarian, none of his men would dare dishonour the Primus Pilus like that. The barbarian pushed the shield out forward to ward off the spear head and laughed.

At the last minute, Priscus braced himself and dropped the point of the standard toward the ground. The spear point jammed deep into the lower leg of the barbarian, who stumbled and tripped, shredding his shin. As the point tore out of the side of his leg, his momentum carried him forward, pitching him into the air. He landed some yards from Priscus, and struggled to get to his feet. His right leg was useless but Priscus had to give him credit, as he managed to pull himself upright with his left, leaving the shield on the floor. He turned to face the Roman, snarling, and failed to see the swinging standard in the arms of the Primus Pilus in time. The heavy bronze and steel weight at the top of the standard smashed into the side of his head. Priscus hauled the thing upright and held it out for the Signifer to take. The man took one look at the blood-soaked spear tip and the bent and dented decoration.

“I hope you’re not going to try and take that out of my pay, sir.”

A first-time author whose  novel had still not appeared two months after the promised launch date is now celebrating double publishing success.

When his book Tasting the Wind failed to appear at Christmas, Allan Mayer, 48, contacted his publisher YouWriteOn to find that difficulties with reproducing the book’s cover were jeopardising its publication.

‘I was really disappointed,’ said Allan, ‘as my wife and I had designed the cover ourselves. I was offered another one, but I wasn’t very impressed with it. It was also starting to get embarrassing, as people who had seen earlier press releases had started to go into W.H. Smiths only to be told that the book wasn’t on their system.’

In the meantime Allan, who manages a day service for people with severe learning disabilities, began to submit articles to an online ‘collaborative fiction’ experiment called Greyling Bay.

‘I wasn’t too optimistic about getting my work accepted there,’ said the writer. ‘Many of the contributors are well established novelists with a string of published works.’

But in an upturn of fortunes, Allan received an e-mail saying that his work had been accepted – the same week that he found that Tasting the Wind had surfaced on the Amazon book selling site. And thanks to the painstaking work of YouWriteOn director, Edward Smith, the book now displays the original cover.

Tasting the Wind is available on Amazon.co.uk, and can be ordered from W.H. Smiths and Waterstone’s bookshops. 50% of the author’s royalties will be donated to Derian House Children’s Hospice, Chorley.

For further details please visit www.allanmayer.com

Ex-Pantomime baddie, Allan Mayer, has pledged to give 50% of the royalties from his new novel to Lancashire Children’s Hospice, Derian House.

Allan, 47, took part in nine successive pantomimes in his home town of Chorley, in roles such as the Millennium Bug, Abanazzer, and the Sheriff of Nottingham, for which he won a NODA award. When he was an Ugly Sister in Cinderella he also raised money for Derian House through a sponsored beard shave.

Allan has lived in Chorley with his wife, Alison, who is a full-time foster carer, for over twenty years.

His novel, ‘Tasting the Wind,’ published by ‘Legend Press’ features several major characters who have severe learning disabilities. This is familiar territory for the writer, who has worked in the caring profession for twenty-two years, and is currently a manager with Brothers of Charity Services.

‘It was my intention,’ said Allan, ‘to include disabled characters not as passive bystanders, but as central to the plot.’

The novel is about what happens when a nurse in a 1970’s ‘Mental Handicap Hospital’ kills a patient, and the only two witnesses are unable to communicate what they have seen. Ten years later they leave the hospital for ‘Care in the Community,’ only to find that the same nurse is now manager in their new home. How will they alert someone to her true nature before one of them becomes her next victim?

Despite the serious nature of the subject matter, the story is one of hope, and is not without humour.

The process of writing and attempting to find a publisher for ‘Tasting the Wind’ has taken Allan over ten years.

‘I had revised the manuscript so many times,’ said Allan, ‘and received so many rejections from agents and publishers that I thought my novel would never find its way into print. Then I came across the YouWriteOn website, which is committed to giving chances to new writers, and now all of my hard work is coming to fruition.’

But the hard work doesn’t stop there. Because ‘Legend’ is a small press, they do not have the marketing ability of their larger rivals, so the writers have to do most of the promotion work for their novels themselves. Allan has been busy writing a blog, setting up a website, and adding chapters of ‘Tasting the Wind’ as an audiobook on ‘YouTube.’

‘I am keen to get my story out there,’ said Allan ‘and in doing so raise money for Derian House.’

‘Tasting the Wind’ will be available through Amazon, or can be ordered at W.H. Smiths and Waterstones. For more information visit www.allanmayer.com