Bøker utgitt av The Self-Publishing Partnership Ltd

Treading Ancient TrailsSeeking solace after the death of her husband, Kim Letson discovers a passion for long- distance walking. Through historical and cultural prisms, accompanied by memories, curiosity, and friends, Letson connects ancient and modern journeys. TheCoast to Coast, Cornish Coastal Path, and Ridgeway in England offer opportunities for adventure. As a pilgrim, she explores a Portuguese Camino from Porto to Santiago, the Pilgrims‿ Way from Winchester to Canterbury, and then the Via Francigena from Canterbury to Rome. Readers share both the wonders and challenges of the journeys, from mountain passes to wind-swept beaches, from Gothic cathedrals to mysterious stone henges. Kim Letson has created a curative elixir with Canterbury and Other Tales, a sumptuous blend of adventure-memoir, escape, loss and healing shared in concise, engaging vignettes. Letson‿s prose shuttles us into each trek, as though granting exclusive peeks into the author‿s personal travel diary. A series of stories you won‿t want to end. Bill Arnott ‿ poet and bestselling author.  This book vividly brings back the joys of walking and riding many of the same pathways and facing some of the same challenges which Letson presents with unvarnished candour. While the journeys do not all carry the title of pilgrimage, they all share the pilgrim sense of an inner search ‿ a need to fill the void of the tragic loss of her husband and mother with both a rationale for her own existence and her relationship with the world.  Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed, The dear repose for limbs with travel tired; But then begins a journey in my head, To work my mind, when body‿s work‿s expired: William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 27,â€? 1609 Paul Chinn ‿ author of the Lightfoot Guidebooks. Kim Letson has done it again. In this latest collection of journeys, she shares intimate moments, challenges of the terrain, encounters with both fellow travellers and those who host pilgrims such as her. Walking alongside shadows of the past, she describes intriguing details and the broad sweep of historical context for her travels and surroundings. Her insights are often humorous and sometimes wry, but it is her accomplishments and tenacity which leave us in awe and just a little envious. Christine Dickinson ‿ historian and author. Like their namesake, these tales are much more than a guided tromp across some of Europe‿s best treks and pilgrimages. They are also reflections on love, friendship, loss and what it means to be human. Letson shares lyrical glimpses of the landscapes and history she encounters: the uphill grinds, the wet boots, the soaring cathedrals and sweeping views. In her deft hands we are changed. Jeanette Taylor ‿ historian and author.  Â

In the Footsteps of a Roman Legion  - Walking the Via Egnatia (2021)On a blistering September morning in 2016, intrepid friends in their sixties âEUR" Kim and Pat âEUR" set off on foot from DurrÃ's, Albania towards Istanbul, Turkey. Tracing the route of a Roman road, the Via Egnatia, they dedicate their endeavour to raising funds for refugee relief. Owing to a guidebook that overstates amenities, the trek becomes more challenging than expected. As they negotiate hurdles, test their endurance, and encounter human smugglers and feral dogs, an indomitable sense of humour, a personified GPS, and an imagined Roman legionnaire see them through daily adventures. The Via Egnatia holds over two thousand years of stories - of soldiers, merchants, farmers, refugees and travellers.  And this is a gripping one âEUR" two travellers (sometimes three?) meet both generous hospitality and surprising hostility with resilience, cold beer and hot coffee. Atlas in one hand and this book in the other - I was transported! Evelyn Gillespie, owner Laughing Oyster Bookshop, Comox Valley. Fun, funny, and endlessly thought-provoking, Kim Letson pulls no punches as she explores some of the bumpier corners of humanity, all while finding the time to celebrate lifeâEUR(TM)s small, simple pleasures. If you like the idea of lacing up your shoes to embark on a grand adventure from the comforts of your favourite reading chair, you couldnâEUR(TM)t pick a more capable guide than Letson. Brimming with passion for the road less travelled, Kim Letson has written a page-turner. Joshua Levy, CBC/QWF Writer in Residence 2018, winner of the CBC/QWF Fiction Prize, Prairie Fire Nonfiction Prize, CNFC/Carte Blanche Nonfiction Prize, Grain Fiction Prize, and SLS Nonfiction Prize, poet.  Kim Letson first presented her Via Egnatia journey in various draft forms to our writing group. Now, in this compelling book, we accompany her and Pat as they tramp through three Balkan states on their way to Turkey. Readers will learn about AlbaniaâEUR(TM)s concrete bunkers as the adventurers endure blisters, encounter poisonous vipers, vicious dogs, human traffickers and armed helicopters before finally relaxing in a steaming Istanbul hammam. Thank you, Kim, for including us on your intrepid walk. Janet Miller, past-president Comox Valley WriterâEUR(TM)s Society, author.

The Journey Continues ... Traversing Canada, rounding Cape Horn, riding the Patagonian Pampas and Mongolian wilds. From Greek Islands to North Cape, through Thailand or along the Silk Road, Letson's journeys reflect her curiosity and adventurous spirit. Readers meet characters imagined and real: ancestral ghosts, the author's intrepid parents, lighthouse keepers, an Auschwitz survivor, gauchos, Roma and nomads. Set within historic and literary contexts, Soul of a Nomad shares sixty-five years of journeys and revelations. Evocative descriptions nestle amongst hair-raising anecdotes, every page encouraging the reader to explore further. The English word nomad derives from the ancient Greek , referring to those who roam or wander in search of pasture for their livestock. Modern-day nomad, Kim Letson also searches - always seeking new vistas and fresh perspectives - on a lifelong journey that never fails to delight the reader. James Deutsch, George Washington University lecturer, folklorist, author. All lives are special, but some are more special than others. This delightful autobiography encompasses a life, a career and best of all, an exciting guide to those who are more interested in "otherness" than in exporting and expecting Canadian values when abroad. With boisterous good spirits and self-depreciating humour, Letson brings us with her to many of the world's "roads less travelled" and describes for us the good, the bad and the ugly. Rick Steeves, watch out! Chris Harker, safari guide, fellow adventurer, author. Soul of a Nomad takes us from the Yangykala Canyon of Turkmenistan to the Alaskan Coast and from Florence in Tuscany to Ushuaia in Patagonia. At every juncture, Letson reflects on the significance of place, time and those she encounters. She describes her diverse travels through the eyes of a child, a young soldier on a peace keeping mission and an intrepid retiree. Ever the cautious interloper as she considers her role as "Other" and "outsider," Letson is a keen observer of new ways, and new cultures. A highly recommended read for all observers of humanity and those with an interest in travel. Christine Dickinson, historian, author. Soul of a Nomad recounts a lifetime of exploration in remote corners of the world. Rich with sensory memories of the author's childhood in snowy Ontario and family sojourns in England, as well as glimpses of her close bond with her parents, this is the story of how one person grows into the habit and practice of adventure. Going out to meet the world requires courage, flexibility, and humility. Every encounter described by Letson reveals the dual nature of her learning: while other cultures always have much to teach her, the journey is also a mirror of her own self-discovery. This memoir is an interesting blend of many different genres, as Letson also weaves history into her accounts of different countries and regions. For the reader, the pleasure of following the author on her adventures is akin to watching a child grow up to be fearless and confident, full of delight in the mystery and varied beauty of the world. Margo McLoughlin, storyteller, teacher, author.

Journeying at Home and Away Pomegranates at 4800 Metres is a vibrant tapestry woven with themes of love, courage and generosity. Kim Letson‿s husband, Mike, surrounds her with his many gifts of love, including his courage in the face of death. At a freezing teahouse in the high Himalaya, Letson‿s porter presents her with a bowl of glowing red pomegranate seeds, as astonished silence spreads throughout the crowded room. At a beach house in Zanzibar, three little boys climb palm trees to bring her fresh coconuts, and their mother bakes a cake to be shared with them. In return for a handful of dates in the desert sands of Morocco, a gentle camel complies with her desires that he kneel. While kayaking in a storm off Vancouver Island, Letson‿s friend, Pat, demands she find the courage to “come in on a wave.â€? This becomes a metaphor as Letson learns acceptance from her Nepali guide, Tendi Sherpa, and navigates her way through loss, grief and transforms into an intrepid nomad. At times gut-wrenching, at times spellbinding, this heartfelt memoir is a powerful reminder of the heights to which curiosity, kindness and bravery can carry us. Bravo Kim! Bruce Kirkby, adventurer, author. Kim Letson‿s descriptions of the lands she journeys to and the people she encounters are vivid and evocative. She carries her readers with her, from the depths of her despair, through torrential West Coast rain, across the vast Serengeti, over Himalayan suspension bridges and into the Moroccan Sahara. Small of stature, she‿s tough enough to defy risk, endure pain and, most importantly, to grow in self-awareness and confidence.David Esson Young, ship‿s master, author.

Graham Logie was brought up in Bruichladdich in the 1960s. This book tells how, as the Distillery Manager's son, he saw village life, and the special access he had to the distillery. The 1960s probably saw one of the biggest changes to island life when the constant stream of supplies provided by much-loved cargo boats, mailboats and puffers, was replaced by roll-on/roll-off ferries, virtually overnight. Many tales involve boats, lorries and the sea, and show how different a child's upbringing was then, compared to today's technological age. Inspired one day, when asked what it was like to be brought up on a small island, Graham decided to record his thoughts and memories as they shouldn't be lost to the island. Many tales describe what he and his peers did in their childhood within the village, and periodically Graham digresses to explain how people, boats etc, turned up again later in his life. Concluding the book by comparing life in a distillery in the 1960s, to life 35 years later when he returned to Islay in 2006, as a Distillery Manager himself (albeit on the 'wrong' side of the island); Graham has given a very personal account of island life through a boy's eyes and his affection for Islay and Bruichladdich in particular are evident throughout.

In this stunningly insightful and humorous sequel to Finding Joy, Keeping Joy explores the long terms consequences of chronic illness. Through the eyes of Joyce, Aunt Beth and Logan we follow Joyce's fight to regain her health and her freedom after nearly a decade of being housebound with Lyme disease.

The Hidden Creatures of Hackney is a story seen through the eyes of Kiran and Karma, as they explore their neighbourhood in search of a hidden magical world. The journey begins when the children find a map whilst playing in Granny's attic. The map includes instructions for making devices called "Imagi-scopes". Using these devices and through the power of imagination, they can see and interact with otherwise invisible magical creatures who inhabit each location. Along the way, the children enrage a squirrel druid, are nearly kidnapped by hairy Vikings, avoid being turned into fairies by a devious fox, and save their toes from being eaten by tiny aquatic tigers. There's more to discover as they explore this make-believe world, eventually arriving at a strange fancy dress funfair, which seems entangled with the magical places Kiran and Karma have discovered whilst on their adventure. This fantasy-adventure, graphic-novel for developing readers aged 5-10, is written in verse, with a hint of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, a touch of The Gruffalo and a smidge of Pokemon GO. The whole family will love it!

The thalidomide tragedy of the 1960s exposed the flaws in medical testing, unethical marketing, and the lack of accountability in the pharmaceutical industry. The voices of affected mothers and surviving adults with thalidomide-induced disabilities have often been overlooked. This is Sukeshi Thakkar's story and her mother, Rama, was a victim too in this heart-breaking ordeal. Her life had been deeply affected as she cared for Sukeshi while tirelessly fighting for justice and financial stability. The emotional and stressful burden she carried was immense as she navigated a challenging path that required unwavering determination. Her struggle encompasses not only her child's well-being but also the quest for recognition and accountability for the harm caused.

Sleep training isn't for everyone - if it's not for you, then you've found the baby sleep guide you need! Baby and toddler sleep can be a nightmare to get your head around. If you're looking for an easy-to-read book that explains how baby sleep really works, with practical steps on how to make gentle improvements, this book is the book for you. There's no one size fits all solution. Get ready for practical, evidence-based information with helpful, actionable steps that will give you a new approach to tackling your baby's sleep challenges without leaving your baby to cry by themselves, ever. Sleep consultant Jemma Munford, who studied under some of the most well-known names in the sleep, neuroscience and parenting world, including Lyndsay Hookway, Gordon Neufeld, and Dr Laura Markham; and mother of a difficult sleeper, wrote this survival guide for parents who need a different approach to sleep training. A plan to follow that can be adapted for different families, but one which works with a gentle touch. In this book we'll discuss: An evidence-based guide to baby sleep. What might be blocking your sleep progress. Gentle and responsive strategies for supporting independent sleep. A realistic guide of what to expect from 3 months to 2 years. A simple symptom checker to identify the solution for common sleep problems like frequent night waking, bedtime battles, false starts, and early waking. Practical tips for adapting your approach to suit your child's unique temperament. Advice on how to cope when sleep is just pretty damn horrible. No matter what sleep struggles you are facing, this book is sure to arm you with the knowledge and confidence to turn your family's sleep from a nightmare to a dream. You can do this! And this book will help.

This is a book about the city of Bath, but as experienced by a resident who over several years walked every street, path and alley of the city. It describes the beautiful variety of buildings, the splendid views from all over the city, and the fascinating variety of social make-up and history contained within it. It draws attention to the many parks and trees within its boundaries and the wonderful ring of countryside around its borders, nearly always visible from its different areas. It‿s a new view of a much described gem and contains many photographs and poems based on the above.

This book is part of a series that have 'fun' animals exploring the British Isles. This is about Bertie the Bear who goes to Ireland. His friends had already been to Scotland, England and Wales. The same as all the other books there are connections back to country the animal has come from which make it very interesting for a child to learn. Bertie is from America. As Bertie travels through Ireland, he encounters all sorts of amazing things and learns so much. He visits a haunted castle, the Giant Causeway, a theme park, an ancient stone circle, finds out about the history of guinness and so much more. There is so much to discover in this beautiful country. This charming children's book is perfect for ages 8 - 11 and is filled with cute illustrations of Bertie the Bear and fun facts about Ireland. Children will love learning as Bertie explores.