Despite the title, this is not a kid’s book. It’s aimed at the older YA/adult reader, but having said that, it is about a boy called Jabin and there are most definitely pirates, really mean nasty ones.

(CC) Pirates-Great Beyond

A couple of reviewers have remarked on the level of violence. I've tried not to describe it in graphic detail, but I've not pulled any punches either. Violence is frequently sanitized; the reality is brutal and vile.

Sex is implied rather than described, but again, there is some harsh reality.

Hello?

Was that the sound of feet running away? Is anyone still out there?

In the hope someone is still reading/listening I’ll try to explain the why (see motive).

BTW, there’s a lot of fun stuff as well, at least there is if you enjoy a little action adventure and some dastardly political plotting. And there is, of course, the usual beautiful slave girl and lots of soldiers… I like soldiers.


I wanted and needed to write about self-esteem and how it can be taken away from children and just how damaging that can be. I hate bullies and I hate what bullying does to the victim.

I don’t just mean the school yard thug, I mean the adults who unknowingly or deliberately undermine a child’s confidence in themselves.

Yes, you’re right, I’m writing from experience. You can end up like an old fashioned tea cakes, a crisp shell of shiny chocolate on the outside, but marshmallow on the inside. And it takes very little to break the shell and expose the softness within.

These days my chocolate shell is re-enforced by a wonderful husband and two great kids, but I’ve not forgotten how the centre was made, or who was responsible, but love is the greatest of all repair kits.

It’s hard to tackle stuff like this in the present without having to deal with a lot of very grim reality, but set on an imaginary world sometime in the future, I felt I could deal with it all and a few other things like religious and political intolerance.

And I also wanted to write a rip roaring adventure story full of adventure and soldiers because I thought it would be a lot of fun..

The book has “scific” tags, as well as “fantasy”, but if you like your Sci-Fi packed full clever techno stuff and your fantasy full of magic and really cool clothes, it’s not going to deliver, but I can offer you a “ripping yarn” where the baddies are bad and the good guys win…eventually.

I fell in love with my first soldier outside Buckingham Palace. He was a Coldstream on guard and I was four.Later I fell in love with reading and writing and then with scific and tales of high adventure. Later still I married a military historian and he conducted me on guided lecture tours around many a battlefield and many a museum Despite this, or maybe because of it, I never lost my love of all things military or of adventure stories."Jabin and the Space Pirates" is a result of all this. Other published work includes a short story in a SFX Pulp Fiction Anthology and a Dr. Who story published by Big Finish.