Reluctant Warrior

Volume one of "A Reluctant Warrior" tells of the adventures and travels of Ranulf, from his lowly beginnings as a ragged orphan, to becoming a national hero and lord of the manor.Although sent to the court of King Alfred to become a scholar, he becomes involved with the defence of the realm and, as the British army is on the point of a decisive victory, he is taken prisoner by the retreating Vikings and threatened with execution. By a twist in their Pagan beliefs however, Ranulf becomes protected by the laws of their ancient religion and he is sent to sea as a slave with promise of never returning.... Alan was born in Poole, Dorset, England on October 1st 1948. As a child, he lived in Canada for a few years in what was then a tiny settlement called Malton near Toronto, Ontario. He went to his first school in the village, a one-room school that was quite basic but typical of the times, in those outlying areas of the Canadian countryside.Later in life he travelled to Western Australia where he worked as a design draughtsman and, in his spare-time, played drums with a very active band called 'Unicorn'.Eventually, Alan returned to England, where he found a winter season of high unemployment and a frosty cold that he'd forgotten about. After a couple of dead-end jobs he joined the Royal Navy and quickly worked his way up to become a Chief Petty Officer.His first ship was involved in the brief skirmish of the mid 1970s that they called the "Cod War". He should have seen the trend, because a few years later he was involved in the Falklands Conflict while serving on the frigate, HMS Argonaut. They were hit by two enormous bombs within minutes of the first day of action. One landed in the boiler room and the other became lodged in an ammunition magazine. Luckily neither of these devices exploded, but unfortunately two of our gunners were killed. One of them was just twenty-one years old that day.Alan's writing began some years later when, as part of a team producing Technical Handbooks, he began to experiment with fiction and wrote a bag-full of short stories. The experiments continued until 2010 when he set out to use his new-found skills in a second career.Alan now lives with his wife Stella in a quiet part of central Brittany, surrounded by books, forests, fields and their precious dogs, Elsa, Jester and Monty.He still plays drums occasionally too. A lively, action-packed adventure in the time of Vikings and King Alfred-the-Great that tracks a family's fortunes and disasters through the eyes of Ranulf and his wife Hildegaard.A story told as it must have been in those uncertain, dark days – Episodes full of fear and cruel brutality.

The King's ShipsVolume one of the Reluctant Warrior series tells of the adventures and travels of Ranulf, from his lowly beginnings as a ragged orphan, to becoming a national hero and lord of the manor. This book, Volume Two, continues his story as he oversees the preparation of the King's fleet of warships that becomes the embryo of our modern day Royal Navy.It should have been a straightforward task, but it became mired in the politics and greed of the King's councillors, something that would never have happened if the King had been in residence. But the situation wasn't helped by Ranulf himself, who would much rather be at home with his wife and daughter than in Winchester, being a husband and father is still new to Ranulf and it thrilled him each morning as he opened his eyes to a new day. But that is going to be taken away by a Viking warband that gets too close to home.Writing this book was a huge amount of fun for me and I shall miss it when I sit at my desk each morning now that it's gone.The reader should be warned though, that this time there is not a happy ending for Ranulf and his little family. Writing the final few chapters of The King's Ships I found to be quite draining on my emotions and several times I tried to do it differently. But, stories sometimes write themselves, and the final version of this tale is steering the course that the story demanded.I hope you enjoy it and that you'll watch out for Volume Three in the series that will continue the story. It is called Pirates! Alan was born in Poole, Dorset, England on October 1st 1948. As a child, he lived in Canada for a few years in what was then a tiny settlement called Malton near Toronto, Ontario. He went to his first school in the village, a one-room school that was quite basic but typical of the times, in those outlying areas of the Canadian countryside.Later in life he travelled to Western Australia where he worked as a design draughtsman and, in his spare-time, played drums with a very active band called 'Unicorn'.Eventually, Alan returned to England, where he found a winter season of high unemployment and a frosty cold that he'd forgotten about. After a couple of dead-end jobs he joined the Royal Navy and quickly worked his way up to become a Chief Petty Officer.His first ship was involved in the brief skirmish of the mid 1970s that they called the "Cod War". He should have seen the trend, because a few years later he was involved in the Falklands Conflict while serving on the frigate, HMS Argonaut. They were hit by two enormous bombs within minutes of the first day of action. One landed in the boiler room and the other became lodged in an ammunition magazine. Luckily neither of these devices exploded, but unfortunately two of our gunners were killed. One of them was just twenty-one years old that day.Alan's writing began some years later when, as part of a team producing Technical Handbooks, he began to experiment with fiction and wrote a bag-full of short stories. The experiments continued until 2010 when he set out to use his new-found skills in a second career.Alan now lives with his wife Stella in a quiet part of central Brittany, surrounded by books, forests, fields and their precious dogs, Elsa, Jester and Monty.He still plays drums occasionally too. A lively, action-packed adventure in the time of Vikings and King Alfred-the-Great that tracks a family's fortunes and disasters through the eyes of Ranulf and his wife Hildegaard.A story told as it must have been in those uncertain, dark days – Episodes full of fear and cruel brutality.

Pirates! This word often brings to mind the popular image of swashbuckling heroes such as "Blackbeard" and his contemporaries, but some of the earliest known Pirates were women and one of them was none other than King Alfred the Great's daughter; the Princess Aethelflaed. After the King's death, the Princess took control of the embryo Royal Navy and took up the cause of ridding the British shores of the Viking threat, often using viciously brutal methods.In this, the third book in the Reluctant Warrior series, Hild, Ranulf's widow, is pushed into a seafaring life after escaping from charges of Witchcraft and from being subjected to the vilest of medieval public executions. Burnt alive while tied to a stake.She is innocent of course, but is still pursued by the Pirate Princess who has vowed to take vengeance and to reclaim the Navy's warship the Sir Ranulf. Hild and her crew run the gauntlet between Viking and the princess with several sea battles and confrontations on land.The story is a fast moving action adventure, with a sprinkling of violence and sex, but told as it must have been in those dark days of history. Alan was born in Poole, Dorset, England on October 1st 1948. As a child, he lived in Canada for a few years in what was then a tiny settlement called Malton near Toronto, Ontario. He went to his first school in the village, a one-room school that was quite basic but typical of the times, in those outlying areas of the Canadian countryside.Later in life he travelled to Western Australia where he worked as a design draughtsman and, in his spare-time, played drums with a very active band called 'Unicorn'.Eventually, Alan returned to England, where he found a winter season of high unemployment and a frosty cold that he'd forgotten about. After a couple of dead-end jobs he joined the Royal Navy and quickly worked his way up to become a Chief Petty Officer.His first ship was involved in the brief skirmish of the mid 1970s that they called the "Cod War". He should have seen the trend, because a few years later he was involved in the Falklands Conflict while serving on the frigate, HMS Argonaut. They were hit by two enormous bombs within minutes of the first day of action. One landed in the boiler room and the other became lodged in an ammunition magazine. Luckily neither of these devices exploded, but unfortunately two of our gunners were killed. One of them was just twenty-one years old that day.Alan's writing began some years later when, as part of a team producing Technical Handbooks, he began to experiment with fiction and wrote a bag-full of short stories. The experiments continued until 2010 when he set out to use his new-found skills in a second career.Alan now lives with his wife Stella in a quiet part of central Brittany, surrounded by books, forests, fields and their precious dogs, Elsa, Jester and Monty.He still plays drums occasionally too. A lively, action-packed adventure in the time of Vikings and King Alfred-the-Great that tracks a family's fortunes and disasters through the eyes of Ranulf and his wife Hildegaard.A story told as it must have been in those uncertain, dark days – Episodes full of fear and cruel brutality.