Writer of School Stories; Historical Fiction; Poetry and Children's Books.
A writer of wrongs
G J Griffiths' books are all available from Amazon in paperback and Kindle ebook format.
Click the links below if you want more details or wish to purchase them:
USA: www.Amazon.com
and
UK: www.amazon.co.uk
Click on the Amazon link to Quarry Bank Tales where you will find out that ALL 5 of the Kindle books may be purchased for under £4!
Click the links below if you want more details or wish to purchase them:
USA: www.Amazon.com
and
UK: www.amazon.co.uk
Click on the Amazon link to Quarry Bank Tales where you will find out that ALL 5 of the Kindle books may be purchased for under £4!
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Walter Button's latest investigation is available currently from Amazon. It becomes the 5th novel available in the series known as THE QUARRY BANK TALES. Make sure you collect all of these exciting crime thrillers from the Victorian period known as the Industrial Revolution! Intriguing and Informative!
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Detective Inspector Walter Button is called upon to investigate a violent burglary that takes place at the stately mansion called Ardwick House, in the centre of Manchester. Button’s Victorian police team have become known for investigating ‘flash houses’ and their associated killings and violence. These public houses, amongst other establishments, are implicated in a crime wave of fencing stolen goods - a big problem for many big towns and cities throughout England. The ongoing investigation of the Ardwick House burglary takes its toll on Button and Kathleen, his wife. His step-son Josh is the young copper on patrol in Ardwick Green and the first to be alerted by broken glass at the rear of the mansion. As events proceed, a number of other knotty problems and plots come to the surface; not discounting two dead bodies, a secret business plan and pressure from the inspector's superiors. How does all of this involve the adult sons of the original partners and iron foundry owners, David Fraser and Mitch McCallum? Can Button disentangle it all to the satisfaction of his senior officers and before he loses his wife forever? Button's Investigation Team: Barnes, Henry, Grover & Walter himself.
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Was this the stained glass window the boys tried to steal?
Young Josh, keen to patrol the streets around Ardwick Green!
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When Detective Inspector Walter Button, of the 19th century Manchester police force, is ordered to take charge of the investigations into the massive spread of crime in Angel Meadow he has little idea of the size and spread of the task ahead of him. A simple burglary at a church where two teenaged boys are the suspects will lead Button into a world of gangland murders and political rebellion. The dedicated and practical detective also finds an even bigger challenge ahead when his rare romantic side begins to surface, confronting and confounding his professional aims and objectives.
SPECIAL OFFER PRICE OF 0.99 Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US  |
THE MULE SPINNERS' DAUGHTERS:
“… Sebastian said: But there is an obstacle, a principle of hers that she’s read of in a book by a woman called Mary Wollstonecraft...” “… Women should be wives and companions to their husbands…”Did the mother of Mary Shelley fill the farm girl’s head with too many ideas of feminism? When Sally Sefton runs away from Sebastian at the altar on her wedding day there is a desperate chase to find her. Some of her friends think they know why she ran. But only Cathy Priestley thinks she knows where. Her chief bridesmaid suspects Sally may have joined the Christian Israelites. Will they find her before the group sails on a missionary tour abroad? The split causes a bitter dispute between Sebastian and Wesley, her brother. While feelings are running so high there seems to be no hope of reconciliation between the families KINDLE PRICE 0.99
Click on the book cover to order from Amazon UK
Click here to order from Amazon USA
“… Sebastian said: But there is an obstacle, a principle of hers that she’s read of in a book by a woman called Mary Wollstonecraft...” “… Women should be wives and companions to their husbands…”Did the mother of Mary Shelley fill the farm girl’s head with too many ideas of feminism? When Sally Sefton runs away from Sebastian at the altar on her wedding day there is a desperate chase to find her. Some of her friends think they know why she ran. But only Cathy Priestley thinks she knows where. Her chief bridesmaid suspects Sally may have joined the Christian Israelites. Will they find her before the group sails on a missionary tour abroad? The split causes a bitter dispute between Sebastian and Wesley, her brother. While feelings are running so high there seems to be no hope of reconciliation between the families KINDLE PRICE 0.99
Click on the book cover to order from Amazon UK
Click here to order from Amazon USA
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SO WHAT! STORIES OR WHATEVER! (book 1)
is a collection of vignettes based around the career of one teacher, Robert Jeffrey. These So What! stories from the classroom will have you laughing or weeping - sometimes both in the same minute! Whether student, teacher or parent you will wonder: How do they survive? Waterloo Road or Grange Hill meet Gervase Phinn - well maybe! When you read this book you will have to admit that the stories about its characters will stay in your memory for a long time. With over twenty years teaching experience behind him, G J Griffiths has brought to the reader some of the stories about the children he taught, in this amusing and often inspirational book. Without exception everyone will recognise the characters and their captivating stories. |
 The revised edition of Book 1 of the So What! Series is now available, plus now as a great listen audio book from Audible, Amazon and iTunes.
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ON THIS PAGE: Cover pics, links and information about G J G's books.
“I enjoyed the slow pace as it built up steam towards a rewarding climax that left me in thought for longer than most best-selling thrillers.”
“The reader is plunged into some very difficult times and throughout we laugh rarely and cry often as the story unfolds.”
In So What Do I Do? police constable Nigel Shantra has been promoted and returns as a detective. He is determined to bring to justice a serious adversary of his, a school bully from the first novel. When a conspiracy to defraud the local populace, devised by two apparently respectable but unscrupulous pillars of the community, goes disastrously wrong it results in an intriguing case for detective Shantra to solve. The traumatic events that follow will prove to affect the incompetent pair of criminals who were hired by the swindling conspirators, as well as the teachers and pupils of Birch Green High School. And just what does a class of cheeky chimps, and a large black spider monkey, have to do with the traumatic events surrounding Hodgson's Hide - the legacy of retired Technology teacher Gil Hodgson?
Recently promoted Molly discovers that the pressures of helping newly qualified teachers has no comparison to the eventual strain that she and her colleagues experience when an ex-pupil of the school decides it’s time for payback. This man will prove to be far more ruthless and cruel than anyone could have imagined all in order to achieve his criminal ambitions. But he is just as likely to turn his attention towards anyone who upsets his plans, with terrifying consequences for those who won’t comply with his wishes.
AMAZON LINK:
“The reader is plunged into some very difficult times and throughout we laugh rarely and cry often as the story unfolds.”
In So What Do I Do? police constable Nigel Shantra has been promoted and returns as a detective. He is determined to bring to justice a serious adversary of his, a school bully from the first novel. When a conspiracy to defraud the local populace, devised by two apparently respectable but unscrupulous pillars of the community, goes disastrously wrong it results in an intriguing case for detective Shantra to solve. The traumatic events that follow will prove to affect the incompetent pair of criminals who were hired by the swindling conspirators, as well as the teachers and pupils of Birch Green High School. And just what does a class of cheeky chimps, and a large black spider monkey, have to do with the traumatic events surrounding Hodgson's Hide - the legacy of retired Technology teacher Gil Hodgson?
Recently promoted Molly discovers that the pressures of helping newly qualified teachers has no comparison to the eventual strain that she and her colleagues experience when an ex-pupil of the school decides it’s time for payback. This man will prove to be far more ruthless and cruel than anyone could have imagined all in order to achieve his criminal ambitions. But he is just as likely to turn his attention towards anyone who upsets his plans, with terrifying consequences for those who won’t comply with his wishes.
AMAZON LINK:
“If you want to understand why Peterloo took place read this book.”
“I adore the rich, evocative regional dialects and brogue in this novel. Kudos to Griffiths…”
What measures success or failure when you come from the workhouse? Mules; Masters & Mud is about what happened to our two cotton mill apprentices, the Quarry Bank runaways, during the Industrial Revolution. It tells their story as qualified young mule spinners with future hopes, and later when they are full grown. By the start of the Victorian period the fates and their ambitions would have collided. Serious events and incidents, personal and national, including the Peterloo Massacre, were about to impinge upon the lives of Thomas Priestley and Joseph Sefton. What would cause a qualified mule spinner to give up his comparatively safe job and risk failure, ridicule or destitution? Ambitious and determined working class individuals like Tommy and Joe had to carefully step through a pathway involving love and loyalty; persecution and prejudice, from within the social hierarchy of the times.
AMAZON LINK:
“I adore the rich, evocative regional dialects and brogue in this novel. Kudos to Griffiths…”
What measures success or failure when you come from the workhouse? Mules; Masters & Mud is about what happened to our two cotton mill apprentices, the Quarry Bank runaways, during the Industrial Revolution. It tells their story as qualified young mule spinners with future hopes, and later when they are full grown. By the start of the Victorian period the fates and their ambitions would have collided. Serious events and incidents, personal and national, including the Peterloo Massacre, were about to impinge upon the lives of Thomas Priestley and Joseph Sefton. What would cause a qualified mule spinner to give up his comparatively safe job and risk failure, ridicule or destitution? Ambitious and determined working class individuals like Tommy and Joe had to carefully step through a pathway involving love and loyalty; persecution and prejudice, from within the social hierarchy of the times.
AMAZON LINK:
In the early 19th century, when it was the policy of many of the poorhouses and workhouses to deter paupers from applying by making the conditions inside harsh and unpleasant, two boys set out on a journey to Hackney Workhouse in London. Their starting point was in the pleasant Cheshire countryside, where they were apprenticed to the cotton mill built by Samuel Greg in 1784. Children as young as nine would be employed there as scavengers, piecers, mule doffers or can tenters. These jobs could be just as unpleasant and difficult for a poor child as those we may have heard of, such as chimney sweeps and match girls.
Quarry Bank Mill was some 200 miles north of London and the boys had to sneak out unnoticed and then attempt to walk all the way. It was likely that these enterprising travellers took advantage of the drovers’ roads and the newly developed “motorways” of the times—the canals. Perhaps they were lucky enough some days to hitch a lift; their general direction of travel taking them to Beartown, the Potteries, Dunstable Downs and, eventually, to London. Whatever challenges they encountered along the way, archived evidence shows that they made it.
Runaway apprentices had become a problem for society during the years of the Industrial Revolution—so what had prompted Thomas and Joseph to do such a hazardous thing? What happened to them on their long journey? Did they receive any help? Or were they chased relentlessly wherever they ran, since what they were doing was illegal in the eyes of the authorities?
This is the story of their adventure and it concludes with the events in the Middlesex courthouse, known then as the Old Sessions.
THE QUARRY BANK RUNAWAYS ebook ONLY £0.99
However you obtain a copy of The Quarry Bank Runaways please feed back what you thought about the book. Use a Contact Form (below) OR better still post a Book Review on Amazon or anywhere else you find it displayed. Thank you so much in advance, because it helps us 'lesser-known' writers gain a little foothold amongst the very many authors in the BIG WIDE World. Thanks Again!
AMAZON LINK:
"FUNNY, SWEET AND HIGHLY ENTERTAINING!"
"THE FINE ART OF TEACHING WITHOUT PREACHING IS IN GOOD FORM."
This time the aliens are on Earth to collect Teflon pots and pans, as well as the two girls and their cousins, Joe and Elliot. The four kids and their friend, Kweezy Capolza, have to survive attacks from hungry herring gulls before launching into space for the planet Antanesta. Only to find, on their arrival there, devastation and danger await them in the form of the Kraxish. These black and yellow enemies of Kweezy and his alien race are deadly war-mongers, each armed with a venomous sting of purple poison, though Joe prefers to call them “those creepy woodlice!”
Can the children change the Kraxish’s menacing threats into deeds of kindness? Will they ever return to Earth before the referee blows his final whistle to end the football match? Intriguing technology and amusement aplenty await young and older sci-fi fans in this exciting sequel to “Ants In Space”!
AMAZON LINK:
"THE FINE ART OF TEACHING WITHOUT PREACHING IS IN GOOD FORM."
This time the aliens are on Earth to collect Teflon pots and pans, as well as the two girls and their cousins, Joe and Elliot. The four kids and their friend, Kweezy Capolza, have to survive attacks from hungry herring gulls before launching into space for the planet Antanesta. Only to find, on their arrival there, devastation and danger await them in the form of the Kraxish. These black and yellow enemies of Kweezy and his alien race are deadly war-mongers, each armed with a venomous sting of purple poison, though Joe prefers to call them “those creepy woodlice!”
Can the children change the Kraxish’s menacing threats into deeds of kindness? Will they ever return to Earth before the referee blows his final whistle to end the football match? Intriguing technology and amusement aplenty await young and older sci-fi fans in this exciting sequel to “Ants In Space”!
AMAZON LINK:
Would you like an adventure on another planet? This is just one of the questions Lara and her sister, Eva, must answer one sunny day in their garden. They wonder how will they return to Earth in time for lunch? And how will they get there when the aliens’ spaceship is so small? When it’s only big enough for ants!
But their help is needed on the planet Zeegrazzalo-Jeewoppza so off they go – into the unknown. Their feelings of helplessness only start to fade after a flight across the planet's Outerlands, in Kweezy Capolza's hummingcraft. Maybe, just maybe, the sisters can find some solutions to the aliens' problems. However, they think they might need their mother's help and she is back on Earth!
Now that the price of Ants in Space has been reduced to half its original (was £3.50 now £1.77) here are some Review Quotes to let you know what others thought:
KELLY R - "My children loved this book, it had a great storyline... My youngest two have read it many times... even my 15 year old boy..."
EMMYJO - "This book was amazing... I read it a couple of times with my nephew and niece..."
PATRICIA WALKER - "This is a brilliant story that just begs to be read out loud in teeny tiny voices! ... beautifully illustrated..."
AMAZONLINK:
But their help is needed on the planet Zeegrazzalo-Jeewoppza so off they go – into the unknown. Their feelings of helplessness only start to fade after a flight across the planet's Outerlands, in Kweezy Capolza's hummingcraft. Maybe, just maybe, the sisters can find some solutions to the aliens' problems. However, they think they might need their mother's help and she is back on Earth!
Now that the price of Ants in Space has been reduced to half its original (was £3.50 now £1.77) here are some Review Quotes to let you know what others thought:
KELLY R - "My children loved this book, it had a great storyline... My youngest two have read it many times... even my 15 year old boy..."
EMMYJO - "This book was amazing... I read it a couple of times with my nephew and niece..."
PATRICIA WALKER - "This is a brilliant story that just begs to be read out loud in teeny tiny voices! ... beautifully illustrated..."
AMAZONLINK:
The So What! Stories Trilogy
3 books in one super package!
So What! Stories -The Trilogy Blockbuster 800+ pages!
The So What! Stories Trilogy Links:
Amazon UK Amazon US
Excellent value at only £1.79
This Great Blockbuster Trilogy of the So What! Stories has it all – Nature, humour, heartache and criminal thrills and spills!
In Book One follow the career of teacher Robert Jeffrey through the antics of his pupils - both in and out of the classroom. Giggle and gasp at the hilarious and sad tales of pupils. Romance, bullying and struggling teachers give you a full range of daily life in Birch Green High School!
In Book Two student teacher Molly Pearson is rewilding the school's wildlife and nature garden with the help of her Year 7 kids. Self-harming, arson, gang violence and teenage angst all seem to be teaming up as obstacles to block success from Molly and her class of 11 year-olds!
In Book Three try to keep up with ex-pupil detective Nigel Shantra as he pursues the desperate criminals who caused trauma and tragedy to the school community. A criminal fireworks stunt that goes disastrously wrong leads to death and mayhem. Conspiring fraudsters look like they might get away with things when a black spider monkey in a zoo unwittingly assists detective Shantra in his chase!
Can the children save the cute hedgehog?
So What’s Next! (book 2)
G J Griffiths' second novel in the series is still based firmly around the events that take place within the "walls" of Birch Green High School. It follows some of the trials and tribulations of Molly Pearson, a previous novice teacher who was mentored by Robert Jeffrey - the main character from the first book, So What! Stories.
The 5 star reviewers of So What! Stories loved the twist in the first story – so be on your guard when you read the new novel! (More than one reviewer said they would have liked Robert to be their teacher at school – but why is that?).
So What's Next!: Molly Pearson is a young Biology teacher with two passions in her life: a strong commitment to protecting wildlife; and a desire to encourage the children in her classes to feel the same enthusiasm for Nature. When her class decide they would like to restore the school's neglected and vandalised nature corner her hopes are raised and challenged at the same time. But meeting those challenges does not prepare the ambitious Molly for a dramatic fire and the confusion of a new passion in her life, in the form of Oliver Shrimpton. Will he become that significant someone, or is he just another obstacle for her to overcome?
G J Griffiths' second novel in the series is still based firmly around the events that take place within the "walls" of Birch Green High School. It follows some of the trials and tribulations of Molly Pearson, a previous novice teacher who was mentored by Robert Jeffrey - the main character from the first book, So What! Stories.
The 5 star reviewers of So What! Stories loved the twist in the first story – so be on your guard when you read the new novel! (More than one reviewer said they would have liked Robert to be their teacher at school – but why is that?).
So What's Next!: Molly Pearson is a young Biology teacher with two passions in her life: a strong commitment to protecting wildlife; and a desire to encourage the children in her classes to feel the same enthusiasm for Nature. When her class decide they would like to restore the school's neglected and vandalised nature corner her hopes are raised and challenged at the same time. But meeting those challenges does not prepare the ambitious Molly for a dramatic fire and the confusion of a new passion in her life, in the form of Oliver Shrimpton. Will he become that significant someone, or is he just another obstacle for her to overcome?
Dizzyrambic Imaginings
Looking for connections and meanings: poetic, pathetic or profound? Or just drivel?
The dithyramb was an ancient Greek hymn. It was sung and danced in honour of Dionysus the god of wine and fecundity.
Plato thought dithyrambs to be poetry in which the poet is the only speaker; while Socrates wrote “… not by wisdom do poets write poetry… but… like soothsayers, they say many fine things, but do not understand the meaning of them."
Maybe dithyrambs are just that - mindless wanderings of the imagination – or dizzy ramblings of it – dizzyrambic imaginings!
A notable example of a more modern dithyramb would be: “Alexander's Feast; or, the Power of Music” by John Dryden.
When I attempted to arrange this collection of poetic musings various groupings occurred to me: nature; destiny; love and hate; future; past, and so on. In the end the alphabetic arrangement of the titles seemed to be just as appropriate as any, so there you have it. Twenty five dizzy ramblings for your consideration: frivolous; serious; pertinent; hopefully never irrelevant.
AMAZON LINK:
Looking for connections and meanings: poetic, pathetic or profound? Or just drivel?
The dithyramb was an ancient Greek hymn. It was sung and danced in honour of Dionysus the god of wine and fecundity.
Plato thought dithyrambs to be poetry in which the poet is the only speaker; while Socrates wrote “… not by wisdom do poets write poetry… but… like soothsayers, they say many fine things, but do not understand the meaning of them."
Maybe dithyrambs are just that - mindless wanderings of the imagination – or dizzy ramblings of it – dizzyrambic imaginings!
A notable example of a more modern dithyramb would be: “Alexander's Feast; or, the Power of Music” by John Dryden.
When I attempted to arrange this collection of poetic musings various groupings occurred to me: nature; destiny; love and hate; future; past, and so on. In the end the alphabetic arrangement of the titles seemed to be just as appropriate as any, so there you have it. Twenty five dizzy ramblings for your consideration: frivolous; serious; pertinent; hopefully never irrelevant.
AMAZON LINK:
SO WHAT! STORIES OR WHATEVER! (book 1)
is a collection of vignettes based around the career of one teacher, Robert Jeffrey.
These So What! stories from the classroom will have you laughing or weeping - sometimes both in the same minute!
Whether student, teacher or parent you will wonder: How do they survive?
Waterloo Road or Grange Hill meet Gervase Phinn - well maybe! When you read this book you will have to admit that the stories about its characters will stay in your memory for a long time. With over twenty years teaching experience behind him, G J Griffiths has brought to the reader some of the stories about the children he taught, in this amusing and often inspirational book. Without exception everyone will recognise the characters and their captivating tales.
All through the book we are made aware of the joys and disappointments experienced by the pupils and their teachers: Mr Jeffrey and his colleagues. With the ever-present controversy about changes in the education system this is a timely illustration of what is to be found in the classrooms of the contemporary High School.
The book tends to concentrate in the latter part on an unpleasant boy Kyle, who is a bully, and his effect on two other boys, Adam and Nigel Shantra. Unknown to Mr Jeffrey he also affects the way his teaching job changes at the exact time that Robert really feels he has become a “good teacher”. The three paths of Nigel, Kyle and Robert Jeffrey converge several years later in the last chapter.
Look out for an unexpected twist in this amusing collection of school stories that should be made required reading for every student teacher and concerned parent!
So What! Stories or Whatever! - Amazon USA and Amazon UK
So What's Next! - Amazon USA and Amazon UK
is a collection of vignettes based around the career of one teacher, Robert Jeffrey.
These So What! stories from the classroom will have you laughing or weeping - sometimes both in the same minute!
Whether student, teacher or parent you will wonder: How do they survive?
Waterloo Road or Grange Hill meet Gervase Phinn - well maybe! When you read this book you will have to admit that the stories about its characters will stay in your memory for a long time. With over twenty years teaching experience behind him, G J Griffiths has brought to the reader some of the stories about the children he taught, in this amusing and often inspirational book. Without exception everyone will recognise the characters and their captivating tales.
All through the book we are made aware of the joys and disappointments experienced by the pupils and their teachers: Mr Jeffrey and his colleagues. With the ever-present controversy about changes in the education system this is a timely illustration of what is to be found in the classrooms of the contemporary High School.
The book tends to concentrate in the latter part on an unpleasant boy Kyle, who is a bully, and his effect on two other boys, Adam and Nigel Shantra. Unknown to Mr Jeffrey he also affects the way his teaching job changes at the exact time that Robert really feels he has become a “good teacher”. The three paths of Nigel, Kyle and Robert Jeffrey converge several years later in the last chapter.
Look out for an unexpected twist in this amusing collection of school stories that should be made required reading for every student teacher and concerned parent!
So What! Stories or Whatever! - Amazon USA and Amazon UK
So What's Next! - Amazon USA and Amazon UK
FALLEN HERO
Just what makes a hero and do they always disappoint us in the end?
Christopher Squires is a confused man. Adopted and raised in Britain after World War II he is surprised to find he has a connection with Fritz, an orphaned German boy, who was found dead in the boot of General Patton's Cadillac at the end of the war. Chris discovers the link through a meeting with Jimmy Lucas, an American GI, who he believes could be his father. But the surprise turns to horror when he learns that Jimmy was involved in the death of both the orphan and the much-lauded General.
Book Links:
Amazon: Fallen Hero - click links here Amazon USA and Amazon UK
Just what makes a hero and do they always disappoint us in the end?
Christopher Squires is a confused man. Adopted and raised in Britain after World War II he is surprised to find he has a connection with Fritz, an orphaned German boy, who was found dead in the boot of General Patton's Cadillac at the end of the war. Chris discovers the link through a meeting with Jimmy Lucas, an American GI, who he believes could be his father. But the surprise turns to horror when he learns that Jimmy was involved in the death of both the orphan and the much-lauded General.
Book Links:
Amazon: Fallen Hero - click links here Amazon USA and Amazon UK
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