'A joyous compendium of facts, fun and stories. This hilarious and informative guide is destined to become the companion to radio's most enduring panel game' PAUL MERTON In this first ever official companion, chairman Nicholas Parsons tells the fascinating story of the much-loved panel game and Graham Norton, Sue Perkins, Jenny Eclair and Gyles Brandreth share their memories of the show. Over the decades, the greats of British comedy have entertained Just a Minute listeners with performances that have come to define our comic heritage - from Kenneth Williams' outrageously funny 'battles' with Sheila Hancock, Clement Freud's acerbic wit and Derek Nimmo's tall tales to Paul Merton's imaginative flights of fancy, Julian Clary's flagrant innuendos and Pam Ayres' poetic humour. Welcome to Just a Minute! is an entertaining journey through British comedy history and a master class in comic timing, verbal dexterity and sharp one-liners.
Welcome to ... a prairie love story. Nothing much happens in Tatum, Saskatchewan. But when crop circles are discovered on Kurt Scholl’s debt-ridden farm, things change fast, especially when newspaper reporter Denise York arrives to investigate. Bent on proving the circles a hoax—and Kurt a fraud—Denise soon finds herself stuck in town, forced to write endless articles for an alien-enthralled public. As more circles appear and Tatum’s eccentric residents flirt with international fame and hilarity, two questions need to be answered. Who—or what—made the circles? And, will Denise and Kurt ever get past trying to hate one another long enough to realize they have much more in common than a quirky town and some strange, unexplained holes in a field of wheat? Mystery, fun, romance ... and maybe even some aliens. Welcome to Tatum!
Pick a card. Any card. With this trademark phrase, along with a wink, a winning grin and a handful of entertaining card tricks, Mr. Mercury Ecks has come to town. Windmill, Indiana, to be exact. And while the citizens of this 1950s Midwest farm town are naturally wary of strangers, they soon fall prey to the drifters principal charm. For Mr. Ecks knows things . . . Things about the people in town: Things that can help them: Help solve their problems. Relieve their fears. Remove their obstacles. And all he asks in return for sharing what he knows is a fee, a small fee. Or so at seems at first. But the small fee turns out to be much larger. Too late do the towns citizens learn Mr. Ecks secret purpose: The destruction of lives. The destruction of communities. The destruction of Windmill itself. For Laura Connerson, newly returned to Windmill, Mr. Ecks gift of mind-reading is especially tempting: Her young daughter has recently gone missing, and the stranger seems to know something about it. Or more specifically, seems to know something hidden in Lauras mind about it: Some bit of evidence, lost in the depths of her memory. A memory, a clue, waiting to be retrieved by him. For a price. The grinning, prancing drifter offers to help Laura probe her memory for the clue to her daughters disappearance. But what he asks in exchange for his service is more than she is willing to pay. Unless she can beat him at his own evil mind games . . . I am going to penetrate you, Laura. First your mind. Then the rest of you. Welcome to Windmill is the first book in a series about quaint but luckless Windmill, Indiana: A town that misfortune seems to favor, but whose citizens nevertheless manage to survive, and even thrive. Three years after Mr. Mercury Ecks disastrous visit, another stranger, Nathan Devlin, arrives with an old chest full of curious objects for sale . . . Curious and, some would say, magical. But once purchased, these seemingly-innocent curios begin to work more than magic on the good citizens of the town . . . And trinkets that seem quaint at first turn dangerous. What is behind their power? And why has this stranger brought them? In Rabbits Foot, a mans bitterness and confusion over an old heartbreak wreaks new havoc on Windmill . . . Until an ordinary rabbits foot reveals the truth of Nathans lost love Julia . . . And leads the two aged lovers to each other for a final reconciliation. Yet three years later, another stranger, Norma Swann by name, sets up shop in Windmill: A tea shop, to be exact, called Sweet Dreams. The citizens of Windmill, by now weary of strangers bearing strange gifts, try to avoid her shop with its tempting assortment of tea, cookies, candles, and bright knickknacks. Norma, however, will not be ignored: She has a special Gift, and she plans to share it. For Norma can send dreams to you in your sleep. Be nice to her, buy her tea, chat with her, and you will get good dreams, happy dreams, sweet dreams. But if you should happen to offend her . . . Well, prepare to be driven sleeplessly, horribly mad. Read all about Mercury, Nathan, Norma and the people of Windmill, Indiana Where bad things happen to a good town. Write to the author at [email protected] Cover photograph by Judy Butz. Cover design by Bill Ferguson, Judy Butz and Anne Shepherd.
Lauren Eldridge had avoided returning home to Daily, Texas, until her father confesses to being in over his head. Paying back an old favor, he's invested in a horse that's supposed to be the star of a new Hollywood movie. Only the horse won't behave. And Lauren is the best trainer in the state. Convinced to return, she soon finds more than she bargained for when the movie's screenwriter turns out to be leading-man handsome. This movie may be Nate Heath's last shot at turning his career around. He didn't have high hopes at first, but the town of Daily may be just what everyone needs to find hope and healing. And maybe even a little romance.
Kazuhiro Kitase's only hobby is sleeping. Ever since he was young, he would enter a wondrous world within his dreams and go on thrilling adventures. One day, he goes on an adventure with an elf girl he became friends with in his dream world, but it's put to an abrupt halt when they both get scorched with a dragon's breath! As he wakes up from his dream, he notices a familiar figure sleeping next to him...the elf girl from his dreams?! Join Kazuhiro on his new adventures through Japan with Ms. Elf!
Lock up your grandmothers! . . . When rock’s former biggest rebel loses everything, he’s forced to call in favors from all the rock star royalty whom he’d burned his entire career. With a trashed comeback tour, creditors on his ass, no record deal, a health issue he doesn’t even know how to spell, and nothing but a few bucks from the sale of his last guitar, Mike Mays is destitute for the first time in his rock star life. He’s forced to crash his estranged, uptight daughter’s tidy world, and when she kicks him out, to couch-surf halfway around the world at a ragtag farmhouse in Tuscany called Groove House—home to a pack of aging ex-rock stars, who aren’t thrilled to see him. Mike creates chaos at every turn, bulldozing everyone in his path. His raunchy offstage antics snagged headlines back in the ’70s and ’80s, but can the aging bad boy bluff his way out of his worst bungle yet and actually stage a comeback?
Successful and content in every way describes the 1950s world of Brad and Lydia Westbrook. Until their firstborn child died in his sleep at only three days old, the description fits. Their ensuing darkness seems impenetrable. Enter Gus: blond, intense brown eyes, a constantly wagging tail, and in need of a good home. Laughter returns slowly and grows with each addition to the family, coming from a variety of God's creatures in need of care. Animal antics cause the shadows to diminish, and become the unlikely catalyst for stability and happiness to once again become commonplace. The journey to complete restoration of faith is not concluded until the Westbrook home welcomes a tiny infant, an ill-tempered mother-in-law, a struggling family, and a young woman burdened with a terrible secret. All seek comfort here. More surprises - some would say miracles - await the family, now tested and thoroughly ready to meet whatever comes along. All Angels Welcome Here is a story you will never forget.
When her mother is lured into the desert by a cult leader, Van, seventeen, must leave Alex, the boy she is falling for, her comfortable life in a Las Vegas casino, and the dream of playing in a rock band, to rescue her.
