Buy The Ultimate Book of English Castles by Andrew J. Muller and Roy Barton


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I was born shortly after Christmas in 1968 - a child of the Sixties - but only just. I am, for my sins, born and bred in Chatham. I was a sickly child with bad asthma and consequently sought other ways of recreation from the usual kicking around an inflated pig’s bladder type sports. As a youngster I would earnestly tell all and sundry that I was going to be an archaeologist when I grew up - which often caught people by surprise. By the age of 9 I could reel off the names of various large and dead lizards and know what I meant. Needless to say, I am not an archaeologist (although having worked in the law for some time I have encountered innumerable fossils).

Andrew on the Boat to the Isle of Lundy 1996

At primary school I began to write and draw cartoons to entertain my friends. When secondary school came along the ‘art’ side of my output dropped off and I began to explore the perplexing world of prose. History lessons - as presided over by a very inept teacher indeed - turned into ‘writing period’. My stories tended towards ‘teachers versus pupils’ type blood and gore. The stories were pretty dire - but it did keep all my peers entertained, although on at least one occasion said stories were confiscated and not returned for some long while (most likely until all the teachers had read them).

This vague ‘writing thing’ became a more concrete ambition (eventually wiping out the dinosaurs as effectively as any comet crashing into the Earth). One of the pivotal points of my life has been when I became a ‘DOCTOR WHO’ fan in 1981. Like everyone in the world I had been aware of the series, but it wasn’t until I sat and really watched some episodes that I realised how damn good it was. This brought out an interest in science-fiction which is still my main reading material today.

In September 1991 Roy and I began our long-lasting project on England’s Castles. This has involved visiting ALL of England’s castles - some 1700 or so! - with the visiting having finished in October 1998! This was followed by years of writing and re-writing and the book is now - in November 2018 - finally available on Amazon Kindle - click here THE ULTIMATE BOOK OF ENGLISH CASTLES. Oddly enough this is the closest I've thus far got to proper archaeology!

Through travelling around the country I developed a great love for the variety and splendour of Britain and a huge interest in its history. This is often reflected in my stories. This grew to an interest in European history in general and a desire to travel to all the countries in Europe. With meeting Jacqui in 2002 I now am beginning to have links across the Atlantic too.

Andrew in a TunnelI joined the Medway and Maidstone Writers’ Group (or as it was then the Medway Writers’ Guild) in December 1991 (another pivotal year!) and had my writing horizons broadened ever more. Since that time I have tackled a wider variety of subjects than I would ever have considered before. My time with the M&MWG came to an end in 1999. Subsequently I became a founding member of "The Write Idea - Maidstone" a writers group based in Maidstone which contains a number of the old members of the M&MWG. I left this Group in 2002.

In 1997 I edited and compiled the M&MWG’s first book MIXED NUTS! which was reprinted early in 1998. A second book AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY PAGES came to me as an idea after writing a story called 'The Bush Bus' and the book which was written with Darren E. Laws and illustrated by Ivan Lloyd Smith turned out very well indeed. In 2002 I became connected to BeWrite Books (www.BeWrite.net) who have published me no less than three times both on-line and in CD and paperback format. These books are the first time I have been paid for my writing!

The first of my BeWrite books was CHILL which was also BeWrite's first ever book, this was co-written with Terri Pine from Plymouth and Peter Lee from Manchester. Shortly after this one of my stories 'The Bird Man of Arkansas' was revised and placed in a collection called THE MILLER MOTH which is made up mostly of short stories by American writer Mike Broemmel. My third 2002 BeWrite book is SHAKEN AND STIRRED: POETRY FROM THE FAR CORNERS, which, as the name suggests, contains some of my poems alongside those by other authors from around the world.

2002 has been a good year from my writing as I am also to be published in a poetry anthology entitled A PASSION FOR POETRY published by United Press Ltd, although this is only one of my poems; 'Ghost'.

2004 saw the publication of KALEIDOSCOPE: A SPECTRUM OF SHORT STORIES from BeWrite books, an idea conceived by myself which also contains some of my own work, plus some of Roy's.

After this there was a long gap in published writing before, finally, THE ULTIMATE BOOK OF ENGLISH CASTLES has published in November 2018 - the book, co-written with Roy - is the most complete and comprehensive book on the subject ever written.

Andrew in Portsmouth in 2002As well as writing my hobbies include reading (what a surprise!), favoured writers being Anne McCaffrey, Terry Pratchett, Tracy Chevalier and Freda Warrington (whose brilliant book ‘THE RAINBOW GATE’ I still consider the best thing I've ever read). I like cats and currently own a ginger one.

I also take photographs (many thousands) which have had a tendency to be Castles in the last few years but have included all manner of strange subjects.  Pages of  the photographs taken by Andrew, Roy and Shaun can be found in The Gallery.

I have a wide and eclectic taste in music ranging from The Beatles to Beethoven, Tanita Tikaram to Prokofiev, Riverdance to Bob Dylan and back again.

In recent years I have begun a vague project to visit every country in Europe, and am making good progress - but still have a long way to go, not to mention some slightly awkward countries left to visit.




Andrew and Jacqui at Tintagel Castle, 2002

2002 was pivotal year for many reasons - paid publication, leaving the Writers' Group - but most importantly and more life-changingly than all of these in July I finally found love in the shape of Jacqui Harris; born in Gillingham and of Guyanan parentage but having lived in Rainham (Essex) most of her life and living in Chingford where I relocated to join her.

2003 saw me expand my horizons to television, appearing as contender on 'Mastermind' (naturally picking English Castles as my subject and coming a creditable second in my heat). A second TV came on Channel 5's 'Brainteaser' where I lost out on the very last question (the answer to which was Chile ... d'oh!). Having been picked up by the press for my Mastermind appearance I appeared in two national newspapers (Metro and The News of the World). This drew the attention of the producers of 'The Terry and Gaby Show' and in October myself and Roy got to appear with the one and only late, great Terry Wogan live on national TV ... all my photos in their battered old boxes also making an appearance. Much more recently I appeared as a contestant on 'The Chase', once more missing out on the prize by a single question!

In September 2005 I married Jacqui at a small civil ceremony followed by a larger blessing at Cooling Castle in 2006. We subsequently  moved to Letchworth Garden City in Hertfordshire where we lived for around 9 years. To see wedding photos go to The Wedding Gallery.

I now live in Lincolnshire, on the edges of the wonderful Lincolnshire Wolds along with Jacqui, her Mum and our cat.

2018 saw the final publication of the long-awaited book THE ULTIMATE BOOK OF ENGLISH CASTLES.by Andrew and Roy.

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For some examples of Andrew's writing, click on the story titles below:-

STORIES                                       

POEMS                                           

THE BIRD MAN OF ARKANSAS ODE TO THE LILAC TREE
THE LIFT GOD BLESS THE REFUGEE
WHY ARE THERE NO SONGS
ABOUT SLOUGH?
PRIMROSE FLOWERS AND SONGS
MUD AND WATER KEVIN DELANEY'S DILEMMA
FOR THE LOVE OF LUCY SACRED VALENTINE
BREAK IN AT LAB 24 KLAN OF KNIGHTS
THE BLUEBELL GIRL SEVEN DEADLY SINS
CLOSING TIME PICNIC IN THE PARK
THE RAIN
A RAINY NIGHT IN LINCOLN
(versions 1 and 2)
THE STRANGE TALE OF
SWIFTLY D'SPATCHE
COMMUTER'S BLUES
THE DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING DON'T FEAR THE REAPER
ROAD RAGE NORTHUMBRIA
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE? CORNWALL
FOOD FANTASY UN BESO DE LA ANDALUZ
MINE EYES HAVE SEEN
THE GLORY...
A GROOVE ON THE TUBE
BOGLE NIGHTS SOMEONE LIKE YOU
3614544 ODE TO AN ORANGE
FISHERMAN
MARY'S STORY FIVE HOSPITAL POEMS
IN JENNIFER'S EYES
LINCOLNSHIRE FIELDS
ON A FENLAND TRAIN
THE MERMAID
THE BRIDGE AT MOSTAR
SURREPTITIOUS ADVANCE
ADAGIO OUTSIDE ST. MICHAEL'S
CHURCH, CHATHAM
BEHIND THE PLOUGH
I WILL NOT BE A PART
OF THE SHAME
RIVER'S EDGE
THE MOUSE UPON THE STAIR
THE MUSICAL MOUSE RETURNS
THE MUSICAL MOUSE GETS
A SURPRISE
A MOMENT'S REFLECTION
ON LIFE
THE LAST DOLPHIN
CROHY HEAD
A BAD DAY ON THE
VICTORIA LINE

Blood Rule

THE VAMPIRE STORIES

Blood Rule

SUNSET'S ARRIVED

BLACK TEARS AND VIOLET SPECTRES

PARTY TIME

THE PARSON KNOWS

THE VAMPIRE OF THIEPVAL

BLOODSUCKER

BLOODSUCKER II

THE HARVEY THE REMARKABLE CAT POEMS

HARVEY THE REMARKABLE CAT

HARVEY MISBEHAVES

HARVEY VISITS THE VEE-EEE-TEE

HARVEY HAS A FRIGHT

HARVEY GOES ON A DATE

HARVEY’S CHRISTMAS

HARVEY’S RIVAL

WHERE’S HARVEY?

HARVEY GETS STUCK

HARVEY AND THE KIPPER

HARVEY MAKES HIS MARK

PLAYS

DANCER

INFORMATION



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© Text copyright - Raving Loony Productions and Andrew J. Müller
© Photos and Artwork - Andrew J. Müller, Jacqui Müller, Roy Barton and Shaun Runham
© Web Design and Layout - Andrew J. Müller
2018


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