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"Not
just for kids. I first read this about 20 years ago and it still makes me
laugh. All too short and I look forward to the next one." - Amazon customer
review Feb 2023
"It is a lovely story with wonderful
illustrations... At first sight it might seem a little frightening, although
we are talking goblins here, but do not fear - there is a very good twist. To
be recommended!" - Amazon customer review April 2023 | |
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 new audiobook
Alexander Woyte and the
Goblins
news: September 15, 2024 - Google
Play Books today published an AI narrated
audiobook
version of the bedtime story for kids
Alexander Woyte and the
Goblins
written by Zsolt
Kerekes who has published
4 books for
children. Running time is 30 min approx (UK price £0.30)
Click
here to hear the first 3 minutes free
"Although
in the last 24 years Alexander Woyte and the Goblins has become best known as a
picture book, because of the wonderful graphics which accompanied its original
publication online in 2001, the first time I shared it was the year before in
2000 as audio, when I read it aloud to the family who feature as characters in
it," said the author Zsolt
Kerekes.
"My own voice is croaky nowadays, so I used Google's
AI narrator Archie to speak it. The most popular format for readers since I
published it as a proper book last year is paperback. It's also available as an
ebook. For a list of where you can buy or borrow these other editions please see
the links on the Alex+Goblins
page on my author site goblinsearch.com" | |
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there's a sequel too - 180+ pages of swashbuckling comedy adventure
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Alexander
Woyte and the Goblins
news:- Feb 23, 2023 - ebook
editions now available. |
Anno Domini 2000...
It's
modern times (as modern as they ever get) in the pointy churched sleepy
village of Privett in Hampshire, Olde England. No one believes in goblins any
more.
That doesn't stop them causing mischief!
Once every 70
years the goblin king who lives under the Old Bookshop in Petersfield sends out
scouts to find a replacement human puppy to kidnap. Ideally a fair haired boy
aged 4. Alexander looks like the perfect candidate. His life hasn't been the
same since.
Alexander Woyte and the Goblins - first published here
on goblinsearch in 2001 is now available as a phone friendly ebook. ...click here for details |
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news:- July 11, 2023 - my
children's bedtime story book Alexander Woyte and the Goblins (set in
modern day Jane Austen
country in Hampshire) is now available on Hoopla - which - if you don't
know it - is a digital library content infrastructure services company. ...click here to see my
book on Hoopla
Re libraries
Like many kids of
my generation (starting school in the 1960s) I was a frequent visitor to my
local library - which was located in
Hangleton,
Hove, Sussex, England. I
tweeted
about that experience recently to say thanks.
When I began
earning enough money to buy my own books and was moving around every couple of
years to progress my career I dropped the library habit. Another reason being
that often I was paying fines for late return of physical books which were
about the same as the cost of buying the books themselves.
In the
nascent ebook era - kindle
became my primary bookstore for about 10 years and kindle unlimited (KU)
sufficed as a kind of surrogate library.
I grew weary of KU
after a number of years however. Because whatever search criteria I used Amazon
seemed fixated on offering me books I wasn't interested in.
In
practise this meant I often had to scroll through 200 to 300 titles to narrow
down a couple of samples that l felt tempted to follow up. A bit like Netflix -
more time searching for content than actually enjoying it.
What I
didn't realise then - was that the fault lay in KU's algorithms and
not in the rich treasure trove of self published books. But I lost faith in
what KU had to offer.
During the first Covid lockdowns I learned
that my tax funded local library services supported an ebook app called
Libby. And that - for me -
replaced KU. Although I still do buy ebooks on kindle and (rarely) buy print
books from secondhand book stores.
As to Libby - 3 of my books are
available
here on Libby - but whether you can borrow them depends on choices made by
your own local library and its budget priorities.
This long preamble
explains why I'm delighted now to offer my books to another (new to me)
library service. And whether you want to read my books or not - if
you're an avid reader - then please take a look at what they have to offer.
See
also:- Hoopla's blog page
about
Hoopla (in their own words)
Hoopla digital is a category-creating
service that partners with Public Libraries across North America, Australia, and
New Zealand to provide online and mobile access to thousands of movies, TV
shows, music albums, eBooks, audiobooks, and comics. With hoopla digital,
patrons can borrow, instantly stream, and download dynamic content with a valid
Library card. All content is accessible via hoopla digital's mobile app and
online at hoopladigital.com | | |
Want to see more info about my book? (here
on my web site goblinsearch)
click here to
see the previous (slightly messy) version of this page
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shown above -
my 4 books for
kids
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In November 2023 I returned to the
Historic Dockyard at Portsmouth -
which is the setting of several scenes in my novel -
Alexander Woyte and the
Pirates (and Goblins) - the sequel to Alexander Woyte and the Goblins .
I
had been hoping to get a picture of my book with the majestic backdrop of
HMS
Victory - which was the main attraction in the dockyard during my earlier
visits in 2000 when I was writing these stories.
Alas - the Victory
was wrapped up in a tent to protect it during restoration. So although I did get
a photo of it on this visit - only the stern was open to view from the outside.
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Undaunted despite the typical Novembery weather I
spent several enjoyable hours walking inside the labrynth of the Victory, and
chatting with the many knowledgeable human guides.
I curious about
the sealing technology used to restore the gaps between the planks on the top
deck. What's that? - I asked. Oakum - a mix of tar and shreds of rope. Very
clever.. My particular interest being that the week before this visit I had
been on my hands and knees filling less wide gaps between the planks of a mid
19th century built railway carriage. But that's another story.
Mind
your head!
If you've seen the movie
Napoleon - which I watched at the
Depot cinema in Lewes after my Portsmouth
trip - and fast forward in your mind to the scene towards the end - when
Napoleon is a feted prisoner on a British ship regaling young sailors with
stories of his exploits - that setting is unmistakenly the Admiral's
dining room of HMS Victory. (In the film it was described as
HMS Bellerophon.)
The checkered floor in that film scene is painted canvass - a precursor to
linoleum. Thanks to another guide on Victory who answered my question about
that.
So what to do about a photo of my Pirates book with the backdrop
of an old ship?
I solved that problem with a shot of
HMS Warrior
below.
So although Warrior is a different period from the time when my
pirates set out from Portsmouth - it was definitely there in the historic
dockyard when they sailed back in in 2001.
As to the pirate ship you
see on the cover? I think that's being restored too. And with so many ships and
little boats from the past few hundred years scattered about in various places
you can see why - in my story - people mistook it for another exhibit. |
HMS
Warrior and a book |
And on the way to lunch in one of the many homely
establishments scattered throughout the dockyard I wondered what the famous man
himself would have said - had he (Admiral Nelson)
survived another 200 plus years to enjoy the view of the commemorative statue
located near the entrance.
I went up close and whispered my tale - of
a pirate ship, sailed out of Pompey before he was born, frozen in an iceberg,
but recently melted, and now returning to its original home (which had since
become a museum) with its original thieving crew augmented by goblins (whose ilk
he might well have known) and a modern day boy (prentice pirate) and a
passenger (his mum), and its arrival causing no fuss whatsoever as it had been
mistaken for a replica or a new exhibit.
I held up my book to his
blind eye so he could read the blurb on the back.
"And what say
you Admiral?" - I asked.
"I see no
goblins." |
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