Home of The Naughty Stories Series
Tony was born in Winchester, Hampshire. His father was a businessman, author and publisher of books, and his mother a theatrical actress, giving him a life-long love of books, theatre and story-telling. A graduate of Edinburgh University, Tony has trodden the line between liberal arts and technology through spells in the music industry, television and digital innovation. Apart from his own books, he writes under the aliases F. M. Frites and M. T. Sands.
Upon the Bole Hall One cannot deny there is a kind of innocence in the Gnomes. Indeed, the Mistress will sometimes get frustrated with them for what she perceives as their gullibility. But if they are gullible, I wonder if it is such a bad quality. They will accept what you say and never question …
On Music Once upon a time the Garden was all black and white. When Anatole arrived here, he brought with him the colour of otherworldly music. First, there were the records, which the gnomes called CRACKLES. “What is this strange sound?” they asked as their legs began involuntarily to dance. “Why, this is Dixie Land,” …
On Being Green Gnomes, of course, are green-skinned, which is in itself a thing rarum. Of the green-skinned gnomes there are many shades: dark and light, dappled and piebald, rich and bright to match the many shades of green in the Garden. If we can say they are green-skinned, gnomes are also green in their …
On the Treehouse To the gnomes, it goes without saying, the clearing is a special, even sacred place. No one is permitted, they say, to live within its bounds. To which I reply: if no one is permitted to live within its bounds, who is to say that one cannot live above it? If that …
Upon Feasting In modern society, it may be noted, there is a horn of plenty. Every day may be a feast of delicacies from the cheese counter and the delicatessen, or the cake shop and the patisserie. If we modern beasts and men have forgotten what is special about a feast, the Garden dwellers know …
On Choices In life, as in the Garden, one does not always have a choice. One is born into a family, one grows up in a town, and one goes to school. These are never our choices. But there always comes a time when one has to make choices. One can make a choice that …
Gnomisms Bole Bop – a gnome dance A Beebop – any kind of musical instrument The Bole Hall – the gnomes’ gathering place Butter Girls – ethereal maidens who serve Twang and live at the Wet Cornies – unicorns Crackles – LPs or records Dumdums – fauns and satyrs Fuzzy whirls – croquet balls GRs …
Scan the QR code and play the songs each time you start a new chapter. Then carry on reading the completely, totally and utterly bodacious story of the Wolf Garden. Peter and the Wolf – Sergei Prokofiev Just My Imagination – The Rolling Stones The Gnome – Pink Floyd La Banda – Spanish Harlem Orchestra …
The couple insisted on paying Abid before the boarded the Felucca. He was curious, but never overly so as they had already included a large tip. “How far you want to go, Mister?” “Just out into the channel as far away from land as possible.” The breeze whispered across the Nile and Abid got on …
When he awoke from the nightmare, his body was still in it, and his legs where were he’d left them, thrashing around under the sheet; somehow he forced himself up and staggered, naked, into the bathroom. He turned on the basin tap and threw water over his face. Then he turned, staring down at the …