Behind the Bottom Line

Timothy Aldridge has to leave his beloved farm and the quiet countryside to go up to London to take the place of his twin brother Nicholas – an advertising executive – at an important meeting, after Tim, his wife Gwyneth and a goat called Lady Lois accidentally knock Nick out. It’s only supposed to be for one meeting, but then Nick finds flooding has left him trapped on the farm and his brother Ti...

Nick Aldridge's relaxing weekend down in the countryside on his brother Tim's farm is suddenly interrupted by a call from London. Who's calling Nick late on Friday evening and what on earth can they want? And how will Tim, Gwyneth and Wanda react? Image by Lara Badioli from Pixabay

Timothy and Nicholas Aldridge are identical twins with very different lives. Timothy runs the family farm in a quiet part of the south-west of England while Nicholas is a senior manager for the advertising company Madison and Oggers in London. One wet weekend both their worlds change for ever. Nick has an accident and has to stay on the farm, so Tim secretly takes over his brother's job in London....

Heard of the ‘boil the dog’ approach to change management? No? Then you need Sheona Hakovski, motivation trainer from San Diego. She’ll soon have your people leaning in, giving 110% and boiling dogs … or is it frogs? Find out in ‘Negatron Nick’ This story appeared in Business Spotlight in 2018

"Think positive, talk positive, feel positive!"; "Your attitude is your altitude!"; "Together we achieve more!" Don't you just HATE office work slogans? And even worse than the slogans, are the managers who try and use them to motivate their teams. Poor Mr Finkel thought he could use them to whip a difficult team into shape. But he hadn't met Julie and Paula ... This story appeared in Speak Up in...

Things are so bad for Cuthbert Trill he has decided to end it all. He's lost his job, his wife's run off with his best friend, and now a wave has just washed his glasses out to sea. Still, he could probably manage to drown himself if it wasn't for the annoying stranger on the beach who wants to interview him for a job. Why won't they understand that this is not the right moment? This story first a...

Jimmy King was a star on the football pitch, worshipped by thousands. Now he's just a sad old man in a care home were nobody likes him, waiting to die.  But there's one fan who still remembers what he was like in his glory days and she owes him everything she's achieved in life. Can she find a way to repay her debt? Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) . Photo by Call Me Fred on Unsplash

Derek Ebdon is an art forger of such exceptional skill that the experts find it impossible to tell if a work is created by him or by one of the old masters. But one day he buys a book with occult powers, and things start to go badly wrong. This story was first written for Business Spotlight in 2017. Music: A Hand In The Dark - Underbelly & Ty Mayer Image by Jazella from Pixabay .

Patrick Power has recently been relocated from his job as Head of Public Relations in a large corporation on earth to ... Heaven plc. But he's not happy with working his way up the heavenly hierarchy slowly, he wants to be the Commissioner's assistant and he wants the job now. The question is, how can he get rid of the present occupant, the Archangel Gabriel? Maybe it's time to use his PR weapons...

What would you do if you found a dragon in the boot of your car? Jonathan and Susan are going on holiday when they find the last remaining dragon in Britain, Tatzl, has smuggled herself into their car and is trying  to escape from the zoo that they work in. Should they help her return to her home in the mountains of Bavaria or should they turn her in? The two of them have a difficult moral de...

Britain has left the European Union and Her Majesty's Secret Services are having to find ways to generate income. When Agent 001 joins BeSoft Toilet Tissue as a Change Agent consultant he find that his set of skills can be surprisingly useful. The question is, whether the company shares his opinion ... This story first appeared in Business Spotlight in 2018. Photo by cottonbro from Pexels.

Venice, 1948 and a lonely young Englishwoman makes friends with the mysterious Miss Winterleigh. What is the secret that keeps Miss Winterleigh attached to the city, and what does it have to do with the cemetery of San Michele? This story was first published in Speak Up magazine in 2016. Photo: original.

“No, my lord,” protested Amanjia, struggling to free herself from Borridor’s arms as the thin silk dress that barely covered her firm bosom strained to preserve her modesty... It's Sunday and our hero has to write a boring motivational speech for the company chairman when he'd much rather be working on book 2 of his fantasy trilogy 'Hallindale - The chronicles of wind ' . What can he do to force h...

Ever wondered how an author puts a story together? Explore with me the background, ideas and impulses that lead to the creation of 'Vixen'. Find out about magical Japanese foxes, toxic masculinity and supernatural appearances late at night on deserted roads... SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't done so already, I recommend you listen to 'Vixen' episodes 1-4 BEFORE listening to this episode. Photo by Ma...

Colin Sutherland is starting to panic. A strange encounter with the fox when the family is out driving, and cryptic messages left on the answering machine from Inspector Hüttl in Frankfurt about his ex-mistress Yasmin Tilki, give him the feeling of being trapped. But instead of asking for help from Flora and the children, he lashes out at them, driving them away.  Then a noise outside in the...

Colin's behaviour has become increasingly peculiar after a phone call from Inspector Hüttl of the Frankfurt police and the repeated appearances of a mysterious fox his children have named Princess Jasmine.  Over Christmas itself, things seem to calm down, until the family has to drive along a quiet, foggy road late at night ... Photo by Erik Mclean from Pexels

Colin Sutherland has flown back to Ireland from Frankfurt for Christmas with his family. But all is not well: his ex-mistress has disappeared in mysterious circumstances and the police are now looking for her. Meanwhile an anonymous postcard with a picture of the Hotel in the Süd Tirol they stayed in together has arrived at his home. The fact that his garden is visited at night by a fox shouldn’t...

Meet Colin Sutherland: rich and successful with a loving wife and two adorable children. He’s got everything worked out … or has he? Photo by Pixabay

HUMOUR: the mischievous Julie and Paula are back, causing chaos in a pharmaceutical company as they take charge of a team of chemists trying to develop an anti-depressant with no side-effects. Drugs, alcohol, lust ... what could possibly go wrong? This story first appeared in Business Spotlight in 2017. Photo by mentatdgt from Pexels .

FABLE: Thomas had everything he wanted in life, money, friends and an endless supply of charming companions. But one day all these pleasures turned to ashes in his mouth when he went blind. Thomas promised a huge reward to whoever could help him see again, but when a little old man managed to do just that, Thomas wasn't sure if he liked what he saw any more. This story was first published in Busin...

DRAMA: Kingsley Adams is a CEO asshole. But if he's your CEO, there isn't very much you can do about it. Or that's what people thought until someone found the password to his secret bank account and leaked details about insider trading to the press. But who was it? And how did they get the information? This story was first published in Business Spotlight in 2016. Photo by Hormel from Pexels .

DRAMA: Mike Smirch is chief gossip reporter for the magazine Titillation . The kind of stories he writes are ones about royalty in trouble, actors snorting coke in nightclubs or reality TV stars dying of cancer. But when he signs up for a workshop in 'Dynamic Positioning ' with the charismatic therapist Bela Horvath, he has to learn an uncomfortable truth. This story was first published in Busines...

HUMOUR: What do you feel about chatbots? Do you talk to Siri? Do you chat with Alexa? It might be impressive what these chatbots can do, but that's nothing compared to EmDee. She can paraphrase your words, look inside you, she can empathize with you. But is that what you want?  This story first appeared in Business Spotlight in 2017. Photo from cottonbro from Pexels

DRAMA: Mickey Jones was a bully as a child, terrorizing his way through school and inspiring fear in all around him. Years later our storyteller thinks he has met him again at a party and tries to get revenge on his childhood tormentor. But is Michael Jones, CEO for an investment bank, the same person as Micky Jones, North London thug?  Whoever he is, the guests at this party are going to exp...

SUSPENSE: Professor Johnny Hampden, the most brilliant scientist to ever work at Klaxx Pharmaceuticals, has a very good reason to fear side effects. Join him over a brandy and he might tell you the terrible story of Sergeant Norman and a mysterious plant from the depths of the jungle. This story was first published by Business Spotlight in 2016. Photo by James Wheeler from Pexels