Edinburgh writer’s new book of short stories
Added: (Wed May 01 2024)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
When retired Edinburgh social worker Roger Leslie Paige isn’t working on his opening gambits or pawn promotions, he can be found crafting his latest extraordinary short story.
Since the 80-year-old retired almost two decades ago he has been able to fully concentrate on his two great passions – chess and literature.
While his board career led to reasonable success in the amateur leagues during the 1960s and 70s, it has also led to him publishing a string of successful chess-related books.
Even greater is the number of his short-story collections which have hit the shelves.
And his growing readership will be thrilled with the latest anthology of 16 gripping tales, Bookbound and Other Stories.
Roger said: “My inspiration for writing from an early age comes from Anton Chekhov, Albert Camus and Samuel Beckett.
“I was astonished by what they wrote and still am.
“Unfortunately my teachers back then discouraged me because I wrote the kind of stuff they found difficult to mark.
“I remember pieces I wrote when I was 15 - but it was when I was 25, in 1968, that I really started to write creatively.”
Bookbound and Other Stories includes highly imaginative and engaging chapters about a private detective protecting the daughter of a US Presidential candidate, a long-dead famous French jockey with an unexpected secret, and a New England janitor fighting to save his home.
Roger’s eclectic and highly entertaining collection also features stories about a Canadian First Nation ice-hockey team playing a touring Russian one, an after-care hostel worker, and a journalist who learns the truth about his war veteran father.
Although born in England, Roger grew up in Canada and also enjoyed spells in the USA before finally settling in Scotland.
With a career that included being a postman, a teacher, a paper mill janitor and a fruit-picker - as well as a social worker - it is easy to understand how he developed his fertile imagination.
Away from writing, Roger still enjoys playing chess.
He added: “My chess career was mainly in the amateur leagues – for Cosham in the Portsmouth League, and for Athenaeum in the London League.
“I also played for Hampshire and the historic Edinburgh Chess Club.
“These days I mainly play on the internet.”
For more details, visit Amazon and search for Roger Leslie Paige, where the paperback and Kindle formats of Bookbound and other stories are both available.
Notes to the editor
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Since its launch, the company has assisted in the publication of around 2,000 books in a variety of genres for clients throughout the world.
For more details on PublishNation, visit their website at www.publishnation.co.uk