Spike Milligan is inspiration for an East Sussex cat's tale

Stephen James enjoyed publishing success in 2021 with his memoirs The Mad World of a Village Postman. The 63-year-old has returned with another slice of satire, Oliver’s Tale, with the adventures of a cat he took in after its owner went sailing.

Stephen believes much of his writing style stems from reading and watching Spike: “The only subjects that interested me and I enjoyed were the English lessons – both English language and English literature. I always excelled at writing essays, I found writing easy.

“But it was when I was in my late 20s I discovered Spike Milligan books. I had always enjoyed the Goon Show.”

Ill health led Stephen to take early retirement after 34 years working as a postman in and around his Bexhill-on-Sea home. The additional time has allowed him the opportunity to finally pen his memoirs and, now, the story of taking in a friend’s cat.

Oliver’s Tale is not only a laugh-out-loud account of adapting to feline habits, but it is also beautifully illustrated, he promises.

Stephen explained: “We rehomed Oliver as his owner was going away sailing. After he had been with us for a couple of weeks my partner, now wife, suggested that we should send a card to Oliver’s previous owner. I decided to write a letter from Oliver telling her how he was getting on in his new home. The people who saw that letter asked me to continue writing letters from Oliver as they enjoyed them so much. I always hoped to publish Oliver’s Tale but waited to have all of the stories illustrated.”

Away from writing, Stephen believes one of his proudest achievements has been helping to establish a Women’s Institute in his local village.

For more information, visit Amazon and search for Stephen James, where the paperback and Kindle versions of Oliver’s Tale are both available.

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