In all seriousness, the prose books consist of just some of the work from the last 40+ years and the reason for self publishing was simple.
Book after book that was being published on UFOs, "sea monsters", strange creatures and other phenomena had become a mish-mash of a few little distorted "facts" and heaps of sensationalism. People were buying these books expecting to read the truth and find out about all the weird stuff going on around them.
They might as well have gone out and purchased a fantasy novel.
Several times, large publishers waved the contract and offered the cheque but the line from them was always the same: "Can you, maybe sex this up a bit? Claim government cover-ups or threats against you if you revealed the truth? That sort of thing?" These were established and "respectable" publishing houses and they knew I needed the money. However, despite making it very clear that lying and adding false claims was something I would not do, I kept getting the "Yes, but no one will know other than us" and my insistence on honesty led one after another to back out of the contract.
It may sell but what would that achieve -apart from getting me money!- in the long run? You cannot set out to lay facts before readers that have been fully referenced and investigated/researched and then add fantasy elements to "make it sexy".
So I self-published. A couple of copies have sold. Looking at the number of views of posts on these books on my Yahoo groups, Face Book, Twitter, CBO, Google+ and so on, we're looking at a quarter million. Three copies of a book sold.
Is fiction published as truth really preferable to fact?
It may well be. A year or so ago I started touting the books to publishers because them not selling were doing me no good. Presumably no interest since I never got responses.
So I have books. I need a publisher who can do the whole publisher things and not ask me to add lies or sex the books up. I can't see it happening but.....
Better to have no sales as a proper publisher than trying to encourage people, from the 7th October 2016 the books will see a substantial increase in cover price to reflect what they are. I make no apologies because I've heard from one person after another with the "I am going to buy this one!" etc etc etc and those people never buy. I need to earn money. I'm not a charity.
Now I'm operating as a proper businessman.
_________________________________________________
By the 1700s the British fox was on the verge of extinction and about to follow the bear and wolf having been hunted for sport for centuries. The answer was to import thousands of foxes per year for sport. But foxes kept dying out so jackals were tried. Some were caught, some escaped. Even wolves and coyote were released for hunting and "country folk" were very far from "happy" -some even threatening local hunts -one intending to release a wolf for a hunt- with legal and other consequences. The summation of over 40 years research by the noted naturalist and former UK police forces exotic wildlife consultant reveals the damnable lie of "pest control" hunting but also reveals the cruelty the animals were subject to and how private menageries as well as travelling shows. Private menageries, or single exotic "pets" as well as travelling shows helped provide the British and Irish countryside with some incredible events such as the 1905 "vampiric" sheep killer of Badminton, the mystery hounds of Cavan and Coyotes of Epping Forest.
The Girt Dog of Ennerdale is also dealt with in detail -was it a tiger? A Tasmania Thylacine? This book gives the exact facts and details for the first time. Up-dated 2013 edition includes a section on sarcoptic mange in foxes and treatment plus a list of wildlife sanctuaries and rescue centres in the UK.
After more than 40 years as an investigator and more than fifty as a naturalist,the author has opened some of the many files he has accumulated dealing with such things as.. The Terrifying Events At The Lamb Inn, The Ghosts Of All Saints Church, Dead Aquatic Creatures of Canvey Island, captured bigfoot like creatures in India -all exclusively presented for the first time and with new added research previously unseen. PLUS a vastly expanded section on Spring-heeled Jack! Photographs, maps, line drawings and up-dated to make 358 pages looking at Things truly Strange and Sinister. Cryptozoologist,Ghost Hunter,Ufologist or Fortean:this book has something for everyone -including the just plain inquisitive!
ContentsForeword by Travis L. Whitehurst
Introduction de occultis non judicat ecclesia
The Bristol Rocking Horse
The Terrifying Events At The Lamb Inn
The Coonian Ghost
The Ghosts Of All Saints Church
His Luminous Chamber
The Late Reverend Dr. Blomberg
And More Ghost Stories
The Thomas B. Cumpston Case
The Chupacabra
The Strange Case Of The Gotherington Gargoyle
What’s Tall,Hairy And Vanishes?
Mystery Beasts Of Ireland
The Creature Of The Dump
The Strange Creature Of Repton Woods
The Bizarre Legends,Crimes And Truth About Spring Heeled Jack
The Black Beast Of Darmstadt
The Nameless Thing Of Berkley Square
The Terrifying Case Of The U.S. Naval Transport
The Case Of The Ghost Lear Jet
Ghost Planes,Crashes And Dead Aquatic Creatures
The Mitchison Loch Ness Monster Video
From The Deep Below To The Air Above –USOs
Aerial Encounters Over Austria
A Crashed UFO In 1790?
Angel Hair
Quimper-Corentin:Where “Thunder Fell”
Strange Aliens From Space
The Llandrillo ‘Saucer’ And Other Crash Retrievals
Transient Lunar Phenomena,Alien Structures And Moon Vegetation
Whiddon Down-Saint-Jean-du-Guard:Impossible Correlations?
The Venezuelan HorrorA Final Word.
Alleged piece of crashed UFO from Berwyn Mountains, Wales.
**************
This and much more. Updated with extra pages and photographs.
*********************
Terry Hooper-Scharf
Paperback,
53 Pages
Dimensions (centimetres) 20.98 wide x 29.69 tall (A4)
fully illustrated and referenced
http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/the-truth-about-spring-heeled-jack/paperback/product-21259526.html
The terror and mystery created by “Jack The Ripper” has been the subject of countless books, magazine articles as well as movies and TV documentaries. Ask anyone if they have ever heard of Jack The Ripper and it is doubtful anyone would respond with a “no idea.” By that same token, ask people who “Spring-heeled Jack” was and you would be lucky to find anyone who had ever heard of him. Spring-heeled Jack was the subject (loosely) of a film The Curse of the Wraydons (1946) and Dominic Keating also appeared as Spring Heeled Jack in the 2010 film Sherlock Holmes by The Asylum film company. The character has also featured in both American and British comic books and a number of books, for both children and adults. But the fact that the Springald held the country –not just London– in a grip of terror much longer that the Ripper did is all but forgotten except for some half-truths and fanciful theories. Now be prepared to read the full story of Spring Heeled Jack
Book after book that was being published on UFOs, "sea monsters", strange creatures and other phenomena had become a mish-mash of a few little distorted "facts" and heaps of sensationalism. People were buying these books expecting to read the truth and find out about all the weird stuff going on around them.
They might as well have gone out and purchased a fantasy novel.
Several times, large publishers waved the contract and offered the cheque but the line from them was always the same: "Can you, maybe sex this up a bit? Claim government cover-ups or threats against you if you revealed the truth? That sort of thing?" These were established and "respectable" publishing houses and they knew I needed the money. However, despite making it very clear that lying and adding false claims was something I would not do, I kept getting the "Yes, but no one will know other than us" and my insistence on honesty led one after another to back out of the contract.
It may sell but what would that achieve -apart from getting me money!- in the long run? You cannot set out to lay facts before readers that have been fully referenced and investigated/researched and then add fantasy elements to "make it sexy".
So I self-published. A couple of copies have sold. Looking at the number of views of posts on these books on my Yahoo groups, Face Book, Twitter, CBO, Google+ and so on, we're looking at a quarter million. Three copies of a book sold.
Is fiction published as truth really preferable to fact?
It may well be. A year or so ago I started touting the books to publishers because them not selling were doing me no good. Presumably no interest since I never got responses.
So I have books. I need a publisher who can do the whole publisher things and not ask me to add lies or sex the books up. I can't see it happening but.....
____________________________________________
Better to have no sales as a proper publisher than trying to encourage people, from the 7th October 2016 the books will see a substantial increase in cover price to reflect what they are. I make no apologies because I've heard from one person after another with the "I am going to buy this one!" etc etc etc and those people never buy. I need to earn money. I'm not a charity.
Now I'm operating as a proper businessman.
_________________________________________________
The Red Paper: Foxes, Coyotes, Jackals, Arctic Foxes and Wolves in the UK
One for those interested in Wildlife -or cryptozoology!
Terry Hooper
The Red Paper: Canids
Paperback,
A4
(21 x 30cms)
202 Pages
Photographs, illustrations and maps
By the 1700s the British fox was on the verge of extinction and about to follow the bear and wolf having been hunted for sport for centuries. The answer was to import thousands of foxes per year for sport. But foxes kept dying out so jackals were tried. Some were caught, some escaped. Even wolves and coyote were released for hunting and "country folk" were very far from "happy" -some even threatening local hunts -one intending to release a wolf for a hunt- with legal and other consequences. The summation of over 40 years research by the noted naturalist and former UK police forces exotic wildlife consultant reveals the damnable lie of "pest control" hunting but also reveals the cruelty the animals were subject to and how private menageries as well as travelling shows. Private menageries, or single exotic "pets" as well as travelling shows helped provide the British and Irish countryside with some incredible events such as the 1905 "vampiric" sheep killer of Badminton, the mystery hounds of Cavan and Coyotes of Epping Forest.
The Girt Dog of Ennerdale is also dealt with in detail -was it a tiger? A Tasmania Thylacine? This book gives the exact facts and details for the first time. Up-dated 2013 edition includes a section on sarcoptic mange in foxes and treatment plus a list of wildlife sanctuaries and rescue centres in the UK.
*****************
Some Things Strange & Sinister (2013 -up-dated)
A4 Format
B&W
Paperback
358 pages
Heavily illustrateds
After more than 40 years as an investigator and more than fifty as a naturalist,the author has opened some of the many files he has accumulated dealing with such things as.. The Terrifying Events At The Lamb Inn, The Ghosts Of All Saints Church, Dead Aquatic Creatures of Canvey Island, captured bigfoot like creatures in India -all exclusively presented for the first time and with new added research previously unseen. PLUS a vastly expanded section on Spring-heeled Jack! Photographs, maps, line drawings and up-dated to make 358 pages looking at Things truly Strange and Sinister. Cryptozoologist,Ghost Hunter,Ufologist or Fortean:this book has something for everyone -including the just plain inquisitive!
ContentsForeword by Travis L. Whitehurst
Introduction de occultis non judicat ecclesia
The Bristol Rocking Horse
The Terrifying Events At The Lamb Inn
The Coonian Ghost
The Ghosts Of All Saints Church
His Luminous Chamber
The Late Reverend Dr. Blomberg
And More Ghost Stories
The Thomas B. Cumpston Case
The Chupacabra
The Strange Case Of The Gotherington Gargoyle
What’s Tall,Hairy And Vanishes?
Mystery Beasts Of Ireland
The Creature Of The Dump
The Strange Creature Of Repton Woods
The Bizarre Legends,Crimes And Truth About Spring Heeled Jack
The Black Beast Of Darmstadt
The Nameless Thing Of Berkley Square
The Terrifying Case Of The U.S. Naval Transport
The Case Of The Ghost Lear Jet
Ghost Planes,Crashes And Dead Aquatic Creatures
The Mitchison Loch Ness Monster Video
From The Deep Below To The Air Above –USOs
Aerial Encounters Over Austria
A Crashed UFO In 1790?
Angel Hair
Quimper-Corentin:Where “Thunder Fell”
Strange Aliens From Space
The Llandrillo ‘Saucer’ And Other Crash Retrievals
Transient Lunar Phenomena,Alien Structures And Moon Vegetation
Whiddon Down-Saint-Jean-du-Guard:Impossible Correlations?
The Venezuelan HorrorA Final Word.
Alleged piece of crashed UFO from Berwyn Mountains, Wales.
**************
Some More Things Strange & Sinister
Paperback,
A4
327 Pages
Heavily illustrated
http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/some-more-things-strange-sinister/paperback/product-18763730.html
Follow-up to the hugely successful Some Things Strange & Sinister. For those interested in Ufology, cryptozoology, hominology, unusual natural history, ghosts and mysteries in general. The secret history of gorillas in the UK -before they were officially 'discovered'. The history of the Wild men of Europe, the UK and US: something that in the 1800s become very "pop culture" Very pop culture and totally forgotten today! Hominology. Sasquatch and Bigfoot -is there evidence for their existence?
No sitting on the fence here -the Patterson-Gimlin film is looked at as well as other evidence. The Author's conclusions?
You might be surprised. Giant snakes. Amazons. The Giant serpent of Carthage. The Girt Dog of Ennerdale -another big cult 'creature' amongst paranormal and cryptozoological circles. The Beast of Gevaudan -what was it and were there really descendents of the creature in the 19th century -one of which was actually brought to London? Believe it or not more than one incident of historical crocodiles cases in the UK. In fact, far more than even the Author had thought . And, after more than a century of claims by 'researchers' that it no longer exists: The Silent City of Alaska and the near legendary 'lost' photograph taken of it.
Follow-up to the hugely successful Some Things Strange & Sinister. For those interested in Ufology, cryptozoology, hominology, unusual natural history, ghosts and mysteries in general. The secret history of gorillas in the UK -before they were officially 'discovered'. The history of the Wild men of Europe, the UK and US: something that in the 1800s become very "pop culture" Very pop culture and totally forgotten today! Hominology. Sasquatch and Bigfoot -is there evidence for their existence?
No sitting on the fence here -the Patterson-Gimlin film is looked at as well as other evidence. The Author's conclusions?
You might be surprised. Giant snakes. Amazons. The Giant serpent of Carthage. The Girt Dog of Ennerdale -another big cult 'creature' amongst paranormal and cryptozoological circles. The Beast of Gevaudan -what was it and were there really descendents of the creature in the 19th century -one of which was actually brought to London? Believe it or not more than one incident of historical crocodiles cases in the UK. In fact, far more than even the Author had thought . And, after more than a century of claims by 'researchers' that it no longer exists: The Silent City of Alaska and the near legendary 'lost' photograph taken of it.
This and much more. Updated with extra pages and photographs.
*********************
Pursuing The Strange And Weird -A Naturalist's Viewpoint (2014 up-date)
Terry Hooper-Scharf
Paperback,
A4
249 Pages
http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/pursuing-the-strange-weirda-naturalists-viewpoint/paperback/product-21307125.html
UP DATE -From Dead Aquatic (Humanoid) Creatures, the giant squid and yet undiscovered sea creatures; submarine and ships crews encountering true leviathans.
There is a fully expanded section which also refers to the so-called ‘Ningen’ sightings and video footage.
Extinct animals at sea that have been re-discovered. The subject of Sasquatch and other mystery Hominids around the world is dealt with including a look at the “Sasquatch-killer”, Justin Smeja.
Dr. Bryan Sykes and his DNA test results for TVs The Bigfoot Files as well as the controversial Erickson Project and Dr. Melba Ketchum’s Even more controversial Sasquatch DNA test results.
Also included are two early French UFO entity cases that still baffle. Ghosts, strange creatures and the Star-Child hoax. All dealt with by the naturalist and pursuer of the strange and weird
*******************
Paperback,
A4
249 Pages
http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/pursuing-the-strange-weirda-naturalists-viewpoint/paperback/product-21307125.html
UP DATE -From Dead Aquatic (Humanoid) Creatures, the giant squid and yet undiscovered sea creatures; submarine and ships crews encountering true leviathans.
There is a fully expanded section which also refers to the so-called ‘Ningen’ sightings and video footage.
Extinct animals at sea that have been re-discovered. The subject of Sasquatch and other mystery Hominids around the world is dealt with including a look at the “Sasquatch-killer”, Justin Smeja.
Dr. Bryan Sykes and his DNA test results for TVs The Bigfoot Files as well as the controversial Erickson Project and Dr. Melba Ketchum’s Even more controversial Sasquatch DNA test results.
Also included are two early French UFO entity cases that still baffle. Ghosts, strange creatures and the Star-Child hoax. All dealt with by the naturalist and pursuer of the strange and weird
*******************
The Bizarre Legends, Crimes And Truth About Spring Heeled Jack (2014
Paperback,
53 Pages
Dimensions (centimetres) 20.98 wide x 29.69 tall (A4)
fully illustrated and referenced
http://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper-scharf/the-truth-about-spring-heeled-jack/paperback/product-21259526.html
The terror and mystery created by “Jack The Ripper” has been the subject of countless books, magazine articles as well as movies and TV documentaries. Ask anyone if they have ever heard of Jack The Ripper and it is doubtful anyone would respond with a “no idea.” By that same token, ask people who “Spring-heeled Jack” was and you would be lucky to find anyone who had ever heard of him. Spring-heeled Jack was the subject (loosely) of a film The Curse of the Wraydons (1946) and Dominic Keating also appeared as Spring Heeled Jack in the 2010 film Sherlock Holmes by The Asylum film company. The character has also featured in both American and British comic books and a number of books, for both children and adults. But the fact that the Springald held the country –not just London– in a grip of terror much longer that the Ripper did is all but forgotten except for some half-truths and fanciful theories. Now be prepared to read the full story of Spring Heeled Jack
