The Second Life of Ged Baker

How does a man find his extraordinary?  The story follows Gerald (Ged) Baker, his jaw-droppingly critical wife, Marge and their plain-speaking grandchildren.  Finding himself with unexpected time on his hands after a nasty encounter with a heavy picnic cool bag, Ged is unable to play with the grandchildren and rediscovers a long-forgotten artistic talent, inspired by his grandchildren's bizarre requests and chance encounters with fascinating characters. The clandestine actions of his daughter-in-law create an opportunity for Ged.

Marge is super-judgmental and conceited. She probably has her reasons, but as Marge's behaviour worsens, there are clues that something isn't right.

A down-on-his-luck publishing agent in London, Mike's career is at a crisis point. He spends a week in Porthleven, where his story collides with Ged's as he spots a sketch on a cafe wall and hopes he has found an illustrator for one of his main clients. Fate has more in store for Ged and Mike as their lives continue to intertwine. Ged has a second life in Cornwall, but where will it take him? Mike has a life decision to make, too.

The Second Life of Ged Baker is the first in a series of adult fiction stories exploring the life stories of the residents of a beautiful, exclusive and expensive nursing and residential home on the south coast of Cornwall.

Cheshire lass, Fi Miles spent her favourite childhood times listening to stories told by her family and her hilarious Headteacher. She spent a summer getting to know the residents of a nursing home, listening to their life stories. This led to a passion for telling stories and appreciating that older people are often ignored and that there is usually more to most people than meets the eye. Fi fell in love with the Cornish Coast in her teens. A favourite hiking route led Fi past an exclusive nursing home with stunning views. Figuring that residents of such a home must have stories to tell, her imagination began to 'pop' with characters. With a varied career in procurement, training, and Web development, Fi shares her passions of sustainability, community, diversity and seeing the extraordinary in everyone in her writing.

Darren Tarplee-Williams, born in Hope, is a creative person through and through. In looking for someone to create an illustration for her story of Ged, Fi turned to her friend, Darren. She sent him a paragraph from the book and as she puts it he simply "nailed it". Hopefully he will agree to do the next cover artwork.