Month: April 2018

OS Eleanor Richards (1998-2013) studied journalism at the University of Sheffield for 3 years and then remained at Sheffield to complete a master’s degree in marketing. She is currently living in Leeds working in digital marketing and writing on the side.

We are delighted to announce that she has just had her first book published –  The Mutation Breakdown; it is the first in a trilogy called The Generation Series –  young adult dystopian fiction, the same genre as books such as The Hunger Games or Divergent. The book is set roughly 100 years in the future, following a nuclear disaster that has destroyed the planet. As a result of this people are born with genetic mutations which naturally brings along some challenges.

Eleanor said: “I have always had a passion for writing, as I’m sure any of my previous English teachers could vouch for and it was during the period between finishing my master’s degree and starting my job that I decided to actually sit down and write. All 3 books are now written, with the 2nd and 3rd to be published in the coming months.”

In the long term she hopes to make a career out of her writing, so all support and publicity in these early stages will be much appreciated.

The link for her book on Amazon is: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07C7HZQX6 – it costs £1.99 or is free with kindle unlimited.

Her website is: https://esrichards.com/ – where you can find out more information about the book and also download 2 prequel novellas (Cain & Zahyra) free of charge.  She also has a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/esrichardsauthor/ – where she post exclusive content and promotions.

We do hope that you will support Eleanor and enjoy reading her books.

OSA Alumni recipient for 2016 – Niki Doeg (neé Rhodes) who with three other women rowed the Atlantic, recently completed a completely different challenge – the notorious Marathon des Sables (Marathon of the Sands).

The ultramarathon covers 250km over 6 days across the Sahara in Morocco. The hardest day involves a stage of 86km in length. It has been described as the toughest footrace on Earth –  through endless dunes, over rocky jebels, and across white-hot salt plains, with temperatures regularly reaching 50 centigrade.

Participants have to be self-sufficient and carry all their own food and equipment for the week on their backs. Communal goat’s-hair Berber tents are pitched every night. Water is rationed and if you exceed the ration, you get a time penalty.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes became the oldest Briton to complete the Marathon des Sables in 2015, aged 71. He described that penultimate day’s walk as “more hellish than Hell”.

Niki describes the experience: “huge jebels, endless sand dunes, harsh rocky flats, silly hot temperatures and a blooming heavy pack as we had to carry all our weeks supplies, kit and more. Hardest day was the 86km day (and night!) but we got to the end, got our medals and are still smiling. Now got a day in a hotel with a proper bed to rest my shredded feet before flying back to the UK tomorrow afternoon. Thank you to all who sent such lovely messages of support both before and during the event (via the MDS email system which we got printed copies off every evening in our bivouacs), this meant so very, very much and helped me through the tough times.”

We look forward to Niki returning to College to share her experiences with the students. Her next challenge –  training for iron man, ahead of a half iron man in September. However, she says she needs to learn how to ride a bike!