Location: United Kingdom
Member Since: Sep. 07, 2010

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Kenneth C Ryeland

Biography

After 20 years living and working in Africa, the Far East and the Middle East, the author returned to the UK and occupied various senior engineering and research posts within the motor and insurance industries before retiring in 2004. He is a widower, has three grown children and likes gardening, writing, cross-country walking, classic British motorcycles and fine red wines.

Smashwords Interview

When did you first start writing?
I was taught to write detailed, accurate technical reports when I trained as a mechanical engineer in my teens and twenties. Later in my career I began to write articles for various learned bodies and discovered that I had the ability to make them sound interesting! My first attemp at writing for pleasure was when I began to record my experiences whilst living and working in West Africa during the late sixties. Later, I pulled all these snippets together and produced my memoir, "The Up Country Man", which I began to write in 1995, recounting my adventures in secessionist Biafra and the outbreak of the Nigerian civil war. It seemed natural to continue to write about West Africa and I have subsequently produced two fiction novels and a compendium of eight not-so-short stories, all set in the imaginary West African country of Nibana.
In which genre do you normally write?
All but one of my books occupy the Action /Adventure genre, including the memoir about Nigeria which also has lots of action and adventure! It just seemed to come naturally to me and reflects the interesting and eventful times I experienced during my working life in Africa, the Far East and the Middle East.
Read more of this interview.

Where to find Kenneth C Ryeland online

Website: http://africantales.wordpress.com
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/ken-ryeland/37/20a/31a
Blog: https://africantales.wordpress.com/

Where to buy in print

https://www.amazon.com/Kenneth-C-Ryeland/e/B004G9L06E/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1

Series

Tales from Nibana by
These fictional stories are set in Nibana, an imaginary West African state, shortly after being granted its independence from the British in 1962. The stories are largely based on my own experiences gained while living and working in Nigeria for several years during the 60s and 70s.
Tribal Gathering
Price: $3.99 USD.
The Last Bature
Price: $3.99 USD.
The Mine
Price: $3.99 USD.
Boom Town Legacy
Price: $3.99 USD.
Hot Metal
Price: $0.99 USD.
Juju-Men
Price: $0.99 USD.
Memories of an automotive engineer by
These three books relate to my training as an automotive engineer in the 1950s, my first overseas job in Africa (working as a service manager for a large Land-Rover and Leyland distributor during the 1960s and my evacuation from Biafra after Federal Nigeria declared war) and my work with British Leyland as an overseas service engineer dealing with the Far East during the 1970s.
Time Well Spent
Price: $3.99 USD.
The Up-Country Man
Price: $4.99 USD.
Leyland Rover
Price: $3.99 USD.
Chief Inspector Bello Akure by
Both books feature Chief Inspector Bello Akure, a rising star in the Nibana police and his mentor the legendary Senior District Police Officer, Mike Stevens: The last European officer in the post-colonial police force of the 60s
The Last Bature
Price: $3.99 USD.
The Mine
Price: $3.99 USD.

Books

Boom Town Legacy by
Series: Tales from Nibana, Book 4. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 41,770. Language: British English. Published: June 28, 2021 . Categories: Fiction » Adventure » Men’s adventure
Boom Town Legacy is a story about the corrosive effects of corruption on a young man new to the ways of 1960s post-colonial Africa.
Leyland Rover by
Series: Memories of an automotive engineer, Book 3. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 58,720. Language: British English. Published: March 22, 2018 . Categories: Nonfiction » Transportation » Automotive / History, Nonfiction » Biography » Autobiographies & Memoirs
Leyland Rover is an account of Ken Ryeland’s tours of the Far East as a service engineer for British Leyland during the early 1970s. His job was to see that Leyland’s Far East distributors conformed to all operational and engineering standards, but the culture and different working practices in the various countries presented many challenges and often frustrated his efforts.
Time Well Spent by
Series: Memories of an automotive engineer, Book 1. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 31,470. Language: English. Published: March 26, 2016 . Categories: Nonfiction » Biography » Autobiographies & Memoirs
"Time Well Spent" is a personal account of Ken Ryeland’s training as a motor fitter in Birmingham, where he served his apprenticeship with British Railways (London Midland Region) from 1957 to 1963.
The Mine by
Series: Tales from Nibana, Book 3 · Chief Inspector Bello Akure, Book 2. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 109,330. Language: English. Published: March 29, 2012 . Categories: Fiction » Adventure » Action, Fiction » Themes & motifs » Political
(4.00 from 1 review)
"The Mine" is a political thriller set in Nibana, West Africa shortly after gaining independence from the British in 1962. With secession and civil war imminent, an archaeological find initiates a chain of events that lead to police investigations, MI6 involvement and the printing of large sums of money. An abandoned mine becomes the focal point when the main characters discover its secret.
Juju-Men by
Series: Tales from Nibana, Book 6. Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 13,890. Language: English. Published: December 30, 2010 . Categories: Fiction » Adventure » General, Fiction » Adventure » Action
This is a single story from the "Tribal Gathering" compendium. Ade Soyoyi and Bande Abaleko are persuaded to deliver a package to the local Freemasons’ Lodge by a houseboy, and this minor indiscretion leads to death, destruction and chaos in the Western Region of Nibana.
Hot Metal by
Series: Tales from Nibana, Book 5. Price: $0.99 USD. Words: 16,190. Language: English. Published: December 30, 2010 . Categories: Fiction » Adventure » General, Fiction » Adventure » Action
This is a single story from the "Tribal Gathering" compendium. Peter Stafford and John Hughes visit the ancient town of Ifun and encounter a mysterious African boy in the forest. Later, after strange happenings, the repercussions reach out to Peter Stafford’s family far away in England.
The Last Bature by
Series: Tales from Nibana, Book 2 · Chief Inspector Bello Akure, Book 1. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 102,740. Language: English. Published: September 27, 2010 . Categories: Fiction » Adventure » General, Fiction » Thriller & suspense » Spies & espionage
(4.00 from 1 review)
This is a policeman's story set in Nibana, an imaginary West African state, shortly after gaining its independence from the British in 1962. What begins as a straightforward investigation quickly turns to intrigue when the superpowers vie with each other to secure a breakthrough in weapons technology. The action moves quickly, giving the reader an insight into the grubby world of espionage.
Tribal Gathering by
Series: Tales from Nibana, Book 1. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 104,610. Language: British English. Published: September 16, 2010 . Categories: Fiction » Adventure » General, Fiction » Adventure » Action
(4.00 from 1 review)
Tribal Gathering is a collection of 8 stories set in an imaginary West African state shortly after gaining its independence from the British in 1962. Betrayal, revenge, ignorance, pride and stupidity intermingled with witchcraft, African Deities and Freemasonry, these stories have it all and Ken Ryeland deals with them in his usual consummate way to provide interesting and compelling reading.
The Up-Country Man by
Series: Memories of an automotive engineer, Book 2. Price: $4.99 USD. Words: 179,860. Language: English. Published: September 8, 2010 . Categories: Nonfiction » Biography » Autobiographies & Memoirs, Nonfiction » History » Africa » Western region
(4.00 from 2 reviews)
In April 1967, a young British Engineer arrives in Nigeria to take up his new job. On being transferred to Enugu, the capital of the troubled Eastern Region, the regional military governor declares secession and the Republic of Biafra is born. The Federal Government immediately declares war and Ken Ryeland finds himself trapped inside the rebel enclave as Federal troops close in for the kill.

Kenneth C Ryeland's tag cloud

1950s england    1960s    action    action mystery    adventure    africa    africa adventure    african adventure    african tales    amusing story    apprenticeships    archaeological adventure    automotive    biafra    birmingham uk    british leyland    british railways    bronze casting    civil unrest    civil war    cold war    corruption    coup    engineers    espionage    far east    fiction    freemasonry    jaguar cars    juju    lodge    magic    memoir    modern fables    mystery    nigeria    nigerian civil war    nuclear weapons    old soldiers    police story    political history    political thriller    power struggle    railways    rover cars    secession    short stories    short story    social history    superpowers    terrorist action    training    triumph cars    true story    vehicles    warriors    witchcraft