welcome!

the Plughole Boy was the first character I created when I started writing, for my three sons back in the 1980s. The trouble was, my O Level English (O Level exams will be familiar to historians and archeologists). Many thousands of words later – in longer stories, chapter books and novels – my grandson arrived, then my granddaughter. So I extracted the ‘phb’ originals from long-extinct word processing files. I read them and re-read them, out loud, hundreds of times, to make them sound right. Pure chance then connected me with the brilliant illustrator Emily Taylor

and bingo! Here is the first Plughole Boy story. Really a dream come true. Do enjoy it. There are many more to come

the plughole boy books

Book 1

The Plughole Boy’s Very First Story

The Plughole Boy is around five years old. He’s always been thin. He manages to follow the water out of his bath down the plughole one evening after some unfinished work by the plumber. He likes it in the drains, a whole new world of adventure. He can splish and splash and splosh to his heart’s content. The drains themselves are brick, vaulted and Victorian, rather than 21st century plastic. His parents are happy with him living in the drains. They often chat with him down the plughole. Soon they take to calling him, ‘Plughole Boy’.

At the bottom he ended up diving into a large drain.

meet the author: awfullywobbly

At university, unfairly I thought, I acquired the nickname awfullywobbly. In my working life in the medical device industry I was plain old Aubrey Waddy – medical devices are too serious to be silly

words for little children on the other hand can be silly. And funny. And fun. Perhaps writers’ names, too. Hence the pretend name, awfullywobbly. Why not?

And semantic antics? Yes! Onomato… oh for heaven’s sake, YES! Stories with a beginning and an end? Definitely!

meet the illustrator: emily taylor

Emily Taylor has been drawing for as long as she can remember. She graduated with a Distinction in Animation at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, London, and spent the next few years as a freelance artist working in the animation industry. She moved away from film and television to concentrate on bringing characters to life through illustration and mural art, and now runs her own art consultancy

Emily provided a vital trained artist’s eye to the look of the Plughole Boy and supporting characters. Her contribution has been the making of the project, with joyful illustrations that are central to the stories

other books by aubrey waddy

Jon Lantern’s Nightmare

For 8-12 year olds – not for the faint-hearted!

Did Jon Lantern’s Nightmare HAPPEN? Or was it merely part of Jon’s sleep one frosty Hallowe’en night, his subconscious gone berserk? We never find out. Or do we? At the end of the story, do we? Did Jon merely spend the night of Hallowe’en twisting and turning in his bed, beside the six plump pumpkins he had carved so realistically into Jack o’ Lanterns? Or was he actually summoned by his strange, old-fashioned twin Jack, who had died hundreds of years before, to battle the forces of evil? On that fateful night, did Jon meet the brave Angela? Did he encounter the Mistress, or Maeve the Cruel; the foul Maxim Malpurgis or worst of all, the dreaded Master? Did he team up with Angela and Jack to rescue the captured trick-or-treaters, who were going to have their spirits disgustingly sucked out for eternity by the Master and his ghouls?

Don’t be silly! Jon’s terror was just a nightmare. That’s what it was, of course. It couldn’t have been real terror, terror in the quivering, wakeful flesh… could it? No! That sort of thing doesn’t happen. Common sense says no. Logic says no.

But oh the terror of that night, extreme terror, whether it was dreamed OR real, logical OR fanciful: a battle between craven, corrupt ghouls and the returning souls of All Hallows’ Eve, the many Uneasy Ones desperate to ‘move on’ to a place of peace. One way or another in Jon Lantern’s Nightmare we find out far more that we want to know about Jon Lantern’s NIGHTMARE!

Just Desserts

“Le plus grande désastre littèraire du XXI siècle” (One of the great 21st century comic novels) – Nostradamus

Michael Tremayne: overworked surgeon, family man, too good for his own good. No wonder his spectacular wife Nancy is fed up with him. No wonder she is starting to drift towards the Louse, Martin Packman, radiologist, manipulator, career bounder. The Louse has well and truly shafted Michael in the politics of Marsham Hospital Trust. In this richly humorous novel, will he now succeed in shafting the alluring Nancy?

A perfect opportunity arises, a progressive supper for a Marsham social group. One partner from each household prepares either a starter, a main course or a dessert, and guests progress separately to different homes for each course. Everyone meets up at the end to share coffee and stories: who’s been with whom, who’s had what to eat? The Louse and Michael are both involved in the planning. True to form, the Louse finagles the arrangements: Nancy will take her first course with him, against Michael’s wishes, plus Matthew and Marcia Dacey, the England football captain and his oversexed soap star wife.

Michael suspects the Louse of planning to sabotage his cooking. He takes the opportunity to indulge his darker side. Amid increasing tension the supper gets under way. Michael meets up with an inscrutable Nancy at dessert, and they make their way to the final party. The dénoument duly denoues. Michael’s feud with the Louse reaches a very public, very humiliating climax.

Where, on the final page, does this leave Nancy?

Sex and Drugs and Squash ‘n’ Roll

Teenager Jolyon Jacks comes of age in the man’s world of professional squash, on the worldwide ‘PSA’ tour. A chance game against a girl at school leads fifteen year old Jacks to Manchester, and the iron-hard, iron-willed coach, ‘Sailor’ McCann. Sailor wants Jolyon to abandon his rich private school education for full time squash. Jolyon opts for squash, goodbye school, in the process defying his domineering mother, who is implacably set on forcing her son to the top of the tennis tree. In a vindictive move his mother cuts him out of a vast trust fund. His grandfather says wait, we’ll change our mind, but only if you make it to world squash number one…by the age of twenty one! Jolyon faces enormous hurdles in his quest, on court and off, many of his own making. There is his wild attitude to the typical temptations faced by the testoteroned teen. What does every professional athlete need before a crucial match? A good night’s sleep. And what best interferes with a good night’s sleep? We all know the answer to that, Jolyon’s favourite pastime. What do you NOT find promoted in the World Anti-doping Agency manual? The dense, smoky atmosphere of the illegal rave. What is Jolyon’s next favourite pastime? Mixing music through megawatt sound systems…at illegal raves. Sailor uncovers a freakish physical ability in his protege. On court Jolyon is an all-conquering whirlwind. But physical ability is not enough. How does he deal with the sublime talent of the American, Julio ‘Razza’ Mattaz, who is taking squash to another level? How does he resist the machinations of another domineering parent, Frenchman Marcel Darnaud, father of Jolyon’s giant rival Armand? Finally, how does Jolyon cope with his longings for his training partner Zoe? World champion Zoe, whose interest in boys is far from certain.The story storms through to the verge of Jolyon’s twenty first birthday, at the iconic Tournament of Champions in Grand Central Terminal, New York. Here his last chance is played out, off the court against dark forces, on the court against an overwhelming opponent.

news and updates and other stuff

books delayed

books delayed

I've been trying to extract from the publisher a delivery date for 'The Plughole Boy's Very First Story'. There's been a muck up. The books won't be arriving until later on in July. Hands up who agrees with the Plughole Boy!  

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first books due to ARRIVE!

first books due to ARRIVE!

lots of copies of '1. The Plughole Boy’s Very First Story' are due to arrive at the beginning of June (2025), all the way from India, land of spices and excellent children’s story printing  

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another story for Christmas?

another story for Christmas?

I’m thinking of publishing the next Plughole Boy book in time for Christmas 2025. What do you think? The book is called, '2. The Plughole Boy’s Second Ever Story - The Plughole Boy’s Big Adventure’. It’s the first time he ventures out of the drains

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The Plughole Girl

The Plughole Girl

the Plughole Girl is secretly THERE in all the Plughole Boy stories. She appears randomly in two of the illustrations in each book. Children quickly learn to spot the small figure lurking somewhere on the page. See her here, peeping out of a pipe. And she appears at...

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You know who it was, don’t you? It was the Plughole Boy!

sign up for plughole boy updates

the second Plughole Boy story, ‘2. The Plughole Boy’s Second Ever Story – The Plughole Boy’s Big Adventure’ is likely to arrive in time for Christmas 2025, see News above. Sign up here for updates on this, for news of competitions and fresh merch

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“How do you get so grubby?” she said. The boy just grinned.

free downloads

Click on the DOWNLOAD button to access decoloured A4 versions of Plughole Boy images, for printing and colouring in

Plughole Boy in bath

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Feet disappearing

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Plughole Girl

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Mum and Dad shocked

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His voice came slowly and clearly out of the plughole. “I’m not going to come out!”

author visits and readings

I do readings of Plughole Boy stories for young children, in libraries and bookshops. I also do an interactive session in schools, ‘How Do You Make A Picture Book?’ particularly for Years 6, 7 and 8, though it works for younger children too. In the classroom pupils go through the process I went through myself in visualising and creating a picture story. They dream up their own character or subject, and by the end of the session will have worked out how their story should appear, pages, pictures and words.

Please get in touch using the contact form to find out more.

There was a splish! There was a splash! There was a splosh!

And then there was a SPLUSH!

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in the iProSports website, for children, XS = 3/4, S = 5/6, M = 7/8, L = 9/11, XL = 12/14

several colours are available for children: White, Light Blue, Navy Blue, Royal Blue, Daisy, Green, Pink and Orange

and a choice of four different chest images

the adult polo shirts are available in White

contact

let me know what you think!

book readings and visits

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Can you believe it! Because he was so thin… he squeezed straight down the pipe!