Pinner based BAFTA-nominated screenwriter, playwright and author Paul A. Mendelson returns with his new story compendium.

Any Lengths to Please is a uniquely entertaining compendium by BAFTA-nominated screenwriter and acclaimed novelist Paul A. Mendelson. A short story, a novella, a medium-sized novel and a brief literary ‘confection’, designed to whet any appetite.

The shortest, Einstein, is a quirky love story, set in New York State, about a young woman finding her Mr Wrong.

I Can’t be Ill, I’m a Hypochondriac is a semi-autobiographical and wryly poignant tale about the effect on a family when a member is diagnosed with a serious cancer. It tells how life and work don’t stop – they just become infinitely more fraught.

Lost Souls, the novel, is a laugh-out-loud, larger-than-life fable. It tells of how the scuzziest guy in LA, a soulless, dissolute ‘porn’-broker, has to find love in five days with the kindest, least-worldly soul around, a scruffy Lake District shepherdess, or go straight to Hell!

A Perfect Murder Story, a brief ‘confection’, is told entirely in letters from a script-editing agency to a would-be scriptwriter. But what sort of plot does the fledgling scribe really have in mind?

Paul A. Mendelson is a BAFTA-nominated screenwriter and author. He has created several hit BBC sitcoms, including May to December and My Hero. His ITV drama Losing It, with Martin Clunes, was much acclaimed. Paul has written nine books, including two for children. He scripts his books and three have been optioned for movies. His novel Must Have GSOH was the only UK Finalist in the Screencraft Cinematic Book Contest. Paul lives in London.

Paul explains: “I had several stories of different genres that I wanted/needed to tell, but they each suited a different format. And a particular length. So I thought why not combine them into one book, encompassing everything from a romantic short story through a more serious novella to a medium-sized comic novel. With a tiny, criminal ‘confection’ to conclude. I had never seen this done before and I’ve made the all-important word-count an integral feature of the stories. Hence Any Lengths to Please.”

One in particular has some poignance as he continues: “The novella, I Can’t be Ill, I’m a Hypochondriac, about an advertising copywriter who is diagnosed with testicular cancer in the midst of a creative pitch, is directly based on my own experiences in 1989, when I was creative director of a small London ad agency.”

RELEASE DATE: 28/02/2024 ISBN: 9781916668119 Price: £8.99