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Sun 9th Oct 2011
Ebook
Enter the word
ebook in a dictionary and you won’t find it. Nor ereader. That’s how new it is.
Yet books in one form or another are as old as the Dead Sea scrolls. It’s the
story telling that matters, whether read on papyrus or on a Kindle. Here’s what
an eminent egg had to say about it:
“When I use a
word,” Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I
choose it to mean - neither more nor less.”
Of course, they
were Lewis Carroll’s words from Alice but that egg knew a thing or two. The
right words in the right order can stir your blood, ignite your passions and
course tears down the most granite of faces.
Over the
entrance to the great library at Thebes in ancient Greece was the inscription
‘Medicine for the Soul.’ I like that best of all. Everybody loves a good tale -
and they always did.
I write
exciting, adventure-packed thrillers that are a fun read and I sell ‘em cheap
for my readers on Amazon kindle or any e-Reader platform. I like the immediacy
of e-books. It suits my style. Fast, instantly available and excitingly new.
What could be better? But what thrills me most is to hear what you, my readers,
think of them? Your feedback delights me. You don’t like something? Tell me why
and I’ll change it in the next book. I care about what you think.
Writing’s a
two-way street. I don’t write for me - I write for my readers. It’s you who
matter to me. I’m privileged to be let in to take a small part of your time. I
want to give you a great, escapist, absorbing read whilst I’m with you.
Here’s a last
word:
“You know you’ve
read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have
lost a friend.” ~ Paul Sweeney
If I achieve
that for you - I’m very happy.
9/11
sat 10th September 2011
I can't read about 9/11. Even now it's 10 years on. It's all
over the news. Old revisited footage, planes penetrating the top floors and
airport CCTV of the plotters at large mixed in with smiling, happy snapshots of
the dead.
The thought still shears my gut.
I know why the media show it. Hell, I was one of them. I've
done this stuff on other past disasters. Plenty of them. The forward planner
churns it out and off you go to regurgitate it, clippings in hand.
But not this one.
I don't know if I ever will be able to face up to it. I
wasn't involved, not even in the Country where it occurred. It's the sheer obscenity of it that chokes me up. Like
wanting to visit a slaughterhouse. Why?
This tragic group of people have passed on, never to be forgotten but surely
not to be revisited for the sake of TV ratings?
The pious producers will say 'because they should not be forgotten.'
I get that, I really do. Just like the Holocaust should not
be. I just don't believe that's the true motive.
As I said, not for me. The negativity chills my blood. My deepest
respect to those touched by this evil day - but it's not a fairground ride and
I'm not ready for it.
Perhaps the generation unborn in 2001 will view it
dispassionately without wrestling with the need for vengeance. It just makes me want to cry out with the pain of it.
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