August 8, 2010

If you like short stories, this might be for you. I have written eight short stories, each with an unexpected ending. Each story is about 10 000 words, and each with a different theme. I have made the ebook, ‘With a twist’ available on Amazon and hope to have it available from my home site soon. I am in the process of writing more stories which I hope you will also enjoy. The first story is about two honeymooners who find themselves in trouble when they are chased for sport in a group of hills. Ahh, but the honeymooners don’t know the truth behind the chase.

August 6, 2010

If you are thinking about self publishing, then tread wearingly. I self published my book, “Stay: The Search Begins” with a AEG and after two years, hadn’t sold a thing. Bloody disappointing. Self publishing means just that. YOU have to do all of the leg work, all AEG did was put the book on their site and allow it to be selected by Amazon and the like. But who knows about the book No one, that’s who- unless YOU tell the world about it.

You know what! I received regular emails from AEG encouraging me to do certain things, such as; purchase bulk copies and take them to stores and set up a book stall at book shows, all of which would cost me money. Am I rich? No way! Can I afford to follow their leads? I’d be broke in no time flat.

On the positive side, if I had been self motivated, I probably could have gone to book shops to promote my book- but I’m not self motivated and this is one major trap for anyone wanting to self publish.

The company invited me to contribute to ‘talk radio’ over the net as a way of publicising my book. I paid the money since the idea sounded great, but, I never got the opportunity to be interviewed. The interviewer changed twice, each time, I was informed that I would be interviewed soon, when I time slot could be organised. Ha! It didn’t happen. I waited, I emailed, and once more, I waited.

Would I recommend self publishing? No way. Persevere and try to get a publisher who does the work (Unless of course, you are 100% willing to chase sales). I couldn’t even make a suggestion as to who to visit if you wanted to self publish, certainly not AEG from my experience.

My book was published as a hard cover book. I knew it wouldn’t sell and suggested that it be converted to a soft cover which would bring down the price. Did they listen? No, bloody, way! My book sold for $US29. Why pay this for an untried book when there are many known authors who are selling their books for the same price or lower?

Did I have control? Only when I said take my book off the market did I get control; now, it doesn’t exist and I am very happy with this. My book(s) will be published I am sure, but until that time, I will tread very carefully and not be conned into self publishing just to be in print.

By the way, iuniverse use this very idea, ‘be a published author’ to get people to use them. Again, if you visit their site, be very careful of what they offer, it will come at a cost and YOU will bear the cost, not them.

Am I hurt by my experience? You bet, but now that I’ve removed myself from their grasp, I feel a lot better. I know that I can write, just as you know you can write, but being an unknown author will take me more time to get onto the market. If I am overlooked, thank God for the internet since I will launch my self in ebook form.

If you frequent this address, you will notice that the web pages have been deleted. I have decided to look for another publisher so, my book has been removed. I will also be putting a lot of material on Amazon and related sites as ebooks. If you go to Amazon, you will find an ebook called “With a Twist” which is a series of short stories that have endings you can’t predict.

My next ebook will be a health book aimed at men who don’t like visiting a doctor. The book is about Prostate Cancer and depression, two diseases that men don’t like talking about. It’s time for men to be realistic about their problems, rather than hide them, while they get progressively ill. Sounds silly doesn’t it, but it’s true. Men are wimps when it comes to certain illnesses, and fear talking about it.

I am thinking seriously of publishing my trilogy as ebooks since I will have more control over them. I’ll wait a bit though, since I have more short stories to produce.

May 10, 2010

Consider the three main religions, Judaism, Christianity, Islam. It is said from each that they believe in one God. In fact, the Catholic church has it in the mass, ” I believe in one God….”.

Yet, this God can be interpreted in so many ways, even within the same religion! Baptists, Catholics, Methodists have different beliefs and they are all Christian beliefs. One islamic belief encourages a disharmony with other religions where as others belief in religious tolerance.

We hear, “God loves you,” and “Fear your God.” Which is true? We even ‘kill’ in the name of God. What does God think of all this? If there are so many opinions about God and what ‘He’ says, can it be said that anyone has ever heard or seen God and, if so, which is true? Who can say so? Which church do we believe? Do we believe because of ‘convenience’ or is there ony one true church that is interpreting the word of God? If so, is this God the same God as the other churches?

I’ve heard it said, ‘it doesn’t matter which church you follow, we all believe in God.’ Is that really good enough? I wonder if God isn’t confused by all the different beliefs about ‘Him’, and come to think of it, haven’t many churches ‘de-sexed’ God? Ask a womans libber!

“Love thy neighbour.” Is this true for all religions? If so, why do many Islamic groups form terrorist groups against Christians? For that matter, why to the Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics hate each other? After all, they believe in the same God.

Ah, but we are only human. God wouldn’t have gotten it wrong, but we have free will so we can interpret Gods word to suit our needs. Na, the church wouldn’t do that.

May 3, 2010

Have you ever thought about ‘heaven’? If you believe in God, then you must believe in heaven, after all, it has been said that, when we die, we go to heaven to be with God. So, where is heaven? What does it look like?

We live in a three dimensional world and we are told that ‘time’ is the forth dimension so, heaven must be outside of our realm which places heaven outside of our universe. Hey, if God has been around for ever, then God must be outside of time, therefore, heaven must be outside of time since our universe has a life span which is dictated by time.

So, heaven must exist in another dimension. Can this dimension overlay our current world? Can it exist with this world, but not dictated by time? Is heaven only for earthlings? If so, why do we have such a large universe if all that matters is us?

Our Muslim friends tell us that heaven is multi-leveled. There are degrees of heaven. Are they interconnected by another set of dimensions? I wonder if I’ll get to heaven and be surrounded by seven virgins. Do they stay virgins? Where did they come from? There are a lot of questions aren’t there!

Now, what about hell. If we can believe in heaven then surely we can believe in hell, yet, the church now says that there is no hell. Nor is there that in between place called ‘limbo’. Why? How can we suddenly get rid of hell and limbo? For years people have lived believing in these places, if it was thought that they might have gone to hell, where in fact are they?

And those people who have never believed in God, where will they go, now that hell no longer exists? Think of all the good people who knew nothing about God, where are they? Not in limbo, it doesn’t exist either. That means, we must all go to heaven or, cease to exist.

Can our heaven have a solidity much like our earth, and again, where is it located? Will our spirits have a solid form and will it look like our earthly form?

I know I have posed a lot of questions but they can’t be answered by ‘faith’ alone. Blind faith, to me, is ignorance. If I believe in heaven because of faith, then why can’t anything else I believe, because of faith, exist? I would love to read your opinion. Remember, those who do not believe in God have no thought about heaven, to them, it simply does not exist. It gets back to the question, where is heaven placed within the structure of our universe and our lives?

May 2, 2010

Ah, they seem to be opposites don’t they? Both are affected by Dopamine levels; happiness with high dopamine and depression with low levels of dopamine. So, I suppose they are opposites. The funny thing is, if we could make ourselves happy, levels of depression would be reduced.

How can we be happy? Will money and other chattels make us happy? Maybe for a short time, but happiness is how we think about certain things. It’s like altruism. Be happy, make others happy, smile in the face of adversity, do things that you enjoy and chances are, you’ll be far more happier and less depressed. Try it! Only you can make you happy, you have to give yourself permission to be happy, it is your right.

April 25, 2010

If you are reading this site to understand a little more about my book, ‘Stay: The Search Begins” then go to ‘you tube’ and type the title as a key word search. I have posted for videos, all designed to entice the viewer to buy my book. Do it. Look and buy, you will be so glad you did.

PS: Book two of the trilogy will be out soon, when I get over the edits. Look for it. “Stay: All is not what it seems”.

People procrastinate for a number of reasons, but the main reason for procrastinating is to put off completing a task that needs to be done.

Let’s face it. When we procrastinate, we feel good, for the short term, then when the task has to be done, we put ourselves under immense pressure. It doesn’t make sense does it?

Lack of confidence can cause one to procrastinate. I found it difficult to begin writing my book, Stay, i put it off for three years! What an idiot! WHen I started to write, I couldn’t stop, it was like the flood gates had opened and you know what? That’s all you need to do too. To come to grips with procrastination, simply make a start and you’ll find the the task you dreaded, or disliked, will be easier than you first thought.

What’s unusual about chronic procrastination is, that the procrastinator is likely to suffer from depression. I don’t know whether the act (procrastination) drives the disorder (depression) or vice versa, but, my research has demonstrated that depressed people are very likely to procrastinate.

Ian

Sorry for not writing. I am a chronic procrastinator and a suffer of depression and believe me, the two are linked. If you have never been depressed, you’re lucky. Ask anyone who suffers from depression; they would rather die than live at the moment when suffering from deep depression.

Depression is a strange disorder. It can be dealt with by psychologists and/or medication. It is a disorder of the mind, but that means that the brain must also be involved, so, it is also a disorder of the brain which has an imbalance of ‘neurotransmitters’, hence the use of medication.

Whats odd about depression is the fact that it is a result of neurotransmitter imbalance, yet it can be treated successfully by psychologists. I suppose what I am trying to say here is that there are multiple paths to treating depression, but, the one thing that is common with any treatment is the fact that the depressed person needs to help themselves and believe that the treatment will work. Why?

Because depressed people find it too easy to give up. The negative thinking that goes on in the brain can convince the depressed that it isn’t worthwhile, and give up. Once you have given up, it is far easier to sustain the negative thinking and remain in a depressed state. Sounds too easy doesn’t it, but that’s how easy it is to remain depressed.

When I am depressed, I get ‘pissed off’, don’t want to talk to anyone, couldn’t care less who I heart with my words and wallow in self pity. Does this sound positive to you? When I’m like this, I have to deliberately and with great difficulty, change my thinking. Having depression is like dying, life continues in the vegetative state. But, life goes on doesn’t it? How do you want your life to be? Change your thinking and live life to the fullest.

Ian

February 19, 2010

I’m told that I suffer from depression. How can this be! It is unconstitutional.  No Australian should suffer from depression, I mean, “She’s right mate,” is our protection isn’t it? And what about, “No worries,” being depressed makes us Aussies look like wooses.

Depression is a debilitating disease, often leading the depressed individual to procrastinate over jobs that need to be done. Great, just great, so now I can expect to be a procrastinator. No, wait, I already procrastinate and I must admit, it gets me down.

I’m told that if I have a pill called an antidepressant, then I’ll increase my chances of overcoming depression. Now I have to take a pill? Where is it written in our constitution that to overcome a disorder, we have to take a pill, we’ll become a nation of drug addicts if the word gets out. Imagine, “Feeling depressed?” “Yes.” “Here, take this pill and join the rest of society.”

I always thought that having a BBQ was our way of attaining happiness and alleviating depression. A couple of beers and Bobs your uncle. No depression. Take a pill? What if the pill makes me sick? I’ve heard that an MAOI or monoamine oxidaze inhibiter for us pill takers, can cause my blood pressure to increase, and I have to watch what I eat and drink. Again, it’s unconstitutional, Australian should be denied a lamb chop of a big piece of steak. Nor should we be told not to drink beer, but hey, if you have to use a MAOI, then you have to do what you’re told.

Ah well. The dilemma will add to my depression, unless; I follow the instructions. You little beauty.

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