Why now?

     Several years ago, when I wrote Everyone Can be a herO, (fiction from the future) I didn't know what was going to happen at Fukushima.  In my book I guessed that the English government would be sparing when it came to the truth about the amount of radioactive contamination left and that there would still be people around wanting to make money out of nuclear power. There would also be a majority of people who didn't want it and just wanted a healthy and fairer life for the future generations, although they knew that, because of the accident, their future would be blighted by increased disease and mutations.  In my book, however, no one speaks about it. The kids don't know much about nuclear waste, because they boycotted nuclear power lessons on principle.
     Society has learned to cope without oil and it hasn't been as hard as people expected, but when a nuclear accident happens, this is something that can't just be a forgotten event. The aftermath is there for millions of years.
     It takes people power and a deal of bravery to protest and stand up against the hidden lobby who want to make money out of the situation and whereas the good guys play clean, the bad guys play dirty.  Plus ca change...

Find out more at Inside Outsider Publications  http://www.insideoutsider.co.uk

A cat, the snow, and a kind heart.

   Sometimes it takes a cat or another animal to melt a frozen heart, sometimes it's the cold snowy weather that brings out the hidden kindness in people, and sometimes a sprinkling of kindness can melt a path through a frozen landscape.
    But the thing is....that it doesn't stop there.
To find out more, read Where The Fox Goes, a tale of kindness at a time of hardship, of people sharing and of people standing up for their rights in a time of recession and oppression. This is Christian family fiction with a difference, non judgmental, compassionate and inclusive. 
    From Inside Outsider Publications,
  http://www.insideoutsider.co.uk/where_the_fox_goes.html
    ...to read about the cat...

Regaining democracy.. in fiction

Today I am selling books... ebooks and a freebie audio book.  I can wrap it in a friendly blog, but what I am trying to do is to sell books. Like most other people I need to, but unlike most other people I wouldn't say the quality of presentation was that good.  Everyone Can be a herO is fine. Micheal Smith of the Green (living) Review liked the book enough to suggest that we made an ebook too, and when I told him I hadn't ever done one before, he very kindly rolled up his sleeves and did it.
Where The Fox Goes is words... nothing but words. I thought that was what stories were about. It's also a very low download at around 600kb..  Everyone Can be a herO is around 1 MB and that includes one picture.
  These are people's books, about regaining democracy and not accepting a post democratic society, about warm friendly people who don't just care about their own problems but are prepared to step in and help their neighbours, Where this leads them and the adventures they have is part of the stories.. One thing is certain, they don't use violence to solve problems..They are too bright to do that.
     Everyone Can be a herO is for teenagers, but other people read it.. This is set in the future and is a school library book due back in 2040. There has been another nuclear accident, but this time it's in Britain. It isn't as bad as Fukushima or Chornobyl but the same problems are there.  The people who are left behind are the ones who can't buy their way out... but they are some of the best ones and they are trying to grow food organically and share what they grow.  The oil ran out some time before the accident and they have already come to terms with this, there were even some surprising benefits, what wasn't so good was the nuclear legacy.... and  the baddies have decided that there are a few quid to be made from it.
    "Where The Fox Goes" is Christian family fiction with a difference, it doesn't fit a conventional pattern and you don't have to be a Christian to read it.. There are various extracts  you can read on my website, including this one from "  The Fight to Save the Allotments"..Ivan is talking to his grandchildren.
     “Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I’m right, but when ordinary people have something special, that they work hard  at and take care of, someone always seems to come along and tries to take it away from them on the pretext that they’re doing it to improve things.  Really, all they’re bothered about is making money out of it. Even if you can’t see who it is, they’re always there.” He smiled wryly. “It’s power or money, but it’s usually money.” he added. http://www.insideoutsider.co.uk/page24.html 
  I have left the ebooks as pdf's  because people have so many different readers that it seemed silly to try to limit what I was selling. If you have problems with this, please email me and I'll do my best to sort it out for you.  Should you have a more modern Kindle, apparently  you can just copy them into "documents" folder on your Kindle device when it is connected to your Mac or PC via USB cable.
To find out more, my website is pretty basic but it is solar powered!!  http://ww.insideoutsider.co.uk

natural gas extraction - hydraulic fracturing.

     Since the discovery of massive amounts of shale gas in the U.K. I have been curious as to the extent of damage to the environment by hydraulic fracturing.  Having a strong conviction that there are few truthful official sources of news coming out of the country, when someone can make a bob or two at our expense, and here I include the BBC's coverage of nuclear power and accidents which I, personally, would find laughable if it wasn't so sinister, I was grateful to come across the review in Grist of the best green films in 2010.  This included a film called  Gasland by the avant garde filmmaker, Josh Fox, who grew up in Pennsylvania on a gas rich shale formation and has chronicled the impact of natural gas extraction known as hydraulic fracturing, on the American landscape.
     It's a very good review and if you live in the North West of England and haven't read it yet, I would strongly recommend it  http://www.grist.org/article/2010-01-29-the-best-green-films-at-sundance  as I would also strongly recommend a visit to the Gasland website  http://gaslandthemovie.com/
     These people have already walked the walk.  And yes, if you read the review in Grist, there is the famous clip of flames coming out of the drinking water tap.  It lasts around 15 seconds and it is spectacular!
    There are much better wind turbines on the way, with far higher energy output and much quieter and safer.  We have solar power.  Just for once, wouldn't be lovely if people cared about people and made a future we could look forward to leaving to the next generations?

Train drivers in Japan ask for your help.

Years ago when I wrote "Everyone Can be a herO",  I envisaged that train drivers would be some of the people who might be at risk during and after a nuclear accident and wrote this into the story.
Sadly, even this is coming true, but we can do something about it if we are prepared to stand up for the Japanese rail drivers when they need international support.  Please could you pass the message on to other people. This isn't fiction, this is real.
  There is a link to their attachment which I have placed at the end of their letter which explains in full the situation they find they are in.

----- Original Message -----

From: international doro-chiba

To: doro-chiba-international@auone.jp

Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 7:01 PM

Subject: Doro-Chiba QR#34: strike against radioactive workplace

Dear Friends,

Japanese rail workers launched a historic strike against radioactive exposure of train crews and passengers. "We are not slaves of the Government and Tepco. Refuse to be exposed to high radiation from Fukusima Daiichi!"

Please forward this email as widely as possible, send protest messages to the Japanese government’s email form below and organize anti-nuke struggle all around the world.

https://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/forms/comment_ssl.html

And please read and fill the attached endorsement form of November 6 rally and send back to us.

In Solidarity,

International Labor Solidarity Committee of Doro-Chiba

http://www.doro-chiba.org/english/english.htm

These are the two attachments:  The first one explains the situation the drivers are in  far more fully.

Doro-ChibaQR_034.pdf, Endorsement_to_Nov_6_Rally.doc   in English.

Thank you.

Skulking in the bookshop

Unless I've got it wrong and I'm quite good at that, I should be in the Barnet Waterstone's in Hertfordshire, tomorrow between 11.30am and 3.00 pm, gripping a pen or fumbling with it in order to sign copies of "Everyone Can be a herO"... I'm not expecting to sign that many (!) but if you want to come and have a look at how we made the covers, because they are fun and very eco or find out about some of the characters, or talk about the weather, you'll find me skulking somewhere amongst their real books written by well known authors.
Come to think of it, that's not such a bad way to spend a few hours!
(The branch is in The Spires, which is off the High Street and runs up to Stapylton Road, opposite the library, )