Alive again

 Sorry for the lack of update. I've had problems with the VPN I was using. The Chinese government tends to change their great firewall quite often and this causes problems for people like me who are trying to get around the good old censorship.

There's been a lot going on recently. I'm not long back from India and the school term has started again. The trip was good. I felt I found what I was looking for there: a community of people that were looking. It was nice to be able to go the tea shop and just chat with people about meditation and other things without having to feel out the ground first. Nice just to know that I'm not alone.

The place I ended up was called Tirruvanamali. It's not too far from Chennai and is famous for the Ramana Ashram. I ended up in Tirruvanamali not for the Ashram, but because that's where my mother was a novice nun quite some time ago. I just kind of stumbled upon the other part and ended up staying.

During my time Tirruvanamali I did one of the Goenka retreats. This was ten days of silence and meditation in the Vipassana tradition. I don't want to go into too many details about it,but I think it was a worth while experience for me. I guess I will see with time.

On the writing side I have started trying to get my second novel, Bardo, published. I've started by looking for a agent, but if this doesn't work I'll move on to looking for a publisher. It's not a easy task. When I was working on “Paradigms” I thought getting the book finished would be the hard part. This time I know better.

I've also started work on the third book, which I have been struggling to come up with a catchy title for. It's about colonization, but all of the nice titles I come up with seems to have been taken, or have other books with similar titles. I'll hopefully figure that out by the end. Besides I've only written up to chapter two so far.

In other writing the meditation I sent to the upper room was published a few days ago. It's nice to have there little successes now and again to perk you up.

Anyway, this is a quick summary of what's been going on. I should be able to keep things more up to date from now on.

Thoughts on the Occupy movement.

I have to admit I was a bit skeptical at first at seeing the start of the protests. My first thoughts were probably the same as many: Why do people think that standing around shouting things is going to make even the slightest difference?

This was followed up with the more practical question of: How can these people afford to be spending the foreseeable future living in central London? I doubt my bank balance would afford me more than a couple of weeks - even if I was living in a tent.

But despite these questions, as things have advanced and I have learned more about what is going on in the movement and how they are organised, I have found my support for them, and indeed their ideals, growing.

Oddly enough, the thing I like most about them is the same thing that seems to annoy the mainstream media more than anything else. Which is that they seem to have no fixed aims or agenda. Instead they have turned up to say that there is something very wrong with the way things are being done at the moment. Something wrong in the heart of the way things are run in our countries. They're not offering a defined solution, but instead are giving a voice to a thought that many people have: This can't be the only way! And yet that is what we are told. It's what most of us have been conditioned to believe in many cases: That the system we have now is the best of all the bad choice. But is that the truth? Maybe it was at one point, but the world has moved on since the times of Adam Smith - capitalism and politics have moved on to something far beyond what was imagined. What's so wrong with standing up and questioning if there is another way that things can be done?

My doubts about our system come when I look at what's been happening with the Euro and Greece. Most governments and newspapers looking to see how this all seeing beast the we must worship – namely “THE MARKET” - will react to the choices that are made. Yet there seems to be much less concern as to how people are reacting. Likewise in government, where it it often feels that this “MARKET” creature is in charge of ratifying all decisions made by minsters and I can't help but wonder when did this all start? When the markets start to trump democracy?

The other complaint I have often heard against the protesters is that they should follow proper political process. That they should put up candidates for election and have the people vote on what they want and I would agree with this, but for the rigged system of politics that we have. Yes things are far better than they are in say China, Iran or many other countries around the world. But these two party systems, both in the UK and USA, that are both swamped with money contributed by “THE MARKET” are hardly fully fledged bastions of true democracy. Nor is the first past the post system by which people are elected, or the whips by which they are controlled. As such, new parties and small groups have little chance of success in a game where the rules are made by the bigger parties.

So will I be pitching a tent in the capital? Well... no. In part because I couldn't afford it and in part because I live in China - I doubt that sort of thing would go down well in Beijing (It is good to grateful of the freedoms we do have). But I am supportive of what the protesters are doing. It's true that they might not have the right answers, but at least they are there asking the right questions.

The EPIC awards

Paradigms has made it in as finalist in the EPIC (The Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition) book awards:

http://www.epicorg.com/

Romance In Flight: The Cult of the Ebook With Guest Blogger Chris McKenna

Did a guest blog today called "The Cult of the Ebook". Check it out:

Romance In Flight: The Cult of the Ebook With Guest Blogger Chris McKenna

Spiritual Fiction Books Review

The story of “Paradigms” is a combination of spirituality, fiction and fantasy. The plot has been well thought out and the characters are believable and aptly suited in the roles that they play


http://spiritualfictionbooks.com/2011/03/17/paradigms-%E2%80%93-a-spiritual-fiction-book/

The Truth about Faries - Free!

"We're not your best friend! We're not your little pets either!" "The Truth about Faeries" brings the inside story of the faerie realm. Through six dark faerie tales, tied together with explanations by a fae narrator, we get a glimpse of the sometimes funny, often dark, and always fantastical, world of the fae. (Narration in Scots with English translations)

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/59974
http://www.amazon.com/The-Truth-about-Faeries-ebook/dp/B0050YCP8Q

Paradigms Updates

The new verision of Paradigms should now be available. For ebook users, you simply have to download it again from the site (it shouldn't cost you anything to do that. If you can't get it, just contact me).

If you are not happy with your early paperback version you can are welcome to get in touch and I can see about buying you an updated version.

If anyone has any problems, please let me know.