Bobbing Around
Volume Six, Number One
Bob Rich's rave
July 2006
bobswriting.com/ anxietyanddepression-help.com/ mudsmith.net/ other issues
Bobbing AroundVolume Six, Number One
Bob Rich's rave |
| *About Bobbing Around
subscribe/unsubscribe. guidelines for contributions *Always a free contest here *YOUR OPINION REQUESTED *Responses Laraine Ann Barker on bird flu Robert Ironside on the essay 'The Quiet Revolution' Tim Rowe's belated bio Carl Stonier on pancreatic cancer (Jim Choron's story) *Politics The tragedy of Israel--again Resistance in the US military to the Iraq war, by Colonel Ann Wright *Conservation Portland leads the way How to save babies from cancer Greenhouse accounting for nuclear power Al Gore back, greener than ever *Addiction knows no boundaries from Everett Beal *Counselling Surviving the unsurvivable Implants for depression? Another desperate young person 'I am not scared': a talk about cancer *Announcements Short story contest for Australian writers new email group for writers Help for authors from Carolyn Howard-Johnson Darrell Bain's memoirs--the saga continues 'Sharing with Writers' newsletter honoured *For writers What makes a chapter a chapter? How to start a story *Two snippets from Elaine *Money and happiness *Stories Trekking to Jerusalem: progress report from Brandon Wilson 'Branded' by James Choron 20th recipient of the LiFE Award Slow Dancing with the Angel of Death is the 20th recipient of the LiFE Award: Literature For Environment. This book by Helen Chappell is published by Write Words, Inc..
I am responsible for anything I have written. However, where I reproduce contributions from other people, I do not necessarily endorse their opinions. I may or may not agree with them, but give them the courtesy of a forum. Bobbing Around is COPYRIGHTED. No part of it may be reproduced in any form, at any venue, without the express permission of the publisher (ME!) and the author if that is another person. You may forward the entire magazine to anyone else. |
Your opinion requestedRecently, I received a new review of Sleeper, Awake. Here it is in its full glory. You will see that the reviewer is mostly complimentary. However, she has detected a sexist attitude in the author and says so with great firmness. Since neither I nor any other person I know has ever detected any such attitudes within me, I felt rather dismayed. When I wrote Sleeper, Awake, I deliberately created a world where women were not just equal, but had superior status to men. I completely reject the accusation. And 'Ramirendo' is a perfectly good Spanish name. Trouble is, you can't argue with a critic; you can't even argue with a reader. Writing is one-way communication, and what you read is the meaning for you. So, I am asking for feedback. If you have read Sleeper, Awake in the past, email me and let me know who you agree with--Joan or me. In case you have not read this book, I have arranged for it to be on special until the 31st of August, 2006. Normal price is $US7.50. For the next month, it will be only $4. You can buy it from Double Dragon E-books. Anyone who responds will earn the right to a free book. Go to my bookbuy page, and select any title that's available in electronic format. Sleeper Awake by Bob Rich
|
Laraine Ann Barker on bird flu
Robert Ironside on The Quiet Revolution
Tim Rowe's belated bio
Carl Stonier on pancreatic cancer (Jim Choron's story)
In the last issue, I reprinted a missive about bird flu, which claimed that this disease is actually not at all dangerous. The myth of its potency has been created by the company that makes a drug they claim protects people from it. New Zealand writer Laraine Ann Barker agrees:
Wow, Bob! That was a real eye opener. I've always suspected it was the drug company producing Tamiflu that caused all this mind-boggling panic. The drug companies hold so much power, and all they're interested in is their obscene profits. They don't care a fig for anyone's health. Look at the way the drug companies who control cancer therapy are squashing anything else that comes along. Never mind that their chemotherapy and radiology treatments are positively barbaric.
Thanks for a great article. :-)
Laraine has been writing fantasy for young readers since 1987, although she has scribbed most of her life. Her first book, The Obsidian Quest, was a finalist in the Dream Realm Awards 2001, and her short chapter book The Little Dragon Without Fire won a writing competition in 1997.
Hi Bob,
Wow!! I just read your essay. Firstly I thank you for writing this. I have been fighting feelings and thoughts for so long, feelings of guilt at being part of this capitalistic 'get what you want' at no holds bared world and yet not quite making it big, due primarily to the fact that my heart wasn't in it.
We are all (generalisation) raised to work hard, save hard, live hard and become the 'best we can'. The unfortunate part of this motto is we are driven to believe money, possessions and power are the end reward for all this diligence.
As for myself, I find it very difficult chasing 'The Goals' instead of being content and having a feeling of fulfilment, as I do when tending a vege plot and running my fingers deeply through the composted soil.
I didn't find answers in your essay however I found I wasn't the only person alive not wanting to be a Captain of industry. In closing, I envy your lifestyle, your life seems to be rich, (no pun intended) and from what I have read tonight, fulfilling.
I will purchase some of your writing as soon as my better half gives me the (yes you can buy) signal and I have not finished with your web site yet.
Thank you again!
Regards
Robert Ironside
Tim wrote an interesting little essay about poetry in the last issue. He sent me his bio, but too late to be included. He writes:
Tim is a safety consultant working out of London, England He mainly writes technical reports, but he has had poetry published in the poetry magazines Stride and Notus and as part of a worship installation at the Greenbelt Christian Arts Festival.
When not working or writing, Tim plays guitar and mandolin in the non-existent folk-rock band "I Wish".
His ambition is to write an air traffic control centre safety case entirely in Sapphics.
Greetings Bob,
Just read the latest Bobbing Around.
Re the sad piece from Jim Choron. Many years ago (about 18), I had a client whom I met through a healing centre that I helped to set up, and with whom I used a guided imagery programme.
When we first met, he had a stomach cancer--not surprising really, he had an appalling diet of convenience snacks, smoked an awful lot of roll-ups every day, took no exercise and made a living driving a coach around. After about a month of healing and Guided Imagery, he went off for his gastrectomy, and the tumour was half the size it had been when he had a barium meal to diagnose it. Recovery was in double quick time, and he went straight back to his previous lifestyle. Next up was a carcinoma of the head of the pancreas. Like Jim, I'd never heard of this improving at all, but with the same interventions, his cleared up. Shortly afterwards, he went down with a skin cancer, followed by a bowel cancer, always with the same story of seeking help through healing and Guided Imagery, then back to his old lifestyle. After that, I lost touch with him, so don't know the eventual outcome, but he was a remarkable, if incredibly stupid, man, who could use such tools as Guided Imagery with exquisite effectiveness.
Carl Stonier is one of the most important contributors to my book Cancer: A personal challenge. He has been using Guided Imagery as an important part of psychotherapeutic interventions for about 21 years. He has recently been awarded a PhD for his research into the effects of a counselling and guided imagery programme on the outcome of people with ischaemic heart disease.
The tragedy of Israel--again
Resistance in the US military to the Iraq war
.
Once more, people are dying in the Middle East.
Hate begets hate, injury calls for vengeance, both sides are hurting and blaming. And things continue to get worse.
One of the reliable findings of psychology is that a chronic problem is typically maintained by the solutions. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a clear example. While the Muslim world is bent on destroying Israel, as protestors in Iran shouted, Israelis feel they have no choice except fighting for their lives. When Israel uses the big guns to destroy cities and kill civilians, they create hate and determination on the part of their enemies to fight on. It goes on, round and round in a devilish cycle.
Every fight starts by me hitting back. Both sides feel fully justified in doing what the do, and in fact both are right. Therefore, both are wrong.
A similar situation existed on the Indian subcontinent in 1948. A bloody civil war split a nation of many millions, with Muslim and Hindu committing atrocities against each other. At the height of the violence, Ghandi was addressing an audience of 3000 Hindus. He said, "What should you do if your beloved little son is killed by Muslims? You should find a little Muslim orphan, whose parents have been killed by Hindus. Take him into your family--and raise him to be a good Muslim."
For this, he was assassinated. And yet, he was right. Now, 58 years later, India and Pakistan are still in a cold war, with mutual hate and distrust. But if enough people on both sides had implemented Ghandi's recommendation, these two nations could by now well be living in harmony.
Hate begets hate. Violence induces violence. The only way to peace and sanity is to put past hurts behind us.
Suppose that all the most bitter groups of Palestinians got together, and agreed on a set of demands. These might include:
And suppose that, at the same time, Israelis also prepared a set of demands, for example:
This is as unlikely to happen as Ghandi's vision of peace was. And yet, it is the right course of action.
Ann Wright is a retired Colonel with 29 years in the U.S. Army and Army Reserves and as a U.S. diplomat for 16 years, and resisted the war on Iraq by resigning in March, 2003 from her position as Deputy Chief of Mission, or Deputy Ambassador from the U.S. Embassy in Mongolia.
Ann served in the diplomatic corps in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia and helped reopen the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan in December, 2001.
As a U.S. military officer, she participated in post-conflict reconstruction in Grenada, Panama and Somalia. She received the State Department's Award for Heroism as the acting U.S. Ambassador during the evacuation of the international community during the brutal rebel takeover of Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1997.
This is a condensed version of a longer article.
As a 29 year Army and Army Reserves veteran, I am horrified to see the politicalization of the U.S. military under the Bush administration. The "ethics and professionalism" of the U.S. military has been targeted for destruction by the civilian appointees of this administration. They want "yes" men and women who do not question the legality of their policies. Tragically, from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs on down, Rumsfeld and crew have been successful in stifling professional discussion within the military, with the exception of former Army Chief of Staff Shinseki and now six retired generals.
Under the Bush administration, there is no accountability or responsibility for criminal actions; privates and sergeants are court-martialed, while senior civilian and military leaders responsible for the criminal policies are free.
Despite the "yes, sir" attitude of senior military officers toward the Bush administration's illegal policies, there is resistance within the U.S. military to the war on Iraq. Military personnel have the right and duty to refuse the order to deploy to an illegal war. They know that the Nuremberg principles adopted by the international community after World War II require civilians and military personnel to stop their government from committing illegal acts. Those in the military who dissent and resist to what they know are illegal actions of the Bush administration are persons of the highest courage and conscience.
Resistance to the war on Iraq within the US military community is growing. Over eight thousand American soldiers are absent without leave (AWOL), most living underground in the United States. Many now refer to AWOL as "Against War of Lies" instead of Absent Without Leave. Individual non-public resistance in the military generally results in an administrative discharge without publicity. Thousands have turned themselves in to military authorities and have been administratively discharged.
Public resistance by military personnel to the war on Iraq results in courts-martial to make an example of the resister. Some military personnel have applied for conscience objector (CO) status. Most have been denied CO status and ten have been court-martialed and imprisoned for publicly refusing to obey orders to deploy to Iraq to commit criminal acts in Iraq, including murder by bombing innocent civilians, shooting innocent civilians and torture. Those who refuse to deploy to Iraq and kill for the Bush administration generally receive more punishment than those who commit criminal acts of murder and torture.
Another aspect of resistance within the military community comes from retired generals who are now publicly questioning the military operational plans that have put U.S. troops in jeopardy in Iraq and the impact of the war on Iraq on the military and its ability to respond to genuine threats to U.S. national security.
For the twenty-nine years I was in the military either on active duty or in the Reserves, my worst nightmare was that an administration would get the United States into a military conflict that I knew was illegal. Today, if I were recalled from the U.S. Army's Retired Ready Reserves, I would have to say, "I will not serve the Bush Administration's war on Iraq. I will not agree to be recalled. You will have to court-martial me as I will not participate in this illegal war of aggression, this war crime."
Acts of resistance, big and small, recognized nationally or never heard by most, by military and civilians are all important elements of ending the illegal war, the war crime, committed by the Bush administration. People of conscience all over the country are refusing to be silent and are taking courageous steps to end the illegal war on Iraq.
What will you do to stop this illegal war?
Portland leads the way
How to save babies from cancer
Greenhouse accounting for nuclear power
Al Gore back, greener than ever
The US government may not be interested in climate change, but this does not stop individual citizens, groups and even entire cities from doing something about it. Portland, Oregon is a wonderful example of what can be done. Here are a few of the measures they have implemented:
Source: Dan Crawford in the Vancouver Republic
A new study shows, the way to save babies from cancer is to shut down nuclear reactors near them. Here is the slightly shortened press release:
Infant mortality rates around five US nuclear power reactors dropped almost immediately after the reactors closed, according to a new study released on the 14th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Raising questions whether allowable emissions of "low-level" radiation from nuclear plants endanger nearby residents, the study has prompted calls for the US government to begin considering adverse health effects associated with nuclear plants before renewing their operating licences.
The study was conducted by the New York-based Radiation and Public Health Project and published in Spring edition of "Environmental Epidemiology and Toxicology", a scientific journal.
Joseph Mangano, the author of the study and a research associate at the Project, says it is the first to document improvements in health after a nuclear plant closes and supports other studies showing elevated childhood cancer near operating reactors. ''However, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), utilities and public health departments have never voluntarily performed a single study on cancer or other radiation-induced conditions,'' he says.
Using public health statistics published by the government, Mangano examined infant death rates in counties within 50 miles and downwind of five reactors across the United States. In the first two years after the reactors closed, infant death rates fell 15 to 20 percent from the previous two years, compared to an average US decline of only six percent between 1985 and 1996.
In each of the five areas studied, no other nuclear reactor operated within 70 miles of the closed reactor, essentially creating a nuclear-free zone.
Mangano says in addition to the regions surrounding the five reactors in the study, he has recently found dramatic decreases in infant mortality rates near two reactors that closed in 1997. In communities near the Big Rock Point reactor in Michigan, the decrease in infant mortality rates was 54.1%. At the Maine Yankee reactor in Maine, the decrease was 33.4%.
Mangano says people may have been affected by radioactivity that has made its way into the local air, water, milk, vegetation and fish.
Here's a link to a good 12 page summary of Nuclear Power, costs and understanding the issues.
"Why Nuclear Power Cannot be a Major Energy Source" http://www.feasta.org/documents/energy/nuclear_power.pdf
If all the available uranium ore, of sufficient concentration (high grade ore of around 0.01- 0.1%) were used to generate all the world's electricity, it would last around 6 years.
Energy (mostly fossil fuel derived) is used in most of the processes of mining, milling, enriching ore, transport, building very complex and technically demanding (to be 'safe') reactors, managing and storing wastes and decommissioning.
This amounts to about one third of the greenhouse gas emissions of a gas fired power station producing the same amount of electricity. In the lifecycle analysis, we also have to deal with 25 years of backlog of wastes yet to be stored adequately and all of the old reactors to be decommissioned and dismantled.
So, in considering future expansion, Nuclear Power starts with a big debt to repay (which means energy to be consumed in the process of achieving the necessary standards and safety).
If that necessary work (clearing up wastes and decommissioning) were to be undertaken and the energy deducted from total amount produced, there would be only the equivalent of 3 years of the world's electricity to be produced from remaining uranium supplies.
Even more detailed evaluation and research about Nuclear Power can be found in "Nuclear Power: the Energy Balance" by Jan Willem Storm van Leeuwen and Philip Smith at the website: http://www.stormsmith.nl/
A longtime environmentalist and vice-president during the Bill Clinton administration (Democrat) from 1993 to 2001, Gore is now trying to build a mass movement across the United States to force the political establishment in Washington to rethink its policy on climate change.
Since the release last month of his documentary film, "An Inconvenient Truth," which warns of the dangers posed by global warming, once again Gore has become a household name in the United States.
Encouraged by the successful release of the movie, which already has been seen by millions of people, Gore now plans to launch a nationwide campaign to mobilise public opinion on global warming. Scheduled to start by the end of the northern hemisphere summer, the campaign is to involve at least 1,000 activists. Having been trained by Gore himself, they will spread out across the country to create awareness about climate change.
The former vice president seems to be convinced that official policy on climate change in Washington will remain a distant possibility unless constituents put more pressure on their senators and representatives in Congress.
Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, 34 industrialised countries are obligated to reduce their "greenhouse gas" emissions 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane are the leading cause of global warming, agree the vast majority in the global scientific community.
Although Clinton signed the Kyoto Protocol, the George W. Bush administration (Republican) not only refuses to endorse it -- arguing that it would damage the U.S. economy -- but also tries to cast doubt on the levels of global warming projected by world's scientific community.
Gore, who played an active role in global efforts to establish the treaty, rejects Bush's argument and insists that it is high time to curb greenhouse gas emissions, for which the United States is chiefly responsible. The U.S. currently has five percent of the world's population, but produces 25 percent of the world's global warming pollution, according to a report by the U.S.-based environmental group Sierra Club
"This moment cannot be allowed to pass," said Gore as he unveiled his campaign plans. "I have seen and heard times before when the awareness of the climate crisis has peaked and then a few months later, it's gone. I think this time is different."
In addition to training activists, Gore's campaign also includes efforts to establish what he calls the "Alliance for Climate Protection," an umbrella group that will include a wide range of prominent corporate executives, trade union representatives, and religious leaders, among others, and with the mission of raising tens of millions of dollars.
This effort has led some to suggest the possibility that Gore may make a presidential bid in the 2008 elections. But he has rejected such speculations as "totally, totally absurd."
"I feel very strongly that the climate crisis needs to be redefined as a moral -- not a political issue," he said in a recent interview with Grist magazine.
Though Gore's opponents, especially those in the Republican camp, may continue to raise doubts about his real intentions, critics on the political left hold radically different views.
"It's hard not to be supportive of his initiative," Ralph Nader, who ran against Gore and Bush on the Green Party ticket in 2000 elections and who some blame for Gore's defeat, told Tierramérica.
"I don't think he is running for president," said Nader, a longtime consumer advocate and one of the pioneers of environmental movement in the United States. "Those who run from one big funder to another for such a cause are not expected to run for president."
Nader may be right. Despite being the main spirit behind the Alliance, Gore has decided not to serve on its board of directors, which comprises members from both the Democratic and Republican parties. It seems that he intends to involve people of a range of political inclinations in the campaign against climate change.
But despite his bipartisan efforts to focus on changing the U.S. policy on climate change, attacks on Gore from think-tanks and media considered to be supportive of the energy industry are becoming increasingly visible.
Recently the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington, DC-based group financed in part by the oil company Exxon Mobil, launched a series of TV ads about "the alleged global warning crisis."
For their part, Gore and his supporters are making efforts to involve philanthropist billionaires like George Soros, Ted Turner, Steve Jobs (head of Apple computers) and others who are seen as sympathetic to the campaign on global warming.
While funding for the media and education campaign may take several weeks to arrive, it seems that Gore has no lack of support from civil society groups already running environmental campaigns on a limited scale.
"Gore has reinvented himself in the best way possible: by pushing for common-sense solutions to one of the most pressing problems of our time," said Scott Paul of the Citizens for Global Solutions, an independent group based in Washington, DC, in an interview with Tierramérica.
"Gore's plan to train 1,000 people is one example of serious leadership," he added. "Americans have been waiting for it."
According to the group, more than three-quarters of those polled in the United States believe the federal government should limit greenhouse gas emissions, and an even greater majority believe that climate change poses a serious threat.
In Paul's view, Gore is seeking to build political will for the "ambitious political solutions" the United States will need to meet the challenge of climate change. "His effort would be a great step forward," he said.
Despite his political differences with the former vice president, Nader offered a similar opinion: "I think Gore's going to make it an issue... It's going to be an issue in 2008."
Addiction and abuse walk hand in hand and the end result is poverty. Yes, I felt sorry for the patients I saw who fell from grace, lost their jobs, lost their homes and lost their families.
Crime soon developed to support their habits. Substance abuse does take charge. Sometimes the mother is left to take control of the family and try to be patient with the father. And often both parents pick up the habit together.
I took a break from pharmacy and figured I'd worked enough in my lifetime. When word got out that I kept my license up to date pharmacy owners began knocking on my door I was asked to do relief work as a pharmacist in a mental health clinic and Detox center. That appealed to me.
I saw teenagers and all ages sitting with blankets wrapped around them like Indian Squaws. They had a bland complexion as if their face had been whitewashed. All had the shakes, were strolling up and down the halls, smoking and making phone calls trying to get the hell out of this place. They were detoxed with mental drugs allowing their addiction and hallucinations to dissipate. A few weeks of control worked for a while. Soon we sadly saw them addicted again to return for more treatments. The pushers didn't want to see the addicts slip away from their business.
Substance abuse on the rise upset me and got my attention. It is the catalyst which precipitated my writing Fatal Addiction. I must warn you, it'll be tough not to read from cover to cover before setting it aside. This book is excitement personified.
Drug addiction is hooking the world even as we speak. I hear the words, "God bless you for writing this book" at all book signings.
Hopefully, everyone can appreciate what I have written. Pharmacy is my profession and I'm trying to share the changes that I have seen most of my life. Drugs are wonderful when taken under the supervision of a doctor, his staff and the careful eye of a pharmacist. It's so easy to get hooked on anything that's available. I am sorry if you get upset with some segments you read, but it is in the media every day.
One nice lady whose children I helped raise said, " After reading Fatal Addiction you scared me and made me aware of what's happening in this town and everywhere. I want to thank you for making me aware of the dangers.
On my book signing table my posters tell the story; Please help fight Drug Abuse. I beg you, stay away from the damn street drugs. Addiction is the first step to poverty. When addicted, an addict shows no concern for another's life.
Recently I read about a mother who was addicted to Oxy. Her baby worried the hell out of her crying because she had teething pains. So she rubbed OxyContin on her pacifier. The baby overdosed and died. When her mother appeared in court the judge could do nothing but release her. He said he couldn't rule on bad judgment.
I had a book signing at a department store and a pretty lady saw my book and posters begging folks to help fight drug abuse.
Finally she got the nerve to say, "I have to take Oxy for my arthritis."
I asked her how long she had been on Oxy and she said five years. "So ma'am, how much was the doctor prescribing to begin your dosages?"
"I began with 5 mg twice a day and today it is 100 mg a day."
And you are still having the pain after five years? Cold turkey in a Detox center will be what you'll have to go through to stop your habit.
"Oh no, I can't do without it."
"That is what we call hooked and addicted. That's your doctor's fault, if he's still prescribing it."
"I am on a prescription."
"No ma'am, you are on a drug. Drug abuse touches every family and addiction knows no classes nor boundaries."
I do want to say that I didn't write with the skill of hearts and flowers, I told it like it is. I might have stepped on the toes of resentment but I speak from my heart to make you aware of what really is happening every day. Please, I beg you, help me fight drug abuse.
Surviving the unsurvivable
Implants for depression?
Another desperate young person
I am not scared: a talk about cancer
Among my clients, I have had someone who...
People in these terrible situations can survive, and can learn to build a new life for themselves. One of these above is a current client who is still in the grip of the problems resulting from the trauma. The others have surmounted their experience.
How can I help a person survive the unsurvivable?
First, I need to believe that this person has the inner resources to build a new life, in which the past trauma has become a memory, not a searing, current pain. People do, even if they don't believe it while they are suffering.
Second, I need to listen to my client in a very special way. I provide a situation in which it is safe to say anything at all, without being judged, without being offered advice, without being blamed or found to be faulty.
Third, the heaviest load a person can carry is 'It's not fair. Why me?' We work on this issue in various ways, because improvement will not happen until the sufferer has overcome the resentment against fate. Frequently, I recommend the reading of a wonderful book, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. Everyone, regardless of circumstances, will benefit from reading it. If my client has religious beliefs of any kind, including those I disagree with, I ally myself with the religion in seeking meaning and solace. Even people who reject all faith can be open to scientific evidence. I send them to look at the evidence on reincarnation, which is substantial and convincing. They then come to see the current life as merely one in a very long chain. We talk about life lessons, and why this terrible situation may well have been designed by themselves before birth. And when talk of reincarnation is inappropriate because of the client's beliefs, I ask questions like, 'What is the silver lining you can design for this terrible black cloud?'
Next is guilt. Victims of abuse always feel that somehow it's their fault. Those who have caused harm, on purpose or by accident, can suffer terribly from guilt. 'Survivor guilt' is equally painful: 'Why did I survive when my friend is dead?' There are many ways of helping a person cope with guilt, including education, correction of thinking patterns, and suggesting that they make suitable restitution. The lady who had sexually abused children chose to be a volunteer visitor to a women's prison.
The key to removing emotion from past trauma is exposure in a safe situation. I use one or more of a variety of techniques to allow the client to convert repeated re-living into a memory, a story they can tell without getting upset.
Finally, the client will develop new goals, want to face new challenges. Often, this is a desire to give to others, usually but not always to people suffering similar misfortune to the one that had affected them.
We all have the resources to survive anything that fate throws at us. And even the worst suffering can ennoble you, make you into a better person.
A lady emailed me, asking what I knew about the new development: implants for depression.
I have never heard of such a thing, but I am sure they contain the same nasty drugs you can buy in pill form. However, her email stirred up one of my hobby-horses: my hate for drugging people out of their minds when their problems are psychological, not physical.
At my psychology web site, I have reproduced with permission a very important paper by Scott Miller's group that appeared in a peer-reviewed publication. The conclusion is that counselling/therapy is the most cost-effective first intervention. Antidepressants can be useful, if a person is suicidal, or so distressed that rational thought is impossible. This article pulls no punches. It exposes the drug industry for spreading myths that make them money, subverting agencies that supposedly controlling them, buying research, buying medical education at all levels.
Here is a short excerpt:
These miraculous drugs, the story goes, are effective with 75 to 85 percent of the people who take them. In this prevailing cultural script, therapy, like an old character actor, is sometimes ignored altogether, and never given more than a minor supporting role. Only one solution, apparently, is needed, and only one is offered: the passive consumption of a pill.
These views have taken on the luster of scientific truths. But they are not truths. They are myths. They have not been confirmed by the latest discoveries of neuroscience, nor are they supported by outcome research. They seem true because they have been repeated and reinforced by mass-market advertising intended to make taking antidepressants seem as normal and pervasive as swallowing aspirin: Zoloft's logo smiles from long-distance calling cards, coffee mugs, luggage tags and complimentary pens and pencils. A commercial during the World Series trumpets Paxil's power to cure social anxiety disorder. And the sides of colorful tissue boxes in physicians' offices proclaim: "Sue's playing with her kids again," "Walter's fishing again" and "Just like normal—thanks to Prozac!" SSRIs, these advertising campaigns imply, are simply the best first choice for treating depression.
The message is seductive and it works: if these drugs were books, they would be runaway bestsellers. More than 130 million prescriptions were written for them last year alone, and more than $8.58 billion was spent on them. And while most mental health professionals would acknowledge that the explanation given to clients is a gross oversimplification of actual brain functioning, few reject the biochemical model altogether. Fewer still question the effectiveness of the drugs, and virtually no one challenges the idea that combining medication with therapy is the best of all treatment options. At least it includes what talk therapists have to offer. The problem with these common beliefs and practices emerges, however, when they are examined in the light of scientific research.
On a level playing field, antidepressants would be regarded as one valid therapeutic choice among many — one with risks far more grave than those usually attendant on therapy. The awareness of many side effects is just beginning to make it into mainstream consciousness, and the future may reveal further unanticipated consequences: witness the silent epidemics of drug addiction among American women in the 1950s, produced by the widespread prescribing of "mother's little helpers" — amphetamine diet pills and Librium.
Not only are side effects underrated and underreported, outcome research does not confirm the miracle status these drugs have been accorded in the popular imagination. Our culture's exaggerated faith in these psychiatric medications rests not on science, but on brilliant marketing by a profit-driven industry. Outcome research — even outcome research funded by the companies that manufacture pharmaceuticals — has not found these drugs to be any better than therapy, and only marginally better than placebos. Knowing what the research really says will empower therapists to challenge the myths our culture holds about psychoactive medications, reinvigorate their belief in therapy and offer their clients choices based on fact, not superstition masquerading as science.
That article is now six years old, but recent research has actually strenghtened its conclusions. One paper I have recently seen demonstrated brain changes as a result of having undergone cognitive-behavioural therapy. These changes were exactly the same as those produced by antidepressants.
This makes perfect sense, if you look at the brain as a tool. You could study the steering linkages of a car, and conclude that their movements have perfect correspondence with the car's direction. Of course they do, and interfering with the linkages will change the direction of the car's movement. However, the steering is not done by the linkages. It is done by the person in the driver's seat.
Dear Mr Rich
I'm A 21 girl from England , Since a teenager I ve always hated myself, I thought I would change as I grow up, but I've realized its been getting worser. Ive thought of killing myself so many times then my family would'nt have to waste time worrying about me. I'm 21 now I feel like Im acting like a child. I feel worthlesss in this world , sometimes I think why im born into this world what is my reason for living? im scared i alway feeel hatred torwards people, i get depressed when people look down on me , why though I never thought of hutring anyone at all, why do people who enjoy looking down on people seeem to be popular, ive never felt like ive achieved anything successful in this world, neither i feeel like anyone needs me, im have always beeen the odd one out in everthing
am i going insane? the truth is i should feeel lucky i have parents, money hasn't always beeen a problem, ive graduated from uni, yet i still feel like alot is misssing, ifeel ashamed when i know there are many people in more worse situations
pam
My dear, you are in the grip of long term depression. When I was your age, I suffered the same thing. I climbed out of it, by inventing a process for myself. Much later, I found out that this was a well-researched set of techniques called 'cognitive therapy'. I suggest you ring up the British Psychological Society's referral line. It's a local call from anywhere in Great Britain. Ask for a psychologist near you who is competent at cognitive therapy, or interpersonal therapy, or narrative therapy (all of these are very effective against depression). I don't know your financial circumstances, but you can buy a lifetime of strength, purpose and contentment for the cost of about 8 sessions.
Also, go to http://mudsmith.net/bobbing5-8#crissie and read about some other wonderful young people who felt like you. And let me know if there is any further way I can help you to work towards a good life.
Recently, I was invited to talk with a prostate cancer support group. A member of the audience later asked me for a summary of my speech. I didn't have one, but this is my answer to him:
Only trouble is, I didn't speak from a script, but entirely intuitively. There were certain points I wanted to cover, but for the rest went with my feeling of the audience. I started by reading a true-life story from my book, 'Cancer: A personal challenge'. The story is by talented American writer Yvonne Rowan. This lady had died twice, and both times returned, with a vivid memory of the experience. As a result, she is not afraid of death, and knows that life, including suffering, has purpose.
Cancer and cardiovascular problems have a very large overlap in their causative mechanisms. They are now the second and first causes of death respectively. The overlap is in the stressful lifestyle most people impose on themselves, on the awful diets we eat, lack of exercise, and the feelings of meaninglessness that haunt most people. It is no accident that one person in five suffers from depression at some time. The science of psychoneuroimmunology has provided a modern base for thousands of years' worth of wisdom, that emotional states affect the immune system. The body's defences are so wonderful that cancer should be almost impossible. And yet, 2003 statistics show that 44% of men and 39% of women develop it during their lifetimes. 24% of men and 20% of women can expect to die from it. Chapters in my book discuss all the relevant facts. These findings can be used for protection. The chances of cancer can be reduced; if it's already there (whatever the location, whatever the cause), its progress can be halted; it can even be 'miraculously' reversed. Of course, there are no guarantees, ever. People whose loved one is suffering cancer, or perhaps has died from it, can gain solace from this book.
Somehow, although it wasn't planned, my talk swung onto a separate but related topic: life after death. There is a huge amount of scientific evidence that some part of a person's consciousness existed before birth, and survives after death, and that people are born again and again, many times. From this perspective, death is not frightening. Suffering, even the worst imaginable pain, reduces in personal significance. When I was a child, an injury like gravel-rash was a major tragedy. Now, as an adult, I don't like it, but can shrug it off and keep going. I think that the worst human suffering, physical and emotional, is like that from the longer perspective. I know I can survive a fall off my bicycle. I have before. So now, I also know that some part of me will survive even intractable agony that morpheine won't control, and that perhaps I'll be a better person for having gone through the experience.
A contest for Australian writers
New group for writers
Help for authors from Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Fourth bite at Darrell Bain's memoirs
Sharing With Writers newsletter honoured
Short story contest
Closing Date: September 1, 2006
Entry Fee: $5 per entry.
Short Story: Open theme. Limit: 5000 words.
Poetry: Open theme. Limit: 50 lines.
Prizes: Short Story: 1st: $100, 2nd: $50. Poetry: 1st: $100, 2nd: $50.
Conditions of Entry:
AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY WRITERS INC.
SHORT STORY COMPETITION
171 Oxley Flats Road,
Wangaratta, Vic. 3677
Carolyn Howard-JohnsonGet on the Radio--One Way or the Other:
Here is a way you might get a guest spot of your own or just horn in on others' spots and, of course, somehow worm a bit in about your book! You call in to talk to author friends when they appear on talk radio.
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the award-winning THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER: HOW TO DO WHAT YOUR PUBLISHER WON'T, makes this suggestion for her appearance on "Calling All Authors." She will talk to about writing, promotion or even about "This is the Place," set in Utah. You are curious about that place now that "Big Love" is a hit on HBO, aren't you? You can access her spot by going to www.globaltalkradio.com/shows/callingallauthors.
Of course, you can also submit a query for your own appearance or listen to archives to learn more about our industry at www.globaltalkradio.com/shows/callingallauthors.
To query e-mail publisher@nightengalepress.biz. Include your book’s title, ISBN, Price, and 300 words or less synopsis of your book or explanation of your expertise.
The fourth segment of my biography/memoirs is up at www.darrellbain.com. Just click on Memoirs, then the July segment. This installation covers the two very traumatic years between eleven and thirteen years old when I attended either seven or eight different schools in four different states. It concludes with a decision I made at thirteen that changed my life. It wasn't something a thirteen year old boy should have had to decide, but fortunately, I managed it.
Darrell Bain
Author of The Melanin Apocalypse, Savage Survival, Alien Infection, The Focus Factor, Strange Valley, Doggie Biscuit!, Medics Wild!, Hotline To Heaven, The Pet Plague, The Disappearing Girls, Life On Santa Claus Lane, and others.
See all my books at http://www.darrellbain.com/
Bev Walton-Porter, publisher and editor of Scribe and Quill, honored "Sharing with Writers," the newsletter that encourages its author-subscribers to actively participate, by awarding her newsletter's highest honor, a Virtual Quill.
"Sharing with Writers," an entity of Authors' Coalition (http://authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com), includes tips and articles on book promotion, the craft of writing and is a place where authors can brag and in so doing, let other authors know of the resources that worked for them. It is edited by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, the founder of AC.
Howard-Johnson is the author of the acclaimed novel This is the Place and of a collection of creative nonfiction, Harkening, and a chapbook of poetry, Tracings. All explore the corrosive nature of even subtle intolerance. She is also the author of USA Book News' Best Professional Book 2004, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't. Frugal is also the winner of the Book Publicists of Southern California's Irwin award.
Howard-Johnson has also been honored by members of the California Legislature with Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment, by her community with a Character and Ethics Award for her efforts to promote tolerance with her writing and by the Pasadena Weekly for women of achievement.
Scribe and Quill is a regular e-zine published for writers of all experience levels and genres. S&Q will soon be celebrating its tenth year. It boasts over 7,000 e-mail subscribers and 30,000 website visitors each month. Learn more about it at: http://www.scribequill.com/.
What makes a chapter a chapter?
How to start a story
How long should a chapter be? This question often bothers people new to writing a full-length book, even if they have extensive experience in other forms of writing such as journalism. Some editing clients send me books consisting of unbroken text that goes on for 15,000 words, or even much longer. Others adopt a machine-gun approach, sometimes with a series of half- to two-page chapters.
Of course, a lot depends on the intended audience for the book. A non-fiction work may need a chapter to cover a topic in its entirety. For example, the pain control chapter in my book on cancer does take more than 10,000 words, although this is carefully broken up into sections--almost sub-chapters. A book intended for young children needs to take their attention span into consideration.
However, here are my thoughts concerning the average-sized novel, aimed at an adult audience.
Imagine you are writing a serial story, the way Charles Dickens used to. Each week, a magazine publishes your next instalment. When you do your work right, that's what a chapter is like.
A complete story is a chain of chapters. Each leads into the next one in a natural way. But also, ideally each chapter is a unit that can stand on its own. It has an opening, a body and an ending.
The opening, while following on from the story already told, has a hook of its own. It should immediately introduce the person through whose point of view we will perceive the current action.
The body can be a unitary story, or may consist of a number of scenes. However, there should be some sort of a connecting link or theme that ties the whole chapter together. for example, in Sleeper, Awake, each chapter consists of three or four scenes that happen at the same time in different places.
The ending should bring something to a conclusion of some kind, even while leaving other plot lines wide open--so wide that the reader wants to know what happens next.
Length is important. With some exceptions, over-short chapters become choppy. The reader reaches an endpoint before getting properly into the story. The end of a chapter, or section within it, is a natural stopping place. If the reader puts down the book before getting deeply immersed in its contents, she may never come back.
Over-long chapters are worse. It's disaster for you if a person puts the book down in the state of mind 'I am tired of this.' And of course, the kind of person who'll have this reaction is someone who reads slowly, and possibly with some difficulty. This is the reader you need to tailor your chapter length for.
Because of this, a rule of thumb is 1500 to 4500 words, unless there are over-riding considerations.
The best place to start a story is not necessarily at the beginning. For example, suppose you are writing a biography. The beginning then is the protagonist's birth, and it is only natural to describe the family the person is being born into, try and bring all the people to life. In a fictional story, there is a similar temptation to set the scene, giving description and background up front to orient the reader.
Resist the temptation.
The reader has an unvoiced question, one that is not put into words but is there anyway: "Why should I bother to read this?"
So, the person you are writing about was born into such-and-such circumstances. If this is someone famous, OK, I'll probably read on if I am already interested in this person. But even then, a bit of inducement is a good thing.
I was once asked to review a book written by a doctor who'd been to heroin hell and back. His aim, naturally, was to help other addicts. So, being given this preliminary information, I started as a very sympathetic reader. All the same, I never got to the heroin parts, but stopped reading at chapter 3. The reason? Chapter 1 was his picture of his father, very much an outside summary. That is, it was his memory of what his father had been like, back when he was a baby. Chapter 2 was the same for mother. Sigh, hopefully we'll get into it next. So, I skipped mother's minutiae, and started on Chapter 3. This was a summary of elder brother.
I never found out how he became a heroin addict, how he recovered, how he thought he could help other victims. I wish he'd engaged me as an editor instead of sending me the book for review. :)
Your novel may be set in a strange culture, and I won't understand why your characters act the way they do until I appreciate the culture. But why on earth should I bother to do all this preparatory work? Will your characters interest me enough to wade through the preliminaries?
The place to start a story, any story whether fact or fiction, is at an exciting part. Very quickly, you need to introduce a central character in action, facing problems. With a few bold strokes, you need to make me identify with this character, make me understand what the person wants and why, and present obstacles that I would find daunting if they faced me.
Later on, perhaps much later on, you can give background. But leave that out of the opening.
I don't know if she was the author, or only forwarded them, but here are a couple of nice things from my friend Elaine. I couldn't help editing a little, so these are slightly modified. :)
Jim and George were walking
through the desert.
During some point of the
journey they had an
argument and George
slapped Jim
in the face.
Jim was hurt, but without
saying anything,
wrote in the sand:
Today my best friend
slapped me in the face.
They kept on walking,
until they found an oasis,
where they decided
to take a bath.
Jim got stuck in the
mire and started drowning,
but George saved him.
After he recovered from
the near drowning,
Jim carved into a stone:
Today my best friend
saved my life.
George asked him, "After I hurt you,
you wrote in the sand and now,
you write on a stone, why?"
Jim replied,
"When someone hurts us
we should write it down
in sand where winds of
forgiveness can erase it away.
but, when someone does
something good for us,
we must engrave it in stone
where no wind
can ever erase it."
Learn to write
your hurts in
the sand and to
carve your
benefits in stone.
Do not value what
you have in your life, but value
who you have in your life!
In a world of six billion people, it's easy to believe that the only way to initiate profound transformation is to take extreme action. Each of us, however, carries within us the capacity to change the world in small ways for better or worse. Everything we do and think affects the people in our lives, and their reactions in turn affect others. As the effect of a seemingly insignificant word passes from person to person, its impact grows and can become a source of great joy, inspiration, anxiety, or pain. Your thoughts and actions are like stones dropped into still waters, causing ripples to spread and expand as they move outward. The impact you have on the world is greater than you could ever imagine, and the choices you make can have far-reaching consequences. You can use the ripple effect to make a positive difference and spread waves of kindness that will wash over the world.
Should the opportunity arise, the recipient of a good deed will likely feel compelled to do a good deed for someone else. Someone feeling the effects of negative energy will be more likely to pass on that negative energy. One act of charity, one thoughtful deed, or even one positive thought can pass from individual to individual, snowballing until it becomes a group movement or the ray of hope that saves someone's life. Every transformation, just like every ripple, has a point of origin. You must believe in your ability to be that point of origin if you want to use the ripples you create to spread goodness. Consider the effect of your thoughts and actions, and try to act graciously as much as possible.
A smile directed at a stranger, a compliment given to a friend, an attitude of laughter, or a thoughtful gesture can send ripples that spread among your loved ones and associates, out into your community, and finally throughout the world. You have the power to touch the lives of everyone you come into contact with and everyone those people come into contact with. The momentum of your influence will grow as your ripples move onward and outward. One of those ripples could become a tidal wave of love and kindness.
Some of you may have read my essay, in which I am crazy enough to say that money doesn't bring happiness. Well, there is some recent scientific evidence supporting my idiocy.
Daniel Kahneman, Alan Krueger, David Schkade, Norbert Schwarz and Arthur Stone, who hail from a variety of very prestigious research environments including Princeton University, published a report in Science [June 2006, Vol. 312. no. 5782, pp. 1908 - 1910] entitled Would You Be Happier If You Were Richer? A Focusing Illusion.
The article summary states: "The belief that high income is associated with good mood is widespread but mostly illusory. People with above-average income are relatively satisfied with their lives but are barely happier than others in moment-to-moment experience, tend to be more tense, and do not spend more time in particularly enjoyable activities. Moreover, the effect of income on life satisfaction seems to be transient. We argue that people exaggerate the contribution of income to happiness because they focus, in part, on conventional achievements when evaluating their life or the lives of others."
I hope this will liberate you to spend your energies in striving for something more worthwhile. Sure, we all need money in this world. But how much is enough?
The Pilgrim Fathers who founded New England had a custom of standing up from the dinner table before being fully sated. 'Enough' was when they could eat some more, but chose not to. They had a reputation for healthy longevity, a far cry from today's obese population.
The same attitude applies to everything. If you want a contented life, do the following:
1. Separate your needs from your wants. Being able to pay off your mortgage is a reasonable need. Putting something aside for old age is too. But trading in your existing house for one that costs twice as much, just because the current one doesn't go with the status you'd like for yourself, is definitely a want. Aiming to make a million dollars before you retire is a want.
2. Do your best to earn enough money to satisfy your needs, and no more. Of course, it's hard to be exact, near enough will do.
3. You know you have the right income if you can get everything you need, but it's a struggle. Easy come is not appreciated, therefore the satisfaction it gives you is transitory. Something that took a lot of effort and skimping will give you a jolt of pleasure for a long time.
Trekking to Jerusalem: a progress report from Brandon Wilson
Branded by James Choron
Please forgive the long silence. As you may recall, I took off in April on a 3500 mile trek from France to Jerusalem. It approximates the route of the First Crusades. There is one major difference. We are walking this one for peace.
After tracing the canals of France, my friend Georges and I followed the Danube River through the Black Forest of Germany, across the Swabian Plains, through the farms and vineyards of Austria to the historic city of Bratislava. These past two weeks, we've walked the length of Hungary and tomorrow will be entering Serbia.
It has been a fascinating challenge so far with temperatures ranging from 40-90 degrees, with 18 days of consecutive rain, 30 kilometer treks each day, hordes of mosquitoes, mounds of schnitzel, World Cup fever and nearly 2,000 kilometers.
On those days of uncertainty, we've already encountered a fair share of "angels"--people who appear out of nowhere to help us on our journey when we need it most.
The rules will change now as we cross Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey over the next few months. We still hope to arrive in Jerusalem in November on this two-continent adventure.
Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts a sharing a word of encouragement when you have the time.
Once I return, there will certainly be a tale to tell.
Aloha, Brandon
Brandon Wilson is the author of the new Dead Men Don't Leave Tips: Adventures X Africa and the IPPY award-winning Yak Butter Blues: A Tibetan Trek of Faith
Every once in a while I am reminded of something that made an impact on my childhood. Since I am a member of the first "television" generation, often as not this is something related to a television program or character that has become stuck in the recesses of my memory and suddenly, for some unknown reason, been brought back to my consciousness.
Even though it only ran for two seasons, almost all who are old enough remember "Branded". It was a Western series which aired as Jason McCord. Captain McCord is a West Point graduate and officer in the United Stated Cavalry who is the sole survivor of a massacre at Bitter Creek. He is judged to have been a coward in the battle and is dismissed in disgrace because he won't exonerate himself by placing the blame for the disaster where it belongs, on his commanding officer, General Reed, who died in the massacre.
The opening scene of the series was memorable, with McCord's epaulets being ripped off, his uniform having its buttons cut off, and his saber being broken; the bottom half tossed out of the fort gate while a drum played. McCord was then sent out of the gates of the fort where this occurred, which were then closed behind him. This scene was repeated each week as the theme song, which also told the background story, was played so that new viewers could easily be brought in on what had been going on. How many of us who ever heard it can forget the opening lines of the show's title theme?
All but one man died. There sat Bitter Creek And they say he ran away.
"Branded, marked with a coward's shame / What do you do when you're branded / Will you fight for your name?"
That song is still one of the most memorable ever written for a television series. Most of us who heard it remember it in general, some of us still remember the words over forty years later.
The point is plain. Now McCord must wander the West of the 1870s, hoping to establish his innocence but never telling the story of what really happened at Bitter Creek. Some of those he encounters believe him to be a coward, while others find his character beyond such transgressions. It was a promising show with a compelling premise. Unfortunately it did not remain so.
The series followed Connors's highly popular series The Rifleman (1958-1963), but never quite developed the previous show's popularity or success. Still, it consistently built up an audience throughout its first season and was renewed by NBC for a second. People were somehow drawn to notion of a lone man, wronged by those he trusted, fighting for his honor and his good name. However, at the beginning of its second season, the plot abruptly changed. McCord is introduced to "President Grant" (William Bryant) by his father, "General McCord" (John Carradine). Grant then engages McCord to assist in undercover operations for the government. It was this twist in the overall plot, more than anything else, which accounted for the series' decline and eventual cancellation.
The admission that the government knew the truth about the Bitter Creek Massacre, had always known it, but refused to exonerate McCord, struck a discordant note with the American viewing audience. The notion that the government would use McCord and his unenviable situation as a tool for their advantage was repugnant. Viewers wanted to believe that their government would not do such things. But, by this time, the majority of viewers were growing more and more suspicious of American motives and dealings in the then years-long war in Vietnam. Almost on a daily basis they saw parallels that they did not like. They found McCord's acceptance of the fact that he had been betrayed by those accusing him of betrayal and his willingness to help perpetuate the lie that had caused his disgrace to be unbelievable. He was no longer "fighting for his name" or his honor or protecting the "innocent". At this point, the plot, which had been based on the premise of his eventually proving his innocence, ceased to be valid. Viewers simply began turning away. Today the show is not even seen in re-runs or syndication.
What happened to "Branded"? The answer is simple actually. No one need be reminded of government duplicity and cover-ups. No one need be reminded of how governments set-up, frame and use individuals, particularly those in the military. We have ample examples of this, and have had for many years, on the nightly news. It is no longer a question of Captain Jason McCord being so branded it is a question of who will be next.
Regular readers of 'bobbing around' will be looking for Jim's contributions with pleasurable anticipation. This remarkable man is a retired Colonel in the US armed forces, has a Ph.D., and has lived in Russia for many years. I feel honoured that he keeps sending me stories like this one.
I am a founding member of a very successful cooperative venture, http://www.bookswelove.net/. It is run by two enthusiastic ladies, Jude Morris and Maureen Mc Mahon, who put in many hours to promote all the authors within the group. The trick is, all of us donate books, and other prizes are bought as well, and then there are free contests. The way to win is, basically, to visit the web pages of the various authors. This has become a very popular activity for some thousands of people.
For my part, I add a little extra. Anyone who signs my guest book there receives an additional, free short story.
If you received a copy of Bobbing Around and don't want a repeat, it's simple. Drop me a line and I'll drop you from my list.
You may know someone who would enjoy reading my rave. Bobbing Around is being archived at http://mudsmith.net/bobbing.html, or you can forward a copy to your friend. However, you are NOT ALLOWED to pass on parts of the newsletter, without express permission of the article's author and the Editor (hey, the second one is me.)
If you are not a subscriber but want to be, email me. Subject should be 'subscribe Bobbing Around' (it will be if you click the link in this paragraph). In the body, please state your name, email address (get it right!), your country and something about yourself. I also want to know how you found your way to my newsletter. I hope we can become friends.
Contributions are welcome, although I reserve the right to decline anything, or to request changes before acceptance. Welcome are:
Announcements, but note that publication date is neither fixed nor guaranteed;
Brags of achievements that may be of general interest, for example publication of your book;
Poems or very short stories and essays that fit the philosophy and style of Bobbing Around;
Above all, responses to items in past issues. I will not reject or censor such comments, even if I disagree with them.
Submission Guidelines
It is a FALSE RUMOUR that you need to buy one of my books before your submission is accepted. Not that I cry when someone does so.
Above all, contributions should be brief. I may shorten them if necessary.
Content should be non-discriminatory, polite and relevant. Announcements should be 100 to 200 words, shorter if possible. Book reviews, essays and stories should be at the very most 500 words, poems up to 30 lines.
Author bios should be about 50 words, and if possible include a web address.