Books for a Better World

Being a writer I have to be careful not to annoy anyone who might help sell my book once it is published. Being a reader I can not help being frustrated by the way a certain online bookseller does its business.

Last year I heard that publishers were being manipulated by this bookseller in the same way large supermarkets treat our farmers. Margins were being squeezed so tight the profit was turning from black to red. One publisher stood their ground and refused to reduce their rates. The consequence was the seller removed the BUY NEW button from their site, denying the publisher the sale.

I was enraged and vowed to use my library more and only buy books from the High Street.

Last week I was looking for a book called The Hidden History of Glasgow's Women by the eminent Elspeth King. I tried the Mitchell Library first but they only had a copy in a secured shelf. I would have to locker my bag and sit in a secure room to read it. No good. They could order it for me, but I might have to wait a while.

Being of an impatient nature I tried both the large High Street bookstores. Despite the shelves heaving with 3 for 2 offers of American and UK easy Lit I found no joy when looking for this influential piece of Glasgow history.

I had no option but to turn to my old pals the second hand online seller ABE Books. This reliable portal site puts the shopper in touch with many seller across the country.

But each time I use this option I am faced with a dilemma. The poor old publisher and author still miss out on the sale but the recycling aspect of it appeals. This time the seller I found gave me added bonuses.

Bonus One. They were based in Dunfermline, my home town. Income for the Fifers!

Bonus Two. They are called Better World Books, an organisation that helps literacy across the world and saves books from landfill sites.

Bonus Three. I found two books I was looking for at a low price and they arrived on my doorstep within two working days of being ordered.

The result.

A Better World 3 - Greed 0

Rant

Be Nice

Some B*****d has hijacked my email. I was first alerted to this yesterday by a friend and am still trying to resolve the problem with Google.

What amazes me is the various reactions to the spam blast that was sent out from my mail. Most people are concerned and let me know, while others send nasty requests for me not to send such mails to them ever again. Why oh why do people find it so easy to be nasty on email.

Come on guys; let’s be civil to each other out there in cyber space. It wasn’t my fault, honest.


TV and Newspaper reports

I was fed up with the BBC coverage of the lead up to the Olympics. They appeared to be obsessed with the pollution in Bejing, but I was appalled my Kirsty Wark’s biased discussion about the opening ceremony on Newsnight on Friday. The report stressed that there was no reference to Mao in the celebrations and that China seems to have conveniently forgotten its past. When a young Chinese guy in the studio tried to point out that London would probably not dwell on slavery, colonialism and Northern Ireland when their time came, he was dismissed and the debate was handed back to a North American journalist who rubbished the whole games. This happened several times during the debate, was blatant and embarrassing to watch.

Kirsty was not finished, she then went on deliver another bias report on the situation on Georgia, leaving the interviewee visibly bemused by her slanted attitude. I don’t know the full story of this dispute because she was too busy trying to score anti Russian points to allow the story to emerge. I only watched Newsnight becasue it followed QI and I thought it might have shown highlights of the opening ceromany. I will remember to switch off in future.

I gave up reading newspapers a long time ago because their biased views and reports are dictated by the fat cats that own them.

They say their reports are in the public interest, but the public I speak to are sick of it.

I read the Metro which gives the facts; that after all is what I am looking for, not hidden agendas. The rest I can pick off the internet.

Phew, I feel better now.

Money makes me mad

If only we could blow Grand Lisboa Casino into the South China Sea

Fifty First Timer No.20
Gamble in a casino

One ambition I have held for years has been to visit a casino and place a bet. Where better to achieve this ambition than in that world famous gambling paradise Macau. This former Portuguese trading port is an hour’s ferry trip from Hong Kong and was high on my lists of ‘must visits’.

We caught the ferry from the exotically named China Ferry Terminal in Kowloon. This Sunday morning the streets of Kowloon were almost deserted, but for a few stragglers all heading in the same direction as we were. The terminal lives up to its name; it is possible to travel from there to over fifteen different destinations in mainland China. The Macau ferry has frequent sailings but the cheap seats on the next ferry that Sunday morning were taken, so we couldn’t leave for another hour. Starbucks is quite a good place for breakfast though!

Macau was hot, hotter than Hong Kong and because the ferry disembarks a good half hour walk from the main thoroughfare, our tempers were beginning to fray by the time we reached town. This wasn’t helped by the walk through Fisherman’s Warf, a tourist amusement park, the epicentre of which boasts a fake mountain which looks more Utah than Pearl River.

The walk took us past vast concrete and glass creations; the hotels and casino of this Chinese Special Administrative Region. Our guide book led us on a walking tour mobbed with tourists, so we ditched the tour and wandered the quite side streets. I marvelled at the incense burning in almost every doorway, if shrines could not be bought a drain pipe would suffice as a suitable alter. Throughout my journeys in this area I was struck by the arrogance of past colonialism and their suppression of individuals’ rites to worship as they please. I am glad that Bhudda is still strong in the Macauan’s hearts and is pushing forth among the cathedrals and churches and casinos of those other religions.

The heat was intensive and a beer was soon required, but not forthcoming. Even back among the Starbucks, McDonald's and Haagen Dazs, we found no Carlsberg. Then I spotted a young man in an upstairs window that over looked the square supping a beer. There!

We found the door way to café E.S. KIMO round the corner in a crowded market street. Beers taste so much better when you have been deprived. We also ate a Korean Egg sandwich (an omelette on white bread) and a fresh fruit salad which we were appalled to notice was drizzled with Heinz Salad Cream but it tasted rather good.

The biggest and most vulgar casino in Macau is Grand Lisboa Casino. This gold monstrosity rises up like an Imperial standard at the edge of cowering colonial streets and hails the start of the casino studded highway back to the ferry terminal.

Before we could enter the casino we were subjected to a bag search and a pass through an airport security screen. We were then thrown into a hall crammed with tables of baccarat and poker and roulette. The back of the hall beckoned, with flaunting bauble and bells, the fruit machines sang.

Shiny escalators floated us to higher floors where the stakes rose with the altitude. I could see on the seventh floor a high stakes area, cordoned off, admittance by invitation only. Most of the gamblers were middle age, Chinese men, although a high proportion were haggles of young women. Smoke and expensive perfume choked the air and made me gag or maybe that was caused by my disgust at the indiscriminate waste.

I gaped as one man threw a thick bundle of Yuan onto the table and then shrug as it was scraped into the sealed cache of the croupier. Why had I felt so guilty in China, languishing in my expensive hotel in Guangzhou? At least I was giving something back in terms of tourist revenue. This debauchery was indecent.

I had lost my taste for gambling but I was there, so with my grubby twenty Hong Kong dollar note in hand, I perched at a fruit machine and did what I had to do; loose it in three presses of a button.

I would now like to visit a Glasgow casino for comparison, but I can be certain I will never be in danger of becoming an addict; I am too canny for that.


Just Read
Chinua Achebe, Home and Exile

I have only recently discovered Chinua Achebe and am now a fan. A couple of months ago I read the excellent Arrows of God a novel based around the nineteen twenties. Home and Exile is a non fiction essay originating from a series of the lectures given at Harvard University. I bought the book thinking it was an autobiography. It isn’t, although there are a number of pleasing autobiographical anecdotes.

I was delighted to find that Home and Exile examines African literature and argues that African literature should only be written by Africans. He cites the African writing of the past, written by Europeans, as distorting the perception of the continent and portraying the African as primitive, heathen and stupid.

It was quite a shock to read his comments because I am currently writing a novel with an African character and although I do not presume to describe her homeland or her upbringing, Achebe’s comments have made me rethink my approach.

Storm tossed

Toscaig Harbour

The wild weather has given me the perfect excuse to stoke up the fire, coorie-in and settle down to some serious writing after the mad festive holiday. Today a finished a story, oringinally called The Pier and inspired by the pier in the photo.


Central Scotland has been blasted by storms over the past week and thankfully there is only slight damage outside, although I did loose most of my wee cabbage seedling when the frame they were sheltering caught a gust in the night.

This is also the perfect time for booking holidays and I managed to work a fifty first into this activity this year.


Fifty First Timer No.2

Spend my BA Airmiles

In the bad old days when I worked for Shell I managed, through work, to accumulate thousands of airmiles which I have never spent. One of my tasks for this year was to spend them.

I know I am always blabbing on about the environment and how we should all reduce our carbon footprint. And I know that air travel is the worst possible contributor but after all the grief I had traveling the world to earn the airmiles (often, I felt unnecessarily so), it would be such a waste not to use them. And, I know this is a bit of a cop-out but I do have some tree planting on my list for this year too.

Also I feel there is unfair guilt put on poor old Mr. and Mrs. Public because they burn up the atmosphere using cheap airlines whilst trying to experience a small part of this wonderful world. Instead the government and media should look at business travel. They would find a huge number of trips made for no other reason that to ensure the traveler reaches his/her gold card points quota for the year.

Oh well, there really is no excuse for me, is there? Except to say I am human too, and I never yet managed to earn that gold card, I preferred to stay at home.

After all that I am really excited to be going to Hong Kong - for three weeks! I can only image the number of first time experiences I will be able to fit into that trip.


Just Read - His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman





These three books have languished in my bookcase for years, taunting me with their reputation. When the film The Golden Compass was released in this country it was just the push I needed to devour these books one after the other.

The story, set in many parallel universes, tells the story of Lyra a young girl with a destiny. In her world everyone has a dæmon in the form of an animal. These dæmon’s are what we would probably recognize as our soul or inner reason.

In the first of the trilogy Northern Lights Lyra goes to the far North, armed only with a compass like device, to rescue stolen children. During her mission she is hunted by the Church and Mrs Coulter, and hindered by her guardian, Lord Asriel. But she is helped by Gyptians, an armored bear, witches and a Texan balloonist.

The Subtle Knife is the second book of the trilogy and finds Lyra in another world where she teams up with Will, a boy from our world, who is in search of his father. This time they encounter the same old enemies including some new ones in the form of Spectre and orphaned children. But they also enlist the help of a scientist, Doctor Mary Malone. And of course they have the knife to help them cut through into new worlds

The third and final book The Amber Spyglass, introduces the reader to yet more new worlds, as well as slipping in and out of the old ones. It also continues to build on all the old characters, who are now familiar, as well as developing new, strange creatures who move on wheels.

This book meets with some controversy because it seems to attack Christianity and it is aimed at young adults. On the first point I feel that the book throws up loads of questions for debate, but it also allows me as a reader to think hard about what religion means. At no time during the reading did I feel I was being preached to. In my opinion any book that makes me think deeper than the actual text is the mark of a classic.

Unlike the Harry Potter books, ‘His Dark Materials’ never felt like a children’s book. It worked for me on all levels.

It is a fantastic read and my copies have now returned to languish in the book shelve until I read them again.

Reads and Rants

Another troublesome bear - Rupert

Gillian Gibbons
Thank goodness sense has prevailed and the Sudanese Government have released the British schoolteacher jailed there last week for insulting Islam. This charge has been recognised as an over reaction and the Government have granted Mrs Gibbons a full pardon. How easy small mistakes can be exploded into life threatening situation.


Is voluntary work a luxury for the well off? £££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££££

I have recently agreed to become the sub editor of a mountaineering magazine based in Scotland. The post is voluntary but because I have been associated with the magazine’s governing body for fifteen years I felt that I should give something back to them. But my main motivation for offering my services is that I felt I would learn about publishing and the position would, somehow, legitimise my decision to give up the day job and be a full time writer.

A friend of mine told me that some media organisations in London pay young graduates meagre salaries to work their way up in their particular field of interest. The graduates can do this underpaid work because they are supported by family money, trust funds and annuities. This practice limits the number of jobs for hard workers, struggling to carve a career in the same area. She argued this practice is creating an unfair advantage for people with higher incomes than others?

I don’t personally agree with that argument. I have not always been able to afford to take on such a large chunk of voluntary work, but I always tried to help organisations I've been involved in, even contributing a small amount of help.

One philosophy I have stuck to all my life is that if an opportunity comes my way, no matter how large or how small I grab it.

The world is full of people with more money than me, but the world is also full of people more talented than me, funnier them me, prettier than me. This list could end up quite large so I’ll end it now - you get the message. But there are also a ton of people who have not seized the opportunities presented to them because they are too busy moaning about not having choices.
The world is full of unfairness, but many people in the western world sit back and allow rich opportunities, even some large ones, pass by them everyday.

‘seize the moment try to freeze it and own it, squeeze it and hold it’ Eminem

Just Read

The Cure for Death by Lightning by Gail Anderson

This book was recommended to me by a Canadian lady and at the time when I search for it in Amazon I found it was only available from http:www.amazon.com . I ordered the book and then realised that ordering most books from the US was cheaper than buying through http:www.amazon.co.uk – not a good deal for the environment is it?

The novel tells the story of fifteen year old living on a farm near a Native American reservation. The area is terrorised by a daemon who invades bodies and turns the weak willed into evil beings. I believe that this theme is a metaphor for the girl to rationalise the abuse she suffers at that hands of her disturbed father and to help her deal with the ill treatment dished out to herself and her family by the community.

The focus for the action is a wood, a setting the author skilfully uses to create the menacing mood that percolates through the whole story. The characters were neither good nor evil but have extreme elements of both. The author show great sensitivity and compassion when dealing with the girl’s confusion over her awakening sexuality.

My one criticism of the novel is the use of repetition for certain pieces of information. Whether this is intended or not I found it distracting.