The anthology, including one of my short stories – Full Moon over Tawi-Tawi, is now available both as an eBook and paperback. Look for it in your local bookshop, or order it from any of the global and regional online retailers, e.g. Amazon UK. Whether you already know and love Southeast Asia, or are curious about this, the most alluring and mysterious part of… Read More
An announcement to my readers around the world!
As this is the season of vacations despite the silly virus, I have made a decision to halt the weekly publishing of chapters from The Influence on my website. This will resume in September and continue until further notice. However, the printed novel will be available for purchase beginning of 2022, in hardcover and soon after that in paperback, with the first 100 hardcover… Read More
Social Media Censoring at its Worst
Would you believe that this old photograph of a Malekula warrior with a penis sheath has been censored by facebook? Allegedly for ‘[going] against our Community Standards on nudity or sexual activity’! Where’s the sexual activity? And does nudity nowadays include other than ‘the naughty bits’? Like feet? Or legs? Or even male nipples? Has facebook been taken over by brainless American evangelicals? Or… Read More
Sex? Yes, please – we’re human!
Any allusion to intimate interaction between consenting adults invariably provokes a reaction. Whether it’s positive or negative is really moot, as numerous brands (and not least their marketing agencies) have discovered to their advantage. Hey – you can sell anything from beer to cars to language courses with a bit of sex. And if it results in the ire of militant feminists or religious… Read More
Hello patriotism, goodbye critical thinking and common sense!
Patriotism is a disturbing concept. Seen as a positive quality in citizens and encouraged by every government since the dawn of mankind: your absolute love for the country where you happened to be born or grow up in; your absurd pride in it; your willingness to defend it with your life; your firm belief that it is the best country in the world; your… Read More
If it ain’t homemade it just ain’t good nuff!
Tried out my new manual sausage stuffer today while enjoying early Velvet Underground. Pure inspiration, listening to Lou Reed as he’s waiting for the man. And Nico, croaking about all tomorrow’s parties. The mix today was pork (shh, don’t tell Jakim or they’ll want to raid the place) and green apples, gently seasoned with sage, thyme, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and soaked in cider.… Read More
What’s in a word?
Kill, murder, maim, torture, decapitate, garrotte, execute, hang, eviscerate, strangle… What do these words have in common? No, it’s not what you’re thinking! They are all perfectly acceptable in any country in the world, in any media, even allowed on BBC before their self-imposed watershed. Yet they all conjure up unpleasant images of ways to kill and inflict pain on another human being. Our… Read More
Send in the clowns
Over millennia, this planet has seen the rise and fall of countless self-proclaimed leaders. Most of them forgotten by now, the rest of them rightly deserving our scorn and jokes. A few visionaries and idealists amongst them failed miserably and faded away with barely a footnote in history. The others – the infamous ones, the usual tyrants, incompetents and outright lunatics have always done… Read More
My god is mightier than yours
Undoubtedly, the best accomplishment that modern democracy has ever achieved was to firmly separate state and religion. Without persecution of religious minorities and most importantly – no preferential treatment for state servants regardless of their beliefs or lack thereof. It sounds splendid in theory, doesn’t it? Pity it doesn’t work in real life. Let me expound on that: To begin with, let’s evaluate that… Read More
The Influence: A Very Unpleasant Man
Back in KL, the third instalment sees Alex having to deal with some inquisitive and anything but friendly people. Meanwhile, in her search for answers, Kris discovers rumours about a legendary Pacific artefact, centuries old, and learns of the ruthlessness of unscrupulous individuals intent on finding and possessing it. Unwittingly, she gets Alex and herself started on a journey from which they may never… Read More