The Jade Buddha

It is Hong Kong in the nineteen eighties.
The British Crown Colony is on the verge of reverting to Chinese rule. Life is hectic but tentative; there are fears for the future.

The governments of Hong Kong and the United Kingdom are doing all they can to calm local nerves while at the same time pressing Beijing’s rulers to the north for assurances that the rule of law will be maintained.

Beneath the surface other forces are at work; criminal forces dating back centuries but still very much alive. There is a triad war, a war where the winner will amass great power.

Some triad gangs are opportunistic small time pimps and extortionists. Others are extremely well organised and control exceptionally high-value narcotics and other illicit business interests. And they are notoriously brutal to their enemies.

The agencies of law enforcement are involved not just in Hong Kong but across the globe. So too is Simon Garrett; unintentionally but intimately involved. Where not only his life is at stake but others who are dear to him. Their futures are being controlled by a shadowy gangster who will stop at nothing to get what he wants; a green jade Buddha of immense symbolic power.

The Shī fu.

Books Go Social Authors' Group

I have recently joined this group and find it very interesting.

TheGoodReadWipe

TheGoodReadWipe (http://amzn.to/12jKboD) – TheGoodReadWipe purports to be a brief history of LIT-TISSUE. Fred Nurk came up with the idea of printing books on toilet paper. It was a massive success – but unfortunately there was an equally massive downside to the venture. Of course it is fiction but maybe someone will try it.

The Feathers

The Feathers (http://amzn.to/199AsSM)–A serial killer known as The Feathers is terrorizing London – but not the normal serial killer (if there is such an animal). This murderer is experimenting – just how long can he control his victims, torturing them in the most unusual way, before they die? He is getting better with the feathers each time – but that does not mean he will stop. Detective Inspector David Maguire and his partner are on the trail of the killer but it is a trail that has baffled them from the start – what is the killer trying to prove? What is his aim? At the same time investigative reporter Zach Tighe is following the story closely – perhaps a little too closely – and is proving to be far from helpful.

Keepers of The Deep

Keepers of The Deep  (http://amzn.to/YzM0xg) – Nikko is happily playing in the backyard of his home when a giant bird swoops down and clasps him firmly in its talons and soars back into the sky leaving his mother desperately crying behind. And so begins an incredible adventure for Nikko in a fantastical land where the Leaf Children live in trees with magical musical leaves, where the Drongs wage wars against them, where the beautiful Gabrysia is captured, and where Nikko and his new friends must go to the Dead Place in a bid to rescue her. Keepers of The Deep is a story of wonder, of friendship, of trust.

The Catskinner

The Catskinner (http://amzn.to/15VN1Vn ) – A political event that had one of the world's most important but fragile territories facing a threat from within that could upset the balance of power around the globe. Set in Hong Kong during the time of the tense negotiations for the reversion of the territory's sovereignty from Britain to China in the 1980s, The Catskinner accurately portrays the anxiety of the people, the intrigue behind the political manoeuvrings, the vibrancy and splendour of one of the world's great cities. It is also a pulsating thriller involving a killer bent on setting in train a series of devastating events that threaten to shift the path of Hong Kong history forever, challenging regional and world security - awakening the beast in the dragon - and a newspaper reporter who stumbles on the story - and then finds himself not just reporting it but becoming a deadly part of it.

General

While my principal interest is literature I am hoping that this post will be wide ranging and open to comments on pretty well any subject that interests readers.

Print vs e

From Bookmasters -- http://www.bookmasters.com/ 

Print book vs. eBook, that one question on our Facebook fan page led me to roam the halls of Bookmasters, and crawl every forum and article written on the subject to find the answer. Who is the winner of this fight of the century? After hours of research and holding one hardcover book in one hand and an eReader in the other here are the results.

Some reasons people prefer eBooks:

• Storage – People can store hundreds, even thousands, of books within one device.
• Ease of purchase – Buying an eBook is just a click away.
• Portability – The worst thing is finishing a book on vacation and not having the next book to start.
• Price – The price of an eBook is usually less than a print book.
• Purchasing Options – A person can find an eBook at almost 80 different online outlets.

What it comes down to is accessibility across the board. It’s a cure for the “right here, right now” syndrome that people can experience when buying new things. The books are available for purchase and reading at any time and any place (battery permitting).
Some reasons people prefer print books:

• Tangibility – They get a tangible item for their money.
• Accomplishment – They feel more accomplished when the mass of the book moves from the right side to the left and they know they are almost done.
• Library – Some people like to have a library of books to select from.
• Aroma – Some people like the smell.
• DIY – One person has said she couldn’t use a stack of eBooks to prop up her couch if the leg fell off.

In all seriousness some people just prefer the print book because that’s what reading is about to them. Reading is going to the bookstore and browsing through hundreds, maybe thousands, of books to find the right one.  Then after finding the right book, taking it home and sitting down to escape life just for a moment. It’s about going to the bookshelf to pick out a book that may have been forgotten for some time. Some people think it is about age demographic and everything might change, but for now print books are here in force. All-in-all, it’s not something you can explain in full detail, but rather it’s something felt and expressed by avid book readers everywhere.
For The Publisher
The decision to print your book, release only as eBook, or do both, is a decision that is made early on in the process.  However, due to industry changes, it’s one that can be changed later in the process. Printing a book used to mean printing a large quantity and hope that everything sold, but since the very first eBook ISBN was released, printing companies began to change their ways. Print on Demand, or POD, is the new phrase that is teamed up with the conversation on eBooks. Why POD? The statistics all show that eBook sales are flying through the roof, but forums and our own Bookmasters Facebook page show that people still want to feel the real book in their hands. That leads us to POD. Printing a small quantity leaves room in the budget to convert to an eBook and when the eBook penetrates the market, it brings exposure for the print book as well. If the book starts to fly off the shelves, it’s possible to print a more substantial quantity of books to meet demand.
Is print book vs. eBook the fight of the century? Or maybe the best tag team wresting match to hit the book industry?

The Jade Buddha

My latest book, The Jade Buddha, has just bee launched in paperback and hardcover.
You can find it at Amazon http://amzn.to/294G7T1 or Waterstones http://bit.ly/29mX92z or Barnes & Noble http://bit.ly/29dVoFk.
My other books - The Catskinner, Keepers of The Deep, The Feathers, and TheGoodReadWipe are all available on Amazon as well.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog.
I will try to keep this interesting as I progress.
Having said that, comments (helpful or otherwise) will always be welcome.