March 31 2014: SOMETHING ELSE TO WATCH OVER US (or do I mean watch us?)—AN AUTONOMOUS AIRSHIP THAT IS ON ITS WAY TO BEING A SATELLITE (only isn’t)

The government must give proper weight to both keeping America safe from terrorists and protecting Americans' privacy. But when Americans lack the most basic information about our domestic surveillance programs, they have no way of knowing whether we're getting that balance right. This lack of transparency is a big problem.

Al Franken

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Yes, I admit it. I’m fascinated by airships—and here is another one for us to admire.

Designed for high altitude observation, security, telecommunications, broadcasting and navigation, the StratoBus will be 70 to 100 meters long (230 to 328 ft), and 20 to 30 meters (66 to 98 ft) in width. Its envelope will be made mainly of UV-resistant woven carbon fiber, and its two fuel cell-powered prop motors will allow it to maintain its position, even when subjected to winds blowing at up to 90 km/h (56 mph). It's a planned autonomous airship that can be launched like a regular blimp, but that will be able to hover at an altitude of 20 km (12 miles). It is being developed by Thales Alenia Space.

But why not use a satellite? Well, satellites are horrifically expensive to launch into space ($10,000 a pound according to NASA)—and if something goes wrong—near impossible to repair at any reasonable cost. In contrast, the StratoBus can land itself and be repaired down here on earth by your local handyman (possibly a slight exaggeration)—and it will do all this without a crew so it will be relatively inexpensive to operate. Lifespan—about five years. Cost? No information as yet.

Here are a few more details from gizmag.com

The fuel cell will be located in its nacelle (the bottom part, that sits where the gondola would be on a manned airship), along with an electrolyzer for obtaining hydrogen from an onboard water supply, plus its communications and other electronics. Different nacelles will be swapped on and off of one airship body between missions, as each one will be specially outfitted for its intended purpose. Payloads of up to 200 lb (91 kg) will be possible.

The electrolyzer will be solar-powered. Sunlight will stream into the airship's "balloon" through a transparent section of the envelope, then reflect off an internal concentrating mirror, and onto a row of solar panels. That section will be able to stay aligned with the sun, as the balloon will rotate relative to the rest of the vehicle.

Ingenious! You know we humans screw up in a myriad of ways—but, at our best, we are impressive.

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March 30 2014: HOW LARGE—AND HOW CAPABLE—SHOULD AN E-READER (OR TABLET) BE?

“Lovers of print are simply confusing the plate for the food.”
Douglas Adams

“It seems to me that anyone whose library consists of a Kindle lying on a table is some sort of bloodless nerd.”
Penelope Lively

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I have great faith that e-readers and tablets are going to improve dramatically—and that such improvements will further advance the popularity of e-books. I just hope they don’t wipe out printed books completely—and, frankly, I don’t think they will.

Where paper handling in business is concerned, that is another matter. Here, I think it will probably be a good thing if we really do come close to a paperless office.

In that spirit, Sony are introducing a 13.3” e-reader to the U.S. in May. It will cost you only a modest $1, 100.  Its designation is Sony Reader DPT-S1. It’s hardware specs are impressive.

The Digital Reader comments as follows:

In addition to Wifi, a touchscreen, stylus, 2.8GB Flash storage, and a microSD card slot, the DPT-S1 has a 13.3″ Mobius screen, with a screen resolution of 1,600 x 1,200. E-ink announced this flexible plastic-backed screen tech last year, and while it has shown up on a couple smartwatches and smartphone cases, the DPT-S1 is the first product to use the screen (the Earl back country tablet should ship with a 6″ version later this year).

Thanks to the new screen tech, the DPT-S1 is both lighter and more durable than most of its brethren. It weighs in at 358 grams, less than many tablets. This writing slate also has 2 touchscreens, one (optical) designed to work with touch and the other (active digitizer) intended to work with the stylus.

And now for the bad news.

It only supports viewing, editing, and managing PDFs, but no other formats.

Just to give you an idea of how limited it is, the DPT-S1 doesn’t even have an email client. And no, you can’t install apps and add abilities.

Worth having nonetheless? In a business environment—where PDFs are pretty much a standard—possibly yes. But, scarcely a mass market consumer item. Nonetheless, such thin, light, flexible, plastic-backed, screens—in color, even higher resolutions, and in different sizes—are likely to be significant in the future.

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IF YOU ARE A WRITER, OR A BOOK PERSON, LET ME RECOMMEND BOOKMARKETINGBUZZEBLOG by Brian Feinbloom. An extract:

“If we look at the bestselling hardcover books for all of 2013, Inferno by Dan Brown (fiction), topped the lists with 1.7 million copies sold. Bill O’Reilly had the top non-fiction hardcover book- Killing Jesus- with 1.5 million copies. 18 hardcover books sold 500,000+ copies- split evenly amongst fiction and non-fiction.

Regardless of format, Americans are buying more units of books than ever before. This is something to celebrate- whether you like fiction or non-fiction, print or e-book.”

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March 29 2014: WHY DO WE BUILD THE WAY WE DO WHEN SHIGERU BAN SHOWS WE DON’T HAVE TO? THE MAN HAS A FRESH EYE WHERE CONSTRUCTION IS CONCERNED AND EVEN USES PAPER TUBES STRUCTURALLY. DAMN OUR IGNORANCE—THEY WORK

Every great architect is - necessarily - a great poet. He must be a great original interpreter of his time, his day, his age.

Frank Lloyd Wright

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The remarkable Japanese architect, Shigero Ban, has just won the Pritzker Prize for architecture. The following is a brief extract from a New York Times article:

He is different from many previous Pritzker winners in having focused on projects for those who haven’t had the voice to ask for them: insisting that architecture reclaim its historic role as a purveyor of not just wonder and beauty but also social change. Architecture matters, Mr. Ban’s work insists. And it should.

In the process of pioneering construction with paper tubes, among other novel materials, he has extended the definition of temporary architecture and the uses of recycled, off-the-shelf, environmentally friendly materials before many others were thinking along these lines. What used to be unusual is now mainstream. Several years ago, Mr. Ban told me about the paper-tube houses: “A concrete-and-steel building can be temporary. It can be taken down or destroyed by an earthquake. But paper can last. It’s a question of love. If a building is loved, it becomes permanent.”

Last week, when we met in New York, he downloaded photographs of homes he made out of shipping containers for victims of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in 2011, leveling the town of Onagawa. Cheerful, stacked in checkerboard patterns on a disused baseball field around mini-squares where markets and concerts could be organized, the temporary containers have become so popular that some families don’t want to leave them, he said.

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REMARKABLE VIZUALIZATION OF THE U.S. ECONOMY

CATHERINE MULBRANDON www.visualizingeconomics.com

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March 28 2014: CREATIVITY & INTUITION—MORE POWERFUL THAN INTELLECT?

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

Steve Jobs

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 I set out to change my life—and my way of working—quite significantly in 2010, and allocated five years to the task. I allowed that long because I knew that dealing with the habits and demons of a lifetime would be difficult in the extreme, and that I would need the time to fail, to recover, and to try again.

Why this need to change? Well, there were rational reasons, of course, but the main driving force was—and remains—my intuition. On the face of it, much of what I have done—or haven’t done—makes no sense if judged by conventional norms, yet I have rarely felt happier or more enriched.

Have I succeeded in all my aims? No—and I doubt I will be entirely successful—but I still have 14 months to go, and what I have achieved so far is encouraging. Besides, the effort, in itself, is rewarding.

What will I do at the end of this five years? I hope I have the good sense to raise the bar. If life is nothing else—it is a work in progress.

And I love to work.

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WELL WORTH READING WHERE CREATIVITY IS CONCERNED

THE CREATIVE ECONOMY: HOW PEOPLE MAKE MONEY FROM IDEAS

By John Hawkens

The creative economy is based on a new way of thinking and doing. The primary inputs are our individual talent or skill. These inputs may be familiar of novel; what is more important is that our creativity transforms them in novel ways. The heartlands are art, culture, design, and innovation.

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March 27 2014: NOT MANY AMERICANS SEEM TO KNOW THIS—BUT THE FRENCH ARE REMARKABLE ENGINEERS—A RECENT INNOVATION IS A SUSTAINABLE HOUSE YOU CAN BUILD WITH A SCREWDRIVER IN FOUR DAYS

Somehow, the French got this idea of the starving artist. Very romantic, except it's not so romantic for the starving artist.

David Lynch

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I grew up in big old houses with well-proportioned rooms, no central heating, no TV, and servants. At one stage we had a butler, two maids, a house-boy, and a full-time gardener—which was excessive even in those days. The butler had little to do except open the door and clean the silver. 

Living in large, drafty homes was something of an Anglo-Irish tradition—the size of your dwelling announcing your status to one and all—but I eventually came to the conclusion that I would prefer somewhere small, warm and cozy—and without a retinue to cook and clean on my behalf.

Just as well given the occupation I opted for. Subject to rare exceptions, writers rarely do more than eke out a living. But writing compensates wonderfully in other ways—and is endlessly satisfying. And through it, I have been able to live a rich, full, adventurous life.

That eventually led me to a tiny thatched cottage in West Waterford, Ireland—which was certainly warm and cozy if my wonderful Jotul wood stove was going—but which was otherwise freezing since it been built from the crudest local materials, had no insulation, and let in the wind if it blew from the wrong direction (and Ireland is not renowned for its balmy heat at the best of times). Nonetheless, I loved the place and the area—and wrote most of my first book, GAMES OF THE HANGMAN, while living there.

It was also a singularly romantic environment—a fact I put to good use.

Besotted though I was with the cottage—it broke my heart when I had to leave—I was not blind to the place’s faults; and gave considerable thought to the kind of dwelling I’d like to live in if starting from scratch.

The French Pop-Up House is a candidate. This is what the www.Gizmag.com piece says about it.

French architectural firm Multipod Studio recently unveiled a new sustainable house prototype that's lightweight, recyclable, and promises to be an inexpensive purchase and extremely efficient to run. The suitably-named Pop-Up House also boasts another notable selling-point: all that's required to assemble it is four day's patience and a standard electric screwdriver.

Pop-Up House measures a total of 150 sq m (1,614 sq ft), and the interior features a large combined open space that contains kitchen, dining and living room areas. Elsewhere in the home are two bathrooms, a master bedroom, two additional bedrooms, an office, and a terrace.

The structure is simple to build and comprises a spruce wood frame, laminate veneer wooden floor, and expanded polystyrene insulation blocks, and everything is held together using wood screws. Indeed, Multipod Studio states that no prior construction experience is necessary for assembly, likening the process to building with Lego.

Thanks to Pop-Up House's excellent insulation and airtight thermal envelope, no heating is necessary for the home, or at least, not while it is located in the generally balmy South of France. However, since it meets the very exacting Passivhaus energy standard, Pop-Up House is certain to be very efficient to heat, even in chillier climes.

At present, Pop-Up House is still in the prototype stage, so finer details on the home are lacking. A preliminary price is available though, and the home will set you back €30,000 (roughly US$41,000), which includes labor, but doesn't include finishing touches like waterproofing, electricity, and plumbing.

Can they really make that price? Exciting if they can. Frankly, it’s about time more was done to:

• Bring house prices down.
• Dramatically improve energy efficiency.
• Eliminate homelessness.

Currently, property is a key component of the financialization that has taken such a grip on this economy—with lamentable results.

There has to be a better way.

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 ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING INTERNET RETAILER

Everything you didn’t know you needed, but now can’t do without. Practical, ingenious, well designed, fairly priced, beautifully displayed, quality products. Need a gift, or want to spoil yourself—head for…

THE GROMMET www.thegrommet.com

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March 26 2014: WHAT IS THE MOST PLEASURABLE ASPECT OF WRITING?

"To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it's about, but the inner music that words make."

Truman Capote

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You know my own question—sparked off by the above Truman Capote quote—has stopped me in my tracks. By nature, I tend to be intellectually curious, observant, and relentlessly analytical—pleasant enough, nonetheless—but somehow I don’t seem to have thought through the reasons underlying my passion for writing.

Instead, I seem to have fallen in love at an early age—and to still be in love all these decades later—and love, while a wonderful thing, is never rational. In fact, if it’s possible, my passion for the wonders of the written word has increased. I’m now confident that this is a relationship I will maintain with great joy until death. Mind you, ours is a shared relationship, somewhat akin to having a mistress, but I’m a tolerant European, so what can I say! What counts is that it works for both of us. Our chemistry is right.

I really don’t know what aspect of writing I like best because my approach to the process has always been holistic. Many people tend to assume that research oriented thriller writers like myself enjoy the research aspect most—and regard the actual writing as something of a slog. Some do, in fact, feel that way.

Not so, in my case. Yes, I do enjoy the research aspect greatly. It’s a chance to meet the most interesting people, ask anyone anything (you would be amazed at what we authors can get away with) travel the world, and experience the arcane, the dangerous, and the delightful—all in pursuit of a good story. The Knights of The Round Table were rarely so lucky. But exhilarating through the research phase is—nothing, but nothing, compares to the extraordinary satisfaction and pleasure I experience from the actual writing itself.

The challenge is the essence of it all. It is diabolically hard to convey the endless complexities of the human condition with clarity, ease and humor—let alone create a good story. When it works, it’s magic.

Does that come from anticipating fame, fortune, and the respect of my peers? Not so. I’m not interested in fame—except insofar as it helps me to sell books. I would be naïve indeed if I expected a fortune from this line of work. And as for the respect of my peers, though I certainly value that—I am realistic enough to know that more than a few think I should get a proper job, and others (including members of my own family) have absolutely no idea of what drives me so—and disapprove.

Yet it’s a truth hidden in plain sight. It’s not just the wonder of having the hard-won ability to turn thought into the written word in such a fashion that it can touch the lives—albeit in some small way—of millions. The greatest pleasure lies in actually doing it.

Writing is its own reward—and there is no finer one. But, I’m willing to share!

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LET ME RECOMMEND AN AUTHOR

I love the pioneering aspect of flying—and at one stage did a lot of small plane flying—frequently with fairly crazy people involved. In that spirit, I hold authors who write about flying in especially high regard. One of my favorites remains ERNEST K. GANN. Look him up. You won’t be disappointed.

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MARCH 25 2014: FROM A DISTANCE, AIRSHIPS TEND TO LOOK SIMILAR. DON’T BE FOOLED. VARIOUS VERY DIFFERENT APPROACHES ARE BEING TRIED.

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? "

Albert Einstein

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Airships—like teenagers—tend to be misunderstood. Damned if I know why I introduced teenagers into this piece. Sometimes this writing business leads one into unexpected directions.

Skip the next bit if you know about airships.

Traditionally, they break down into blimps and dirigibles. A blimp is a sort of giant sealed condom filled with lighter than air helium gas. It keeps its shape because the gas is at overpressure. It has no (or minimal) internal structure. The Goodyear airship/blimp is probably the best known example.

A dirigible is a giant sealed condom with an internal frame. The frame increases the weight, but allows a tail, engines and other bits and pieces to be tacked on. Zepelins were dirigibles. The type is innately more maneuverable.

Hybrid airships combine the characteristics of heavier than air and lighter than air aircraft. Specifically, the shape of a hybrid airship provides part of the lift—the helium provides the other. In short, the airship itself is a sort of flying wing.

The Aeroscraft (see photo) is a fully rigid airship. It can fly at 115 mph, carry large loads of cargo over long distances and move vertically with the precision of a helicopter. It is a hybrid, combining the old characteristics of the lighter-than-air airship made famous through Zeppelin, and also through Goodyear. It combines a helium balloon that can generate lift through its buoyancy at zero or slow speed, plus, for a speed up to 110 Kts., extra lift from two sets of wing-like control surfaces, which are mounted fore and aft, while two large rudders push up vertically from the tail end.

The ship prototype is 266 ft long and 97 ft wide. It is much smaller than the last Zeppelin LZ129 (1935), which was over 800 ft long, 160 ft in diameter and flew at max. 85 Kts with 4,400HP of diesel power.  The final design is expected to be more than 400 feet (121m) long and be able to lift a cargo weight of 66 tons. Its large bag structures under its hull are landing pads, a type of inflated hovercraft skirt that allow the airship to rest on the ground – or water, or ice – without wheels. Quite an innovative design.

The engineers at Aeroscraft have solved the problem of variable buoyancy when you load or unload the cargo, by taking a lesson from submarine technology. The Aeroscraft airship can compress a certain amount of its lifting gas and put it into fabric tanks, under pressure. The density of the compressed gas is higher so that it is no longer lighter than air, and therefore this airship, unlike any of its predecessors, can change its buoyancy. The company calls this system COSH, an acronym for “Control of Static Heaviness.”

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March 24 2014: THE CROWDSOURCING APPROACH TO CREATIVITY: STORYBOARDING—SHOULD WE WRITERS USE IT TOO?

Amazon are using storyboarding to research whether a story should be made into a movie—or series—or not. On the face of it, it seems like a thoroughly good idea given that movies cost so much to make.

Briefly, you get sent a scene by scene set of graphics containing the main components of the plot—and are asked to comment accordingly. The storyboards are very clear and give a real sense of what is proposed. Some dialog is included in bubbles. In effect, you are looking at a comic—a wonderful communication medium in its own right.

I read every comic I could lay my hands on until my early teens—then stopped because they were banned in my boarding school. They didn’t stop me reading books as well. In fact, I read everything I could lay my hands upon. With hindsight, I’m rather sorry I gave up on comics, but they weren’t considered appropriate for adults in the culture of the time. More is the pity! When I was in Japan, I saw some graphically brilliant adult comics. Can’t comment about the text since my Japanese is non-existent.

Though I admire Amazon’s enterprise—it’s an innovative powerhouse of a company—I have mixed feeling about this approach from a creative point of view (whether is is commercially effective or not). Creativity by committee has a tendency to lead to the lowest common denominator—and I’m a great believer in the compelling creative vision of the individual—even though I freely concede that movie making is an innately collaborative medium. Nonetheless, the vision of an individual often dominates to great advantage.

I wish Amazon luck.

But could we writers use storyboarding in some creative way? I cannot draw worth a damn—but I’m attracted by the thought. Now to find somebody who can draw and who is creatively compatible.

I’m still a believer of the creative vision of the individual—but the prospect of extending it is challenging.

Interesting…

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STORYBOARDING WEBSITES

www.storyboardthat.com

www.stageonestoryboards.co.uk

www.storyboardsinc.com

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March 23 2014: DAMN IT! THOSE VIKINGS ARE AT IT AGAIN. THEIR VALUE-FOR-MONEY-FIGHTER CAN DETECT SOME (IF NOT ALL) STEALTHY AIRCRAFT. IS THIS WEIRD OR WHAT—OR ARE WE (YET AGAIN) PAYING TOO MUCH FOR TOO LITTLE?

Pursuit and seduction are the essence of sexuality. It's part of the sizzle.

Camille Paglia

Hard to deny. But, in combat, the end result is death. Terminal sizzle—so to speak.

Preferably avoided. Let’s think this through.

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The justification for the much troubled and costly U.S.’s F-35 fighter is that it is significantly less expensive than the F-22 (which wouldn’t be hard) but has most of its capabilities except stealth—and is stealthy in a head-on situation.

Stealthy, by the way—in this context—means impossible (or very difficult) to detect with radar. In essence, you can’t be seen--which means you are unlikely to be hit except by accident. With reference to the latter, let me quote the attack helicopter pilot’s aphorism: “Big sky, little bullet.” Yes, fire from the ground can be very intense, but most of the sky will still be unaffected by it—especially since you can fly at altitude and maneuver in three dimensions.

Guided missiles are another issue, but if you can’t be seen in the first place—because you are stealthy—they are no longer a threat either.

Well, such is the theory. The reality is more nuanced. Firstly, stealthiness—in relation to radar—is a relative state; and, secondly, radar isn’t the only way of  detecting an aircraft. You can see it with your eyes, pick up its heat, locate it acoustically, or detect its electronic emissions. And, if you are really wily, you will combine these various detection methods in one sensor package.

The sophisticated and subtle Swedes have done just that and claim that their new Gripen can detect low radar cross-section (RCS) targets at distances compatible with beyond visual range missile launch.

This raises an interesting question: How is it that the Swedes can get so much more bang for their buck than we do?

The U.S. F-35A, at $85 million, for instance, costs roughly twice as much as the Gripen—even if you believe Lockheed Martin and the Air Force (which no sane human being would. In fact, Win Wheeler, director of the Strauss Military Reform Project, calculates the real cost of the F-35 to be $181 million per aircraft—excluding development cost).

The Navy carrier capable F-35C version, based upon the 2014 buy, comes to $252.3 per aircraft—which would buy over five Gripens and leave you enough change to buy yourself a large helicopter.

The MICC—the Military Industrial Congressional Complex—is screwing the U.S. taxpayer—and has been doing so for decades.

Who has oversight of all this? Why Congress, of course.

But they are part of the problem!

Just so.

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March 22 214: THE FOLKS WHO BROUGHT YOU THE GREAT RECESSION—WITH A CAST OF MILLIONS, AND WHO WERE BAILED OUT AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE—RECEIVED THE THIRD HIGHEST BONUSES ON RECORD IN 2013—IS THIS U.S. CAPITALISM AT ITS FINEST OR WHAT? I THINK IT’S WHAT…

The process by which banks create money is so simple that the mind is repelled.

John Kenneth Galbraith

Drive-in banks were established so most of the cars today could see their real owners.

E. Joseph Cossman

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The harm done to this country--and to many others—by the Great Recession was so enormous that it beggars belief. It’s consequences will be with us for generations.The amount of misery it has caused is incalculable—but on a scale comparable to that of war criminals.

Yet has there been justice?

There has been none.

This is inexcusable—and does not bode well for our future. It does indicate that those who govern us are a plutocracy controlled by the super rich for the super rich and that our democracy is no more than a façade.

There are many wonderful people in this country—talented, energetic, innovative, and caring—but the wrong people are getting to the top.

It shows.

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WANT TO FEEL BETTER?

Check out Guy Kawasaki’s magnificent essay on Silicon Valley at blog.guykawasaki.com His blog is aptly called HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD—A practical blog for impractical people.

 

 

 

March 21 2014: THE IMPOSSIBLE TAKES A LITTLE LONGER—ESPECIALLY WHERE THE BOOK BUSINESS IS CONCERNED

“It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.”

Robert Goddard (1882-1945)

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Some things—arguably many things—require deadlines (a daily blog being one of them); but many do not, I’m delighted to say.

Book writing, especially if you are bypassing traditional publishing, is one of the latter. That can be a very good thing indeed because then you can focus on getting it right rather than getting it fast. Indeed, I hate to think what WAR & PEACE might have been like if Tolstoy had been writing to some publisher’s schedule. As it was, he spent ten years on that one book—and produced a masterpiece.

I remember reading it first in my early teens and being completely stunned by it. It changed my life. After reading it—though I did not know it at the time—I had no chance of eventually becoming anything else but a writer.

True, I started in business, and have had a considerable involvement in military matters—some of which I can talk about and some of which I can’t—but all roads led to writing in the end. I give thanks for that every day. It’s an endlessly challenging, totally fulfilling, entirely wondrous occupation.

A writer today has to do a great deal more than just write if he or she is to be successful. It has taken me some time to adjust to this, but now I love blogging and am beginning to enjoy the many other aspects involved in building an author platform. Ironically, it has brought me full circle. After graduating from university, before I became a writer, I trained in branded goods marketing.

Today, an author has to be just that—a brand.

An impossible task—I hear you cry! Only a small number of Best Selling Superstars backed by the resources of the very largest publishers can manage that.

The impossible takes a little longer—and requires fortitude--but it can be done.

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 INTERESTING WEBSITES

www.bookvetter.com

Crowd-sourcing for books has arrived. Bookvetter is about measuring the content of books. Authors are developed, books are sorted for quality, and only the best are passed on to a community of independent, professional reviewers.

Do you have something to say? Are you willing to put it out there? Then the Bookvetter Community is for you. Some write and some review, but both are needed to create something bigger. Join us today and let us help the world hear what you have to say.

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March 20 2014: THE DRUNK AND NAKED SWEDES HAVE DONE THE IMPOSSIBLE—YET AGAIN

I love Sweden. The entire world should be like Sweden. They all like to drink and get naked, and the women are hot. I can't think of a better nation on the planet.

Drew Curtis

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As my regular readers will know, I like to keep tabs on aviation—and particularly on its more eccentric areas like rotary aircraft, bush planes, and airships. Conventional passenger aircraft don’t stir my blood. They tend towards the dull, and flying in them has become downright unpleasant. That said, I make an exception when one—such as MH 370—vanishes mysteriously. Now that is the stuff of thrillers.

But I’m not going to write about vanishing aircraft today. Instead I want to draw attention to the extraordinary Swedish achievement that is the Gripen JAS 39E fighter. On the face of it, it should be technically impossible for a nation with a population of less than 10 million to build—let alone afford—such an aircraft: Yet here it is. And, what is more, it shows every sign of being exported successfully despite major competition from the U.S., the UK, France, and Russia. So far, the Swedes and the Swiss have ordered it—and Brazil is a strong possibility.

What fascinates me about the Gripen is that not only is the JAS 39E highly sophisticated technically—but despite being developed and manufactured in high labor cost Sweden, it is cheaper both to buy and to operate than the competition. Specifically, you can put one on your credit card for only $43 million—and the cost per flying hour including fuel is a bargain at $7,500.

In effect, the Gripen is about half the price of a comparable U.S. fighter (less in some cases) both to buy and to fly.

It’s a great pity more of us don’t take an interest in this stuff because then we might realize that one of the reasons we spend so much on defense is not just that we get into the wrong wars in the wrong ways, but that we are being ripped off across the board by the MICC (the Military Industrial Congressional Complex)—and have been for decades.

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FASCINATING WEBSITES

www.gizmag.com

https://store.gizmag.com

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March 19 2014: SOME INTERESTING RESEARCH INTO E-READERS & THE READERS WHO USE THEM

The most technologically efficient machine that man has ever invented is the book.

Northrop Frye

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Britain’s Quick Reads charity sounds like a commendable organization. Set up in 2006, it promotes reading to the 0ne in six adults in the UK who struggle with reading—and for those learning English as a foreign language.

Interestingly, it commissions easier-to-read books from some highly popular authors such as Jeffrey Archer.

An article in The Observer comments:

Cathy Rentzenbrink, project director of Quick Reads, said: "The potential impact of technology on less confident readers is tremendous… [E-reading] allows adult learners to engage with books on their own terms, aiding their learning and boosting their confidence too.

Last month the charity published the results of a survey into how technology is shaping our reading habits: nearly half (48%) of UK adults who use technology to read said it had made them read more; 41% said that being able to look up words they didn't know has made reading easier while half said that being able to adjust the appearance of the text has helped; 62% said that being able to access free ebooks has meant they have read books they would not otherwise have read.

I regard e-readers, tablets, and e-books as truly wonderful developments but would hate to see traditional print being eliminated. There is something particularly evocative about real books. I’ve been in love with them all my life—and, in many ways, they are my life.

Writing them is also an extraordinarily effective and pleasant way to make friends—lots of them. Readers think they get to know me when they read my books—and the truth is, they do.

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INTERESTING E-BOOK WEBSITE

www.ebookfriendly.com

March 18 2013: MORE ABOUT WOMEN, BOOKS & LIBRARIES—AND ANOTHER EPIC QUOTE FROM NORA EPHRON

I want to remind you of the undertow, of the specific gravity. American society has a remarkable ability to resist change, or to take whatever change has taken place and attempt to make it go away.

Nora Ephron (1941-2012)

Author of WHEN HARRY MET SALLY—and much else besides

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That Nora Ephron quote is worth thinking about. Since I have been here I have been very struck by the fact that U.S. society seems wedded to a mythic image of the American Way of Life—set roughly in 1970, when the Middle Class was prosperous and a family could be supported well on one income—and has been in virtual denial ever since despite the most profound changes having taken place—many not for the better. The lady called it right. She frequently did.

Back to women, books, and libraries. An article in www.digitalbookworld.com (based on Pew Research) says as follows:

Library Lovers make up about 10% of all Americans, or a third of “high engagement” library patrons

On a demographic level, nearly two thirds of Library Lovers are women, some 40% are parents and, overall, they tend to skew younger than the general population. They tend to have achieved a higher level of education and make more money than other groups even though nearly a quarter of this group have either recently lost their jobs or have seen their income decrease significantly. A quarter are looking for a job and about one in six are students. They also skew liberal and Democratic when it comes to politics.

The good news for publishers and authors is that this heavy library use group are readers. Two thirds read books every day. While they borrow lots of books, they are also heavy bookstore visitors, compared with the general population. Nearly three quarters of them go online using mobile devices. They are more involved with their communities than other groups and are more likely to try to learn new things.

Nearly 90% visited a library in the past 12 months with most visiting weekly

MARCH 17 2014: BOOK LOVERS ARE PREDOMINANTLY WOMEN—BLESS YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT—BLESS YOU ALL FOR BEING WOMEN

“Reading is everything. Reading makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading makes me smarter. Reading gives me something to talk about later on. Reading is the unbelievably healthy way my attention deficit disorder medicates itself. Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it’s a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it’s a way of making contact with someone else’s imagination after a day that’s all too real. Reading is grist. Reading is bliss.”

“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”

Nora Ephron (1941-2012)

Author of WHEN HARRY MET SALLY—and much else besides.

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I am currently engaged in setting up a network of fellow authors and book bloggers—and have been much impressed by the fact that most seem to be women. We men are represented, of course, but we are noticeably a minority.

Why is this? I don’t know, as yet. My subconscious is working on the matter. As you may have read before, my subconscious does all the heavy lifting where my mind is concerned. I’m merely called in at the end to communicate its findings. My subconscious is pretty smart—but can’t type worth a damn.

What is it about women and books—and, now I think about it, what is about women and male writers? Here we are trying to focus on the noble art of worsmithing (courtesy of my friend, John Drewry)—with the dedication of Knights Templar (who were supposed to be celibate) and there you are distracting us with beauty, charm, and that inevitable frisson of sexuality which makes virtually all relationships between the sexes just that little bit more exciting—and not always a little bit.

Photo is of the wonderful Nora Ephron

MARCH 16 2014: AUTHOR PHILIP ROTH ON WRITING: “ALL REAL WORK IS HARD” (Writing certainly is—but is also deeply satisfying to the point of being joyous—at least as far as I am concerned. V.)

“Everybody has a hard job. All real work is hard. My work happened also to be undoable. Morning after morning for 50 years, I faced the next page defenseless and unprepared. Writing for me was a feat of self-preservation. If I did not do it, I would die. So I did it. Obstinacy, not talent, saved my life. It was also my good luck that happiness didn’t matter to me and I had no compassion for myself. Though why such a task should have fallen to me I have no idea. Maybe writing protected me against even worse menace.”

Philip Roth during an interview with Daniel Sandstrom, the cultural editor at Svenska Dagbladet, for publication in Swedish translation in that newspaper and in its original English in the New York Times Book Review.

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Back in my pre-writing days, I vividly recall arriving for work at Doyle, Dane, Bernbach Advertising (DDB)—it was my very first day there—and encountering the extremely sexy receptionist, totally engrossed in Philip Roth’s PORTNOY’S COMPLAINT.

I received not a glance as I walked by.

The book, in case you haven’t read it, features a sexually obsessed protagonist who masturbates at every conceivable opportunity—and who eventually encounters a woman—called The Monkey (if memory serves)—who will do anything.

Roth somehow managed to write a sexually explicit book—which bore more than a passing resemblance to pornography—but which was marketed and accepted as a literary work. And that was then, when acceptance of the graphically sexual was less far advanced.

Chutzpah indeed! But he got away with it because he is a very fine writer—and it’s a pretty good book. It is also an honest book in that it describes how we actually think and behave as opposed to what we pretend. For some strange reason—which I don’t adequately understand—we are remarkably dishonest about sex; yet we all have sexual desires and fantasies. We may privately think some are really weird—but if we were more open about sex, I suspect that most would be not.

I’m coming around to the view that we should drop the sexual taboo completely, and worry much more about issues such as egregious corporate corruption, social injustice, and the degradation of our system of governance, which really are corroding our way of life.

Somehow, I don’t see sex—in all its pleasurable variations—as an existential threat to this Great Nation. We have—so to speak—got our priorities screwed.

Sexual explicitness is, when you think about it, no more than honesty—and that’s a quality which, like integrity and empathy, really is in short supply.

Sexuality—of whatever sort—is as natural breathing, And it represents love—a reaching out for affection--so why do we fight it?

Damned if I know. To have, to hold, to caress, and to love is nothing short of wonderful.

It is why we are here,

to

One way or another DDB—a famously creative agency I had first read about in the book MADISON AVENUE U.S.A. was quite an experience, and PORTNOY’S COMPLAINT an appropriate introduction.  It was a sexually charged, hedonistic environment—but out of it came some truly incredible creative work.

MAD MEN? With desires and women to match.

MARCH 15 2014: WHY?—ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT WORDS IN THE WORLD

What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course.

Marilyn Monroe

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Many years ago, I formed a little club called THE WHY CLUB to discuss the great issues of our time—and hopefully come up with solutions. It was also an excuse to have one really good meal a month in one of the best hotels in London, England. The hotel in question was the Connaught, an impressively stylish place in Mayfair, with prices to match—just a couple of blocks away from the U.S. Embassy.

It is the kind of place where royalty, the most senior politicians, the ultra rich, and movie stars stay if they want to be discrete—and, suffice to say, we had a lot of fun there.

Many of the women were so drop-dead gorgeous it was hard to concentrate on either one’s smoked salmon or saving the world. Those were the days…

I was reminded of THE WHY CLUB when I ran across a reference to the WHY Code at www.whycode.com

What is the WHY Code? Let me answer in the site’s own words:

The WHY Code - a fundamental code of knowledge

The WHY Code is a form of knowledge representation - readable by both humans and automated processes. The representation for human consumption is a type of cognitive map called a WHY Map.

The WHY Code help users:

• Better externalize, document, and share knowledge
• Better orchestrate an organization
• Better search and navigate information
• Learn faster and more effectively

The WHY Code improves on conventional text, conventional process maps, and other methods in helping users achieve the above goals. It provides simplicity and clarity. It helps avoid ambiguity and verbosity. It enables users to discriminate between those that know and those that don't. It's focused on the fundamental learning questions WHAT, HOW and WHY.
Because of it's simplicity and power, the WHY Code can act as a standard protocol for knowledge codification and sharing.

There is a lot more—and its fascinating stuff! Fundamentally, it is a communication methodology which is just up my alley. And it it incorporates things called WHY Maps.

How cool is that!

MARCH 14 2014: I HAVE A WEAKNESS FOR THE SWISS—AND THIS INTERESTING WEBSITE—bohbow.net—STEMS FROM THERE

“You know what the fellow said – in Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace – and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.”

From the movie THE THIRD MAN as spoken by Harry Lime (Orson Welles).

It’s grossly unfair to the Swiss—but it makes for marvelous movie dialog. The screenplay was written by famed author Graham Greene—but the ‘cuckoo clock’ piece was added by Orson Welles. In fact, the cuckoo clock is a German invention.

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I have a weakness for the Swiss because I have been there many times,  enjoy the country, have been very well treated by the many Swiss I got to know, have had three Swiss lovers (all women, as it happens), and set a large part of my first book, GAMES OF THE HANGMAN, there. I also love both Zurich and Bern—particularly Bern—and have many Swiss friends.

And some are bears.

Do they have any characteristics in common—apart from being Swiss? Yes, they are all intelligent, well travelled, and a pleasure to be with—and all have a sense of humor. Some are creative (I love talent) and some are cops. Others span the gamut.

Cops—in my experience—make exceptionally good friends. Some abuse their power;others are corrupt; most do an exceptionally difficult and dangerous job well. The camaraderie of such people is a truly wonderful thing. Worth dying for. Many have.

Apart from that, I respect the way they run their country. Their system is not perfect—but they do a great deal better than many nations—and their economic success is well deserved.

If I had had any sense, I would have married one of my Swiss girlfriends—a truly beautiful spirit—but that’s another story. By the time I realized how much I cared for her, she had married someone else. I called my younger daughter after her.

Throughout my life, I have had much more success with lovers—and some relationships were over decades—than my wives.

Actually, I have only only been married once—now I think of it. Will I ever get married again—and I’m including living together?

Well, I enjoy my independence, and am pretty self-contained—but recently a thoroughly delightful Christmas with some very special people has made me re-think. And I enjoy the company of women. I have the suspicion that they/you are brighter than us males.

But, I am deviating from the point.

The point is that I think the website www.bohbow.net looks interesting. Its proud boast is:

“Anyone can be a writer. You are welcome to share your history about your childhood, your parents, your friends, your country, your town, your love, your experiences, your experiments…Write what you want…

Communicate with the whole world and get interesting responses and feedbacks…”

I’d like to think that anyone can be a writer—but the truth is that all too many of us have a hard time turning thoughts into words. But, I’m all for anyone who wants to try.

Go for it. Writing is your soul speaking. It is beyond wonder.

By the way, THE THIRD MAN was set in Vienna, Austria. If you haven’t seen the movie, you haven’t lived.

Interestingly, part of Orson Welles’s early career was spent in Ireland. If I can paraphrase Julius Caesar—‘He came, he saw, and he conquered.’

MARCH 13 2014: E-READERS & TABLETS ARE GAINING GROUND—BUT THE PRINTED BOOK FIGHTS ON (I’m delighted to say)

Lord! when you sell a man a book you don't sell just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue - you sell him a whole new life.  Love and friendship and humor and ships at sea by night - there's all heaven and earth in a book, a real book.

Christopher Morley

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I’m so busy these days that my book reading has actually declined—I’m ashamed to say. However, I live in hopes that I’ll get back to my norm of a couple of books a week when my current project is more advanced. I’m still reading as much as ever—arguably more—but much of the content is web based so I’m reading off my computer screens (I have two—one for reference material, and one to write on).

Strangely enough, I don’t have either an e-reader or a tablet—an omission I intend to remedy shortly. I had an early Kindle, but, sadly, it died. I’m all for e-books, but hope they co-exist with traditional books for a long time to come. Printed books are truly wonderful things and have enriched my life more than I can say.

Bookstore browsing—an acquired skill—is one of the great pleasures of the world. Such visits are voyages of discovery, and I am rarely disappointed.

Quoting the Pew Research Center, an article in www.digitalbookworld.com comments as follows:

The increase in the proportion of Americans who have read an ebook could be explained by increased device ownership. Both e-reader and tablet ownership increased markedly in 2013. Now, 50% of Americans have either a tablet or e-reader, which is up from 43% in Sept. 2013, and even more significantly from 2012.

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Fahrenheit 451—the title of Ray Bradbury’s famous book—is the temperature at which a book burns.

MARCH 12 2014: STRANGE BEDFELLOWS (only a rumor) AGATHA CHRISTIE & SHAKESPEARE HAVE SOLD TWO BILLION BOOKS EACH! This infographic is worth getting a magnifying glass for.

If I can hit No. 1 on the 'New York Times' best-seller list, I'm thinking of having the entire list tattooed on my body somewhere. It would be fabulous.

Camilla Lackberg

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MARCH 11 2014: GOOD GRIEF! GLOBAL INTERNET FROM SATELLITES CAN BE YOURS—THE THING IS CALLED IRIDIUM GO & THEY CLAIM IT’S AFFORDABLE—THE WIDGET ITSELF COSTS $875—I HAVE NO IDEA OF THE RUNING COSTS

It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.

Mark Twain

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Last I checked, Satellite phones—and the cost of calls made over them—was extremely expensive. That said, it would be a fine thing if Iridium really have managed to bring the price of truly global WI FI down.

Unfortunately, affordable is a relative term—so I remain skeptical. Still, it shows the direction that things are going.

Thought you should know.

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WHAT MY READERS THINK

Victor,
I am halfway through your Hangman book. It is definitely a thriller. I appreciate it and if you have anymore, please let me know. They are a good read. Where did you learn so much about international terrorism? I guess 9/11 put guys like you into the forefront. You will have to tell me how you got so involved with the Pentagon one of these days.
Thanks,
Sam

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MARCH 10 2014: BRAIN PICKINGS—A TOTALLY AWESOME WEBSITE FOR CREATIVES—OR ANYONE WHO APPRECIATES CREATIVITY—OR WHO JUST WANTS TO REVEL IN THE FINER ASPECTS OF THE HUMAN CONDITION

“When you open a novel — and I mean of course the real thing — you enter into a state of intimacy with its writer. You hear a voice or, more significantly, an individual tone under the words. This tone you, the reader, will identify not so much by a name, the name of the author, as by a distinct and unique human quality. It seems to issue from the bosom, from a place beneath the breastbone. It is more musical than verbal, and it is the characteristic signature of a person, of a soul. Such a writer has power over distraction and fragmentation, and out of distressing unrest, even from the edge of chaos, he [or she] can bring unity and carry us into a state of intransitive attention. People hunger for this.”

Saul Bellow

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Brainpickings.org–written and edited by Maria Popova—is such a good website that I lack the talent to do its justice. It is extraordinarily insightful regarding creativity in all its aspects, intellectually provocative, and visually stunning.

Illustration Gabriela Giandelli from the book Monsters and Legends.

Go look and wonder.

MARCH 9 2014: A TRULY INSIGHTFUL ARTICLE ON CREATIVITY

It is in the compelling zest of high adventure and of victory, and in creative action, that man finds his supreme joys.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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I am an absolute believer in the proven power and untapped potential of creativity—and deplore the way our current culture represses it. It’s an extraordinary force—eminently capable of transforming our society for the better—and yet we constrain it, dissipate it, trivialize it, confine it, and misuse it.

Above all, we don’t understand it—which may well be why we fear it. It’s a force that tends to take us out of our comfort zones and it’s the antithesis of corporatism—and most of us live in a corporate world and accept its mindset.

Truly creative people do not. We challenge it—largely because we question everything. It is endemic to our natures.

Creativity does not make for an easy life—just a fascinating one.

Carolyn Gregoire of the Huffington Post has written an important article on creativity which absolutely resonates with me., It is entitled: 18 Things Highly Creative People Do Differently—and its on the money where I am concerned.

In fact, it’s almost creepily accurate—yet I have never encountered Ms. Gregoire before.

How does she know this stuff?

The following is an extract.

And psychologically speaking, creative personality types are difficult to pin down, largely because they're complex, paradoxical and tend to avoid habit or routine. And it's not just a stereotype of the "tortured artist" -- artists really may be more complicated people. Research has suggested that creativity involves the coming together of a multitude of traits, behaviors and social influences in a single person.

"It's actually hard for creative people to know themselves because the creative self is more complex than the non-creative self," Scott Barry Kaufman, a psychologist at New York University who has spent years researching creativity, told The Huffington Post. "The things that stand out the most are the paradoxes of the creative self ... Imaginative people have messier minds."

While there's no "typical" creative type, there are some tell-tale characteristics and behaviors of highly creative people. Here are 18 things they do differently.

• They daydream.
• They observe everything.
• They work the hours that work for them.
• They take time for solitude.
• They turn life's obstacles around.
• They seek out new experiences.
• They "fail up."
• They ask the big questions.
• They people-watch.
• They take risks.
• They view all of life as an opportunity for self-expression.
• They follow their true passions.
• They get out of their own heads.
• They lose track of the time.
• They surround themselves with beauty.
• They connect the dots.
• They constantly shake things up.
• They make time for mindfulness.

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WHAT MY READERS THINK

In the meantime, we found that several of our friends also loved your books and are waiting for your next one. And we find we continue to compare other writers to you. We've read adventure stories and we say "he not as good a writer as Victor O'reilly. The truth is, in our opinion that you have attained a special status as a writer. It is that rare position where your ability is so outstanding that one tends to measure the quality of writing and enjoyability of other books to the pleasure received from yours. At least that's what happens in our house.

Warmest regards,
Pete and Lee Crundall

MARCH 8 2014: CREATIVITY, CULTURE & COURAGE

“If at first you don’t succeed… so much for skydiving.”

Henry Youngman

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Contrary to what some of us creative artists might like to think, creativity is not the monopoly of the creative arts. It exists in virtually all walks of life and—at least in my opinion—the world would be a better place if we encouraged it more. Vastly more.

But could we? Surely we need social order for society to function—and social order demands predictability and conformity to function—and is innately resistant to change. Further, those in charge of social order tend to be authoritarian and well equipped with the necessary policies, laws, rules, regulations, and prejudices needed to keep us from stepping out of line—or to keep creativity to an acceptable minimum (which in fact is how society tends to operate).

Society doesn’t so much kill creativity as distract, delay and exhaust it—or otherwise channel it into an area where it will be minimally socially disruptive. The creative arts comprise just such a sector. It’s not a foolproof solution—because every so often some free thinker comes up with an idea that changes the world profoundly (Karl Marx being an example) but mostly it is effective. After all, if creative talent is channeled into something like commercial TV, the movers and shakers are not only less likely to be questioned, but gain a powerful tool to keep society in line.

If Marx had been kept busy writing TV drama, communism might never have happened. We’ll ignore the fact that not only was communism originally a Christian concept, but practiced with some success for while.

It’s my belief that creativity should not be ghettoized—but applied to society’s ills and opportunities as a completely normal practice. After all there are very few problems which cannot be resolved if you have a creative brain, an open mind, perspective, and the courage to look.

I would argue that creativity—even if misdirected—is not in short supply. Open minds, perspective, and intellectual courage definitely are.

The good news: These issues are cultural and can be changed. After all, we’ve had the Renaissance and The Age of Enlightenment. It’s now time for The Age of Creativity.

But how?

That’s an interesting creative problem—and a solvable one.

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WHAT MY READERS THINK

Dear Mr. O'Reilly
I am huge fan and constantly scour the Net trying to see if any additional works of yours have been published.
How fortunate I feel that I came across your website, now I can ask you directly about any upcoming projects that I can expect to see from you in the near future.
I own Games, Rules and Footprint and have turned so many people on to these amazing novels. Can you tell me if you have anything in the works and are there any other books that you have published that I can purchase? If so, where?
Thanks in advance.
Thank you,
Ben Milano
Long Island, NY

MARCH 7 2014: AIRSHIPS—EVER THE PROMISED, NEVER THE BRIDE (SO FAR)

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.

C. S. Lewis

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Airships show great promise for certain tasks—such as long-term surveillance or heavy lifting, but keep on being pipped at the post by some other technology. For instance, drones look like grabbing the within-the-atmosphere surveillance market (with satellites having a near monopoly of space).

Heavy lifting is another matter. You can move big heavy things around on roads up to a point—but only at great inconvenience to conventional road users. Besides, you need roads—and reasonably good ones at that. Aircraft can do the job—but only at enormous cost (both to buy and to operate), and you still need long runways at either end.

Hybrid airships can lift from, and delivery to, just about anywhere—without the need for much supporting infrastructure. With modification, they can even land on water.

All of this represents healthy technological competition, of course, but it frustrates the hell out of me because I love airships and have the feeling that—if we would give them enough backing—they would live up to their promise. True, they are large and slow—but they have tremendous endurance, can lift enormous loads, and are much less expensive to purchase and operate than jet aircraft of comparable lifting performance. And they pollute significantly less and are quieter.

They are green—and they define cool.

The U.S. Army had an airship program, but abandoned it after one flight—and not for technical reasons. Maddening! Then again, the Army has a long history of abandoning perfectly good ideas to the point where you would wonder why they are not running around with clubs.

But—I digress.

The good news is that the UK’s Hybrid Air Vehicles have bought the Army’s vehicle at scrap value and plan to have it flying again by the year’s end. They plan to use it for demonstrations, and eventually to build a heavy-life aircraft which will carry 50 tons—and 60-70 tons in the colder Canadian North.

The planned Airlander 50 is 390 ft. long, with a 3.64-million-cu.-ft. envelope (filled with inert helium), cruise speed of 105 kt., range of 2,000 nm., flight endurance of four days with two pilots and a payload capacity of up to 132,300 lb. (60 metric tons).

An  airship is lighter than air. A hybrid airship is not. It gets part of its lift from its shape in the same aerodynamic way as a wing. This makes it more easy to maneuver in the air—and much easier to land.

I’m rooting for it.

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WHAT MY READERS THINK

Dear Mr. O' Reilly:
First of all I would just like to congratulate you on your wonderful novel that is ranked on the top of my list of all-time favorite books. It kept me intrigued until the end and made me buy the trilogy of Hugo Fitzduane. Secondly, I was interested to know if your novel would ever see the light of day on
the big screen since I believe it would do extraordinary well and will be a very interesting and suspenseful movie to see. Is there any chance of that happening or any plans started for the big screen?
Well thank you very much for your great work and hope to see some wonderful things from you in the
future.
Sincerely,
Fernando Acuna Jr.

MARCH 6 2014: BEING SOCIAL ON SOCIAL MEDIA VIA LINKEDIN

Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.

Benjamin Franklin

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I heard an interesting discussion recently between two fairly successful authors. One said he thought a great deal about his audience when writing—and tailored what he wrote to their needs.

The other said he though very little about his readers while he was actually writing. He focused entirely on the story.

I’m in the latter’s story-driven camp. I tend to focus entirely on the story when writing—if only because my fictional world is real to me while I write, and as such, is utterly absorbing. Yes, I know intellectually that my characters are not real when I’m away from the keyboard—(or so I pretend) though they remain a very strong presence.

That said, even though I consciously don’t tailor my stories for my readers while engaged in the process (who knows what my subconscious gets up to) I do think a great deal about my readers at other times, hope they/you will enjoy what I write; and love corresponding with you.

You enrich my life. You give me faith. You sustain me. I now know—and like—more than a few of you personally.

That apart, you may well be a villainous bunch—but I am strongly biased in your favor.

E-mail and blogging apart, it has taken me some time to get comfortable with social media—and it remains a work in progress. Nonetheless, recently I have been making a serious effort to reach out through Linkedin—and have been much moved by the reaction; and agreeably surprised by my own feelings. Because solitude goes with the disciplines of book writing, I have tended to think of myself as fairly self-contained—and not really needing as much human interaction as many—but instead I find myself much engaged by the lives of those I am corresponding with. In fact, all in all, I’m finding it a heart-warming experience.

You would think you would know yourself after nearly 70 years of life—but evidently I’m fonder of my fellow humans than I realized.

I’ll try and keep it a secret.

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WHAT MY READERS THINK

Glad to see you back in the “area.” Your books have been fun for myself, sons, daughter, and friends. I hope all
is well or at least settled so you may once again enjoy life and write . . . we who can not write as you do read/live
vicariously through your books.
Fred Ruggles

MARCH 5 2014: THE SECRET OF SUCCESS IS BEING WILLING TO FAIL—AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN—AND GETTING BACK UP EVERY TIME. AND NO, IT IS NOT EASY. IT IS MERELY NECESSARY.

“Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.

Steve Jobs

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I have written before that writers live in a state of permanent failure—both because financial success is comparatively rare—and because you rarely write quite as well as you want to.

If you do, you raise the bar. The challenge is the thing—and writing itself is just plain wonderful. In essence I am saying that failure in writing is arguably a more enjoyable way of life—at least for some of us—than success in another field. And money is not how we measure success (though we need it as much as anyone else).

What counts, above all, is the writing—the extraordinary process of converting thought into words in a manner that will win over the reader.

Does it hook?

Does it flow?

Is it clear?

Does it entertain?

Does it touch?

Is it compelling?

Does it offer surprise?

Does it illuminate the human condition?

Does it amuse?

Are my written words consistent with what I am really trying to say—or has something been lost in the transition from mind to written word?

It was in this spirit that I encountered a short but highly relevant article by CATHERINE CLIFFORD in Entrepreneur Magazine

Even the most successful people have failed at some point or another. Actually, scratch that -- especially the most successful people have failed at some point or another. (And probably a whole lot more than you might imagine.)

The biggest difference between successful people and less accomplished individuals is that successful people don’t let being rejected keep them down. Successful entrepreneurs have the emotional tools to manage disappointment and not let it derail them for too long; they’re resilient and determined. 

Rejected: Entrepreneurs: Your Irrational Optimism Is Necessary

Alex Fauske, The Doodle Video Guy, put together this animation illustrating the surprising records of failure for some folks who are now pretty legendary success stories with data from San Francisco-based startup organization Funders and Founders. Teaser: Sylvester Stallone was rejected 1,500 times when he tried selling his script, with himself as the lead actor, for the now legendary movie Rocky.

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WHAT MY READERS THINK

As a woman I would have thought it would have
been "not my cup of tea" however I found myself thoroughly enthralled and did not want to leave it
down until I had it finished. I also found your research tapes incredible.
After finding your site I am now going to try and get a copy of your books and re-read Games of the
Hangman and hopefully get a chance to read the others too. I am amazed like your other readers that
you are not more prominent, especially here in Ireland.
Keep up the great work

Imelda Masterson

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APPARENTLY IT IS NOT JUST MY IMPRESSION—RESEARCH CONFIRMS THAT WOMEN REALLY DO MAKE BETTER LEADERS THAN MEN

It has long been my belief  that our most neglected resource is human potential—but that our social structures seem more concerned with enforcing conformity than encouraging creativity. In short, we are not very good at drawing out talent; and clearly some of us don’t want to.

Talent has a disconcerting habit of questioning the status quo—and those who are in power, and otherwise entrenched in their comfort zones—don’t like that. Talent is troublesome.

God knows, schools are bad enough with their emphasis on socialization, but then one—most probably—enters the corporate/government/military world where independent thought has little chance of surviving. And after a while—a very little while—you accept this as being normal. You have to if you want to keep your job—let alone advance your career.

This relentless pressure to conform has a great deal to do with social control—which brings me on to the question of leadership. If I’m going to be controlled, I would like to be well controlled. Recently, I commented on how wrong it is that women are not paid the same for equal work—and that led me to the thought that women are generally more effective than men, and might make better leaders.

So far, we are only talking my opinion—but serendipity being what it is, this morning I stumbled across an article in Business Insider which quoted research by Zenger Folkman that confirmed just that. Their findings are based upon a substantial sample and over a long period of time. They have credibility.

For more than a decade, our organization has been collecting 360° feedback data from leading organizations worldwide. We now have 450,000 feedback instruments pertaining to about 45,000 leaders, covering a wide variety of industries. The studies that follow include our most current data collected in 2011 and 2012. The sample we have used includes just under 16,000 leaders of whom two-thirds were male and one-third female. Each participant had on average 13 respondents, including their manager, their direct reports and their peers.

The data are very clear. Women make better leaders—yet we males don’t give them much of a chance.  

I’m pretty sure we would all have a better quality of life if we did.

Photo at top is of GM CEO, Mary Barra. As matters stand, she is being paid slightly less than half of what her male predecessor received.