Writing In a Time of Covid

 Hi Guys,

Another long pause between posts - and between books. The good news is that Modesty is out. And that another book - The Traveller - is now through its first draft and has had two complete revisions and edits. It's a steam punk fantasy book with a main protagonist who can travel between worlds - other fantasy worlds - on a steam powered motor bike of course!

The reasons for the delay are many and varied. But lets just say that 2021 has been a shocker of a year for me. I suppose we're all due one now and again. 

It began with my sister coming to stay with me after becoming unemployed. And while that's no bad thing, it is a shock to the system for someone who's been living alone for so long to suddenly have to share a house with someone - and three cats!

And not long after that the plague arrived! Yeah, maybe it was technically a cold. But I have never had a cold that lasted a month before. Or one that left me coughing so much and so powerfully that it was literally agony to breathe. Or one that wiped all the energy from my system for another month and a half after that.

It wasn't covid, at least I don't think so. But man - it really made me think. If I did catch that damn bug, I definitely wouldn't survive it! Luckily I've now had my first shot and am looking forwards to the second and immunity. Yeah!!!

After that of course 2021 took another unexpected and terrible turn just as I had got back into writing. My mother who was elderly and living in a retirement facility, became ill. And literally the day after I published Modesty I was driving down to Wellington to be by her bedside. She died a couple of days later. And the only thing I can say about that is that even though I knew it was coming, I wasn't prepared for it. I'd guess that nobody ever really is.

Anyway, since then I've been trying to get back to work. It's difficult to concentrate unfortunately, my thoughts keep wandering, but I will return to things in time. And The Traveller will probably be out in a few weeks.

In the meantime, I wish you all the best and hope you're having a better year than I am. Oh, and I cannot stress this enough - get yourselves vaccinated!

Cheers, Greg.

Barton Villa Flies Off Into The Sunset

Hi Guys,

Well Barton Villa Welcomes You 3 has made it to the digital shelves, and sadly it marks the end of the series. But I think it's the funniest and possibly the most biting from a social commentary perspective. It has a few words to say about racism, sexism and empowerment - which wasn't really the point of the book but just sort of came out in it. Personally I think it's the job of speculative fiction to delve into these areas from time to time.

I'm going to miss these books. They've been a roller coaster of fun as I've written them - which is probably part of why I've written them so quickly. The other part is of course the Corona Virus lock down, which has freed up a lot of time and also killed my television viewing, since half the shows I watch have died in a hurry!

I hope you've all found the time provided by the pandemic lock down productive and that none of you have become ill.

One of the things I have noticed during this time has been the way certain political leaders have risen to the challenge. Our own PM Jacinda has turned out to be an inspiration which surprised me a little. I didn't vote for her, her politics are different to mine, but she's impressed me enormously. I think the things we all need at times like this are people who get to the heart of the matter, tell it straight and actually seem to care about the people they lead. Not that I'm a cynic (yeah right!) but I've seldom encountered that in most politicians. I still won't vote for her because I'm a dyed in the wool green voter, but I appreciate what she's done for New Zealand. And who knows, maybe she'll come over to the green point of view and then I will!

Anyway, the third and final books out, and I hope you enjoy it. And remember - always keep your Nazi's spayed and neutered!

Cheers, Greg.

Barton Villa 2 Meets the Press!

Hi Guys,

Just a quick post to let you know that the sequel to Barton Villa Welcomes You is now out - as of yesterday. As you can see it has the catchy title of Barton Villa Welcomes You 2! (I wonder what the title for the third one will be?!!!)

I hope you're all doing well with your various home detentions and social distancing. And while I'm here I thought I'd just give two quick thoughts on it.

First, I'm not at all sure about taking Chloroquine despite what seems to be being said in some quarters. Because when someone says what's the harm - the harm is obvious. For the taker personally, Chloroquine can cause fits and seizures, heart rhythm problems and death. Yes it can kill you. And it's also been the culprit of a couple of murder mystery books, because one of the other effects it can cause is schizophrenic type symptoms such as hearing voices. It should only be taken under medical supervision.

The next problem of course is that it's a drug needed to treat malaria and lupus, so while someone's taking it to potentially treat corona virus, someone else may not be getting the dose they need to actually protect them from another serious illness.

Last of course, whatever its effectiveness may be found to be, it doesn't mean you can forego the social distancing and rigorous personal hygiene measures. It's not a substitute.

However two substances have been found to have some benefit against colds - and roughly fifteen percent of common colds are caused by various members of the coronavirus family. Vitamin C and Zinc. They won't prevent a cold but they have been found to be beneficial in reducing the duration of one by about a day. It may not be much and it may not be anything at all in the case of this particular illness, but when someone says "what harm can it do?" the answer is in almost all cases, none. So now may be the time to get out the multivitamins. And if you have a condition (they're very rare) in which zinc or Vitamin C in large quantities can be dangerous to you, naturally consult your doctor first.)

The second piece of information I have for you, is about diabetes, which studies have now shown is a co-morbidity in over forty percent of coronavirus deaths. However the studies were done in some poorer necks of the woods where medical care is known to be less than perfect. And thus far I haven't yet been able to find any studies that show whether it's diabetes itself that's the problem or poorly managed / un-managed diabetes. Until we know this my advice is simple - if you have diabetes, now is the time to get it completely under control. Do your tests, check with the doctors and make sure you're taking all your meds as and when you should.

I hope that that's perhaps of some interest / value to you

Good luck to all of us.

Cheers, Greg.