My sincerest apologies for my week of silence, but a personal disaster had knocked me out of the loop and off the tracks. I’m back in the saddle now, though (how many metaphors can I find, aye?) and will once again post daily from Monday to Saturday.

First up a joke that I found on Whichendbites‘ blog:

The reason the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines squabble among themselves is that they don’t speak the same language.

For example, take a simple phrase like, “Secure the building.”

• The Army will put guards around the place.

• The Navy will turn out the lights and lock the doors.

• The Air Force will take out a 5-year lease with an option to buy.

• The Marines will kill everybody inside and make it a command post.

This is an excellent endeavour, and stems directly from the #Amazonfail fiasco. Author Mel Keegan came up with the idea and has been putting a lot of work into making this happen, and happening it is: a wiki website for authors, reviewers and readers of GLBT Fiction (and beyond).

Incidentally, I first came across Mel Keegan’s work in the very early 1990s, when a friend of mine brought a book back from London, way before the days of the internet. Funnily enough, back then we were thinking naively, “but this author must be female, the book is so much better than the gay porn dross we’ve found in gay book shops”. Not having a clue that these days most M/M is written by women. Besides, who cares?! I don’t give a doodah about the gender of an author, all I care about is the story. But then, these days, I am also wiser.

Anyway, back to the GLBT Bookshelf. Obsidian Bookshelf wrote a post about the GLBT Bookshelf, which explains the site and its mission very nicely, and the Bookshelf states this:

We’re a Community of writers, artists, publishers, booksellers — all independent. We all have a common goal: to reach readers, to sell books, earn royalties, and spend a lot more time writing (painting, editing, publishing…) and a lot less time doing mundane, traditional, ordinary, boring jobs.

It is a brilliant idea in my opinion, and one that I wholeheartedly support. We must not be dependent on market monopolists such as Amazon, and while I believe that this is unavoidable, sadly, every dent in the monopoly is a good thing.

You can find me here: Marquesate on the GLBT Bookshelf. The wonderful thing about a wiki is that pages are continuous works in progress (the eternal beta of the Web 2.0 world) and that updating is so quick.

Come join the GLBT Bookshelf, the more the community grows the better! As it says on the site:

Registration is free! Rub shoulders with writers, watch publishers at work, get help with your own book, find a cover artist, learn how to market, and perhaps even publish your work — promote and sell your books here!

Join as a Reader, a Writer, an Artist, a Publisher or a Reviewer — all of whom can participate in our Community “projects”

There are a couple new reviews of Her Majesty’s Men from June. 

Review © Cassidy Ryan at Cassidy Ryan’s blog (full review) (June 2009)

“I bought this book a while ago, but what with writing and RL, I didn’t get the chance to read it right away. I started it the other day — only to have to put it down again to go to the pesky day job, then last night, unable to sleep, I picked it up again and didn’t stop reading until it was finished — at 5am this morning!

Wow! That pretty much sums it up! It’s a fantastic read; the characters are so real, their relationship sometimes brutal and visceral, but always beautiful. It grips you right from the start and just refuses to let go — one of those “just one more chapter, then I’ll sleep” books.”

Review © Kassa11 at 3 AM (full review) (June 2009)

“This is a unique and different book about two men who are soldiers to their very core, friends and comrades second, and eventually lovers third. While these would seem to cause problems not only inherently within the military but the order of priorities between the men, surprisingly for the span of the book, it works. Whether it would always work between these two is questionable given their very different personalities and needs, but for the entirely of this story, their romance within the brutal atmosphere seems solid and realistic. While this book was not without its flaws, I felt as though the author knew the problems with the characters and decided to leave them as they were, letting the readers decide if they accepted the flaws or not. I could be wrong, but that was the impression I got.“

It hasn’t all been positive regarding Armed Forces day. I wrote two blog posts about the first ever Armed Forces day, here and here, the last one was on the actual day itself, on Saturday. Now, I never looked at it in a purely positive light either, but I was somewhat astonished to find a very negative view of it on the Military World Net blog (to which I subscribe via Twitter, which is quite an interesting feed).

I always fail to connect with articles and opinion pieces that are rather extreme and fail to take into consideration other view points and factors. However, I agree and disagree simultaneously. Read for yourselves, because we all need to form our own opinions:

Article: Armed Forces Day mocks our military

Instead of accountability over those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, the government offers us a day of sugary sentiment

Interesting article, but as so often, this one’s too polemic, too. Just like “the other side”. I wish people wrote well thought out, unbiased articles, that took all sides and considerations into account. Yes, I know. I can dream. At least one can come to one’s own conclusions when considering all viewpoints and opinions, no matter how extreme on the scale(s).

Photo Copyright Military World Net. Without Permission.

Well, well, well. I promised (threatened?) last week when I showed off the nekked US Rangers, didn’t I? So, without further ado, here they are – the British equivalent, but this time a load of butts. They really could also go into Friday Military Humour, couldn’t they? And I repeat it again: what on earth is it with soldiers getting their kit off at every possible turn? (not that I complain, mind you, but I have quite a few of nekked candid shots on my HD)

Go on, tell me, which one is your favourite “bun”? I have a clear favourite and I shall tell you which one it is next week.

The thing is, Mr M sent me an even more amusing photo this week of nekked Squaddies – but I’m not sure if I should show off the Full Monty “manginas” with gas masks and nothing else. Ho-hum.

I blogged earlier about UK Armed Forces Day, the very first ever, which developed out of Veterans Day. This day is today and all across the country events are taking place, with the main national event being at the historic dockyard in Chatham (where I used to live and where Her Majesty’s Men takes place). So, of course what would I choose for this joker Saturday? Armed Forces Day, of course.

The BBC has an article on the Armed Forces Day underway, including a clickable map of where troops are currently deployed, and there is a Facebook page with many photos of 3000 odd flags being flown across the country. My office was one of them. Here is their Twitter page and here is the Flickr group pool.

No matter what I might think of some individuals who’ve taken up the job of soldiering (ye gods, I met a lot of idiots amongst soldiers) and while no one is forced to take up the job and becoming a soldier is a voluntary decision, never forget it is a shite job, a deadly dangerous one, and can have horrific consequences, besides death. Thus on this day, I shout a loud and cheery Hip Hip Hooray! for all the  non-idiot guys and gals, and for everyone who’s chosen a job where they put their lives on the line (actually, the same goes for firemen, etc):

So, here I am, honouring our Armed Forces and Veterans, and raising awareness of the past and continuing contributions of the Armed Forces.

This is one of my favourites photos on the Flickr group, you may guess why …

Major General A Bradshaw CB OBE and staff at 1 (UK) Armoured Division raise the Armed Forces day flag at the Divisional Headquarters in Herford Germany.

P.S. Thanks, guys, for giving me endless stories to write, aye? (even if you might not agree with titllating stories about gay soldiers, snerk) But seriously, stay safe, I know it isn’t possible for all and I know some will die, be maimed, suffer from PTSD, but here’s sending a particularly good wish to Squaddie (you know who you are, Neil. We luvya, lad.)

A veritable hotchpotch of hilarity it is this Friday. What a better start to the weekend than with a chuckle, aye?

Last but not least, what would we do without our British humour!

I have a -not so secret- love for disaster movies. Full-blown world-wide disasters a la The Day after Tomorrow, Armageddon, and the likes, or localised disasters such as The Towering Inferno, Outbreak, etc. The thing is with those, you always get your fair share of uniformed personnel. So, I’d say this counts as a feasible topic for this blog.

Naturally, when I heard about the British made disaster movie Flood, which is mostly set in London, I had to get it. The chance to see London more or less wiped out by a lot of water? Hooray and ballyho, what an entertaining concept (can you tell I lived too close to London for too long before I moved to Scotland? I only go back down South these days if I absolutely have to. )

But oh dear. What could have been a good film (Robert Carlyle! Love the man, unfortunately he wasn’t good in this movie, but I don’t think it was his fault) turned out to be very lame indeed. I suppose if this had had a bigger budget it could have been a lot better. Not enough was made of the actual disaster, and it was just too predictable. What a shame. Still, if you are interested in seeing how the British emergency services work and look, plus a lot of (fake) squaddies and oodles of water, plus the Thames Barrier in action, and lots of shots of London, over and underground, and eventually under water, then get the film cheap.

Ach well, perhaps next time Storm, where Edinburgh gets blown away?

I’ve been thinking about this question for a while. After all, I am in Britain (Scotland), am a British writer who writes British stories in British (mainly) settings with British soldiers. As anyone knows who’s read my stories, I very firmly believe in writing dialogue how it would  be spoken as in: yes, soldiers swear – a lot – and they use country, area, and work specific slang. Of course, that might very well mean that readers who are not from Britain, and/or not familiar with specific terminology, won’t easily understand. I made the decision, as a writer, to take that risk, to stay true to my characters and to keep the authenticity.

But what is your opinion? Do you, as a reader, want my squaddies to natter about egg banjos, eat scran and get some shut-eye in a maggot bag they’d been carrying in a bergan? Or do you want my British Army soldiers to talk about sandwiches with fried eggs, eat food, and get some sleep in a hooded sleeping bag they’d been carrying in a large, reinforced issue backpack?

What’s your opinion, and why?

Mr M alerted my that four chaps are going on a gruelling challenge to raise money for the UK charity Help for Heroes – a charity for the wounded of Britain’s current conflicts. The guys are from 25 Engineering Light Aid Detachment are going as a team on a 5-day trail in Andalusia, and here is what they have to say for themselves on their fundraising page:

We are a four man team competing in the arduous Al Andalus Ultra Trail 2009 to raise money for HELP FOR HEROS. Details of the event can be found at www.alandalusultratrail.com or see below for a brief overview of the event; Al Andalus Ultra Trail is a very tough 5 day, 5 stage race of around 250km. The course will provide a very demanding test not just for your legs but for your character and determination. Temperatures will be high (35-45C), climbs numerous and long and the trails are scenic and demanding. Over 90% is off-road, mountain and desert tracks with the majority of tarmac in the final kilometres when you are approaching the stage village finishes.

That sounds like a pretty demanding challenge to me, and an excellent cause indeed. If you would like to sponsor these four guys, take a look at their fundraising page on Justgiving:

35 Engr LAD’s Fundraising Page: Al Andalus Ultra Trail 2009 on 13/07/2009

Here is some info about the Help for Heroes charity:

Help for Heroes supports our wounded. Help for Heroes provides practical direct support to those servicemen and women wounded in the line of duty in the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.