Who is Sam Brooker?

Book Review: No Easy Hope (Surviving the Dead) by James Cook

2013-06-21T21:09:00.001+12:00

No Easy Hope by James Cook was a pretty good read. Set in North arolina (which I was excited about as I lived in the state for a while), it follows Eric Riordon a man wrapped up in the quickly decaying World during a zombie outbreak. I liked how it described in-depth how the outbreak occurred and how it spread. I liked his description of the infected and their attributes and movements. Cook created characters which had personality and were believable. The plot kept me reading along at a reasonable pace and in patches, I couldn't put it down.

However, there were patches where I felt the story was static and went nowhere fast. I really wanted his journey through the State to continue. I absolutely couldn't relate to the in-depth description of guns and weapons which occurred regularly. I ended up skim reading these pieces. I also felt Eric had an almost unbelievable infatuation with his friend Gabriel. It was weird in parts. There was a lot of macho stuff when these characters were together and when Eric was talking about him.

In all, I enjoyed the read.

- Rhys Chamberlain

Sugata Mitra's TED Talk: Building a School in the Cloud

2013-04-18T08:21:00.001+12:00

For all you teachers out there, Sugata Mitra's TED Talk on SOLE (Self Organised Learning Environments) is mind-blowing.

Check it out ;)

Check out more TED Talks by visiting www.ted.com

- Rhys Chamberlain

Blink-182: Punk to Pop; Rise and Fall

2013-01-05T11:06:00.001+13:00

I can still recall the day my mates and I stumbled across the catchy teen punk sound of Mark, Tom and Travis. Their ridiculously amusing toilet humour lyrics coupled with sexual slogans and vulgar animal acts. We were teens, bordering on punks ourselves. Yep, those were the days.

In actual fact it wasn’t Mark, Tom and Travis then, it was Mark, Tom and Scott and the band was simply known as Blink when they released their first album Buddha in 1993 until a ridiculous threat of legal action from some other nobody band forced them to add the 182 on the end.

Anyway the band shot to fame in our small town with the onset of the skate movement of the late 90’s in NZ and a famous beer advertisement which used the single “Dammit” from the bands third album Dude Ranch as their catchy tune. Dude Ranch debuted in 1997 and alongside other punk bands such as Pennywise, Bad Religion, No Fun At All, and The Offspring, Blink-182 gained cult hero status.

They had the perfect sound for the teenage summer of scorching hot days, great music, beer, and not a care in the world. And that’s the way it was. Blink-182 were the ultimate punk band; in our eyes anyway. Dude Ranch was legendry and so someone, whose parents had some cash, bought the previous album Cheshire Cat, more out of respect for the band than the list of tunes which encompassed it.

You can decide for yourself whether Dude Ranch was the last act of true punk music from the hardcore lyricists, because in 1999 came the release of their new album Enema of the State, a new record label (MCA), and an element of mainstream success. The songs ranged from new pop maturity in “Adam”s Song’, to catchy pop tunes with the same crazy lyrics in “What”s My Age Again?’, to songs of their roots which included “Alien's Exist" and “Dumpweed”. Upon its release my mates and I worshipped it and even snubbed Dude Ranch for a few months to thrash the new disc and learn all of the lyrics of every song by heart. I think it even matured us to a certain extent especially when learning and relating the lyrics of “Adam's Song" to the suicide of a 17 year old teen who hung himself in his garage while listening to the song.

As I left my teens and reached for the big wide word, so I left my favourite band of my youth years even as they bought out the ever increasing mainstream albums, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket in 2001, and the self titled album in 2003. Don’t get me wrong, I bought the albums and so did most of my mates but it just wasn’t the same. New lyrics, new genre, new friends; how could Blink-182 ever retain their status as the influential teen punk band of the 90’s? They couldn’t, simple as that. The new albums were great but now everyone had had discovered our great music secret of our youth and we were no longer youths.

For Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker, the mainstream success seemed to eventually fuel multiple disputes and rifts within the band. Travel, family pressures, career exploration, and ultimately fame ensured the end was near for the punksters from Poway, California aptly named Blink-182. Because that’s what it seemed like for us, a “blink” and then it was over. Age it seemed had found the fast track to adulthood. What’s my age again?

This piece was originally published with online publishing site Triond. I no longer write for the site as they have locked me out of my account and are no longer paying me but still collecting revenue on my 80+ articles. Be warned.

Emotion (a Sam Brooker thriller) has a new cover!

2012-09-03T18:39:00.004+12:00

Emotion (a Sam Brooker thriller) has a new cover designed and created by me for you.

It occurred to me that my previous cover was quite hard to read when it was viewed as a small icon or when it came up in searches through Amazon, which led me to creating this brand spanking new one.

The new cover shows the Auckland City skyline after dark viewed from North Shore City, which if you have seen it in real life is quite a breath-taking sight. It shows the world famous Sky Tower building amongst others which is the 15th tallest in the world.

Anyway, enjoy the new cover and hopefully it boosts my sales a bit.

Thanks.

I'm looking for a eBook cover designer. Any takers?

2012-08-24T09:29:00.001+12:00

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for someone to design and create an eBook cover for my novel Emotion (a Sam Brooker thriller) currently published on Amazon/Kindle. At the moment it has a very simple cover which doesn't give a real authenticity to it I don't believe. I think it is probably impacting sales. I would need a professional finish at a reasonable price. Please read the synopsis and see what you think

If you are interested, please contact me by commenting on this page or by email which you can find on the contacts section of this blog. I'm also on Twitter at @nzsportslife.

Cheers,

Rhys Chamberlain

Ultimate Crime: 8 Thrillers to Keep You Captivated

2012-08-20T19:27:00.003+12:00

Nineteen Minutes
- Author: Jodi Picoult
- Rating: 5 stars
I know what your thinking gentlemen, “Jodi Picoult only writes soppy girly novels!” Not so. Nineteen Minutes follows the lives of Peter Houghton and Josie Cormier, childhood friends who have drifted their separate ways since entering adolescence; Josie to the “cool” crowd and Peter to the outreaches of loneliness and ridicule. After Peter finally snaps at the constant teasing of his school peers, Sterling High School finds itself in the midst of a school shooting tragedy. Jordan McAfee is back as a lawyer from previous Picoult novels to plead the accused case. A fantastic read that lets the reader sympathize with and relate to both parties involved.
Retribution
- Author: Jilliane Hoffman
- Rating: 5 Stars
This is the story of Chloe, a young hotshot, soon to be lawyer, who is stalked and attacked by a man in a clown mask. After her attacker was never caught, she moves to Miami and starts a new life as C.J. a criminal prosecutor. Everything is okay until she ends up trying to prosecute the very man who attacked her that night for murdering lots of young woman. This book is literally unputdownable!
The Righteous Men
- Author: Sam Bourne
- Rating: 5 Stars
Okay, if you read and loved the Da Vinci Code, this is the book for you. A young New York Times reporter is following a series of murders around the world. He thinks they may all be connected and when his wife goes missing he stops at nothing to find her. This leads him into one of the oldest religious fanatical organizations where he finds and follows prophecies and riddles linking up all the murders. This was exceptionally good. It was right up there with the Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons.
Mary, Mary
- Author: James Patterson
- Rating: 5 stars
The best of the Alex Cross novels from James Patterson, sees violent serial killer Mary Smith antagonizing a local LA Times reporter via email before each new kill. The catch is that all of the victims so far are A-list Hollywood actors, actresses, writers, and directors. Once again Cross is torn between family and work which plays on his mental state forces him to make decision s that will affect not only him, but his young family as well. Can Alex stop this new psycho before another top Hollywood celeb becomes a victim? Only you can find out.
The Abduction
- Author: Mark Gimenez
- Rating: 5 Stars
A little girl is kidnapped after a soccer match near her home in Texas. Her mother, a lawyer, and her father, a billionaire computer genius, are distraught and the FBI gets on the case. As well as the FBI, the little girls grandfather, a Vietnam War veteran who has a special link with her, is determined to get her back alive. It’s a race against time to see if she will turn up alive!
Mr Clarinet
- Author: Nick Stone
- Rating: 4 stars
The first Max Mingus novel leads the reader to the slums and poverty of the country of Haiti in the Caribbean. Mingus is an ex-cop on the outer for a job that went bad a few years before. He now markets himself as a private investigator and has built up a reputation as the best. Offered $10 million in cash to find a rich businessman’s son in Port-au-Prince, Mingus encounters, a sly psycho, black magic, and a job that all of his predecessors have not only failed in, but died a savage death. If you have a taste for the out of the ordinary, this novel is for you.
The Chemistry of Death
- Author: Simon Beckett
- Rating: 5 stars
A once high profile forensic anthropologist tries to forget the devastation of his past by taking up a position as a GP in small town Britain. But when a savagely mutilated woman’s body is uncovered in the bush outside the village, he is called upon to uncover the happenings that lead her death. However, no one remains exempt from suspicion in this country town, even a high profile doctor. Along the way in-depth analysis of death is explored including the vivid description of decomposition. So if you’re looking for twists, turns, and a totally unexpected ending, then don’t go past The Chemistry of Death.
Flesh and Blood
- Author: Jonathan Kellerman
- Rating: 4 stars
Child psychologist Alex Delaware randomly gets a call from a mother whose daughter was a patient of his years before. This patient, Lauren Teague, now in her twenties, has mysteriously vanished in the midst of the seedy sex industry of Los Angeles. Alex knows that he has no need to get involved in the case but against police advice he agrees to help and eventually becomes obsessed. It becomes his life and he is willing to risk even his relationship over it. An easy read with a very clear and concise description of the “other side” of Los Angeles.

This piece was originally published with online publishing site Triond. I no longer write for the site as they have locked me out of my account and are no longer paying me but still collecting revenue on my 80+ articles. Be warned.

Pulp Fiction: What in the World is in That Briefcase?

2012-07-03T11:05:00.000+12:00

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and goodwill shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee." – Ezekiel 25:17, Jules Winnfield (Samuel L Jackson).

Actually you won’t find this passage in the bible. It’s a combination of a number of passages pieced together by Tarantino especially for the film Pulp Fiction and quoted by one of its leading characters Jules Winnfield played by the legendry actor Samuel L Jackson.

Pulp Fiction written and directed Quentin Tarantino and released in 1994 by Miramax Films, combines seven different stories starting and finishing with the robbing of a diner by “Pumpkin” and “Honey Bunny”. Along the way we meet characters Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Jackson) who are hit men working for mobster Marcellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). Wallace has his fingers in many pies and the story intertwines with boxing where Butch (Bruce Willis) is bribed by Wallace to take a “dive” in the fifth round, Vincent has to take Wallace’s wife out to dinner where she overdoses afterwards prompting a drive to his dealers house, and Vincent and Jules are on a job to retrieve a briefcase from some people who have quote “screwed Marcellus Wallace”. As you can possibly tell, the story takes concentration and more than one viewing before a genuine understanding is gained. Its nonlinear sequence has put more than a few viewers off.

But lets get back to the main point; what the hell is in the briefcase? During the film the viewer never actually gets to see the contents of the briefcase which Jules and Vincent retrieved, rather just a strange golden glow. The glow and the looks on the characters faces when peering into the case gives the impression of something that is seemingly priceless. Many theories have been flung around about exactly what is in that mysterious briefcase. You can make up your own mind.

1. The Soul of Gangster Marcellus Wallace

This is the most common theory and probably the most plausible answer to what is in the case. During the film we are first introduced to Marcellus Wallace with a shot looking at the back of his head where he has a band aid stuck to the back of his neck. If you look carefully you also notice that the briefcases’ combination is 666. This has lead a number of theorists to believe that Wallace has sold his soul to the devil because in a number of religions the soul is taken from the back of the head and so the plot is structured around Wallace trying to get it back. Therefore the golden glow is that of Marcellus Wallace’s soul.

2. The Diamonds From The Robbery In Reservoir Dogs

Another very good theory is that inside the briefcase is the diamonds that were stolen from the movie Reservoir Dogs also written and directed by Tarantino. The plot in Reservoir Dogs ends without the viewer knowing the whereabouts of the diamonds. Could that be what is in the case? One problem; it doesn’t explain the golden glow.

3. Heroin

A number of people have discussed the possibility that it is something as simple as blocks of heroin which is a very good argument as Wallace is a renowned dealer of the drug and his wife obviously an avid user judging by the scene after returning home with Vincent from Jack Rabbit Slims. Again, doesn’t explain the glow.

4. Gold Bars

Seems far too easy for the contents to be gold bars but that would explain the glow and the extremes Wallace goes too to get it back.

5. An Oscar Statue

Some punters believe that the movie was so good that the case contained one of the seven Oscars the film received!

6. A Royale With Cheese

“You know what they call a Quarter Pounder in France? A Royale With Cheese” Yep some people have even decided that inside the case that everyone is after is a hamburger. Go figure.

Now none of these theories have ever been proven and Tarantino has kept extremely tight lipped since the films release 14 years ago. He has been quoted as saying that what is in the case is for the viewer to decide. Most people have concluded that the briefcase is simply a McGuffin or a plot device inserted into the script to aid the characters actions and give the plot a point to follow.

Pulp Fiction was nominated for six academy awards for Best Picture (Lawrence Bender, producer), Best Director (Quentin Tarantino), Best Actor (John Travolta), Best Supporting Actress (Uma Thurman), Best Supporting Actor (Samuel L Jackson), and Best Film Editing (Sally Menke). It won only one of these nominations for best script. It has been hailed as one of the greatest films of it’s time.

No to National!

2012-05-25T20:00:00.002+12:00

The National government will introduce these initiatives to our education system in a bid to save a miserly $43 million dollars annually and, in my opinion, severely disadvantage our children:

- Increase class sizes from a flexible ratio of between 1:23 - 1: 29 to an enforced 1:27.5 ratio minimum. This will, for the majority of schools, mean that your child will have less one to one time with the teacher, increase teacher workload thereby leaving less time for the children and ensure that schools have to let teachers go. Thinking about two schools in particular and based on student-staff ratios now with 20 classes, one will lose 1.25 teachers and the other 3.

- The $43 million surplus will most certainly be used to fund "performance pay" for teachers with the only way of judging high performance being through standardized testing. For anybody unfamiliar with this kind of testing, it might be said that the only thing of importance for a teacher is the children in their class passing a test so they get a bonus. It becomes less about the child and more about the money. It also creates the problem of competitiveness amongst teachers instead of collaboration and schools being judged on solely on their results from these tests.
"Schools being judged on their results?", you say. "What's wrong with that?"
What happens if your school is a decile one school, traditionally performs poorly because of the children's backgrounds and other things outside of the teachers control? That's not fair and hard-working teachers trying to make a difference to children's lives are unfairly labelled.

- Specialist teacher budgets, namely technology teachers (woodwork, home economics etc) in intermediate schools will be cut. Who needs practical skills these days anyway?

- Maori immersion schools will be exempt from the proposed class size changes because "Proportionately immersion schools are more successful in raising Maori achievement than mainstream and we do not want to impair that progress."
Hekia Parata, Education Minister, stated this today but has she taken into consideration the fact that these schools have class sizes considerably smaller than in mainstream schools? Is it therefore a complete contradiction to the changes? This seems unfair to other minority groups and indeed to the children considered less at risk than Maori students.

There's more but this is all I can bring myself to write at this point. Why do all this when New Zealand education is ranked first equal with Australia, Finland and Denmark on the Education Index (published by the United Nations based on adult literacy rates) and has 82% of students gaining at least a Level 1 qualification in NCEA?

Join my Facebook group to support our kids and not the National government!

Class size matters John, particularly to the students that struggle the most.

Have we become a society of selfishness?

2012-04-25T17:23:00.000+12:00

It's one of the most important days on New Zealand's calendar. On April 25th 1915, the ANZACs landed at Gallipoli, Turkey with the intention to open the Dardanelles, an important allied shipping route during WWI. Many soldiers died during the landing and over the eight month campaign approximately 10,000 allied soldiers died including 2700 Kiwis and about 8500 Australians.

Nowadays the day seeks to commemorate and recognise all New Zealand and Australian soldiers that fought in any overseas conflict including both World Wars, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afganistan, Iraq etc. We all get a day off to remember those that sacrificed everything for us.

So it really bugs me when people can't even get off their asses and get to a service on the morning of April 25th for an hour out of their day. Even sparing an hour is too hard for some. There's always an excuse. It's pitiful and selfish. I know that if I were to miss an ANZAC service, I would be riddled with guilt.

Have we become a society so selfish that not even the deaths and sacrifices made by our ancestors are not important anymore?

Lest we forget.

On twitter...

2012-03-07T17:53:00.000+13:00

I came across a tweet the other day that put the Facebook vs. Twitter discussion in perfect perspective. Unfortunately I can't recall who posted the tweet. Ironic I guess because the tweet said something along the lines of, "Facebook is for the people you knew at high school, Twitter is for the people you wish you knew at high school."

For me the statement is 100 percent true. Most of the "friends" I have on Facebook are people I would consider to be actual friends while most of the "followers" I have on Twitter are people I wouldn't know if I bumped into them in the street, but would like to meet; with the odd exception on both platforms of course.

It's a relatively knew pastime for me. It's highly addictive and its fun. There is no doubt that my main focus on Twitter is marketing and promotion but I really enjoy reading other peoples posts, linking into blogs and posts and following the trends for that day.

I have to say however that I do get sick of the same self-promotional tweets from people I follow, over and over again so I try to limit my promotional tweets to one or two a day leaving just a link to my website on anything else that I post. I figure that if I skim over other peoples self-promotion, they will likely do that to me if I was to keep whacking out the same old, "read my book" tweets.

Don't get me wrong, it might work and I have tried a couple of things but quickly put paid to those. An example was when I tried out using Tweetadder, a downloadable programme that posts tweets for you on a regular basis without you having to do anything but surf the net. It seemed like a good plan until one of my loyal followers and an acquaintance outside of Twitter told me that I was becoming a "bot" in reference to my robot-like tweets. Four days of Tweetadder was enough. It didn't move my book sales along anymore than my regular tweeting had done so I gave it the flick.

Twitter can be a good promotional tool when used in the right way. People want to know there's a real person behind every 140 character message.

Thoughts?

FREE COPY of Emotion (a Sam Brooker thriller)

2012-01-31T10:01:00.000+13:00

Everyone loves something FREE and so I'm offering five copies of my novel Emotion (a Sam Brooker thriller) for FREE to the first five visitors to this blog.

All you have to do is be one of the first five people to put your email address in the comments section of this post and I will gift you a copy.

Of course there are a couple of conditions -

1. You must be able to receive the Kindle edition of this book via your Kindle Reader, Kindle for iPhone or iPad/tablet or Kindle for PC.

2. You must provide a review for the book on the Amazon website and on your blog if you have one.

3. Tell your friends about the book if you liked it.

That's it. It's that simple for you to enjoy a book that was the #1 New Zealand thriller on Amazon Kindle for January 2012.

Enjoy.

Rhys Chamberlain

On fear...

2011-12-23T16:11:00.001+13:00

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear... And when it is gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear is gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

- Frank Herbert (American science fiction author and writer 1920-1986)

Amy Winehouse and Justice

2011-07-27T15:04:00.001+12:00

The death of Amy Winehouse from a concoction of mind and body altering pills, powder and other substances got me thinking about why she was unable to be helped or whether in-fact anybody actually tried to help her. Of course, people say they did, but what people say and what people do is a totally different thing as most right-minded human beings know.

Her demise got me thinking about other people in her predicament or in a worse one and whether the crimes they commit when under the influence should be judged in the same degree as a person who commits a crime when their thoughts are not rationalised by drugs. It's a difficult train of thought and I think that, overall, the justice system here in New Zealand is too soft on offenders, especially with regard to more serious crimes. At this point some criminals get a slap on the hand and told to go and "rehab" with a second chance. But often it's not a second chance, it's more like a third or fourth chance and the amount of serious re-offences by criminals on parole is just not good enough. The big question is though; what can we do about it? I don't want to sit on the fence about the death penalty but I'm going to because that form of punishment has a number of pros and cons. For instance, if a criminal under the influence of methamphetamine commits a murder, then I tend to lean towards the fact that the offender was not in his/her right mind and obviously hasn't been helped by anyone and so why should they die? But someone like Clayton Weatherston, the man who killed his girlfriend by stabbing her 230 odd times, needs something more severe than 20 years in prison.

In some ways I'd like to thing that the death penalty should be bought back for serious crimes but that each case be judged on its events and the person sentenced accordingly. Was this person in their right mind? But in other ways I can see the huge problems associated with bringing it back like the major one; is this person guilty beyond reasonable doubt? I don't know. It's certainly a tough one but I know one thing, crime would go down substantially if it was reintroduced.

As for Amy Winehouse, she didn't get the help she needed and as a consequence, the World has lost one of the great artists.

An Emotional Journey

2011-07-18T16:28:00.001+12:00

It started way back in 2004 on my first night in a Paharganj hotel named Namaskar in the heart of Old Delhi. To get to the place I had to weave my way through the masses of people, cars and cows to reach the little alleyway that the place was situated. The entrance to the alleyway had a fruit stall on one side of it with all kinds of shining, delectable, delicacies available and on the other, an open latrine which made me gag as I noticed the run off from it edging towards my shoes and the stink stinging my nose. My room was a concrete block with no windows and a bucket for washing. The good thing was that, along with impeccable service, the place had a tiny, one man balcony that looked right out over Delhi. As I sat out there marvelling I had an urge. I needed to write this down. It was the only way I was ever going to be able to explain it to anybody when I eventually got home.

I guess that's how I fell into writing really. I was never really interested in writing at school although I was an avid reader despite a gap through my late teens for obvious reasons. The book idea came to me in about 2007 after I had had numerous attempts at writing other novels and had given up because they were what I would term...crap. Crime thrillers had been a favourite of mine for sometime because I loved the constant suspense and drama involved. It made me want to read and read and read. I thought to myself, if I love reading them, then why couldn't I write one? It would be all of the things that I've loved to read rolled into one. So that's what I did. I started to write.

Now I don't know about other writers but I didn't really draft up a plan for my book in the literal sense. I mean the basis of what I wanted to write I had stored in my head. I knew I needed a central character that everyone, not necessarily liked, but could sympathise with, and an antagonist that everyone despised. I also felt that I needed to have something a little different in my story so added a school teacher and an exotic location (Auckland, New Zealand), into the mix. The other thing I decided upon was that it had to have short chapters. It could be a male thing, but I like short chapters. I like knowing that in just a couple more pages I will finish the chapter and I can turn the light out. I hate leaving my book in the middle of a chapter. So I went with short chapters and none of my chapters are more than about four pages long. And I went from there. As the story developed, more and more ideas flooded into my head and I got more and more engrossed. I found out that I could just zone out of everything that was happening around me. Some days I belted out 1000 words. Other days I wrote one line.

Because I was a teacher, not a police detective or a sadistic killer, it meant I had to do some research which...

Kids and their Cliques

2011-07-10T14:35:00.001+12:00

I remember when I was thirteen.

It was all about where you fitted in, only, you didn't actually know that this was what it was all about and what you were trying to achieve.

There was the rugby heads, the skaters, the homies, the nerds, the goths, the emos etc. And then there were the in-betweens. The kids who didn't really fit anywhere. The kids who just kind of floated in and out of different groups. It was hard. You needed to find a place where you felt you belonged and felt respected.

I have to say that eventually I slotted in with the sporty kids. I was kind of lucky because I was reasonably good with a ball so most things came naturally. But before I found my place, before I found out where I belonged in the Teenage World, I experienced what it's like if you are one of those in-betweens.

It was my first week of high school. Two incidents stand out.

It was lunchtime (everything goes down at lunchtime) and I sat with the other newbies. Before I knew it all out war was being raged between the older kids and us in-betweens. I remember cowering behind my chair while all sorts of food groups went flying past my head. Apples, half-eaten sandwiches and what not. But while I was contemplating a plan for escape, I got hit. It hit me right in the thigh. It was a square of chocolate covered muesli bar which, at the time, felt like it had been frozen first, in expectation of causing damage to a newbie. It hurt. Man did it hurt. I fought back tears as I continued to cower. I can't recall how the rest of the afternoon went down but that incident has stuck with me.

The second event happened at break time. I was standing at the urinal minding my business when I'm grabbed by the scruff of my neck and my face is stuffed to within inches of the toilet flow. This is the only thing I recall about this particular event apart from the fact that I know my face didn't get wet. Maybe I was saved. Maybe something stopped this guy from going any further. I don't know. What I do know is that once I found my clique, had some friends, had some respect, these things stopped happening.

Now that I'm a teacher I see these types of things everyday although possibly not to the same scale as things went down then.

Everybody needs to feel safe. Everyone needs respect. It just takes time to find out who you are and where you fit. Sometimes you can't do it by yourself. Sometimes, you need help.

2011-07-04T22:21:00.000+12:00

Who is Sam Brooker?

Who is Sam Brooker?

Book Review: No Easy Hope (Surviving the Dead) by James Cook

Sugata Mitra's TED Talk: Building a School in the Cloud

Blink-182: Punk to Pop; Rise and Fall

I can still recall the day my mates and I stumbled across the catchy teen punk sound of Mark, Tom and Travis. Their ridiculously amusing toilet humour lyrics coupled with sexual slogans and vulgar animal acts. We were teens, bordering on punks ourselves. Yep, those were the days.

Emotion (a Sam Brooker thriller) has a new cover!

I'm looking for a eBook cover designer. Any takers?

Ultimate Crime: 8 Thrillers to Keep You Captivated

Nineteen Minutes

Retribution

The Righteous Men

Mary, Mary

The Abduction

Mr Clarinet

The Chemistry of Death

Flesh and Blood