Jonas Eriksson's Blog: Jonaswrites.com - official site of author and writer Jonas Eriksson, page 13

Reading right now: Wool and The Liberty Tree

However crazy it may sound, I’m usually reading two books at the same time; one e-book on my iPhone in the gym and one at home in print.

My gym book at the moment is Wool by Hugh Howey, a book with a crazy amount of five-star reviews on Amazon and already hailed as a sci-fi classic. I’m not a huge fan of sci-fi, but the reviews and the storyline intrigued me so I couldn’t really pass it up. Check it out for yourself, I’m about 20% in and it’s a really great story.

Description for Wool:

This is the story of mankind clawing for survival, of mankind on the edge. The world outside has grown unkind, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very thing they profess to want: They are allowed outside.

The other book I’m reading is The Liberty Tree: Drunk to Sober Via Love, Death, Disintegration & Freedom by Suzanne Harrington. It seems like a very interesting book. I will review both The Liberty Tree and Wool on the blog soon.

Description for The Liberty Tree:

Touching and brutally honest, The Liberty Tree is like nothing you have read before. It raises questions many of us will find difficult to answer, but it is ultimately life affirming in its humour, warmth and candour. It will be the most talked about memoir of 2013.

Book review: Spirit House by Mark Dapin

I just finished Spirit House by Mark Dapin today and I must say it’s one of those books that make you want to stop writing altogether. The reason being it’s so well-written that, as a fellow author, it’s easy to lose your motivation. You think, how will I ever be able to write something that good?

But that is obviously not critique towards Spirit House, because it’s a very entertaining read that I have only good things to say about.

Spirit House is much about the relationship between an old man and his grandson. The man, Jimmy, was a prisoner of war and a Digger on the Thai-Burma railway during the second world war and suffers greatly from the horrors of his past. He wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, being right in the middle of the memories that haunt him and the only way to alleviate this pain is to tell the story to his grandson, David.

David is really excited by the stories at first, but the more gory and brutal they get, the less he wants to hear about them. You could say he’s fascinated, but at the same time slightly sick to hear what he’s grandfather had to experience.

Spirit House is a deeply moving book. Dapin’s excellent use of the English language really paints a vivid picture of how it was to be involved in the war, not only as a POW but in general. The book is full of humor, especially in the dialogue of Jimmy and his old Digger friends, Solomon, Katz, and Myer who meet up to talk about the past from time to time, something which usually involves pretty harsh but mainly very funny conversations.

This is what Dapin writes himself about Spirit House: I wrote it as a war of remembering my own grandfather, and the generation who fought in the Second World War. I tried to capture their dry, sometimes brutal humour, their love of profanity (but only when there were no “ladies” present) and equally pronounced love of a drink. My granddad was not a POW. He served in the Air Rescue Service in the East End of London during the Blitz, but the characters of the old men in my novel are based loosely on him and his ex-service mates, and the conversations they used to have on Sunday afternoons in the club.

Dapin draws up great characters and he tells the story much like had been there himself. It obviously helps that Dapin is the editor of The Penguin Book of Australian War Writing, but still you can’t be nothing but impressed by the amount detail and emotion with which he tells the story. To be able to capture such a tale is no small feat, but Dapin does it brilliantly and he has crafted a novel  that is equally distressing and tragic as it is funny and clever.

But before I end my review by recommending you to read this beautiful book, I should tell you what a spirit house is. A spirit house is a shrine to the protective spirit of a place. It’s found in Southeast Asian countries like Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. The spirit house is usually shaped like a miniature house or a temple. The house is intended to provide a shelter for the spirits.

And that’s why Jimmy is building a spirit house, to make the spirits leave him in peace. If he succeeds, you’d better find out yourself by reading Spirit House.

Selling some stuff – tennis racquets and guitars

We’re unloading lots of stuff at home so I’m putting many things out for sale. Send me an e-mail if you’re interested.

A real pro player tennis racquet. I have two Head IG Prestige MP. Brand new condition.

Wilson Ncode Team. Great tennis racquet for intermediate players.

Head Microgel Prestige Pro. Great tennis racquet for advanced players.

Behringer V-Tone 15 Watt electric guitar amp. Good for practice.

Guitar bag from Proel.

Guitar flight case. Really sturdy and great for traveling with your precious guitar.

Yamaha CPX 500. Great steel-string acoustic with built-in mic and tuner.

Behringer V-tone electric guitar. Great for beginners.

Classical guitar. Easy to play, great for beginners. Built in mic.

Christian Audigier hoodie bought in New York for 200 dollars and not worn once (not really my style). 40 euro and it’s yours.

Hollywood Ass – a box of print books arrived

The day started with Aiden and I picking up a box of fresh “Hollywood Ass.” from the US and A. They look great, all thanks to my brilliant cover designer Etienne Bugeja. They’re available on Amazon US or Amazon UK etc. Read more about how to get your hands on one through the dedicated Hollywood Ass page. And if you’re interested in reviewing it for Amazon and your personal blog or website, send me your details and I might send you a print or e-book straight away. Any help getting the message out about the book is GREATLY appreciated.

Back from Valencia

Lenah and I had a great three-day getaway vacation in Valencia. I had never been there before but can conclude it was a brilliant city with good shopping, fantastic food and delicious wines (you can’t go wrong with Spanish wines).

 

 

Being in the now

I’ve previously written some posts on how easy it is to lose your focus when there are thousands of things trying to grab your attention: Adapting to the increasing speed of change and Rambling on patience, blogs and the meaning of life, but it seems like a topic I keep coming back to.

The reason is that people seem to have a hard time really being in the now these days. Cellphones, bills, computers, and general worries about a lot of the other things come in the way. Things move so fast these days it has become necessary to always be a step ahead (in your head!). This obviously makes us more stressed and less able to just be in the now and experience life.

This might require you not fiddling with your phone while you’re at that dinner party or waiting for the bus. And for you to realize that you would be better off not thinking about next month’s bills when you’re sunbathing in the park. And you might have to stop stressing over what your life work will be while you’re taking a shower or walking your dog.

The answer is just being.

It’s not as easy as it sounds (although for some people it might be, I can’t imagine the people living on my street in Sliema, Malta, a place called “lazy corner” having a hard time shutting off their brains), because if you’re like me, there’s always something whirring around the old brain.

I know I need to shut it off and just exist, but things keep coming in the way. Life comes in the way.

So how do you shut off your mind? Here are five super simple ideas:

1. Exercise. Take a walk or a jog or preferably some even more high-intense exercise or sport that makes it impossible to think about other things.

2. Kiss your loved one (corny – but if you think about other things then, you have a problem).

3. Talk to someone and really, really listen. Too many people have one eye on their phone during conversations these days.

4. Do something fun with your kid(s) (if you have kids, otherwise borrow one). Their endless energy should hopefully rub off on you.

5. Meditate.

Can you help me come up with more ideas on to shut off our brains and really just be in the now? Please comment.

Have a nice day.

Cubicle blues

Lately (the last five years or so), I’ve been suffering from cubicle blues. For you who don’t know what a cubicle is, it’s in the picture above.

It’s your own little office within the office.

Some of you might call it your own little prison inside the prison, but that might be a bit harsh.

Anyway, I’m not sitting in a cubicle. I’m in what you call an open office setting. It looks like this:

Well, not exactly because I found this image on Google Images, but you get the point. You have close desk neighbours. (Not personally close, just geographically close).

So why did I call this post cubicle blues? Because sometimes I feel a bit tired of working 9-18 in an office and cubicle sounds much better than open office blues (the feeling of being trapped is easier to understand with cubicle reference). I know a lot of you do, but I just wanted to vent and open up the opportunity for you, dear readers, to vent in the comments.

Besides venting, what do you do about cubicle/office blues? Just get on with it? Treat it as a passing feeling?

I think the only thing you can do, besides looking for another job (which might lead to the same kind of pain, but not necessarily), is to try to work on your own thing on the side. This could be your life-long dream of x, or a start-up idea you’ve had for some time, or a hobby you want to take to the next step. It’s just something to keep your head high and out of the bluesy waters of office-land.

I’m writing books. Not sure they’ll get me anywhere, but at least I have the dream to hold on to and it makes my days in the office more bearable.

I should for the record say that I don’t have an awful job in any way. Far from it. It’s just that I, like possibly millions of other people, was born with the feeling that I want to accomplish greater things. Or at least my own things. And it could be that I’ve been working six years in the same place.

What’s your office story? Please share in the comments. And let’s get our heads up above sea level.

It’s time – Mad Men time

We’ve been waiting for a while but now it’s finally time. Mad Men time.

I think most women would agree that Don Draper usually looks better than in the picture, but it was too funny not to post.

Make sure you not miss the best show on TV right now (and yes, I know there are a lot of great series out there, but this is our personal favourite).

And for you who are already hooked, why not read some Don Draper Mad Men quotes or the post I wrote on Mad Men and marriage a while ago.

Looking for book reviewers

(Yes, it’s an adorable kitten reading a book. All to get your attention.)

How do you market a book without reviews or testimonials? The answer is you don’t. Book reviews sell books, there’s no question about it. And for indie authors reviews are an even more important tool, because some e-book marketing sites won’t even accept an ad if the book has less than 4.0 stars out of 5 in average (I find this rule very strange), so without reviews or with a poor review average you will have little chance to get your writing out to a wider audience.

This is why I’m asking for your help. I’m looking for book reviewers for my stories, most importantly Hollywood Ass. which was recently published on Amazon Kindle.

So, I will offer you free copies of my books, either Hollywood Ass. or The Wake-Up Call in return for a review on your blog or Amazon site of your choice.

If you’re interested in reviewing either of the books (or my free short stories A Killer Date or The Development Talk) please write a comment on this post or send me an e-mail to jonaswrites_at_gmail.com (“_at_” equals @).

I have a selected number of print copies that I will send to you who can motivate why you should get a print copy instead of a file or a download link. I’ll even sign them

Hollywood Ass. print version: Print UK, Print US.

Links for Hollywood Ass kindle version: US, UK, DE, FR, ES, IT, JP, CA, BR.

Stuff vs experiences – traveling again

There is nothing better to open up your senses and relax your mind than traveling. Thankfully, Lenah and I are aligned when it comes to where we spend our hard-earned money. We have decided not buy property (can’t really afford it) and lots of stuff. Instead we’re focusing on eating and drinking well, traveling and enjoying life to the max. Because what good is buying lots of stuff really? In fact, we don’t even own a car, we rent one when we need it. It’s cost- and environmentally friendly.

This might sound like we live some kind of extreme lifestyle – we don’t. We just want to make sure we live our lives and not get too bound down to stuff, houses, cars, which usually equals loans, which in turn equals stress and unhappiness. It’s about being able to control that initial desire you can get for a new car, a house, a new computer, etc. We still buy things, obviously. Things that matter to us. Clothes is one of them. Not lots and expensive, but enough to make sure you feel good about yourself. The same thing goes for health and beauty stuff (lotions, gym membership, medicine, massages, treatments, dentists, doctors – what you require to make sure your body is in good shape), if we can extend our lives – then that’s money well spent.

There’s nothing strange about this philosophy. We’ve done the journey (at least partly) around buying, buying, buying, owning, owning, owning – but when the buying and owning starts to interfere with the things you really appreciate, then you need to ask yourself a few questions.

So the main question we’re asking ourselves now is: do we/I really need that? A lot of the time the answer is no.

One step we’ve taken is to clear out a lot of stuff. Things we don’t use that other people might need or have better use for. That stuff we give to charity or sell (it’s damn hard to sell used things so we end giving most of it away). And it feels really good to do it, not only the giving but also cleaning and clearing up. You not only clear the space around you, but also your mind and soul. You de-clutter your life.

After we’ve made the decision to de-clutter and anti-hoard, we booked two well-needed vacations. First we’re going to Valencia in mid-April (only two nights, but still a nice getaway) and then we’re going back to one of our favorite places in the world, La città eterna, Rome. Because like I wrote in the first paragraph, there is nothing better than traveling to open up your senses and relax your mind. To really experience things and enjoy life.

And that’s what we need right now. Actually, that’s what all of us need more of, at least in my view. More than a new LCD TV, a new car, a bigger house or something else that we feel we need there and then, but lose interest in after only a few days, or maybe weeks.

To summarise, make sure you live your life. Don’t bind yourself to stuff that when you ask yourself, deep down, really doesn’t matter.

And if you have any tips for what to do when you’re in Valencia (or Rome, even though we have an idea after three times), please comment. I’ll make sure to answer each one. /JE.