All of my e-books, with the exception of 'Dhammaraja' which will change shortly, will now be available at the price of 99 cents from Amazon.com, see here...

Cheap e-books

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ME9VKQ8

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Danny-Campbell-Books/1497243643828784?ref_type=bookmark

It's been a while since I wrote anything on here. I've been busy writing stories among other things. Some thoughts on the shot down airplane MH17, and Gaza.

Some time ago I asked if the Ukraine was the 'Spanish Civil War' of our generation. Now, it has been relatively easy for people to pretend that these conflicts have nothing to do with them, that is until it is staring you in the face, occupying your home town, killing your loved ones.

 Europe's laissez faire attitude to Vladimir Putin's Russia, has allowed the grubby little tyrant to run rampage over Eastern Europe, over people who wish to be a part of Europe, who understand that Europe is an idea worth belonging to. Now a stand must be made, gangsters should not dictate to the lives of honest men, and Putin is most assuredly a gangster. I stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian aspiration to self-determination. And I curse the blundering morons, who through their evil and ugly stupidity, destroyed the lives of peaceful people on their way to an exciting holiday.

 On Gaza. Yes, it is sickening to see so many children and innocents blown to bits by Israeli munitions. Yes, the Gazans and the rest of the Palestinians have a rough card dealt to them by circumstances.

http://www.amazon.com/Dhammaraja-Essay-Times-Sulak-Sivaraksa/dp/1500369241/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1404249830&sr=8-2&keywords=dhammaraja

As my heart bleeds, bleeding heart though I be...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvFH_6DNRCY

In my last post, I asked if the situation in the Ukraine was our 'Spanish civil war'. I fear that that was the wrong analogy. It is our 'Cuban missile crisis'. It is time that Russia, was shown that the West means business again. Not another inch to these grubby gangsters.

To who it may concern.

 I would heartily recommend George Orwell's essay, on 'the prevention of literature'. This succinct piece, like so much of the great masters work, is very prescient. Consider, if, and when you read it, the substitution of 'communist', or 'totalitarian', or even 'intellectual left', with the word 'consumerism', and one will immediately see how very prescient indeed. I shall attempt further discourse, when I have the energy. Salutations, to an invisible, and perhaps, non-existent, readership.

A paperback version of 'A Tale of Aceh'.

http://www.amazon.com/A-Tale-Aceh-Danny-Campbell/dp/1494980037/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1395869812&sr=8-3&keywords=civil+war+aceh

A reflection: The Ukraine.

 Is this our Spanish Civil War? There is something sordid and disgustingly corrupt about Putin's Russia. Perhaps, in the case of Russia it has ever been thus. It is difficult to accept this schizoid  kith, of brutish, imperial ambition, along with the kin, of Tchaikovsky, Dostoevsky, and Solzhenitsyn.

 What must we do?

Re-written, tidied, hopefully a slightly better read, here is How the City Farang Came to Love the Forest and Other Stories, available on Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/City-Farang-Forest-Other-Stories-ebook/dp/B00ILDKLGG/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393145032&sr=1-1&keywords=how+the+city+farang

I have been incommunicado. A self imposed exile from most media whilst on a trip to the UK. That said, it is impossible to bury your head in the sand, as the eyes of people you are engaged in conversation with suddenly glass over, and drift downwards to that little gadget they have in their hand.

 And the news. Water, water, everywhere... People are saying Britain is not the place it used to be, and I agree. But for different reasons. When did people become so sick of each other? Were they always, and I just didn't notice?

The Scots want shot of the English, and the UKIP is preaching, and appealing to,  a common or garden xenophobia. Vast tracts of the UK are underwater, yet 'fracking' is the solution to all problems. Interesting times these, a growing population accompanied by a growing intolerance.

 In a blog such as this the temptation is to appeal to all comers. But one has to stand for something. I stand for Europe, and its integration, and against base hatred or even suspicion of my fellow man. The answer is there in front of us. Thumbs down for divide et impera.

A little soul on this morning. Nina Simone sings a Leonard Cohen number. This for the divided peoples of Thailand and the Ukraine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3B0iJQcXmk

http://www.linkedin.com/redir/redirect?url=%2Fprofile%2Fview%3Fid%3D275579763%26mediaId%3D50056800%26actionName%3DviewMedia&urlhash=PKFg&trk=object-

My LinkedIn homepage, where I have uploaded the title story 'how the city farang came to love the forest' as a preview.

It is important that those who murder, or who plot and scheme to murder, know that they will be held accountable. There are plenty more who deserve their day in court at the Hague. We hope that this principle can be furthered, until a time comes when such planners and sowers of death, realise that they will simply not get away with it.

  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25923102

Work in progress. Now there is a metaphor for life. Re-writing 'How the City Farang' is proving a pleasure. It is so easy to correct the sloppiness of yester-year. A 'Deer and a Hawk' first re-write, this shall be my very best. Notes after notes after notes, make for good prose.

 I hope that this winter affects you only mildly, in light of what wind and cold and rain can really do.

  I am not a Buddhist, and indeed could be described as a confirmed agnostic, and certainly an agnostic who believes in science. I have however, always been fascinated by stories from religions. Not only that, the great works in architecture and art, from the pyramids to the renaissance, are I feel, worthy as human inspiration, to what thoughts can produce. Supernatural belief is being rightly subsumed by science, which as a belief system has the advantage of offering evidence for its reasoning. I like to think that the best aspects of those ideas which served to light the long and often dark journey of the infant human race, have at least some meaning today, mainly, as what it means to wonder. Imagination, is among our best attributes, and I hope, that we never let that light go out.

 So, I am not a Buddhist but have written a lot about Buddhist people and places, the following link here is of my last work on the subject, an essay concerning the life and times of Sulak Sivaraksa, my friend and mentor. Apart from re-writes of older stories, this is probably my last word on the subject, but never say never. I hope that those of you who borrow or buy this essay for your e-reader will enjoy it.

http://www.amazon.com/Dhammaraja-Danny-Campbell-ebook/dp/B00HUCFXN0

More about writing later. How about a holiday in Bordeaux, France? My wife and I own a town house in central Bordeaux that makes a great city break for the wine connoisseur, gourmet, or even gourmand! With its beautiful 18th century streets and limestone buildings, and the quais on the port of the moon by the Garonne river, there are few more romantic settings for a summer evening supper. After all, Victor Hugo, whose books made Paris and France the romantic darling of the 19th century, was reported to have said of the city;

'Take Antwerp, cross it with Versailles, and then you have, Bordeaux.'  See here for agents links-

http://www.homefromhomeaquitaine.co.uk/Bordeaux_Apartments/Rue_Lachassaigne.html


http://www.french-gite-holidays.com/rue_lachassaigne.htm

A little history. I first started writing on and off at the end of the 20th century. Mostly articles for the International Network of Engaged Buddhist (INEB) periodical publication Seeds of Peace, under the auspices of Sulak Sivaraksa the Thai social critic. My first collection of short stories was named 'How the City Farang Came to Love the Forest and Other Stories' and was published in 2002 by Sulak's Santi Dhamma Pracha publishing house, see link-

https://www.google.fr/search?q=how+the+city+farang+came+to+love+the+forest+danny+campbell&oq=how+the&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j69i57j0j69i60j69i61j69i59.16583j0j7&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8

I am currently re-writing these stories with an eye to re-publishing some time soon. There then came my essay 'A Tale About People and a Pipeline' 2003, again by Santi Dhamma Pracha. This deals with my eyewitness account of Sulak Sivaraksa's blockade of the Yadana natural gas pipeline between Myanmar and Thailand in 1998, and the resulting human rights abuse, and damage to pristine wilderness. There are two links here you can look at.

http://www.sulak-sivaraksa.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=254&Itemid=191


http://books.google.fr/books/about/A_Tale_about_People_and_a_Pipeline.html?id=8hJutwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y

As this may be out of print, I will think about a re-write for it as well. In my next post I shall continue the story of my progress as a writer.

I have recently published a story on Kindle Direct entitled 'A Tale of Aceh', previously published by Suksit Siam. This is a story about the fascinating island of Sumatra, Indonesia, and the northernmost province of Aceh on that island. It is my own lyrical take on the civil war that people there suffered, and, the incredible nature that was rapidly disappearing when I visited many years ago. It is available as an e-book on Amazon.com, at this link-http://www.amazon.co.uk/A-Tale-Aceh-Danny-Campbell-ebook/dp/B00HRA2DI8


Hope you enjoy!

Hello, and welcome to my blog. I intend to use this space to share ideas about writing and life in general. As I am spending a lot of time writing and engaged in other work, my imput may be sporadic, but if anyone get's in touch via this medium, I will do my best to reply.