Behind Closed Doors

Crime occurs daily. It's on the news. It's happening now. It's happening to other people. It's far away. Even in your city, it's still nowhere near you. It's distant, you are safe. You are a spectator. You are not involved. But you could be.

In Loathe Your Neighbor, David Lavender is aware of domestic problems next door. He has heard the loud, abusive arguments and other ominous sounds from within the walls. He has suspicions about the people who live there. He doesn't trust them. On a number of occasions, David goes to investigate, he knocks on the door, he calls the police. He gets involved partly out of neighbourly concern, and partly because he's a stickybeak.


Last week, just up the road from me, a man was killed in his home by his partner. News reports say that during the night she beat the man with an iron rod and poured boiling water over him. Apparently, when she woke in the morning, he was dead. She has been charged.

I wonder if the people who live next door to this tragic couple had any suspicions. If they did, did they act on them? Did they try to get involved, to help? More likely, they, like most of us, had no idea what was going on behind closed doors. They were probably ignorant of the violent disaster brewing. I hope they were. I hope they weren't afraid to get involved, or merely uncaring.

Most people  who are murdered are murdered by someone they know. Random killings of unconnected, unrelated victims are rare. I feel safe, but terribly sad that many people are living under potential death sentences by virtue of the people with whom they share their lives.

Smile Power

Being a keen observer of people, a student of human behaviour, as many writers are, I enjoy going to parties. I like to watch people and interact with them. (I sound like an extraterrestrial spy!) The way we (it's okay, I am one of you) relate and respond to one another fascinates me.

I went to a birthday party last night. My very good friend, one of my best mates, turned 40. I looked forward to attending, not just to have a celebratory beer or two with the birthday boy, and to catch up with some other mutual friends but also to meet new people. I knew less than a quarter of the party goers. I like meeting new people because, although small talk can be hard and ultimately unrewarding work, there is always the chance that you will meet someone you really click with. I was also hoping the topic of conversation would turn to books and that I could hand out a few book promoting business cards which I just happened to have on me. (shameless self promoter!) 

It was interesting to note that, despite some mingling which mostly occurred at the bar and on the bowling green, there were distinct groups. There were a couple of family tables, a table of church friends, a table of running club friends and one of old friends. Most people prefer to stay safe in familiar territory. Who knows if a woman at the running table would laugh at a joke made by a man at the church table? Most of us are insecure to some extent. Some just find it hard to make conversation or to get along with people.

Regardless of what social phobias we may possess there is no excuse for rudeness. No justification for excluding people or making them feel uncomfortable. It  really isn't that hard to be nice and if you haven't tried it lately you'd be shocked at how much impact a smile can have. In Loathe Your Neighbor, David Lavender is basically a good bloke: easy going, friendly, charming and chatty. He's an ex sales rep so he knows how to talk to people and he likes people. Granted, he is inclined to extreme behaviour on occasion: the public snub by his neighbor contributes to feelings of hatred. The polite conversation of his communications trainer leads to fantasy and flirtation. Sometimes he gets things wrong. Sometimes we all get things wrong. Next time you go to a party, try to get it right. Smile. Be a good listener, and be yourself. And writers...watch closely and have your notebooks ready.

MAlvsadhn

These nine letters are a program content advisory. The more letters appear after a show's name, the more there is in that program which may offend people. Language, violence, sex, drugs use, horror and nudity. I never watched it, but apparently Big Brother Up-Late had it all many years ago in its heyday.

A preacher I once heard, suggested that Christians should participate in popular culture in order to relate to people. When everyone's talking about Big Brother, for example, what can we contribute to the conversation if we haven't watched it? How can we reach people if we can't relate to them? Good point!

But for some reason I could not bring myself to watch it. Maybe it was the rebel in me that refused to look at the show just because it was popular, or maybe it just didn't appeal, or maybe I was worried that I might actually like it and get hooked. How shocking to enjoy a show featuring violence, language, sex, nudity, horror and drugs when I call myself a Christian.

The thing is, I have written a book which needs a content advisory warning, Loathe Your Neighbor. I'm a Christian who wrote a book which contains ungodly behaviour. I guess I'm in good company because I know another book which features all the same things as Big Brother-Up Late. Despite it's adult content, I happily confess it's my favourite. I keep reading it over and over again.

 

It's funny how what we read, watch and enjoy sometimes conflicts with what we believe, how we live and who we are.

 

 

Too Good to be True

Computers often make me feel like this. They promise so much but deliver frustration. They don't boot immediately like they do on TV, nor download pages from the Web in the blink of an eye. They can't think for themselves. I want a computer like the one in Star Trek, on the Enterprise: always ready to give me information. All I have to do is ask. 

Things don't work like they do in the infomercials. The Renovator doesn't cut anything as fast as promised, and makes more noise than a jet taking off. The twirling head on the battery operated duster falls off all the time. By the time you have searched your Smart TV for the show you want to watch, you could have driven to video store, rented the entire season, bought some Maccas on the way back and watched it.

There are no romances like Edward and Bella's, where the passion literally lasts forever. (And not just because vampires don't exist.) There are no families like The Brady Bunch where conflicts are resolved in 22 minute episodes, and the challenges of step parenting are minor inconveniences rather than vitriolic relationship destroyers. 50% of marriages fail. Nearly every family has a broken link, a black sheep, a Voldemort. Real life happy endings aren't as common as we want them to be.

Very few things are the way they should be. Even our desperate and sometimes pitiful attempts to fix things, to right wrongs, often lead to more disaster. More anxiety, more frustration. David Lavender, in my novel Loathe Your Neighbour, is a classic example of the struggle between what is and what should be. His marriage isn't working. He doesn't get on with his stepson, has a strained relationship with his father, and strong antipathy towards his neighbour. All his solutions lead to more problems.This is why fantasy, in all its forms is so popular. Reality often sucks.

I would like to offer you a free digital copy of Loathe Your Neighbour. Please go to http://www.facebook.com/LoatheYourNeighbor, Like the page and I'll send you a coupon. You can also win a signed paperback at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17234804-loathe-your-neighbor

Loathe Your Neighbour giveaway

For one week only I am giving away digital copies of my new novel, Loathe Your Neighbour. You will need a coupon for Smashwords. Here's how you get one.

Like Loathe you Neighbour on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/LoatheYourNeighbor  and get 5 friends to like it as well. Send me an e-mail telling me all about it at  devolution_dacairns@dodo.com.au  and I'll send you a coupon. Too easy. But wait there's more.


I have a brand new e-book reader/multimedia player worth $120 to give to the person who brings me the most sales of Loathe Your Neighbour  http://www.artemaepress.com/by-da-cairns.html . You have one month to help me out by recommending, sharing, tweeting or however else you do it. Knock yourself out. It's for a good cause. No need for hard selling because Loathe Your Neighbour will sell itself.

The Book I had to Write

I could describe how I feel if I tried really hard but it is such a potent cocktail of emotions that I am afraid I would be rolling drunk before I could finish. Nevertheless, here it is.

My second novel, Loathe Your Neighbor, was released today. I started writing it over two years ago. I ask myself why I spent so much time and effort to write something which may or may not, at that stage, have ever made it into "print". As recently as last August, I had no interest from publishers and nothing but hope that I would eventually find one. Even in this digital age where independent self publishers outnumber traditionals (whatever that means) I had no compelling reason for writing another book.

By the year 2010, I had been writing for 12 years. I'd had a handful of short stories published and even got paid for one of them. Twice. I had written a novel, Devolution, and published it as an e-book through a fee for service online publisher but it was as successful as ice cream in Antartica. I was proud of my achievement but I wanted more. I wanted readers and lots of them. I self published a paperback version of Devolution which out sold the e-book by five times but I did not want to do that again. I wanted an editor to read my manuscript and tell me they loved it and sign me up for a publishing deal. This is what all writers want. Yes, we write because we love the art but we want readers.

Why then with nothing but a story to tell and a dream of many people reading it, did I write Loathe Your Neighbour? I wrote it because I had to. More than two years later, Jeanne Haskin at Artema Press has delivered half my dream: a publishing contract. The other half? I still don't know what the trick is to attracting readers. Maybe there is no trick. Popularity is not a reflection of quality. There's a video on YouTube of a girl in a tight black dress brushing her teeth which has received tens of thousand of views.

I'm proud of Loathe Your Neighbor and I hope lots of people read and enjoy it. I wouldn't mind making a little money out of it as well. Neither would Artema Press. But even if it doesn't fly, if it doesn't sell up a storm, I'll write another novel. I can't help it. I'm a dreamer and I love writing stories.

Faded Dreams

The latest work from the pen of my niece:


Faded Dreams by Amber Gilfillan

Hi, my name is April. I'm 12 years old. My dreams are the most magical things that happen to me. I'm also a chatterbox but don't worry, I'll keep quiet. Shhh...I'm going to start the story of how all the dreams changed. One night when everyone was asleep, I was having a wonderful dream until it turned into a nightmare.

I scream, then suddenly wake up. 'Okay, calm down April,' I say to myself. 

The next morning, I walk up to the mayor and say, 'Mayor, did you have a nightmare last night?'

'Yes,' he bellows.

I think for a minute. 'Yes, I've got it!' I scream. I tell the mayor, I'm going outside town and he says okay. I set off to find the lost dreams.

Soon, I reach a castle. 'What? Stick people holding swords?' I whisper. I start to get closer and closer until I am right in front of them. I jump over them and find myself in front of a gigantic door. I go inside. Next thing I know, I'm in front of the king. I tell him to stop taking my town's dreams.'

'No,' he shouts.

'Okay, I'll just tell everyone your real name. Fred Foffof,' I tease.

'No,' he screams. 

'Fine, but you have to give all the sweet dreams back,' I say, and he agrees.

Then I went home. I also got a medal and a crown for finding the town's lost dreams.