Egyptian Uprising Was Triggered by a Facebook Page "We Are All Khaled Saeed." Inkwell Signs Him for Book Deal

At the recent London Book Festival New York literary agency Inkwell made waves by signing Wael Ghonim he Egyptian Internet activist and Middle East and North Africa manager of Google.

Inkwell place Ghonim in a conference room in the Right Centre where he made presentations on his life story to some 120 people including the media.

Earlier Ghonim set up the anonymous Facebook page "We Are All Khaled Saeed" on the youth (Khaled Saeed) beaten to death by the police in Alexandria last June. The Facebook page is said to have launched the Egyptian uprising in January 2011.

Ghonim was freed on Feb. 8 after 12 days in prison and became famous after his emotional interview with Dream TV.

So the trend according to this blogger seems to be to become notorious (whatever the cause), appear for an exclusive interview, and then travel to the London Book Fair land a book deal. Hm. Imagine an anonymous Facebook page fomenting an uprising and overthrowing a government! That's the power of social media. As a practitioner I would advise caution and a lot of soul searching. Is this the right way forward?

Levi Asher's E-book Venture Called "Literary Kicks"

Here's Levi Asher announcing that he is going to start publishing e-books on his own and make it available on Kindle. Didn't know that the process was so simple that anyone could do it. And what is he calling his new baby? Literary Kicks. Hope it doesn't imply that the e-books he publishes aren't all written authors who have received their literary kicks from publishers and agents. Hehe!

"You see, the reason I've been prickly about this whole e-book thing all along is that I've always wanted to publish in electronic formats, and I'm thrilled that the technology is finally good enough to make the dream a reality. The business plan I'm about to begin executing is an aggressive one (I never do things halfway). I'm going to publish one book a month for the next twelve months."

I have not yet flirted with Kindle and e-books. Hope to do it in the near future and hope the flirtation would be enjoyable.

Smashwords.com Publisher of E-books

Smashwords.com is a publisher of e-books. The site says, "Earn 85% Net at Smashwords, and 60% of List Price from Major Ebook Retailers." As far as I know their services is free. They only charge a commission on sales.

Excerpt:

"Smashwords makes it fast, free and easy to publish, distribute and sell your ebooks to a worldwide audience at the largest ebook retailers.

"We invite you to join our 14,000+ authors and publishers from every corner of the globe who publish and distribute over 35,000 original ebooks with Smashwords!"

Here's author Anita Saran's book featured on Smashwords.com, if you want to see how it would look like.

A Book that Made a Deep Impression Early in My Life

One of the most memorable books I have read is Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace." Magnificent in sweep, extended in time and space, and telescoping various elements, the novel is a statement of humanity as never portrayed before. Revisiting the big tome recently I wondered how I had finished it two score years ago (forty years, since score consists of 20 members). Such a vivid and picturesque style of writing cannot be imagined. Though in those days I didn't understand much English, I persisted and read it over three months. Each time I felt like abandoning it, something really interesting would turn up in the narrative and I was hooked.

This novel is - I wouldn't dare say one of the - the best novel that's ever been written. It has made a deep influence on me at that time and is responsible in part with my decision to become a writer. Do read it if you can get hold of a copy.

Tsushima's Letter to Author Mridula Garg

Further vindication of my opposition to nuclear plants and nuclear bombs. I am not a naive person to say that nuclear plants are safe. I am a chemistry graduate and know what a half life means.It doesn't mean - by any stretch of an over-stretched imagination - the less than eventful life of a blogger hacking away to internet anonymity. Or, glory, whatever way you see it. 

So I was pleasantly surprised to read the following letter written by a certain Japanese gentleman Yuko Tsushima (the English is very basic) to author Mridula Garg on Monideepa Sahu's blog.

"Dear Dear Mridula,

"I want you the voice from India "No more Fukushima!".I believe we have to now cooperate against Nuclear power plant
and also of course, nuclear weapons for our planet with deep,strong anger.

"I know your own philosophy, and I learned from you the beautiful word "Dependence". All of us, all of lives are connecting, we are altogather in this world. Yes, it's true.I think now we should act as one of novelists for our planet and all of lives on this planet. At first we were shocked and then weeping for this disaster, but now we got angry with the voice "No more Fukushima!".

"When we visited you in New Delhi, it was the time many Japanese papers said India and Paki will soon begin the nuclear war, and already American embassy or Japanese embassy returned to their countries.I am feeling now this case is very similar with our case.Every people on this Earth has so great fear about nuclear power always!

"Please, tell your friends "No more Fukushima!" in India. Please, give your voice "No more Fukushima!" to me, I will send it my friends, the novelists, the poets and so on all over the world.

"with deepest love,

"Yuko Tsushima."

Truly this is touching. This also vindicates my belief that all nuclear activity - energy, bomb, whatever - is dangerous to humanity, now and for ever. Anyone who loves his/her children should not support a nuclear program though it might seem the anodyne for all our ills. A radio-active substance remains lethal and giving off harmful radiation till it reaches a half-life stage which in carbon-14's case 5730 years. Who would want to subject our children and grandchildren to such hazards?

Truly I support this movement, "No more Fukushimas." Come on, spread the word, Facebook it, Twitter it, whatever.

Reflections of a Sunday Spent in an Exhibition

The whole day was spent in an exhibition related to my line of work - real estate. Though I have been to plenty exhibitions as a visitor I had never attended it as a person who gives information and - well, er, sort of sells, for the company I represent. I must have interacted with around 150 people in the course of a day and, somehow, I liked it. There's not a better place to study human nature and the trends that go unnoticed in a city except in an exhibition. Besides, I learnt how to be non-judgmental and easy with people and not to ignore the needs of every person. A big buyer in a project happened to be quite a rustic looking chap. I was sort of stumped by the enthusiasm, the energy, the drop-dead-gorgeous-ness of it all. I guess I took away a lot of good things and I talked till my jaws ached. I now know how demanding is the sales profession (I work more on the branding and marking side).

Now, launches and exhibitions have a sexual aspect. Truly. Hostesses in some stalls dressed in minis and I can't say they attracted more visitors but there were oglers aplenty at the legs on display. Human nature is incorrigible! But no whistles, no cat calls, no what may be called "untoward incidents" by the press (hehe), because we were bound by an ethics of the profession we belonged to. After all, everybody knows everybody and it isn't nice. No? Makes me wonder why men are so gentlemanly in a formal function and let themselves go on the roads and trains. There was security people also, all beefcakes with bulging pectorals. But still an unruly bunch managed to get in and stage a demonstration.  

Gaddafi's Romp with Indian Actress. Review of Ibrahim al-Kon's Book

While Libya is making waves for all the wrong reasons (Gaddafi for example), came across a review of a book written by a Libyan author. Here's a review of author Ibrahim al-Kon's Gold Dust in the review on Complete-review.com.From the review it seems a story about the desert. Reminds this blogger of the excursion he made to the desert of Saudi Arabia when he was working there. He passed a nomadic settlement in the wilderness that had a few camels and sheep. Despite the kingdom's riches, the camp was basic and poverty could be viewed as the only thing that stood out.

I couldn't muster the courage to enter the settlement and speak to them. What if they were wild bedoins and killed people as a hobby? There are wild tribes still living in the deserts of Arabia. Coincidently, from afar I could make out all the men looked African though Saudi Arabia prides itself as a nation of fair people. (You know, ads everywhere with white faces, just as in India.) Guess Apartheid of colour reigns in that country too. 

While on the subject of the Libyan ruler, rumour (unconfirmed, of course) has it that he enjoyed a romp with an Indian actress who was his honoured guest. Natch! Wonder who that lady is.

Hugh Grants Out-hacks Hacker Paul McMullan

What would be more embarrassing than a hacker being hacked himself? Yes that's what happened when Paul McMullan, a former News of the World journalist and self-confessed phone-hacker was hacked by none other than actor Hugh Grant (remember Notting Hill?) at the instance of ex-girlfriend Jemima Khan. Read the more than extraordinary (I won't say gruesome, as I usually do, because it isn't in the least gruesome) details here as reported in the Guardian. What happened was Grant visited McMullan with a phone taping device hidden on him and taped their entire conversation with the hacker about his exploits. The taped conversation was published in in The New Statesman. Apparently, the article was tweeted 10,000 times. I guess we live in the age of social media and a piece of writing is judged by the times it is tweeted. Hm.

Also elsewhere in the article there's a mention of Twitter and social media. Excerpt:

"Twitter has made an even bigger difference. Tweets grant unprecedented intimacy with the world's most famous people. After years of having their privacy invaded by others, famous people have started to invade it for themselves. In that sense, Hugh Grant has done in the New Statesman what Twitter is threatening to do to all news media: he has come here, and he has taken our jobs. Celebrities have become more human in their appearance; in their influence, ever more like gods." 

So, dear reader, is twitter the judge of an actor's popularity, is tweeting the measure of a writer's talent? You tell this poor old blogger of nonsense taken to extremes. Zeitgeist, zeitgeist, dear reader. Wait till twitter is taken over by Google.

About Writer William Trevor

Apropos of the review of William Trevor's book by John Baker here's Eileen Battersby , Literary Correspondent, in Irish Times:

"HE STANDS IN the hotel reception and glances around, noting everything and each person that passes. Dressed in various shades of green – a mossy shirt, tweed jacket, corduroy trousers – and wearing the familiar hat, he might be up in Dublin to visit grandchildren. William Trevor – Mr Cox to the hotel staff – is one of the world's finest writers yet there is no fanfare, no fuss. No one stares at him; there is no autograph hunter. As soon as he spots me he smiles and says, "Good to see you again." Trevor is gracious, friendly and practical. He makes a plan, explaining that he will go upstairs and will quickly return. "We'll say hello again, and then we will begin." He reappears as I have found seats and stretches out his right hand, demonstrating how stiff it has become. It makes typing difficult. He is at work on a collection of short stories. "It will be the last book," he says with a smile of regret."

William Trevor's After Rain

John Baker has been a blog friend and fellow writer ever since I started blogging. This is John's review of William Trevor's After Rain. Excerpt:

"In the title story to this impressive collection, Harriet, ensconced in the Pensione Cesarina after a love affair is finished, is just thirty years old and lonely.

"Loneliness is a condition that many of Trevor's characters endure and he is a master at finding the right rhythms and tones to portray their inner lives. This is true of his novels, but probably more so of his many short stories."

Looks like a good read.