December 2013 Blog

23^rd December 2013

I think it must be time for another blog. I really don’t know much about this blogging business. You can go on Youtube and sit through endless videos on how to blog and what to avoid. I can’t remember any of it. 

There is no doubt Youtube is a superb educational tool and serves a great purpose with the amazing amount of information on just about any subject.  It can also be a great time-waster and distractor because you look for one topic and finish up an hour later still in front of your computer watching something completely different.

But I digress.  The purpose of this blog was to review my year.  It started with a short trip to China to gather material for my latest novel, “The Last Rickshaw”.  I spent a pleasant week in Huizhou, southern China.  A beautiful clean, modern city of lakes not unlike Hanoi.  Would definitely like to revisit.  China is an eye-opener in every respect and for those who have never been my advice is…go!

A couple of trips back to Vietnam, one of my very favourite countries this year resulted in two television interviews with major TV stations, VTV3 and VTC10.  The focus of course was on my novels especially The Last Cyclo to Thanh Da set in Vietnam.  I was greatly impressed by the professionalism and expertise of the film crews of both companies.  These interviews can be seen by clicking on the “News and Events” segment of this website.

Health problems forced me to return to Australia prematurely in October. I arrived home on a Thai flight full of bronchitis caused I am sure by a freezing air con above me although this was not the health reason I came home.  I have three stents which means there is always the ever-present likelihood of ongoing heart problems.  A couple of warning signs sent me scurrying to the airline office for a flight only to be told all flights were full for the next three weeks.

Right there and then those three stents all tried to close up…or at least it felt like it!  But help was at hand.  A lovely Vietnamese friend who had previously worked for Thai came to my rescue and somehow got me on a flight within a few days.  I was waitlisted so naturally had to take what I could get, thus a seat with two large gents and a freezing aircon above me at the back of the plane was my fate, but at least I was home and able to speak to my own doctor before anything untoward happened.

All this time I had been working on The Last Rickshaw with the thought that it would be finished before Christmas but sadly life interfered and it was not to be.  Surgery to remove another menacing melanoma shortly after I arrived home didn’t help my creative juices especially after I had just embarked on a fitness routine…that went straight out the window.   However all is well now, stitches out and will resume exercises again soon…but with Christmas and all that goes with it, there will be more inches gained, so more to remove…!

Anyway enough of all this stuff!  I hope you have all had a very good year, and that this Christmas is full of love, joy and hope…and next year is your best ever!

Many thanks for your support, it means so much.

Sincerely

John