How it Works:

It’s easy! If you buy a copy of Truth Teller from any of the sites below, simply forward your confirmation purchase email to: authortruthteller@googlemail.com and tell me who you would like to gift with a free copy. Please include their contact e-mail address, and maybe even a personal message to them if you want, and I will send it along with their free gift. That would surely make anyone’s day.

Let me tell you a little bit about my story.

***

Ten-year-oldCharlottestumbles upon a strange shop when searching for a present. The creepy shopkeeper gives her an enchanting antique snow dome, but refuses to accept payment. All he asks is she promises to always tell the truth. She accepts his strange request.

Woken in the night,Charlotteis drawn by the globe’s eerie light and hypnotic power. With a sudden jerk, she finds herself stranded and all alone in a dark forest where she is discovered by a sword-wielding maniac. He calls himself, Elderfield, and he turns out to be a kind and brave teenage elf. He offers to takeCharlotteto his family farm on a promise that he will help her find a way home.

They embark on an epic journey to find out whyCharlottehas been brought to this realm and to pursue the one person who might be able to help, but none of them realise just how much is at stake. Strange things start to happen; visions come to her in dreams. They are hunted by real life monsters that attack with terrifying fury, but a far greater threat shadows their every move.

Fleeing for their lives, they reach the safety of an ancient mountain fortress and find the shopkeeper who gaveCharlottethe dome. Her hopes of returning home are dashed as she is abducted by a druid assassin.Charlottethinks she is defenceless against such a powerful foe, but in this realm, she is not the vulnerable little girl she thought she was.

***

Truth Teller Reviews:

Dawne Dominique – Multi-published author and professional cover artist.

The Truth Teller is one of the best children’s fantasy book I’ve read in a long while.Charlotteis so easy to picture in my mind, and the fantasy aspects are brilliant! There are underlying currents of “real life lessons” that are subtly included…ideal for parents looking for that perfect bedtime story to read to their children. I loved the entire premise of the novel and will definitely be purchasing the next ones in this series.

Kurt Chambers has captured the genre with a wonderful story that will delight many a child’s (and adult’s) imagination.

Annie McMahon – Editor, published author and Novel Workshop moderator.

This book has everything a bestseller should have: compelling story, endearing characters, vivid descriptions, genuine emotions, and a lot of surprising twists and turns. This is a story about a friendship that transcends race, gender, age, and even realms, between Charlotte, a ten-year-old girl, and Elderfield, a teenage elf. Beautiful and heartwarming. I strongly recommend it and have reviewed Kurt’s story on my blog, Dutch Hill News.

Ralene Burke – Writer, Editor for Wives in Bloom:

Honestly, I can’t wait until my kids are old enough to read these books. Kurt has written an amazing series that emphasizes such wonderful themes as friendship, family, hope, and faith. I’ve read Truth Teller and Wrath of Siren and, even though they are MG, enjoyed them immensely. If you’re looking for wholesome reads for your children, check out the next big thing for MG.

Truth Teller is now available in all e-book formats from here:

Amazon UK: Click here to sample or buy

Amazon US: Click here to sample or buy

Smashwords: Click here to sample or buy

Goodreads: Click here to sample or buy

Shelfari: Click here to sample or buy

Barnes & Noble: Click here to sample or buy

You can connect with the author at:

Author’s Web page http://kurtchambers.net/

Author’s Blog  http://geniusborderinginsanity.blogspot.com/

Twitter  https://twitter.com/emailmanROCKS

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kurt-Chambers/296957780317055

She laid out the pieces of her phone on the worktop. The look of horror on her distraught face told me it wasn’t working without me having to ask. Her whole world had actually just come to an end. No calls, no text and no BBM.

I tried to suggest that she put it in the airing cupboard overnight to dry out and that it would probably be okay, but she exploded in tears and explained she had already tried to dry it out with the hair dryer and it was BROKEN. She ran to her bedroom in utter dismay.

I had to do something. How could I leave my little girl in a world without text and BBM? It was unthinkable. And besides, that phone cost me a fortune and I couldn’t afford to buy her another one. I made my way upstairs to my treasure drawer. This is where I keep all the things I value in life. Old coins, medals that belonged to my uncle Eric’s father, Zippo lighters, important bits of paper and my pencil that’s made out of a real branch. I ignored the fossils and pieces of real meteorites as I rummaged through to find what my kids had fondly named, my gay old phone.

This small flip phone had been my constant companion for many years. I had used it to form friendships, to get me work and it had saved me on lots occasions in an emergency. It even became a legend on site when I used it for the ‘100 text messages in a day’ contest with a friend of mine. It had endured building site conditions, been dropped in the toilet among other nasty things, fallen from a scaffold, but had never let me down. It deserved a place in my treasure draw. I presented it to my daughter and asked if she wanted to use my gay old phone until she sorted her one out.

She wiped away her tears and gave me a cynical look. “Will it even work with my sim card?”

I assured her it would despite of its appearance, and showed her it even had a slot for her memory card so she would still have all her contact numbers. She removed the card and inspected it. Two hundred and fifty mega bites? How much is that? She asked. I explained that we used to have mega bites before giga bites were invented. After some reluctance, she put in her sim and memory card. I plugged it in and fired it up.

Despite sitting in my treasure drawer for nearly a year, my gay old phone sparked into life revealing the familiar start up screen, Kurt you rock, keep being awesome. That always made me smile every time I booted up my phone, and still did. It accepted the sim and memory card with open arms and once again became a fully functional phone.

“What do you think of my gay old phone now?” I asked, beaming with smugness.

“I actually think it’s pretty awesome at the moment.”

Man! I wish I had caught that on film!

So now my gay old phone not only was a legend, but was a hero too, saving my little girl from the horror of what so many other unsuspecting people have had to endure in this high tech world…My Blackberry’s not working!

2012 the year the world is meant to end. *chuckle* Man! I only have until December to make a success of myself, so I had better get my skates on! Don’t you just love those predictions about the world ending? At my age, I have heard it said so many times. The Millennium was one such year. My favourite one was when the planets aligned some years ago. That was actually quite interesting, because as an amateur astronomer, I stood in my garden one evening and saw all the planets in a higgledy-piggledy line. It was an amazing sight! Strangely enough, the world didn’t end that time either. LOL

So, 2012 is the end of the world again. For those of you who have been living in a cave somewhere and haven’t heard about this, please see this fascinating website and all will be explained… http://www.endoftheworld2012.net/ … It has a clock countdown and everything. How funny!

As we are all going to die, it’s a good year for me to release my debut novel, Truth Teller, an action packed children’s fantasy story, before it’s too late. Sadly, as this is part of a series, I can’t promise to have the other two books ready before the end of the world, but I promise I will do my best. I just hope that any of my newly acquainted fans are fast readers. For those of you who are not, get yourselves over to Amazon or Smashwords and grab yourself a copy quick! It’s not officially released until January 25^th, but as the world is ending and by popular demand, I have uploaded a copy early that will cost you less than the price of a McDonald’s meal, because I’m cool like that. J

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006TI8JLY

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/119775

Today, my blog is dedicated to a very dear friend of mine, Anastasia V. Pergakis. Not only is she one of the nicest people I have ever met, she’s also an amazing and very talented author. All of us who are lucky enough to be her friend already know this, but today is your chance to discover this for yourself. Anastasia has released her debut novel, Cleanse Fire.

I was delighted when Anastasia asked me to be part of her blog tour. It is such a great honour. I could post excerpts and reviews about the book, but all of this is available from the websites. I want to introduce Anastasia herself so you can all get to know her a bit better as a person as well as a great author.

Anastasia, welcome to my blog. It’s a delight to have you here today. Please make yourself at home while I ask you ten random questions about personal life, and try and think what people would most like to know about you. LOL

You’re making me blush. You’re a great friend and support to me, and I think YOU are pretty amazing and talented. Thank you for letting me visit your blog yet again!

Me: You’re welcome on my blog anytime J Okay, let’s start from the beginning. When did you first realise you wanted to be a writer, and what inspired you to finally do it?

I’m not really sure. I’ve been writing for my entire life it seems, but I don’t remember a moment where I had the thought “I want to be a writer” exactly. It just sort of happened. I dove in feet first without a second thought and haven’t looked back since! I love it.

Me: What is the one thing you love most about being a writer?

I love getting to meet people, whether it’s other authors, my fans, publishers, illustrators, cover artists, editors, you name it. I just love the interaction and support within the writing community. I’ve met so many wonderful people (like you, Kurt!) throughout the years, most of which I now consider to be my close personal friends. It is amazing to me to see people band together like this to help each other out. In any other work environment I’ve been in, that has never happened – at least not to this degree.

Me: I couldn’t agree with you more! In contrast to my last question, what is the one thing you dislike the most about being a writer?

Hrmmm, this is a tough one. Sure, it’s not fun getting a rejection letter, getting bad reviews, or receiving nasty emails from people you’re trying to help, but all in all, I love being a writer. The bad stuff is part of the process. It makes sure you know what the good parts are by comparison! But I don’t think there is anything I outright ‘hate’ or ‘dislike’ about being a writer.

Me: I’ve been dying to ask you this. What was your dad’s reaction when you told him about your book? Has he read it?

HAHA Awesome question. Okay, for those who don’t know, I dedicated Cleanse Fire to my dad. He was the inspiration for the book after all, as I set out originally to write a story about his military career. In the end, it turned out as a fantasy novel with elves, but the basic premise of honoring my dad and all soldiers is still there. So, the book is dedicated to him and I donate to Wounded Warrior Project to support the troops.

Now, to answer the question. He was speechless! I don’t think he really believed me at first either. I told him over the phone that I was dedicating the book to him, but it wasn’t really until I snapped a photo of the dedication page and posted it on his Facebook wall that I think it really hit him. And, when he got his signed copy of the book just a few weeks ago, he took a picture of himself holding it and posted it up! He had a big smile on his face, so I’m sure he’s happy and proud.

I don’t think he has read it yet. I did send him an e-copy a while back, but he is like me and prefers print books. Now that he has a print copy, he’ll read it. So even I can’t wait to know what he thinks of it!

Me: As an author, I can fully appreciate how much work goes into a novel from the initial birth of an idea to when it comes out in print. How did it feel when you held the first copy of your book in your hand? This is something I can only imagine at the moment.

Oh my gosh. I cried. I laughed. I squealed. I felt weak in the knees! I might have hyperventilated a bit. The only thing I can compare the feelings to was the first time I saw my son, right after he was born. That just complete and utter AWE. Of course, this was a totally different sort of awe than my son – obviously – but like I said, it’s the closest thing in my life I can think of that compares. I randomly squealed and clapped all day and carried the book around with me as we did errands too! LOL I couldn’t stop staring at it!

Me: haha!! That is so cool. The thing I noticed most since joining the writing community is how much there is to learn when becoming a writer. Not just about writing, but the whole industry. You have been through this whole process now, but if you had your time again, would you have done anything differently?

Nope. I wouldn’t change a thing. A part of me does wish I could have been published sooner but honestly, I think if I had been, it would have been a disaster. I just wasn’t ready to deal with the ‘bad’ parts that sometimes go along with being published and honestly, my writing wasn’t ready either. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be and I wouldn’t change it for anything.

Me: What plans do you have for the future? Not just with this series, but your whole writing career?

More books! Of course, the rest of the Kinir Elite Chronicles is going to come out in the coming years. I’m writing Blood Trade as we speak! But I also have a few other fantasy books in the works. One I hope to release next year also is titled, Ryn’s Quest. It’s a YA fantasy, a grand adventure for Ryn to save the only family she has left. It’s a little more on the humorous side than any of my other books, but hey, with a hyperactive pink dragon in the picture, things are bound to be silly! I plan on venturing into sci-fi at some point as well.

Me: If you won the jackpot on the lottery, what would you spend it on?

Oh. Really tough question. That depends on how much the jackpot is! I’m all for helping my friends, so while I might buy a few things for myself, I’ll most likely help friends and family with most of it.

Me: How would you describe yourself to the rest of the world? Come on, don’t be modest.

I once told you, Kurt, that I’m a Plain American Girl, and you responded that I’m more like a Plain American Angel – so we’ll go with that.

Me: Do you have any strong beliefs in anything, like Karma, reincarnation, everything happens for a reason, astrology, anything like that?

I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Example for you. My husband and I owned a Honda Civic – well, we were still making payments at the time. Some paperwork with the dealer got mixed up and they told us we were behind on our payments and were going to repossess the car. We weren’t behind, they found the mix up, and told us not to worry about it. Well, they came and took the car anyway! Oh yea, we were SO upset about that. So, we bought a Chevy Silverado pick up truck. Just a few months after we got the truck, we were in a major car accident, with another big pick up – at 75 miles an hour. If we had been in the little tiny Civic, I would have been crushed by that truck when it hit us (it hit on the passenger side, my side of the truck) and my son would have probably died or been severely injured too. So, while it was the worst thing ever to have them take our car, having the truck instead, I’m convinced, saved our lives! So yes, I definitely believe that everything, no matter how small or insignificant it seems, happens for a reason!

Me: Thank you so much, Anastasia, for your excellent answers. I love interviewing you! Now, please tell us about your awesome book, Cleanse Fire. I have a copy of this in my Kindle, and I have to say, it’s such a fantastic story.

BLURB: CLEANSE FIRE

Complete the mission, no matter what…
Captain Derac Vidor has served Kinir for nearly twenty years. It’s his life, his blood, his soul. And then his Commander betrays everything Derac holds dear. Now he has to focus on his own life and his team instead of saving the citizens of Kinir.

Treason is only the beginning…
Fueled by rage, the team chases the source to their Commander’s betrayal – a powerful wizard bent on revenge. The wizard seeks to destroy the Kinir Elite, in both mind and body. No place is safe, even among their allies.

The past holds the key…
Derac’s tragic past may be the key to saving the team. But can he face the gruesome nightmare in time?

Purchase Cleanse Fire

• for your Kindle at Amazon
• for your Nook at Barnes & Noble
• for your other E-Readers at Smashwords
• in paperback at Amazon
• in paperback at Barnes & Noble
• in hardback at Kinir Elite Website

Join the Kinir Brigade by signing up for our newsletter! Get exclusive deals, access to special giveaways, and inside information about the series! Join the Kinir Brigade now and receive the first five chapters in your email! And don’t forget to visit our Facebook Page and Website too!

~ * ~ * ~

I’m giving away an e-copy of Cleanse Fire! Leave a comment on this post to enter into the random drawing. I’ll draw the names at the end of my tour, January 31, 2012. If you want more chances to win a copy, visit our website to follow our tour! The more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win!

All commenters will also be added to the drawing for a chance to win a signed hard cover. Drawing for the hardcover will be on January 31, 2012, the end of my tour.

You can also get more chances to win by tweeting or posting on facebook! Just leave a link to the tweet or post in a comment below!

**All Winners will be announced on the Kinir Elite Website on February 1st**

Me: Thank you for coming to talk to us today, my dear friend, and offering my readers a chance to win a copy of your wonderful story. I wish you all the luck in the world, you deserve to be a superstar.

Come on, people. Just leave a comment and it could be your lucky day!

I am delighted to announce the release of my first novel, Truth Teller. Wow! Did I just really say that? I never thought I would hear myself say those words, but it’s true. Truth Teller is due for release on Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes & Noble on 25^th January 2012 in e-book format. I’m planning to bring it out in paperback a little later in the year if all goes well. I will be announcing more information about this release as soon as I have any news. I will no doubt be planning to do a blog tour and such things.

Let me tell you a little bit about my story. Truth Teller is the first book in a series, and the beginning of Charlotte’s adventure. There are currently three books in the series: Truth Teller, The Wrath of Siren and Favian’s Law. A fourth book in the series, Lost magic, is currently under development.

Truth Teller Reviews:

Editor, Illustrator, and Published Author, Dawné Dominique

Take a delightful, mesmerizing journey into Charlotte’s world, where life is routine until she discovers a hidden curio shop and an even stranger shopkeeper who gives her a magical snow dome. But this is not an ordinary globe…it’s a magical gateway into another realm. The world Charlotte has always known disappears as she’s spirited away into a mystical land on the brink of war between elves, dwarves, and an evil that has lain dormant for far too long.

Terrified by what’s happened to her, Charlotte is befriended by Elderfield an elf, and his parents, Middleton and Swallow. In order to find a way back home for Charlotte, they must embark on a journey to find a man named Goffer, a powerful elf who may be able to help her return to her own world. Not everything is at it seems, however, for there’s a reason why this special globe was given to this unassuming little girl.

As Charlotte, Elderfield and Middleton travel through dangerous lands, encountering heart-stopping dangers along the way, they are unaware of the dark stranger that follows them. Finally arriving at the Stronghold, a safe haven for the people of lands trying to seek safety from an impending war, Charlotte meets Goffer, and is shocked to discover that he’s the same shop keeper who’d given her the magic dome in the first place.

Will Charlotte find her way back home, or is her presence in Elderfield’s world the final unbalancing that will plunge the lands into war?

Truth Teller is an absolutely delightful, exciting read from start to finish. Mr. Chambers has created a fantastical world where magic is very much alive. His characters are vivid and so real that you can’t help but fall in love with them. Immerse yourself in a read that will guarantee not to disappoint.

~~Dawné Dominique

Assistant Editor, Allicia C. Rose

There is a lot of good humor in the Truth Teller, things that actually made me laugh out loud. I especially enjoyed watching the bond of friendship between Elder and Charlotte continually strengthen until they had become like family – that’s one of my favorite concepts in fantasy, and the author did a wonderful job of bringing it to life. He has got the skill to make the reader care about his characters, the most important and most difficult task an author must undertake. I really enjoyed the story, and look forward to working on the next book in the series.

~~Allicia. C. Rose

I have so many people to thank for this release. I have received so much help and support from my friends in the writing community. I couldn’t have done it without them. I will never be able to return the kindness they have shown me, but I want you all to know how eternally grateful I am to all of you.

I am especially grateful to published author, Anastasia V. Pergakis, who took me under her wing and made my book release possible. Please show this wonderfully supportive lady some of your support by visiting her website, and better still, by buying her wonderful book, Cleanse Fire.

This post was inspired by a writer friend of mine who asked for my advice on networking, so I decided to write a blog post that would hopefully answer all your networking questions and provide the best recourses to all the top writers networking sites.

Networking is important to any person who is looking to promote themselves to the general public. But networking is so much more than just self promotion. It is especially important to us writers because it is somewhere to get the support we need to take us along this perilous journey. Becoming a successful writer is no easy task. In order for us writers to grow and learn to become the best we can be, and to be a success in the publishing business, we need to be around like-minded people. Fortunately, the writing community is a thriving place where there is plenty of help for any budding authors who wish to try their hand at being the next J.K Rowling.

So, what is networking? The idea is to make yourself as visible as possible. You want to get your name out there in the world and tell them all about your wonderful, shiny new novel and how awesome it is. You don’t need to be a published author to network. You may not have even finished writing your story, but that doesn’t stop you from telling the world about it and what progress you are making. Eventually, you are going to need a fan base, so it’s best to get started straight away.

Your aim is to show up on the world’s number one search engine, Google, to give you maximum exposure. The quickest and easiest way to do this is to use the most popular network sites. Below is a list of the top five that will make you score well on Google.

Main Network Sites

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/

GooglePlus: https://plus.google.com/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/

Blogger: http://www.blogger.com/

There is an easy way to check your progress once you start networking. It’s called ‘ego surfing’. You simply go to Google and type in your name followed by your profession and see how much of your stuff is showing up. The more you network, the more chance you have of getting on the front page of Google. That’s where you want to be, on the first page of results. As an example, here is my Google score when I ego surf with the key words, Kurt Chambers Author. When you just type in your name and fill the first page, you know you’ve made it. lol

So you want to be a writer? The best advice I can give you, and this is sound advice, is to join a writing community and go and mingle with other writers. Any publisher or agent will suggest this to you, and I recommend it through personal experience. It’s the ideal place to present your work to other writers and get good critique advice. I now run the Young Adult Novel Workshop on writing.com that I joined about seven years ago. They taught me everything I know today. And more importantly, I met some of the best friends I’ve ever had. These communities are where you will learn your trade and make contacts. Here is a list of the most popular places.

Most Popular Network Communities For Writers

Writing. com: http://writing.com

Writers Cafe: http://www.writerscafe.org/

Story Link: http://www.storylink.com/

The Writing Room: http://www.writingroom.com/

My Good ebook: http://www.mygoodebook.com/login.aspx

Urbis: http://www.urbis.com/

Writertopia: http://www.writertopia.com/

My Creative Content: http://www.mycreativeintent.com/

Another good recourse to seek advice and to talk to other writers is a message board. These cover about every subject related to writing that you can think of. I use message boards all the time as they contain so much useful information.

Message Boards for Writers

Writer’s Digest Forum: http://forum.writersdigest.com/category-view.asp

Freelance Writing Message Boards: http://www.freelancewriting.com/forums/index.php

Absolute Write: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/index.php

National Novel Writing Month Forum: http://www.nanowrimo.org/forum

Message Boards for Writers: http://www.mywriterscircle.com/

Writers.net Message Boards: http://www.writers.net/forum/

Writers Weekly Message Boards: http://forums.writersweekly.com/

EWR’s: http://www.everywritersresource.com/writersmessageboards/index.php

If you consider yourself to be a more seasoned writer and ready to take on the world with your new novel, you may want to make more connections with professional bodies. You can do this by joining an organisation that deals in these circles. Here are two examples of reputable organisations and a list of others.

Organisations

For Children’s Writers: http://www.scbwi.org/

American Christian Fiction Writers: http://www.acfw.com/

List Of Organisations: http://www.writersservices.com/res/r_links_write_orgs.htm

And last but not least, here are a few more links where writers gather. I think that about covers all the major network sites.

Other Book Related Sites For Writers

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/

WriteOnCon Annual Conference: http://writeoncon.com/

Fiction Press: http://www.fictionpress.com/

Zoetrope: http://www.zoetrope.com/

Ning: http://www.ning.com/

So, what are you waiting for? Go out there and network to your heart’s desire. Meet cool writer people and see if you can knock J.K Rowling from the top spot. Hehe!! Good luck with that!

If you’ve read my blog and found it useful, please return the favour by leaving a comment. I love to hear from my readers. Thank you.

Man! I’m in limbo! Well, that’s the way it seems sometimes. Right now, I’m in the middle of a submission campaign. Waiting, waiting, waiting!!! That’s all my life seems to consist of right now. It’s just dangling at the mercy of others. Will they? Won’t they? Will I even hear from them again? It’s the most frustrating thing in the world when you consider the percentage of how many of them will be a yes. The statistics stand at a staggering 100% no at the moment. haha!! That’s not the most encouraging set of statistics in the world, and is enough to make even the most hardened optimist steer towards the cynical side of life.

But all is not lost! There is always hope. That 0.00001% still lurks in the background, waiting to jump out on you when you least expect it! So, what will I do? Well, keep waiting will be first on my list. In the meantime, I have tons of editing to do. And reviews. Being the moderator of the Young Adult Novel Workshop helps keep me busy. Did I mention real life? *Grin* I have several other novels that need to be written. I’ve just decided to scrap the novel I’m working on at the moment for personal reasons. I wanted to write a book four to my Truth Teller series, my baby, but as I stand little chance of getting the first three books published any time in the near future, I will put this aside for now. This story was such a big part of my life for so many years, but I think it’s finally come to an end. It’s time to move on to something new.

It’s nearly the end of the year. My goal this year was to finish my newest novel, Unknown Reality, and bring it to a publishable standard. My aim was to get it submitted before the end of the year, and I have achieved that. Go me! Hehe!! I wonder what next year will have in store for me J

Did you do set yourself any writing goals for this year? I would love to hear them.

I’ve had a bad week this week. Only today, someone did a ‘hit and run’ on my car and smashed the back door in while it was parked on the street. I have a long list of horrible things that have happened this week, but I won’t bore you with the grisly details. lol This week, I’m going to post something that I wrote a while ago and has been sitting in my port on WDC gathering dust. It started out as a blog post one day when I was having a really bad week, but it sounded too depressing when I read it. So what I did was write something more positive and use it to compare my train of thoughts on a good day and a bad day.

Bad Days

My alarm goes off at 5:55. I peel my eyes open and curse quietly to myself. Another day. I hit the snooze alarm at least twice. I seriously don’t feel like I can handle another day.

When I finally bring myself to crawl out of bed, I’m cold. Like a robot, I go through the same routine; wash and dress, make my flask and rush out the door after drinking half a cup of tea. Got to get my skates on, I’m late again.

I peer through my car windscreen at all the red break lights as I sit on the motorway in yet another traffic jam, and my mind starts to wander. What crap will I be up against today? A thousand thoughts drift through my mind about the people I care about. A tear rolls down my cheek, but it’s okay, I’m alone. No one there to see me without my mask. I don’t really care about myself, I don’t matter too much so long as I keep on top of things, but I do care about them. I will try not to lose it today, I really will.

I reach work, it’s grim, dark, cold and still raining. The people I work with are nice. They say good morning and ask how I am. I smile politely and lie to them.

“Yeah, I’m okay, thanks.”

They’re not really interested in my welfare, it’s just what you say. No one is really interested, even the people you consider close to you. They all have their own crap to deal with. I sometimes wonder what it would be like if people were really honest with each other. What would their reaction be if I told them how it really was?

“Well, I’m not doing so good, to be honest. My wife is suffering from ill health. It makes things so hard. My daughter is struggling to cope with raising two kids on her own. I do what I can to help, but I’m not in the best financial position myself. My other kids don’t make things any easier. Some of my closest friends are having a really hard time. It’s so hard to watch. It’s all taking its toll on me, I think I need help. Is it normal to sit on your own and cry, because I find I’m doing that quite a lot just lately?”

I’m fairly certain they wouldn’t ask me if I was okay again, and would probably avoid me. So I do what I always do and slip into my mask, smile, joke around and quote my morning script.

“Yeah, I’m okay, thanks.”

I set to work and check the clock every ten minutes. Is it tea break yet? I try my best to get through the day. Working hard helps to take your mind off what’s really going on in your head. Best not to think too much about it. I hide behind my wall.

I get a text message telling me about the latest crap going down in real life. I give a deep sigh. Is it tea break yet? When is this day going to end? I make a few jokes with my friends and slip deeper behind my wall. I mustn’t let my shield slip.

Finally my working day comes to an end. I’m cold, dirty and extremely tired. I pack my stuff in the car and drive through the rain towards the motorway. I’m greeted by a string of bright red break lights as I merge into an endless line of crawling traffic. My mission to reach home has begun. I just want to get home.

My euphoria at arriving is short lived when I step through the door and my wife tells me about everything that has gone wrong during the day. It’s never good news. I try to look concerned, but all I really want to do is eat my dinner and go to bed.

“Don’t worry, I will see what I can sort out.”

I absorb myself that night in my computer, just like every night. I don’t have any friends in real life, but that doesn’t really bother me. Who needs friends? It’s not like I would have the time for a social life anyway. The day reaches its end. I’m relieved. Like a robot, I run through my chores before I finally climb into bed.

Before I know it, my alarm goes off at 5:55. I peel my eyes open and curse quietly to myself. Another day. I hit the snooze alarm at least twice. I seriously don’t feel like I can handle another day.

But I always do. I have no choice.

Good Days

My alarm goes off at 5:55. I peel open my eyes and curse quietly to myself. Here we go again. I’ve never been a morning person. I hit the snooze alarm at least twice. This morning it was actually three times, I fancied an extra ten minutes in bed.

When I finally get out of bed, it’s not too bad. It’s warmer than it has been for days. Like a robot, I go through the same routine; wash and dress, and make my flask. I gaze out of the window to find my car isn’t frozen. What a result, I’ve got time to finish my cup of tea this morning.

I peer through my car windscreen at all the break lights as I sit on the motorway in a traffic jam. Not that I’m bothered, at least it’s not raining today and I’m in no rush to get to work to be honest. I stick on one of my CDs and play air guitar to one of my favourite tunes on the steering wheel. I sing really badly as I gaze out of the window at all the miserable-looking commuters around me.

A thousand thoughts drift through my mind about the people I care about. My grandchildren will be coming over on Saturday. They bring so much joy to my life. The thought of their beautiful smiling faces as they rush into my house and cry, “Granddad!” makes me smile a lot. How funny they are.

I reach work on time for a change, so I have time for another quick cuppa before I get out of the car. The people who I work with are nice. They say good morning and ask how I am.

I smile politely and say, “Yeah, I’m okay, thanks.” I mean it this time.

I set to work with my wind-up radio blasting, and the morning flies by really quickly. I stop for a tea break and get a short text message from my wife. It tells me how much she loves me and how much she is missing me today. It makes me smile, and I realise how lucky I am.

Finally, my working day comes to an end. I pack my stuff away in the car and drive to the motorway. My mission to reach home has begun. I just want to get home.

I pull up outside my house, go inside and dump my bags beside the back door. I’m greeted by my beautiful wife who gives me a hug then hands me my dinner. It’s my favourite.

I settle down for the evening and switch on my computer. I have an e-mail from one of my dear friends. It is massively encouraging. It makes me smile. You now, I really do believe I have a chance to make something of myself one day. My friends are so nice to me. They are amazing.

The day draws to an end and I climb the stairs to my bed. I love my bed, seriously, it’s the best place in the world. I think happy thoughts and drift off into a comfortable sleep.

My alarm doesn’t go off at 5:55. I peel open my eyes and stare at the clock in the darkness. I don’t relish the thought of getting up in the cold knowing I will be rushing around like a madman. Then I realise. It’s Saturday. I snuggle back down into the warm duvet with a contented smile.

Do you believe there is life out there beyond our own planet? To me, this is a silly question. Yes, of course there is. Tons of it! Life is a naturally occurring phenomenon in nature. Given the right conditions, life will form on its own accord; this has been proven in scientific experiments by creating a primeval soup from which life emerged.

I’m a keen amateur astronomer, and spent two years of my life building a rather large reflector telescope. During the time I spend building this, I studied astronomy to learn as much as I could about the universe that surrounds us. It’s amazingly fascinating, and very beautiful. One of the things that really stood out to me was the sheer size of our universe. Trust me, it’s very big indeed. And in this vast universe, there is a lot of stuff. So much so, you couldn’t come up with a number that would even mean anything to you. Common sense alone tells me that there is a lot of life among all this. Our humble planet alone contains approximately four billion different life forms that we know of, and we live on such a tiny little planet.

The question that we should be asking ourselves is, I wonder what all these life forms beyond our planet, solar system, galaxy, and even universe, are like? That’s a much better question. One that many a good book have been written about. They call it science fiction, but chances are, some of it may actually be science fact. We stereotype aliens as being little green men that like probing things that would possibly make your eyes water, thanks to the media and the film industry. I’m not saying that there is a civilisation out there that has the technology and the resources to visit our planet. We live a very, very long way from even the nearest star. But one thing is for sure, we are surrounded by billions and billions of living things in every direction. We may not ever see them, but they are there.

If anyone out there is interested in helping with the search for real intelligent life, then you may want to check this out. I’ve been a member of SETI@home for over ten years and run their free program on my computer all the time.

http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/