Should women fight in combat?

In 'Merdeka', one of the main protagonists is a woman who does just that.  The British Army is now about to (again) review female close combat roles. Details of this can be found on the BBC website.

UK Defence Secretary Philip Hammond says "I think that at a time when the Americans, the Australians, the Canadians, even the French - the Israelis of course for years - have women in their combat arms, this is something we have to look at again...." 

Lord Dannatt, former head of the Army, told the BBC that women should not be in the combat arms as "a matter of principle".  He may have a point.  While there is no question at all that women can act as effectively as men in combat roles (provided they meet the required standards) the reality of battle means that the inclusion of women in close quarter battle units may have two unintended consequences:

Summer promotion: For 5 days only 'Merdeka' free on Kindle

Following the success of the Easter promotion, there will now be a Summer one.

If you want to download 'Merdeka' for FREE from the Kindle Store [from 12:00 AM (PST) on Friday 5th July 2013 until 11:59 PM (PST) on Tuesday 9th July 2013], click on one of the links below:

UK Readers,
Canadian Readers,
German Readers,
French Readers,
Spanish Readers,
Brazilian Readers,
Italian Readers,
Japanese Readers,
US Readers (and rest of world),

Please share this information with anyone you think may have an interest in reading 'Merdeka'.

The call of the East

The magic of the East has fascinated westerners for centuries, no doubt to the bafflement of some local people struggling to make their living in often arduous circumstances.  In Merdeka Martin Robson states:

 "You know that there are days and nights when I have to pinch myself to remind me that I am being paid to live in such a lovely place.  They say, you know, that that you don't choose the East, rather the East chooses you.  The climate, the smells, the people, the land......... something catches you and then you have it forever.'

In his evocative book The Soul of Malaya (first published in English in 1931) Henri Fauconnier writes:

'These Malays are interesting.  So is the jungle.  Trees, nothing but trees.  A monotonous country.  One enters it... and finds the enchanted forest.'

If you don't live there, there is only one way to find out how you feel about it..... get on a plane!

Merdeka - Merdeka - Merdeka

Today is Merdeka Day in Malaysia, a time for great celebrations.  It's 55 years since Tunku Abdul Rahman first declared the country to be free ................

2012 - 55th Anniversary of Merdeka Day

31st August 2012 will be the 55th anniversary of Merdeka Day, the day that the Federation of Malaya shed British colonial rule to become a free and independent country.  Known in Malay as 'Persekutuan Tanah Melayu' the Federation was formed on 31st January 1948 with the joining together of nine Malay states with two of the British Straits Settlements, Penang and Malacca. 

The Federation stayed in existence until 16th September 1963 when it was reconstituted as Malaysia with the addition of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore (Singapore subsequently left to become an independent State on 9th August 1965). 

'Merdeka' now available as a NOOK Book

Good news for NOOK readers - 'Merdeka' is now available in the Barnes & Noble online store for NOOK devices and apps. This is the Smashwords edition.  You can see it here.

Barnes & Noble also sell the paperback edition of 'Merdeka' in their online store. 

Keep checking this blog for information relating to other versions as they become available.

'Merdeka' Shipped to Apple's iBookstore

'Merdeka' was shipped to Apple's iBookstore on 18th July 2012.  All books are manually checked by Apple and can take up to two weeks from the shipping date to appear.  It seems that the only way to see if a title is available is to search the iBookstore from an Apple device.  Unfortunately my e-reading device is a Kindle and so I can't check :(
If any kind reader with an iPad or iPhone is able to search Apple's iBookstore for 'Merdeka',  it would be hugely appreciated if you could advise when it appears.  You can do this by leaving a comment below this post, or by sending me a direct message.  Once I know that it is there and available I will update accordingly.

The Mereka ebook now published on Smashwords (multi format)

As of today, in addition to Kindle,  'Merdeka' is available for purchase and download in the following key formats:  Epub, Online Reading, PDF, RTF and several others.  The book can be purchased through Smashwords. What does this mean?  Now you no longer just need a Kindle to properly enjoy the eBook.  If you buy the book at Smashwords the guidelines for format choice are:

Epub (Apple iPad/iBooks, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps including Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions, others)

Online Reading (HTML, good for sampling in web browser)

PDF (good for reading on PC, or for home printing)

RTF (readable on most word processors)

The downside (or upside depending on your perspective) is that the Smashwords edition is DRM (Digital Rights Management) free, giving much more flexibility to purchasers.

A further update will be posted once Smashwords has made the book available to key online retailers.  There is no change to the Kindle Edition in the Amazon stores, which is available as before.

The Queens Diamond Jubilee 2012

Queen Elizabeth II came to the British throne on 2nd February 1952 on the death of father (her actual Coronation was on 2nd June 1953), and also took up her position as head of the Commonwealth.  2012 marks 60 years of her reign.  Five years later, on 31st August 1957, her photo was taken down from numerous walls throughout the Malayan Federation, which gained independence on that day.  'Merdeka' means independence or freedom in Malay. 

Until 'Merdeka' the young Queen's photo was displayed in Police Stations in the Malayan Federation and there is a section in the book which touches on what its removal meant for some people who served in the Police at that time.

The photographs above are taken from the official website of the British Monarchy.  Queen Elizabeth II is the world's second longest serving Head of State.  Who has been doing it longer?  King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, who came to the throne on 9th June1946, has been doing it for 6 years longer!

Singapore 1942: End of Empire

Last week the BBC screened the first Episode of a new series called 'Singapore 1942: End of Empire'.  The second episode will be shown tonight at 9:00 pm on BBC Two Scotland.  If you live in the UK and missed the first episode you can watch it on BBC iPlayer until 21 February 2012.

The first episode  looks at how Japan's lightning invasion of Malaya threatened the key British port of Singapore, igniting ethnic and political tensions, and tells how Scottish soldiers were at the heart of the city's defence.  The soldiers were from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and, if you ever get the chance to visit, there is a small related display in their Regimental Museum at Stirling Castle.  What has this to do with 'Merdeka'? 

Author Signed Copies of 'Merdeka' available through Amazon.co.uk

BenAlpin Books is now selling Author signed copies of Merdeka on Amazon.co.uk (delivery to UK addresses only). 

Paperback edition of 'Merdeka' now available on Amazon

The paperback edition of Merdeka is now available for purchase on Amazon (athough it has not yet been linked with the Kindle edition due to a title glitch).  Details below:

Amazon.co.uk:  best retail price £10.14 (plus postage)
Amazon.com:    best retail price $17.74 (plus postage)

Get more information on how to get the book, and details of the e-book here

Paperback edition of 'Merdeka' now available

Merdeka has just been published as a paperback by Authorhouse.  You can order the book directly from the publisher:

Authorhouse UK Store: retail price £12.95 (plus postage)
Author house US Store: retail price $19.95 (plus postage)

The paperback should start to appear on other retail websites (Amazon, Barnes & Noble etc) over the next few weeks.

Get details of the e-book here

Paperback version of Merdeka

Have just had confirmation that the paperback is now at the printers.  Hopefully it will be available later this month - ISBN: 978-1-4678-8043-5

Price drop for 2012

Happy new year.  Amazon have just dropped the price of the e-book - now down to £2-00 on Amazon.co.uk, $3.12 on Amazon.com and €2.68 on the DE website.  The price on the FR, ES and IT websites is still at €2.99

Merdeka - Print Edition

Plans are now being made for a print edition (paperback) of 'Merdeka'.  This is expected to be available in early 2012.  More details will be announced on this site in due course.  Many thanks to all those of you who have provided encouragement and feedback to date. 

Get 'Merdeka' from New Kindle Stores in Italy and Spain

Amazon have just opened Kindle Stores for Italy  (http://www.amazon.it/)  and Spain (http://www.amazon.es/).  For the first time Italian language and Spanish language Kindles are available.  To see the official annoucements click on the links below.

Amazon.it Launches Italian Kindle Store and First Italian-Language Kindle
Amazon.es Launches Spanish Kindle Store and First Spanish-Language Kindle

Merdeka is now available in both the new stores

Have a look inside the book

If you visit the Amazon.com site you can look under the cover and read the first 5% of the book for free (Merdaka from Amazon.co.uk).  You can now also download it as a free sample (PDF) version:

DOWNLOAD FREE SAMPLE

Small revsion to Book's Index

The link from the table of contents to the glossary was not working in the initial version of the book (instead it was landing on the Author page - the page before). 

This has now been corrected.  The glossary has always been in the book and turning the page from the Author page takes you straight to it.

Book now available for download

Merdeka has been published as an e-book using Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing. You can buy it from most of the Amazon Stores. The links to some of the main ones are as follows:

Merdeka from Amazon in the UK retail price £2.23 (all inclusive)

Merdaka from Amazon.com retail price $3.44 (all inclusive)

Merdeka from Amazon in France retail price €2.99 (all inclusive)

Merdeka from Amazon in Germany retail price €2.99 (all inclusive)

Don't have a Kindle?  You can read the book on other devices.  For more information click here