The Sci-Fi novel – New Eden – some of the ideas that went into the book

Posted on by Opher

At the time I wrote this novel, back in the 1980’s, Ebola was first hitting the news. Thankfully the outbreaks of Ebola have all been contained and we have never had to deal with a global pandemic. Ebola would have been a worse challenge than Covid 19.

Back then I was seeing two things occurring in the world. The overpopulation problem was creating a huge environmental impact, a lot of pollution, overcrowded cities and deforestation. At the same time automation and technology was replacing the need for a large workforce.

As far as politicians were concerned we were creating a surplus population who were unemployable. The solution was to remove that surplus.

A tyrannical government decided on a plan of action. They would develop a virus, based on Ebola, that was 100% fatal, develop a vaccine and, as part of their annual vaccination programme, vaccinate all the people they wanted to survive. It was eugenics in full operation. Not only would they rid themselves of surplus population, but they could remove all opposition and anyone they did not deem fit.

As with most plans, things do not work out as intended.

With the passing of time, the burgeoning population and the advent of A/I, the tenets of the novel were even more pertinent. I originally had released the book as Ebola in the Garden of Eden. I re-edited it and reissued it as New Eden.

Available in both paperback and kindle .

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A Day In The Life of a Writer

Posted on by Opher

My life revolves around writing. That’s what I do. It’s what gives me pleasure and fulfilment. We all need some reason to get up in the morning. Mine’s writing.

My first task is to check my emails and social media; to answer messages and check out anything that has come through.

I then check my book sales and look for new reviews (I know – sad). New reviews give me a boost. You have to learn to ride the occasional bad one. You can’t please everybody. Sometimes a bad review can stimulate me to return to a book and check. I’ve rewritten one book on the basis of one bad review.

Having cleared the decks I set about writing.

I don’t distinguish between types of writing. I might write a piece for my blog or develop an idea in a novel.

If I am writing a novel I usually get immersed. It takes over. I wake up in the night with ideas. My mind is constantly churning through characters, plot and action. I begrudge any minute not spent writing it down. The ideas flow and take over my life. I’ve learnt to control myself or I wouldn’t have a marriage. I have to moderate.

If I am writing a more factually-based book I might do that in chunks. I will research one aspect and write that up. Not so all-consuming.

I’m very goal orientated. I like to complete a project.

When I am writing the hours flick past. I forget meals and can work deep into the night. It becomes like a meditation. The words are like links in a chain; they pull other words up behind them. Ideas do the same; one leads to a bunch of others. I am a one finger typist but I work at pace. I can type faster than I can write long-hand.

I am usually working on a bunch of projects – novels and books. I always have a poetry book on the go. I have a book called ‘The Death Diaries’ that I add pieces to every now and again. If I an editing I do that in sections then have a break to write something else. I need to do that to keep my mind fresh and focussed. Editing/rewriting is hard. Being objective does not come easy.

Every now and then I break for chores, cooking meals, cleaning, tidying, washing up, shopping. We share a division of labour in my house. It works.

In the evening I try to find time for my wife Liz. We usually watch TV dramas together. Then I might get back to work writing. I find that my energy levels and focus aren’t as good as they were. I can’t work late into the night like I used to do.

I take breaks to listen to some music, to take a walk. I was taking a daily two hour hike but that has lapsed into an hour. I fit my reading into short spells. I always have two or three books on the go.

I suffer with time pressure. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.

Not every day’s the same. We do fit in gigs, theatre and friends – though not as often as used to be the case.

That’s it.

The life of a writer is very solitary – but it’s not lonely! Too much going on in my head to be lonesome.

Would I still start writing if I knew what I know now?

Posted on by Opher

I started writing back in 1970. Naively I wrote my first book, a very sixties mixture of prose, poetry and cartoons; a book that I thought was brilliant and likely to spark a career. That never happened.

I didn’t want much. I wasn’t dreaming of becoming a millionaire. I harboured thoughts of attracting a niche audience and selling enough books to enable me to live at a very basic level and write.

That never happened either.

We started a family and I had to earn a living. I went into teaching – just as a stopgap. It was not a career. I would come home at night, play with the kids, watch some telly and start writing at 10.00 pm finishing at two or three pm. When I ran out of steam. I wrote Sci-fi novels and anything that caught my fancy. I was obsessed with writing. I was up at seven-thirty am. and off to work. Managing on four hours sleep. Bouyed up on ideas and writing.

I was hot on writing but not so keen on editing or sending this to publishers.

Back then it was all type-writer. Editing meant complete rewrites and I was a one-finger typist. The work piled up. I figured that if I could at least get it out of my head I could find time when the kids had grown and I retired to knock it into shape.

I still had a dream

Well that stopgap turned into a career and thirty one years later I was a Headteacher, still scribbling away.

That old typewriter became a word processor (mixed blessing – I once lost five hours work – eleven pages – by pressing the wrong button at four o clock in the morning!). But it did make editing and sending material off to publishers a helluva lot easier.

I did get some things published with Oxford University Press – education stuff – not my Sci-Fi. Periodically I’d sent off stuff to publishers. There were a number of projects that seemed to be going somewhere but fizzled out. In 1981 I had a contract sorted for a History of Rock Music book but the company pulled out at the last minute – the cheque was in the post. We bought the kids Christmas presents with it. It never arrived.

In 1981 I spent a decade writing a book with Roy Harper. First it was a biography and then a book on lyrics. Just as we knocked it into shape for publishing he got cold feet and pulled the plug.

A novel takes about a thousand hours of work. I’ve now written over a hundred books covering a range of genres – Sci-Fi, Rock Music, quirky fiction, poetry, environmental, art, education, antitheism, biography – whatever takes my fancy.

Writing has caused strains with family and friends; it’s taken tens of thousands of hours of my life; it’s taken immense amounts of energy.

I did finally get published. I have eight books with SonicBond press. I have two with Oxford University Press. I’ve published most of the others on Amazon self-publishing.

The money I’ve made probably barely covers my costs. I certainly am nowhere near making a living out of it.

I keep thinking that I must send my stuff off to agents and publishers again. But I’m too busy writing.

So, would I do it all again?

Yes, of course I would. It’s not about the money. I enjoy writing more than I enjoy reading and I love reading!

I do begrudge the time though.

Soon I will have a publisher for my Sci-fi! I know it! That would be something…..