If you would like a look at the latest books published by Chipmunka, that are now availble on Amazon's UK store, please check the following link:
Chipmunka On Amazon.co.uk
Sunday 14 February 2010
Chipmunky want's your websites!
If you are an author of Chipmunka Publishing and have your own website, then please get in touch and email a link to your site. I can put more website links up on the side and maybe we can have some sort of directory for Chipmunka authors.
If you don't have a website but would like readers to see your blog or myspace page then send in those links instead :o)
If you don't have a website but would like readers to see your blog or myspace page then send in those links instead :o)
New E-Books From Chipmunka Publishing:
Here's the latest crop of work from the authors of Chipmunka Publishing:
Meeting Mister Mephistopheles - Zekria Ibrahimi
This is a play about the entry into Hell, about the agony that has no relief, about the distress that cannot be soothed, about the pain that will never be cured...
It is set in the aloofness of a Cambridge college, during the turbulence of the 1960’s...
A new undergraduate, Ayub Peters, finds that he is going all too rapidly mad in the environment of cold Cambridge snobbery. Demons are everywhere, damnation emerges in each encounter, and his strange and shadowy college tutor, Mister Mephistopheles, orchestrates the student’s descent into psychosis and suicide...
But perhaps Cambridge actually is a nest of devils, and, through his so- called ‘schizophrenia’, Ayub Peters is discovering the real cruel dark core of this seemingly glittering university...
Let us participate in insanity, and seem to find there...truth...
Rose Blood - Jarrad Dickson
Rose Blood: A Psychosis Induced Fantasy is sourced from the “literary” structures of psychosis, and develops them with the use of the imagination. It is the only one or one of the few of its kind, that of being wrought from mental illness, and not about mental illness.
It is about an alternate reality created by the author, whose source is Pandora, and she is a schizophrenic and Jarrad turns into God as he taps into this source and gains powers such as fire hair, space time continuum plane shifts, albino skin, etc that allow him to exist in outer space. The idea is that Mankind needs organic technology of their own bodies as well as outer body technology to be outer space creatures.
It posits a white space universe, with black stars. It is a fantasy novel, though short, and the main characters are Pandora, Jarrad Dickson and a mysterious woman named Rose Blood.
It has original settings and striking visual elements, and is a strange, dark fantasy and one of its kind in the very popular literary genre of Fantasy.
£500 a Line and Other Poems - Liz Bentley
£500 a line is a poetry book. The title of the book is a tongue-in-cheek response to the pressure of wining a £5000 writing commission from Shape (disability arts) as part of the Cultural Olympiad. The original ten-line poem ‘Comfortably’ was the starting point of the work. Liz performed the final piece at the Southbank in July 2009 as part of the London Literature Festival. The poems are about her experiences from winning the commission to its performance one year later. Themes of the work include her job as a therapist, being in therapy, relationships, separation, bereavement and having multiple sclerosis.
Other poems are work that she has been performing on the UK poetry/comedy/literature circuit for the last 6 years since her last book “Tales in the Deep End” published by Eatlatinanddie books in 2004.
“Refreshingly off the wall” “Liz is such an effortless writer” “very very funny” “priceless” “more constructive criticism of CBT please” Southbank audience
The Rollercoaster That Is My Life - Jacqueline Hume
This book was primarily written to allow those closest to the author to understand what goes on in her head when she is having an episode of hypo-mania and Depression. The book is filled with funny anecdotes, thought provoking statements and some poetry thrown in for good measure.
The Guns 'n' Roses Worker - Traveller - Marc Latham
Music can be your companion for all moods. While I now listen to a variety of music, in the 1980s I was serious about my rock music; it was like a religion to me. I therefore didn’t buy music outside of the rock genre. Fleetwood Mac was there when I was mellow; Pink Floyd when I was feeling down and alienated; and Metallica or Megadeth when I was manic.
In 1987 Guns N’ Roses released Appetite for Destruction and I was the first to buy and promote it amongst my friends. The band and the album just seemed to be a complete fit with my mind, beliefs, personality, life and ambitions: the songs told a tale of hobo travelling, nostalgia for better times and the search for more, partying excess, alienation from society, getting into trouble and paranoia.
The Other Side of The Mirror - Alanna Lea Wiest
A poetic journey that illustrates a life-long struggle with a serious illness. Poems of pain, hope and a love for life, all combine in a book of exquisite feeling and personal triumph.
The Schizophrenic Human Journeys Through The Baked Desert To Adore You - Sebastian Dravida Yohanan
This novel describes the story of Sebastian Yohanan, a schizophrenic child. Most schizophrenics see people or hear voices that are not real. Sebastian Yohanan has memories that are not real. He confuses his memories and lives in a parralel reality. This is his story
Defragmenting The Soul - John Sawkins
The reader will be faced by a number of challenges from the very start, for which a paradigm shift in his or her Weltanschauung may be required. Characters interact and join discussions across past, present and future time zones, both face-to-face and through the use of virtual reality devices. The dead communicate with the living and vice versa. They do this by meeting up inside Matthew’s head. Unless the reader has experienced a world where he or she can no longer differentiate between reality and fantasy, the blurring of the distinction between the two will be hard to imagine. Suffice it to say, that for some of us, our fantasy world is altogether more vivid, exciting and ‘real’ than our shared ‘reality’ with you normal people!
Altered Perceptions - Yvonne Stewart Williams
Altered Perception is an eighteen month daily journey from an acute psychiatric hospital admission prior to my 2009 acute psychiatric admission via HMP Holloway Women’s Prison.
This diary explores my lesbian sexuality, the parenting role of James, my young biological son in looked after foster care, and my support of a loved one with prostate cancer.
In this diary I reveal that for me it is not so much whether mental illness can be cured, but what one does in life in between each acute psychiatric episode. A kind of walking between the raindrops, until you get wet experience.
I Stood At The Edge of Space On a Tightrope - Elizabeth Oates
My book is about a journey about myself who used to live with various mental health problems and I now manage them so I can lead a successful healthy family lifestyle. It is a collection of poems I have written from the age of 16 to 30 (present). I thought my problems were quite normal and therefore just got on with life, but it was in 2009 when I thought crossing over to the spirit world would be painless and I could be on a cloud forever. I knew this was not quite right so I decided I wanted to manage my mental health issues.
Voices and Visions - Jarrad Dickson
Voices and visions are schizophrenia induced poems; they have stories and plots throughout them, pertaining to the visions and voices Jarrad had when he was psychotic. They are about extra-terrestrials, and Dilworth school and it is cannibalistic in the poetry, for Jarrad Dickson had delusions about cannibalism and saw his school staff eating brains and hearts of their students to be immortal.
Marilyn Manson is frequently in the poetry, and so is Tool’s lead singer Maynard James Keenan, and they meet in his bathroom and Maynard becomes cloned. There is a party, and Darth Vader rapes Marilyn Manson and Yoda is raped by Hone Heke. This is when Jarrad’s play comes to life for it was written in the fifth dimension, and the characters influenced his psychosis by coming to life and haunting him saying “I am an alien. I have a spaceship. I eat hearts to live, to thrive, he has to die!”
A girl named Luna is in the poetry, a former love interest of Jarrad Dickson’s who he met on a suicide site and who later committed suicide which was one of the reasons as well as alcoholism that Jarrad became psychotic.
The poetry is wrought from psychosis and its “plots” and is a work of phantasmagoria, and is straight from the brain, albeit a brain not functioning properly.
Voices in the Wilderness - Chris Hadland
Sol, a young man with his entire unblemished future ahead of him, has just been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Admitted to a less than therapeutic psychiatric ward, he finds himself surrounded by sedated, non-communicative individuals, and rapidly sinks into a state of mental decline. Seeking solace in his Jewish faith, Sol gradually becomes convinced that he isn’t just another casualty of the mental health system, but someone special, and not just anyone...
You'll Never Make a Hairdresser - Russell Paul Hughes
‘You’ll never make a hairdresser’ is an autobiography detailing the life of a young boy living on a deprived housing estate in Manchester and tracing his progression to the present day and the realisation of his dreams.
The novel includes many humorous experiences; the loss of his virginity to a wheelchair bound client, mobile hairdressing within the housing estate representing the culture and lifestyle of all involved, down to the very poignant moments on the loss of a dearly loved sister to cancer at the age of just 37.
The novel also explores the innermost thoughts and feeling of the author, not only his depression which resulted from the onset of epilepsy at the age of thirty but also on a deeply personal level when he realised that as a heterosexual husband and father he was living a lie.
Following these revelations he embarks on a journey of discovery which finally leads him to the confident and fulfilled gay businessman he is today.
Hang In There… Wherever “There” Is - Nicole Roberge
This compelling and poignant memoir tells about the journey through the disease of Anorexia, the recovery process, and all that comes with it—the hurt, hope and humor. After almost dying from the disease, and being neglected by the doctors, the author sought recovery and spent seven weeks at an inpatient facility. In her powerful story, she digs into the depths of Anorexia and describes how her simple diet and exercise program turned into a horrific eating disorder—one that controlled her life and forced her to go to the gym every day for four hours and reduce her diet to only fruit. After almost suffering from a heart attack and amazed that she was still alive, she knew she had to save herself and get treatment. Today, she is a survivor. By telling her story of the disease and recovery process, she not only educates the reader about eating disorders, but also shares with them a secret world unknown to many, and most importantly, that there is hope and recovery is possible.
Enclave - David Roscoe
The world is under threat from an alien race whose only goal is to extinguish all life capable of standing against them. Their methods are cruel and terrifying, their technology centuries ahead of those of Earth. But there is hope…
Two government agents, a psychotic killer, a crime lord and Timothy Bruce, a paranoid neurotic living in constant fear of everyday life, are brought together by a centuries old secret society hidden deep within the Earth. These five strangers are given access to miraculous technologies and unlimited resources with which they can save the world and change it forever.
But not everyone within the group is what he appears to be and before they can decide what to do with their new reality, they will need to overcome their own petty ambitions and root out the traitor within.
Passages from the Search for Eternal Love - Kelly Brown
Passages from the search for eternal love is a book of fiction about a community called Illigruum House and two women Eva and Rosa. Eva is an artist who has accepted being alone as a necessary artistic path. But when Rosa a beautiful and wise woman in her seventies invites Eva to join her on the course learning through love Rosa offers to show Eva her true path. Eva finds that through Rosa’a stories of love and a spiritual meeting in the caves of Bearn a new way of thinking about love, the concept of abundance, and a universal love that will change her life forever.
Meeting Mister Mephistopheles - Zekria Ibrahimi
This is a play about the entry into Hell, about the agony that has no relief, about the distress that cannot be soothed, about the pain that will never be cured...
It is set in the aloofness of a Cambridge college, during the turbulence of the 1960’s...
A new undergraduate, Ayub Peters, finds that he is going all too rapidly mad in the environment of cold Cambridge snobbery. Demons are everywhere, damnation emerges in each encounter, and his strange and shadowy college tutor, Mister Mephistopheles, orchestrates the student’s descent into psychosis and suicide...
But perhaps Cambridge actually is a nest of devils, and, through his so- called ‘schizophrenia’, Ayub Peters is discovering the real cruel dark core of this seemingly glittering university...
Let us participate in insanity, and seem to find there...truth...
Rose Blood - Jarrad Dickson
Rose Blood: A Psychosis Induced Fantasy is sourced from the “literary” structures of psychosis, and develops them with the use of the imagination. It is the only one or one of the few of its kind, that of being wrought from mental illness, and not about mental illness.
It is about an alternate reality created by the author, whose source is Pandora, and she is a schizophrenic and Jarrad turns into God as he taps into this source and gains powers such as fire hair, space time continuum plane shifts, albino skin, etc that allow him to exist in outer space. The idea is that Mankind needs organic technology of their own bodies as well as outer body technology to be outer space creatures.
It posits a white space universe, with black stars. It is a fantasy novel, though short, and the main characters are Pandora, Jarrad Dickson and a mysterious woman named Rose Blood.
It has original settings and striking visual elements, and is a strange, dark fantasy and one of its kind in the very popular literary genre of Fantasy.
£500 a Line and Other Poems - Liz Bentley
£500 a line is a poetry book. The title of the book is a tongue-in-cheek response to the pressure of wining a £5000 writing commission from Shape (disability arts) as part of the Cultural Olympiad. The original ten-line poem ‘Comfortably’ was the starting point of the work. Liz performed the final piece at the Southbank in July 2009 as part of the London Literature Festival. The poems are about her experiences from winning the commission to its performance one year later. Themes of the work include her job as a therapist, being in therapy, relationships, separation, bereavement and having multiple sclerosis.
Other poems are work that she has been performing on the UK poetry/comedy/literature circuit for the last 6 years since her last book “Tales in the Deep End” published by Eatlatinanddie books in 2004.
“Refreshingly off the wall” “Liz is such an effortless writer” “very very funny” “priceless” “more constructive criticism of CBT please” Southbank audience
The Rollercoaster That Is My Life - Jacqueline Hume
This book was primarily written to allow those closest to the author to understand what goes on in her head when she is having an episode of hypo-mania and Depression. The book is filled with funny anecdotes, thought provoking statements and some poetry thrown in for good measure.
The Guns 'n' Roses Worker - Traveller - Marc Latham
Music can be your companion for all moods. While I now listen to a variety of music, in the 1980s I was serious about my rock music; it was like a religion to me. I therefore didn’t buy music outside of the rock genre. Fleetwood Mac was there when I was mellow; Pink Floyd when I was feeling down and alienated; and Metallica or Megadeth when I was manic.
In 1987 Guns N’ Roses released Appetite for Destruction and I was the first to buy and promote it amongst my friends. The band and the album just seemed to be a complete fit with my mind, beliefs, personality, life and ambitions: the songs told a tale of hobo travelling, nostalgia for better times and the search for more, partying excess, alienation from society, getting into trouble and paranoia.
The Other Side of The Mirror - Alanna Lea Wiest
A poetic journey that illustrates a life-long struggle with a serious illness. Poems of pain, hope and a love for life, all combine in a book of exquisite feeling and personal triumph.
The Schizophrenic Human Journeys Through The Baked Desert To Adore You - Sebastian Dravida Yohanan
This novel describes the story of Sebastian Yohanan, a schizophrenic child. Most schizophrenics see people or hear voices that are not real. Sebastian Yohanan has memories that are not real. He confuses his memories and lives in a parralel reality. This is his story
Defragmenting The Soul - John Sawkins
The reader will be faced by a number of challenges from the very start, for which a paradigm shift in his or her Weltanschauung may be required. Characters interact and join discussions across past, present and future time zones, both face-to-face and through the use of virtual reality devices. The dead communicate with the living and vice versa. They do this by meeting up inside Matthew’s head. Unless the reader has experienced a world where he or she can no longer differentiate between reality and fantasy, the blurring of the distinction between the two will be hard to imagine. Suffice it to say, that for some of us, our fantasy world is altogether more vivid, exciting and ‘real’ than our shared ‘reality’ with you normal people!
Altered Perceptions - Yvonne Stewart Williams
Altered Perception is an eighteen month daily journey from an acute psychiatric hospital admission prior to my 2009 acute psychiatric admission via HMP Holloway Women’s Prison.
This diary explores my lesbian sexuality, the parenting role of James, my young biological son in looked after foster care, and my support of a loved one with prostate cancer.
In this diary I reveal that for me it is not so much whether mental illness can be cured, but what one does in life in between each acute psychiatric episode. A kind of walking between the raindrops, until you get wet experience.
I Stood At The Edge of Space On a Tightrope - Elizabeth Oates
My book is about a journey about myself who used to live with various mental health problems and I now manage them so I can lead a successful healthy family lifestyle. It is a collection of poems I have written from the age of 16 to 30 (present). I thought my problems were quite normal and therefore just got on with life, but it was in 2009 when I thought crossing over to the spirit world would be painless and I could be on a cloud forever. I knew this was not quite right so I decided I wanted to manage my mental health issues.
Voices and Visions - Jarrad Dickson
Voices and visions are schizophrenia induced poems; they have stories and plots throughout them, pertaining to the visions and voices Jarrad had when he was psychotic. They are about extra-terrestrials, and Dilworth school and it is cannibalistic in the poetry, for Jarrad Dickson had delusions about cannibalism and saw his school staff eating brains and hearts of their students to be immortal.
Marilyn Manson is frequently in the poetry, and so is Tool’s lead singer Maynard James Keenan, and they meet in his bathroom and Maynard becomes cloned. There is a party, and Darth Vader rapes Marilyn Manson and Yoda is raped by Hone Heke. This is when Jarrad’s play comes to life for it was written in the fifth dimension, and the characters influenced his psychosis by coming to life and haunting him saying “I am an alien. I have a spaceship. I eat hearts to live, to thrive, he has to die!”
A girl named Luna is in the poetry, a former love interest of Jarrad Dickson’s who he met on a suicide site and who later committed suicide which was one of the reasons as well as alcoholism that Jarrad became psychotic.
The poetry is wrought from psychosis and its “plots” and is a work of phantasmagoria, and is straight from the brain, albeit a brain not functioning properly.
Voices in the Wilderness - Chris Hadland
Sol, a young man with his entire unblemished future ahead of him, has just been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Admitted to a less than therapeutic psychiatric ward, he finds himself surrounded by sedated, non-communicative individuals, and rapidly sinks into a state of mental decline. Seeking solace in his Jewish faith, Sol gradually becomes convinced that he isn’t just another casualty of the mental health system, but someone special, and not just anyone...
You'll Never Make a Hairdresser - Russell Paul Hughes
‘You’ll never make a hairdresser’ is an autobiography detailing the life of a young boy living on a deprived housing estate in Manchester and tracing his progression to the present day and the realisation of his dreams.
The novel includes many humorous experiences; the loss of his virginity to a wheelchair bound client, mobile hairdressing within the housing estate representing the culture and lifestyle of all involved, down to the very poignant moments on the loss of a dearly loved sister to cancer at the age of just 37.
The novel also explores the innermost thoughts and feeling of the author, not only his depression which resulted from the onset of epilepsy at the age of thirty but also on a deeply personal level when he realised that as a heterosexual husband and father he was living a lie.
Following these revelations he embarks on a journey of discovery which finally leads him to the confident and fulfilled gay businessman he is today.
Hang In There… Wherever “There” Is - Nicole Roberge
This compelling and poignant memoir tells about the journey through the disease of Anorexia, the recovery process, and all that comes with it—the hurt, hope and humor. After almost dying from the disease, and being neglected by the doctors, the author sought recovery and spent seven weeks at an inpatient facility. In her powerful story, she digs into the depths of Anorexia and describes how her simple diet and exercise program turned into a horrific eating disorder—one that controlled her life and forced her to go to the gym every day for four hours and reduce her diet to only fruit. After almost suffering from a heart attack and amazed that she was still alive, she knew she had to save herself and get treatment. Today, she is a survivor. By telling her story of the disease and recovery process, she not only educates the reader about eating disorders, but also shares with them a secret world unknown to many, and most importantly, that there is hope and recovery is possible.
Enclave - David Roscoe
The world is under threat from an alien race whose only goal is to extinguish all life capable of standing against them. Their methods are cruel and terrifying, their technology centuries ahead of those of Earth. But there is hope…
Two government agents, a psychotic killer, a crime lord and Timothy Bruce, a paranoid neurotic living in constant fear of everyday life, are brought together by a centuries old secret society hidden deep within the Earth. These five strangers are given access to miraculous technologies and unlimited resources with which they can save the world and change it forever.
But not everyone within the group is what he appears to be and before they can decide what to do with their new reality, they will need to overcome their own petty ambitions and root out the traitor within.
Passages from the Search for Eternal Love - Kelly Brown
Passages from the search for eternal love is a book of fiction about a community called Illigruum House and two women Eva and Rosa. Eva is an artist who has accepted being alone as a necessary artistic path. But when Rosa a beautiful and wise woman in her seventies invites Eva to join her on the course learning through love Rosa offers to show Eva her true path. Eva finds that through Rosa’a stories of love and a spiritual meeting in the caves of Bearn a new way of thinking about love, the concept of abundance, and a universal love that will change her life forever.
Saturday 16 January 2010
Chipmunka author interview: Peter Mackie
Chipmunky's delighted to bring you this exculsive interview with Chipmunka author Peter Mackie. Peter's book 'The Madhouse Of Love' is available now: The Madhouse Of Love
Chipmunky:
Why did you want to write a book?
Peter: I was 17 years old in a bedsit in London and suddenly all the memories of everything that had happened in the hospital a few years before came back to me and I felt that I had to write it all down. It just occurred naturally in a bout of inspiration which lasted between one and two months. I also felt determined to publish it so as to give other people the chance to read it because I thought that the book was probably unique.
Why Chipmunka and how did you find out about the publisher?
I found out about Chipmunkapublishing through an article in Writers' News magazine. I chose Chipmunka because they specialise in real-life stories written by people who have been through the mental health system.
What do you feel is the biggest hurdle for people with mental health problems to overcome today?
Depression seems to be on the increase and is the most common mental health problem and I would say that the biggest hurdle for people with mental health problems is to try to make society aware of this before it is too late. No-one seems to be altogether sure what is the cause but, from my own experience, I think that at least some of it is socially caused.
How did you feel about being published?
I feel glad that my book has been published and hope that as many people as possible will read it so that it will get through to people.
Overall how has the reaction to your book been?
Generally, it has been positive. I think that many people are interested because it is unusual and because mental health is something topical at the moment.
Are you glad you wrote your book?
Yes, I am very glad that I wrote my book, which I felt inside that I just had to do.
What do you do to relax/ what’s good for your mental health?
I have had anxiety attacks during the last two years and find that lying down and listening to music or reading a really interesting book helps me relax.
How do you feel about the ‘cannabis causes mental health’ debate?
It's hard to say because it seems to affect people differently. I think that there should be more unbiased research about this. I only know that, in my case, it helped me to stay away from alcohol, which is notoriously bad for depression, and helped me to relax and to sleep at night. However, it may be good for some people and bad for other people - but I think that there should be a choice as alcohol will always be there and can cause many more problems.
How do you feel about some peoples view, that people who have mental health problems and are claiming welfare are ‘scroungers‘?
At one time, I used to feel very angry about this but now I think that it is only that people don't understand something and they need to be educated. There is a lot of difference between depression and ordinary laziness as it is outwith the person's control. Also, for instance, the young people nowadays don't seem to have much going for them. That's why I think that depression is at least partly socially caused.
What are you currently working on?
As well as trying to publicise my book, I'm also trying to publicise and sell copies of the CD of music that I made All Over the Shop - and I'm doing an IT course at Redhall Walled Garden, and organisation in Edinburgh that works with people who have or have had mental health problems.
Any advice for aspiring authors?
If anyone has written anything about their own experiences with mental health problems and/or the mental health system, I would advise them to choose Chipmunkapublishing.
If you could change one thing about the mental health service, what would it be?
I think that the patients should be listened to more and given more of a say. It might be a good idea for patients to hold meetings and to discuss ideas - and maybe even sign petitions - which could be put forward to the people who are in charge.
Many thanks for your time Peter !
Peter's book 'The Madhouse Of Love' is available now: The Madhouse Of Love
Chipmunky:
Why did you want to write a book?
Peter: I was 17 years old in a bedsit in London and suddenly all the memories of everything that had happened in the hospital a few years before came back to me and I felt that I had to write it all down. It just occurred naturally in a bout of inspiration which lasted between one and two months. I also felt determined to publish it so as to give other people the chance to read it because I thought that the book was probably unique.
Why Chipmunka and how did you find out about the publisher?
I found out about Chipmunkapublishing through an article in Writers' News magazine. I chose Chipmunka because they specialise in real-life stories written by people who have been through the mental health system.
What do you feel is the biggest hurdle for people with mental health problems to overcome today?
Depression seems to be on the increase and is the most common mental health problem and I would say that the biggest hurdle for people with mental health problems is to try to make society aware of this before it is too late. No-one seems to be altogether sure what is the cause but, from my own experience, I think that at least some of it is socially caused.
How did you feel about being published?
I feel glad that my book has been published and hope that as many people as possible will read it so that it will get through to people.
Overall how has the reaction to your book been?
Generally, it has been positive. I think that many people are interested because it is unusual and because mental health is something topical at the moment.
Are you glad you wrote your book?
Yes, I am very glad that I wrote my book, which I felt inside that I just had to do.
What do you do to relax/ what’s good for your mental health?
I have had anxiety attacks during the last two years and find that lying down and listening to music or reading a really interesting book helps me relax.
How do you feel about the ‘cannabis causes mental health’ debate?
It's hard to say because it seems to affect people differently. I think that there should be more unbiased research about this. I only know that, in my case, it helped me to stay away from alcohol, which is notoriously bad for depression, and helped me to relax and to sleep at night. However, it may be good for some people and bad for other people - but I think that there should be a choice as alcohol will always be there and can cause many more problems.
How do you feel about some peoples view, that people who have mental health problems and are claiming welfare are ‘scroungers‘?
At one time, I used to feel very angry about this but now I think that it is only that people don't understand something and they need to be educated. There is a lot of difference between depression and ordinary laziness as it is outwith the person's control. Also, for instance, the young people nowadays don't seem to have much going for them. That's why I think that depression is at least partly socially caused.
What are you currently working on?
As well as trying to publicise my book, I'm also trying to publicise and sell copies of the CD of music that I made All Over the Shop - and I'm doing an IT course at Redhall Walled Garden, and organisation in Edinburgh that works with people who have or have had mental health problems.
Any advice for aspiring authors?
If anyone has written anything about their own experiences with mental health problems and/or the mental health system, I would advise them to choose Chipmunkapublishing.
If you could change one thing about the mental health service, what would it be?
I think that the patients should be listened to more and given more of a say. It might be a good idea for patients to hold meetings and to discuss ideas - and maybe even sign petitions - which could be put forward to the people who are in charge.
Many thanks for your time Peter !
Peter's book 'The Madhouse Of Love' is available now: The Madhouse Of Love
Chipmunka The Childrens Publisher
One of Chipmunka's newest releases is a book for children!
The book called All Across China by author Ellen Weisberg
"This exciting new childrens geography book provides a tour of China's 34 provinces, municipalities, and other regions.
Ellen Weisberg, Ph.D. and Ken Yoffe, M.D. provides an entertaining and educational way for the whole family to learn about one of the world's most important and interesting countries. Using the mnemonic devices of clever rhymes and naming characters after the provincial capitals, "All Across China" also includes endless fun facts and charming artwork to answer such questions as: --Where are the Terracotta Warriors? --What do they mean by Sichuan, Hunan, and Cantonese food? --Where can one see the Great Wall of China? --What do Xi, Dong, Bei, and Nan mean? China is the world's fourth largest country and, with over a billion people, has the largest population. It is full of breathtaking mountains and rivers, fascinating animals and crops, and many different cultures and languages. Join Cai, Na, Ning, Song, and dozens of their friends on a trip All Across China!"
The book called All Across China by author Ellen Weisberg
"This exciting new childrens geography book provides a tour of China's 34 provinces, municipalities, and other regions.
Ellen Weisberg, Ph.D. and Ken Yoffe, M.D. provides an entertaining and educational way for the whole family to learn about one of the world's most important and interesting countries. Using the mnemonic devices of clever rhymes and naming characters after the provincial capitals, "All Across China" also includes endless fun facts and charming artwork to answer such questions as: --Where are the Terracotta Warriors? --What do they mean by Sichuan, Hunan, and Cantonese food? --Where can one see the Great Wall of China? --What do Xi, Dong, Bei, and Nan mean? China is the world's fourth largest country and, with over a billion people, has the largest population. It is full of breathtaking mountains and rivers, fascinating animals and crops, and many different cultures and languages. Join Cai, Na, Ning, Song, and dozens of their friends on a trip All Across China!"
Chipmunka gets translated
Chipmunka's founder Jason Pegler has released his bestselling memoir 'A Can Of Madness' as a Swedish translation ( now called ; Enportion Vansinne )
This is possably the first in a new line of translations depending on how well this pilot project sells!
This is possably the first in a new line of translations depending on how well this pilot project sells!
New Year - New Books!
The leading mental health publisher plows into 2010 at full steam with a fantastic selection of e-books having been released these past 2 weeks. Here's a look at Chipmunka's latest author releases:
I Am Not Intelligent - Oscarbound
This book ‘I am not intelligent’ gives importance to the mad, mentally ill, schizophrenia people to show them humanity and love than trying to make them brave and explaining the right thing to make them intelligent persons. When good time came they will become cured but until that we have to show them love and care as the mental illness disease not visible or understand by others like physical illness. Also the hearing voice disease was not accepted as disability in countries like India. There the doctors says it was a disease which will cured one day but not sure when it will cure.
This book is having a mixture of subjects that a general novel have. This is not only a psychological novel it was a secret scientific novel. Three generation story, poems, short story, SMS, affection, affair, the main characters regional famous people’s history, thrilling movements, not much lengthy and speedily moving novel. To create awareness of about mind control which is not accepted by the present world may be proved in future. I wish for all readers this book will be interesting and useful to their life’s. The main chapter is TALKING WITH VIP’S of the whole world as Balu, the main character was the idea and opinion giver to them. Everyone in the world must read it. The author wish to hear reader’s opinion about this book through the e-mail Id oscarbond @ rediffmail dot com
Stitched On Label - Steven Cowley
This book of poetry looks at the issues I have experienced with mental health and other issues I have been through. A gritty book, with honest poetry. The adversity is now over and the book ends with positive poems to show the turnaround I have achieved and the current stability. Even the longest journey starts with a single step.
Mariposa - Sarah Coggrave
Mariposa is a vivid, colourful and comprehensive account of Sarah Coggrave’s recovery from an eating disorder. Her art and writing paint an eclectic picture of a complex individual trying desperately to wrestle free from the evil voices inside her head. The book follows Sarah’s journey through hospital and then a specialist clinic as she totally transforms and rebuilds her life. Throughout she reflects with startling insight on the root of her problems and confesses her innermost thoughts and feelings. We hear the eating disorder speak...it is deafening in the beginning. However eventually it fades to little more than an inaudible whisper as Sarah finds her own voice
Broken Whole - Keith Adams
This violently colorful, devastatingly forthright recounting of the author’s search for self amidst the shards of mania, takes place almost exclusively over the course of the summer of the author’s forty-first year – set against the glittering background of the Corridor of Dreams, the swanky swathe of the West side of LA stretching from the Hollywood Hills to the boulevards of Beverly hill – with its tale of luxury goods, spiritual discovery, thrust for glory, brilliant ideas, not so brilliant ideas, fist-fights, arrest by the LAPD, and, ultimately, a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. It asks if the gleaming personality chained up by mood stabilizers is the real self, and, if it is not, is there any such thing as a real self?
Bedlam and Other Stories - Mark Fleming
Mark Fleming’s debut novel ‘BrainBomb’ was published as a Chipmunka paperback in the summer of 2009, to rave reviews. Semi-autobiographical, it weaved a lurid diary of bipolar illness against a backdrop of historic fantasy and Edinburgh’s punk scene.
The short stories collected in Bedlam paint a broader picture. There are bipolar characters. There are others living with post-traumatic stress disorder. Or post-natal depression. Most cope with the stresses and shocks life throws at them. Some don’t, resorting to drugs, even contemplating suicide. There is violence in these tales but it is not connected to any medical condition. It is there, in society, and the perpetrators are far more likely not to have a mental condition.
What all the characters have in common is that they are ordinary people in sometimes extraordinary circumstances. If they have mental issues, there is nothing abnormal about them. It is simply because they are human.
A Glimpse of The Holy Through Bloodshot Eyes - Thomas McNeight
Tom McNeight has recently written a short, poignant book, which he has titled A Glimpse of the Holy Through Bloodshot Eyes. It is a book written primarily to expose to the general reading public a close up view of what life is like when one is living under the supervision of the mental health authorities and has to cope with being in a perpetually heavily medicated state of mind, essentially, one supposes, to prevent the sufferer of the mental illness from hurting himself and others. Tom tries to depict this syndrome in as clear and logical a way as he can. He tries, in his book, to show how he has survived the last thirty-five years hide bound by a crippling mental malaise and a health monitoring system imposed upon him by the authorities. He has attempted, through this book, to try to show to the reader what life is like on the outside of society.
A Mental Journey - Paul M F Smith
This is a story of four individuals battling anxiety, depression, agoraphobia and obssessive-compulsions. It covers their beginnings, how they came to where they are at the start of the story, and how they end up where they are at the end of the story, and the rocky road they travel inbetween, supporting and being there for each other as they come together to inform the wider public how it feels to suffer a mental illness and the stigmas that they carry. All the while they are fighting against their inner demons. This is a mixture of fact and fiction, though unsure of where one ends and another begins. It tries to cover the different elements of the characters troubles, and finishes on a positive note, still afflicted by mental illness, but all the better for the support of one another and teaching the general public on what it is like to live with a mental illness.
If We Win The Pools We Can Go To The Coronation - Pamela Pickton
Christmas was upon them in the village, and Gladys had not won the pools. It would seem that the yearly event had taken her, yet again, by surprise to see her at such a loss. Then, she had so much on her plate. And her children had to understand that she would do more for them, if only she could.
In the year of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth 11, two young girls are striving to pass the exam and win a place in the grammar school. Brenda battles alone in spite of Gladys, her scatty mother. Pat has a different home with more money, more encouragement. Her problem is something else; not something she can tell to anyone. "
I Am Not Intelligent - Oscarbound
This book ‘I am not intelligent’ gives importance to the mad, mentally ill, schizophrenia people to show them humanity and love than trying to make them brave and explaining the right thing to make them intelligent persons. When good time came they will become cured but until that we have to show them love and care as the mental illness disease not visible or understand by others like physical illness. Also the hearing voice disease was not accepted as disability in countries like India. There the doctors says it was a disease which will cured one day but not sure when it will cure.
This book is having a mixture of subjects that a general novel have. This is not only a psychological novel it was a secret scientific novel. Three generation story, poems, short story, SMS, affection, affair, the main characters regional famous people’s history, thrilling movements, not much lengthy and speedily moving novel. To create awareness of about mind control which is not accepted by the present world may be proved in future. I wish for all readers this book will be interesting and useful to their life’s. The main chapter is TALKING WITH VIP’S of the whole world as Balu, the main character was the idea and opinion giver to them. Everyone in the world must read it. The author wish to hear reader’s opinion about this book through the e-mail Id oscarbond @ rediffmail dot com
Stitched On Label - Steven Cowley
This book of poetry looks at the issues I have experienced with mental health and other issues I have been through. A gritty book, with honest poetry. The adversity is now over and the book ends with positive poems to show the turnaround I have achieved and the current stability. Even the longest journey starts with a single step.
Mariposa - Sarah Coggrave
Mariposa is a vivid, colourful and comprehensive account of Sarah Coggrave’s recovery from an eating disorder. Her art and writing paint an eclectic picture of a complex individual trying desperately to wrestle free from the evil voices inside her head. The book follows Sarah’s journey through hospital and then a specialist clinic as she totally transforms and rebuilds her life. Throughout she reflects with startling insight on the root of her problems and confesses her innermost thoughts and feelings. We hear the eating disorder speak...it is deafening in the beginning. However eventually it fades to little more than an inaudible whisper as Sarah finds her own voice
Broken Whole - Keith Adams
This violently colorful, devastatingly forthright recounting of the author’s search for self amidst the shards of mania, takes place almost exclusively over the course of the summer of the author’s forty-first year – set against the glittering background of the Corridor of Dreams, the swanky swathe of the West side of LA stretching from the Hollywood Hills to the boulevards of Beverly hill – with its tale of luxury goods, spiritual discovery, thrust for glory, brilliant ideas, not so brilliant ideas, fist-fights, arrest by the LAPD, and, ultimately, a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. It asks if the gleaming personality chained up by mood stabilizers is the real self, and, if it is not, is there any such thing as a real self?
Bedlam and Other Stories - Mark Fleming
Mark Fleming’s debut novel ‘BrainBomb’ was published as a Chipmunka paperback in the summer of 2009, to rave reviews. Semi-autobiographical, it weaved a lurid diary of bipolar illness against a backdrop of historic fantasy and Edinburgh’s punk scene.
The short stories collected in Bedlam paint a broader picture. There are bipolar characters. There are others living with post-traumatic stress disorder. Or post-natal depression. Most cope with the stresses and shocks life throws at them. Some don’t, resorting to drugs, even contemplating suicide. There is violence in these tales but it is not connected to any medical condition. It is there, in society, and the perpetrators are far more likely not to have a mental condition.
What all the characters have in common is that they are ordinary people in sometimes extraordinary circumstances. If they have mental issues, there is nothing abnormal about them. It is simply because they are human.
A Glimpse of The Holy Through Bloodshot Eyes - Thomas McNeight
Tom McNeight has recently written a short, poignant book, which he has titled A Glimpse of the Holy Through Bloodshot Eyes. It is a book written primarily to expose to the general reading public a close up view of what life is like when one is living under the supervision of the mental health authorities and has to cope with being in a perpetually heavily medicated state of mind, essentially, one supposes, to prevent the sufferer of the mental illness from hurting himself and others. Tom tries to depict this syndrome in as clear and logical a way as he can. He tries, in his book, to show how he has survived the last thirty-five years hide bound by a crippling mental malaise and a health monitoring system imposed upon him by the authorities. He has attempted, through this book, to try to show to the reader what life is like on the outside of society.
A Mental Journey - Paul M F Smith
This is a story of four individuals battling anxiety, depression, agoraphobia and obssessive-compulsions. It covers their beginnings, how they came to where they are at the start of the story, and how they end up where they are at the end of the story, and the rocky road they travel inbetween, supporting and being there for each other as they come together to inform the wider public how it feels to suffer a mental illness and the stigmas that they carry. All the while they are fighting against their inner demons. This is a mixture of fact and fiction, though unsure of where one ends and another begins. It tries to cover the different elements of the characters troubles, and finishes on a positive note, still afflicted by mental illness, but all the better for the support of one another and teaching the general public on what it is like to live with a mental illness.
If We Win The Pools We Can Go To The Coronation - Pamela Pickton
Christmas was upon them in the village, and Gladys had not won the pools. It would seem that the yearly event had taken her, yet again, by surprise to see her at such a loss. Then, she had so much on her plate. And her children had to understand that she would do more for them, if only she could.
In the year of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth 11, two young girls are striving to pass the exam and win a place in the grammar school. Brenda battles alone in spite of Gladys, her scatty mother. Pat has a different home with more money, more encouragement. Her problem is something else; not something she can tell to anyone. "
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