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. "
Thursday, 24 December 2009
A Christmas dedication
Tom Clement, author of the 'real Equus' What Will Other People Think?, would like to dedicate this song he wrote to his mother, who has recently come out of hospital.
The words seem fitting for a Christmas Eve' post, as the lyric seems to touch on what Christmas is all about. Enjoy:
You Taught Me The Word
I wish we knew what to say
Without letting every day
Slip away
Cos these are precious times together
I wish you’d say how you felt
We should be free to be ourselves
Life is about sharing
It’s unfair if we live like strangers
I regret we’re not as close
As my soul wants us to be
Maybe a part is down to you
But most is down to me
I’m scared to hold on to something
That I know I could well loose
But I might never really love
If I don’t tell you the truth
You taught me the word
Love
You showed me the word
Love
I might never have known
Love
If it wasn’t for you
We are only human
And don’t always know the best route to take
But the pains of yesterday
Are not as inviting as your embrace today
I know that fate could not be seen
But you’ve always wanted the best for me
I know it’s not been easy
The greatest journeys never are
But it would amount to nothing
If I don’t say what’s in my heart
You taught me the word
Love
You showed me the word
Love
I might never have known
Love
If it wasn’t for you
This Journey into the unknown
Has helped both of us grow
But we both want something better
And I hope we find it together
We’ve stood side by side
While others have gone their separate ways
Because somewhere inside of us
We’ve always kept the faith
You taught me the word
Love
You showed me the word
Love
I might never have known
Love
If it wasn’t for you
The words seem fitting for a Christmas Eve' post, as the lyric seems to touch on what Christmas is all about. Enjoy:
You Taught Me The Word
I wish we knew what to say
Without letting every day
Slip away
Cos these are precious times together
I wish you’d say how you felt
We should be free to be ourselves
Life is about sharing
It’s unfair if we live like strangers
I regret we’re not as close
As my soul wants us to be
Maybe a part is down to you
But most is down to me
I’m scared to hold on to something
That I know I could well loose
But I might never really love
If I don’t tell you the truth
You taught me the word
Love
You showed me the word
Love
I might never have known
Love
If it wasn’t for you
We are only human
And don’t always know the best route to take
But the pains of yesterday
Are not as inviting as your embrace today
I know that fate could not be seen
But you’ve always wanted the best for me
I know it’s not been easy
The greatest journeys never are
But it would amount to nothing
If I don’t say what’s in my heart
You taught me the word
Love
You showed me the word
Love
I might never have known
Love
If it wasn’t for you
This Journey into the unknown
Has helped both of us grow
But we both want something better
And I hope we find it together
We’ve stood side by side
While others have gone their separate ways
Because somewhere inside of us
We’ve always kept the faith
You taught me the word
Love
You showed me the word
Love
I might never have known
Love
If it wasn’t for you
Nigel Pearce speaks at seminar
Nigel Pearce, author of Icarus Did Not Die recently gave a presentation at a mental health seminar in Leamington Spa. The seminar was run by SWUF and Nigel's presentation was an amazing piece called 'Breaking The Chains: Creativity & Recovery, showing and sharing th achievements of locl artists and writers who've experienced mental ill health.
A detailed handout of his presentation may be available. Please email here at Chipmunky Post for more information!
A detailed handout of his presentation may be available. Please email here at Chipmunky Post for more information!
New Website by Judith Haire
Judith Haire, author of Don't Mind Me ,which was one of Chipmunka Publishng's best selling books last year, now has her own website up! Please take a moment to check out her new website here : www.judithhaire.vpweb.co.uk
Over 600 e-books now avlailable from Chipmunka!
Chipmunka Publishing is seeing out 2009 with an impressive 603 author memoirs under their family of e-books. Here's a look at the latest author releases that have helped Chipmunka reach the incredible 600 mark! :
A Journey Out Of Madness - Alistr McIntyre
"Alistair McIntyre has written a beautifully simple moving account of the different elements that aided his recovery from schizophrenia. He starts of with a description of his illness, moves on to his medication, the roles he holds as a volunteer, student, as well as pursuing his hobby of sea angling. This book is one of real hope and a must read for all who have had there life touched by mental ill health."
A Pila Of Impotence - Mark Edgar
" A Pillar of Impotence deals with many issues in mental health. Fundamentally it is a story of recovery, the damage done by misdiagnosis, and finding a simple, medication based solution after 10 years.
A book crosses the spectrum of mood disorder and a falsely diagnosed Personality Disorder. It deals with inpatient care, suicide, day services, psychotherapy, and eventual abandonment by Statutory Services. But it is put into the context of the wider world and as such is a record of the whole of the 1990s through the eyes of one sufferer. Various diagnoses were given at various times including depression, chronic endogenous depression, psychotic depression, narcissistic personality disorder, borderline personality, and non specified mood disorder. "
Under The Magnolia Trees - Rebecca Morgan
"Using diaries written from an early age, Rebecca gives an evocative portrayal of her childhood in Hertfordshire. She reflects on her upbringing with her parents and her four siblings and tries to trace the origins of her mental health problems. She acknowledges the difficulties in her past such as her father’s heavy drinking and the stresses within the family which pervade into her grown up self. Many of the memories are happy ones but there is an underlying insecurity and anxiety which linger into her adult life. "
Holybeck - Dorothy Mitchell
"Hollybeck is set in the early 1900s, and is a story about how two friends, Emma Watkins and Trudy Spence, take unexpected paths in their lives. Both girls start from similar working class conditions, but whereas Emma flourishes, Trudy has a mental breakdown due to being raped and becoming pregnant, and she is institutionalized. The book also tells of the intermingling of rich and poor, between those living upstairs and those living downstairs in the Hollybeck House. The story reflects various aspects of humanity including its struggles, pains and triumphs, and shows how Trudy Spence's loved ones deal with her declining health and mental illness. "
Click on the books title on this page to find out more!
A Journey Out Of Madness - Alistr McIntyre
"Alistair McIntyre has written a beautifully simple moving account of the different elements that aided his recovery from schizophrenia. He starts of with a description of his illness, moves on to his medication, the roles he holds as a volunteer, student, as well as pursuing his hobby of sea angling. This book is one of real hope and a must read for all who have had there life touched by mental ill health."
A Pila Of Impotence - Mark Edgar
" A Pillar of Impotence deals with many issues in mental health. Fundamentally it is a story of recovery, the damage done by misdiagnosis, and finding a simple, medication based solution after 10 years.
A book crosses the spectrum of mood disorder and a falsely diagnosed Personality Disorder. It deals with inpatient care, suicide, day services, psychotherapy, and eventual abandonment by Statutory Services. But it is put into the context of the wider world and as such is a record of the whole of the 1990s through the eyes of one sufferer. Various diagnoses were given at various times including depression, chronic endogenous depression, psychotic depression, narcissistic personality disorder, borderline personality, and non specified mood disorder. "
Under The Magnolia Trees - Rebecca Morgan
"Using diaries written from an early age, Rebecca gives an evocative portrayal of her childhood in Hertfordshire. She reflects on her upbringing with her parents and her four siblings and tries to trace the origins of her mental health problems. She acknowledges the difficulties in her past such as her father’s heavy drinking and the stresses within the family which pervade into her grown up self. Many of the memories are happy ones but there is an underlying insecurity and anxiety which linger into her adult life. "
Holybeck - Dorothy Mitchell
"Hollybeck is set in the early 1900s, and is a story about how two friends, Emma Watkins and Trudy Spence, take unexpected paths in their lives. Both girls start from similar working class conditions, but whereas Emma flourishes, Trudy has a mental breakdown due to being raped and becoming pregnant, and she is institutionalized. The book also tells of the intermingling of rich and poor, between those living upstairs and those living downstairs in the Hollybeck House. The story reflects various aspects of humanity including its struggles, pains and triumphs, and shows how Trudy Spence's loved ones deal with her declining health and mental illness. "
Click on the books title on this page to find out more!
Saturday, 28 November 2009
Chipmunka Author Interview: Katy-Sara Culling
Chipmunky is pleased to bring this exclusive interview with Chipmunka author Katy-Sara Culling. Katy is the author of Dark Clouds Gather , and Too Good For This World
Chipmunky:Why did you want to write a book?
Katy-Sara: I had read a brutally honest book about bulimia (by Marya Hornebacher) and wanted to do the same for bipolar disorder and anorexia - absolute fly on the wall honesty to prove I am not ashamed of my mental illnesses and to help sufferers out there.
Why Chipmunka and how did you find out about the publisher?
A fellow chipmunka author Stephen Drake told me about Chipmunka Publishing. I agree with the company aim of giveing a voice to the mentally ill so I was happy to be recognised and sign. "The thoughts written on the walls of madhouses by their inmates might be worth publicising.” ~ Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, critic, (1742 – 1799).
What do you feel is the biggest hurdle for people with mental health problems to overcome today?
Stigmatisation within and out of the medical profession, we are treated as stupid (I took a PhD at Oxford), below 2nd class citizens. It is worse to be mentally ill than to do anything else e.g. abuse drink/drugs which a lot of us end up doing just to cope with our symptoms making it a double problem.
How did you feel about being published?
Fantastic. It really did save my life. I can't have children because of the medicine I have to take so it is my way of leaving a legacy and as such my books are my children, each one special and beautiful in it's own way. I can go on creating.
Overall how has the reaction to your books been?
My first book was a very academic style of memoir but it sold well. What mattered to me were the messaged I got from readers since I left my email address and website address in the book. I can honestly say I got no negative comments and many positive, "thank you for having the bravery to write this book" messages. I even had emails saying my book had saved readers' lives. For me that makes it all worth it.
Are you glad you wrote your books?
Extremely glad. The first memoir was painful but cathartic, but most importantly has saved lives out there. If I have saved just one it is worth it. My second book was far easier to write and I hope when the paperback is released it will sell well because it is so much easier to read than my first book.
What do you do to relax/ what’s good for your mental health?
I listen to music. I'm working hard to lose the weight I've gained on newer antipsychotic medication so I can take up my real passion again - skiing. What is vital for my day to day mental health is sleep and minimal stress. Without those two things I can guarantee I will become manic or depressed, usually in that order.
How do you feel about the ‘cannabis causes mental health’ debate?
I think more research is needed in that I think smoking and drinking are just as dangerous and they are legal. I have an unusual standpoint when it comes to drugs: I'd legalise everything, make everything safer and get rid of drug crime overnight. That doesn't mean I think someone like me should use cannabis, I absolutely shouldn't, not with my mental health history.
How do you feel about some peoples view, that people who have mental health problems and are claiming welfare are ‘scroungers‘?
It makes me both sad and angry. I'm sure there are scroungers out there and I wish the government would catch them quickly so that more money could go to those who really need it. Those people give the rest of us a bad name. Currently I could not work more than the odd hour here and there because I get so ill and if people think of me as a scrounger it's sad - but I wont let it beat me.
What are you currently working on?
I am working on book number 3 in collaboration with a professor of psychiatry - the rest is secret!
Any advice for aspiring authors?
Never give up, keep improving your manuscript if you keep hearing "no"until one day you hear "yes."
If you could change one thing about the mental health service, what would it be?
I would make it stick to its promises and be consistent - for which it needs money. For example my therapist left suddenly and I was promised I was top of the list for a new therapist, that was 5 months ago. When I was in hospital I wasn't supposed to be allowed to leave the ward but a nurse let me out (unsupervised) and I almost killed myself. There is so much inconsistency in mental health care, I'd get rid of that.
Chipmunky would like to thank Katy-Sara Culling very much for taking the time for this interview. More information can be found on her website here:http://www.katysaraculling.com/
Chipmunky:Why did you want to write a book?
Katy-Sara: I had read a brutally honest book about bulimia (by Marya Hornebacher) and wanted to do the same for bipolar disorder and anorexia - absolute fly on the wall honesty to prove I am not ashamed of my mental illnesses and to help sufferers out there.
Why Chipmunka and how did you find out about the publisher?
A fellow chipmunka author Stephen Drake told me about Chipmunka Publishing. I agree with the company aim of giveing a voice to the mentally ill so I was happy to be recognised and sign. "The thoughts written on the walls of madhouses by their inmates might be worth publicising.” ~ Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, critic, (1742 – 1799).
What do you feel is the biggest hurdle for people with mental health problems to overcome today?
Stigmatisation within and out of the medical profession, we are treated as stupid (I took a PhD at Oxford), below 2nd class citizens. It is worse to be mentally ill than to do anything else e.g. abuse drink/drugs which a lot of us end up doing just to cope with our symptoms making it a double problem.
How did you feel about being published?
Fantastic. It really did save my life. I can't have children because of the medicine I have to take so it is my way of leaving a legacy and as such my books are my children, each one special and beautiful in it's own way. I can go on creating.
Overall how has the reaction to your books been?
My first book was a very academic style of memoir but it sold well. What mattered to me were the messaged I got from readers since I left my email address and website address in the book. I can honestly say I got no negative comments and many positive, "thank you for having the bravery to write this book" messages. I even had emails saying my book had saved readers' lives. For me that makes it all worth it.
Are you glad you wrote your books?
Extremely glad. The first memoir was painful but cathartic, but most importantly has saved lives out there. If I have saved just one it is worth it. My second book was far easier to write and I hope when the paperback is released it will sell well because it is so much easier to read than my first book.
What do you do to relax/ what’s good for your mental health?
I listen to music. I'm working hard to lose the weight I've gained on newer antipsychotic medication so I can take up my real passion again - skiing. What is vital for my day to day mental health is sleep and minimal stress. Without those two things I can guarantee I will become manic or depressed, usually in that order.
How do you feel about the ‘cannabis causes mental health’ debate?
I think more research is needed in that I think smoking and drinking are just as dangerous and they are legal. I have an unusual standpoint when it comes to drugs: I'd legalise everything, make everything safer and get rid of drug crime overnight. That doesn't mean I think someone like me should use cannabis, I absolutely shouldn't, not with my mental health history.
How do you feel about some peoples view, that people who have mental health problems and are claiming welfare are ‘scroungers‘?
It makes me both sad and angry. I'm sure there are scroungers out there and I wish the government would catch them quickly so that more money could go to those who really need it. Those people give the rest of us a bad name. Currently I could not work more than the odd hour here and there because I get so ill and if people think of me as a scrounger it's sad - but I wont let it beat me.
What are you currently working on?
I am working on book number 3 in collaboration with a professor of psychiatry - the rest is secret!
Any advice for aspiring authors?
Never give up, keep improving your manuscript if you keep hearing "no"until one day you hear "yes."
If you could change one thing about the mental health service, what would it be?
I would make it stick to its promises and be consistent - for which it needs money. For example my therapist left suddenly and I was promised I was top of the list for a new therapist, that was 5 months ago. When I was in hospital I wasn't supposed to be allowed to leave the ward but a nurse let me out (unsupervised) and I almost killed myself. There is so much inconsistency in mental health care, I'd get rid of that.
Chipmunky would like to thank Katy-Sara Culling very much for taking the time for this interview. More information can be found on her website here:http://www.katysaraculling.com/
Chipmunka's Latest Releases!
Here's the latest e-books by Chipmunka Publishing, from both new and experienced authors alike! :
Love That Waited Forty Years On The 321 Bus - Dr Rosaleen O'Brien
"Book Extract
As I waited at the bus stop in the rain
I saw you just cruising along
Laughing and chatting with your usual customers
On the 321
Listening to their joys and tears
We only saw each other for six short weeks
Our friendship had remained at the back of our minds
For forty long years
Never got to know each other better
Never once dated and never sent letters
Once I got off your bus at Park Square
I had to walk home through the dark roads
For me you showed you cared
`That is a dangerous risk to take you warned`
Some one could attack
And you are walking alone
So dark is the night and you are far from home
Having said `goodnight` you drove off your day was done
I often think of you and how you cared
On the 321
Each night as we said our `goodbyes`
And I was off along these roads
But I knew that I would miss you loads
One night as you looked at me so lovingly
With that far away look in your eyes
You offered to drive me home
Why was I not surprised?
Kind thought for me as you were worried about my journey home
Which could easily have compromised my safety
Remembering that you said that I would be safe with you
And that to me dear meant a lot
I gladly accepted and got into your car..."
How To Be Sectioned - Zekria Ibrahimi :
"Let us be as unrepentantly weird as possible about this play...
We do not want to be respectable and precise... Schizophrenia is not a neat thing. It is amorphous, it is grotesquely psychedelic, and this play wants you to participate in schizophrenia at its most macabre, all the way to death and beyond...
We are in the underbelly of society, we are where shame and terror intersect, we are amidst the predators and the vulnerable...
This is the story of the System that feeds off the doomed...
This play hopes that you too will seek to be a part of schizophrenia, of what is the ‘other’. Why stagnate in a complacent sanity? Explode into insanity instead... "
Shakespeare's Little Sister - Fatma Durmush
"Shakespeare's Little Sister Is about a woman’s circumstances when she loses everything. She loses her husband and her job, her sanity her house. She is also raped but she is such a person that no one cares about. Helicopters is the metaphor for men, so without going into it because I don’t want to spoil the pleasure. It is me and what I became all those years ago and now.
It is also about books. "
Dark Side Of The Loon - Ben Lee Almond
"I have been in and out of a lot of different institutions since the age of six. The first time I was admitted was to the Mary Burbury unit at Burnley general hospital. I have been to prison a few times, a few children’s homes and many different types’ of wards and psychiatric units.
After spending so much time in these places, I started to write poems about how I felt and what was going through my mind. I made lots of them flow and rhyme with long dark descriptive words which reflects where my head was at the time. I documented my experience with schizophrenic affective disorder and the results are profound.
I was into drugs heavily which took me to dark places. Some of my poems explain the negativity that they create and the nasty world around them when you take them. I have seen many people in prisons and hospitals with drug induced psychosis and been through to myself. I would love these poems in particular to serve as a deterrent for any one even thinking of trying drugs.
Some of these poems are here to give you an insight into drugs and the affects on mental health disorders that people experience, my self included. This book was mainly written as I was moved from one institution to the next and became a big part in my self counselling which has helped me greatly along the road."
The Wobbly - Sid Prise
"This book centers on a young Australian man named “Wallaby” in the early twentieth century. Though he is white, a “Balanda” boy, he was raised the first six years of his life in an Australian Aboriginal camp, until the government of Australia stole him and all the other children from his adoptive family, and raised him as a “white” child in Darwin. He leaves his home there at the age of sixteen, to seek his love, Mary Delilah, who has been sent away to a convent in Sydney. His journey to find her takes him to America, where he seeks her out for the next ten years. Along the way, Wallaby discovers the Industrial Workers of the World, a revolutionary union movement, to which he pledges his life. As a person “in between” black and white, Wallaby always sees American civilization as an outsider, even as he battles to make his way in it. Before he can find his love, he discovers many things about himself and the civilization he's trapped in, and dreams much of its possible revolutionary future. "
Click on the books title on this page to find out more!
Love That Waited Forty Years On The 321 Bus - Dr Rosaleen O'Brien
"Book Extract
As I waited at the bus stop in the rain
I saw you just cruising along
Laughing and chatting with your usual customers
On the 321
Listening to their joys and tears
We only saw each other for six short weeks
Our friendship had remained at the back of our minds
For forty long years
Never got to know each other better
Never once dated and never sent letters
Once I got off your bus at Park Square
I had to walk home through the dark roads
For me you showed you cared
`That is a dangerous risk to take you warned`
Some one could attack
And you are walking alone
So dark is the night and you are far from home
Having said `goodnight` you drove off your day was done
I often think of you and how you cared
On the 321
Each night as we said our `goodbyes`
And I was off along these roads
But I knew that I would miss you loads
One night as you looked at me so lovingly
With that far away look in your eyes
You offered to drive me home
Why was I not surprised?
Kind thought for me as you were worried about my journey home
Which could easily have compromised my safety
Remembering that you said that I would be safe with you
And that to me dear meant a lot
I gladly accepted and got into your car..."
How To Be Sectioned - Zekria Ibrahimi :
"Let us be as unrepentantly weird as possible about this play...
We do not want to be respectable and precise... Schizophrenia is not a neat thing. It is amorphous, it is grotesquely psychedelic, and this play wants you to participate in schizophrenia at its most macabre, all the way to death and beyond...
We are in the underbelly of society, we are where shame and terror intersect, we are amidst the predators and the vulnerable...
This is the story of the System that feeds off the doomed...
This play hopes that you too will seek to be a part of schizophrenia, of what is the ‘other’. Why stagnate in a complacent sanity? Explode into insanity instead... "
Shakespeare's Little Sister - Fatma Durmush
"Shakespeare's Little Sister Is about a woman’s circumstances when she loses everything. She loses her husband and her job, her sanity her house. She is also raped but she is such a person that no one cares about. Helicopters is the metaphor for men, so without going into it because I don’t want to spoil the pleasure. It is me and what I became all those years ago and now.
It is also about books. "
Dark Side Of The Loon - Ben Lee Almond
"I have been in and out of a lot of different institutions since the age of six. The first time I was admitted was to the Mary Burbury unit at Burnley general hospital. I have been to prison a few times, a few children’s homes and many different types’ of wards and psychiatric units.
After spending so much time in these places, I started to write poems about how I felt and what was going through my mind. I made lots of them flow and rhyme with long dark descriptive words which reflects where my head was at the time. I documented my experience with schizophrenic affective disorder and the results are profound.
I was into drugs heavily which took me to dark places. Some of my poems explain the negativity that they create and the nasty world around them when you take them. I have seen many people in prisons and hospitals with drug induced psychosis and been through to myself. I would love these poems in particular to serve as a deterrent for any one even thinking of trying drugs.
Some of these poems are here to give you an insight into drugs and the affects on mental health disorders that people experience, my self included. This book was mainly written as I was moved from one institution to the next and became a big part in my self counselling which has helped me greatly along the road."
The Wobbly - Sid Prise
"This book centers on a young Australian man named “Wallaby” in the early twentieth century. Though he is white, a “Balanda” boy, he was raised the first six years of his life in an Australian Aboriginal camp, until the government of Australia stole him and all the other children from his adoptive family, and raised him as a “white” child in Darwin. He leaves his home there at the age of sixteen, to seek his love, Mary Delilah, who has been sent away to a convent in Sydney. His journey to find her takes him to America, where he seeks her out for the next ten years. Along the way, Wallaby discovers the Industrial Workers of the World, a revolutionary union movement, to which he pledges his life. As a person “in between” black and white, Wallaby always sees American civilization as an outsider, even as he battles to make his way in it. Before he can find his love, he discovers many things about himself and the civilization he's trapped in, and dreams much of its possible revolutionary future. "
Click on the books title on this page to find out more!
Monday, 16 November 2009
Author Peter Mackie Releases Album
Peter Mackie, author of The Madhouse of Love , has released his own album! The album titled 'All Over The Shop is available at his site Peter Mackie Music
You can hear samples of his work here: http://www.myspace.com/petergmackie. Chech his funky piano skills!
Nice Work Peter!
Saturday, 14 November 2009
Nigel Pearce Makes The Papers
Nigel PearceChipmunka author Nigel Pearce is continuing to get interest from local papers about his new book Icarus Did Not Die
Read one of his interviews HERE
Nigel is also the founder and editor of 'wake your MIND', a self made magazine featuring a range of creative pieces and articles from people who've had mental health problems. The publication can be fround free from the Garcia Co-Op and community art's workshops in the Warickshire area.
New E-Book's This Week!
There's some great poetry work now available as e-books this week! :
Aspects Of Life - Janet Qureshi :
"'Aspects of Life’ is a collection of poems based on my personal experiences. Perhaps the predominant mental health issue relating to my book is ‘creativity evolves from the depths of depression.’ The poems incorporate my strong belief in a Higher Power who invades my mind and enables me to turn Negatives into Positives. I believe poetry is for sharing and in my darkest days I was able to produce something for my family, friends and anyone else who loves creativity to remember me by. I hope the book will inspire people to be optimistic about mental health problems. "
Poetry From My Heart - L M Scatizzi
"This is a collection of poems written in 80s and 90s, to use words to get feelings out in a sort of poetic way. Many of the issues that bothered me then have become big topics, such as ecology, the questioning of capitalist and gun wielding philosophies. Hopefully reading these poems will make people think about what their own values are, how they perceive life at the moment. "
If you like modern, heartfelt poetry, then these are for you!
Aspects Of Life - Janet Qureshi :
"'Aspects of Life’ is a collection of poems based on my personal experiences. Perhaps the predominant mental health issue relating to my book is ‘creativity evolves from the depths of depression.’ The poems incorporate my strong belief in a Higher Power who invades my mind and enables me to turn Negatives into Positives. I believe poetry is for sharing and in my darkest days I was able to produce something for my family, friends and anyone else who loves creativity to remember me by. I hope the book will inspire people to be optimistic about mental health problems. "
Poetry From My Heart - L M Scatizzi
"This is a collection of poems written in 80s and 90s, to use words to get feelings out in a sort of poetic way. Many of the issues that bothered me then have become big topics, such as ecology, the questioning of capitalist and gun wielding philosophies. Hopefully reading these poems will make people think about what their own values are, how they perceive life at the moment. "
If you like modern, heartfelt poetry, then these are for you!
More Free E-Books!!!
Following on from Chipmunka's generousity during last months World Mental Health Day, Chipmunka is making more E-book's available to download for FREE!!! Please check here to see what bargin's there are: Free E-Books!
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Nigels Success
Chipmunka author Nigel Pearce is having a successful start to promoting his new e-book Icarus Did Not Die. Here's a link to his interview which appeared in the Coventry Evening Telegraph on World Mental Health Day: Coventry Article
Well done Nigel!
Well done Nigel!
New E-Book's This Week!
There's a whole new batch of really diverse e-books from Chipmunka this week, worth checking out!:
Where is the Key? - Sheila Brook
"This book follows on from when the story of my childhood, told in ‘Child of the Thirties,’ ended. I begin this memoir in the summer holidays after I left school in 1945; free time in those days is very different from free time today! My mother was still in a psychiatric hospital. I have tried to contract the events of over sixty years into a single book, giving a personal view of some the many changes that have occurred in society, together with some incidents in my personal life. I discuss a number of issues concerning the changes in care of the mentally ill. There are many contrasts made between aspects of life during the past sixty years with expectations and aspirations of today.
Constancy is a theme that occurs throughout the book. The constancy of my father’s concern for my mother; his regular visiting, and unsuccessful attempt to have her living at home again; his lonely life was impressed upon me as I wrote. In 1959 I met m mother again, and saw her for the first time in twenty years. From then on I kept in constant touch my mother, visiting her regularly until she died in 1992
"
As The Cold Wind Blows - Mark Jones
"‘The sickening murders of two close friends, Imelda Hart and Mabel Bright, begin a terrifying and sinister journey into the strange happenings of a small English town where sleep can mean torture, extreme psychological torment, and ultimately death for millions of other people worldwide. To fall asleep means to be watched by those who have appeared from nowhere and sleep when their work is done. The long, black, deathly cars patrol the streets now owned by this group of unknown, evil and crazy men called the Masters. On the streets their drones, powered by thoughts and callous orders, collect wandering spirits and still wide-awake souls for the nightmarish world they have created.
Min, Ritchie and their friends find themselves caught up this seemingly unending hell. The Masters can take you when you are awake and also while you sleep, in a place where the real world and the imaginary one collide with devastating consequences.
The Masters and drones are symbols, symbols of something else, deep within the subconscious mind, creating a strange scenario that just won’t let anyone go – not today, tomorrow or at any time in the future, whether in this world or the next.
"
Christmas Poems - Zekria Ibrahimi
"This difficult volume is about the far side of Christmas. We prefer to see only the tree and the tinsel, the mere exterior, and we forget, neglect, ignore the inner soul of religion. And religion can be the most dangerous thing of all...
How is this a schizophrenic spin on the Yuletide trivialities? Here is a querulous book that does not witness Christmas and all Christianity through the gaze of respectability, but through the poisoned eyes of the doomed homeless outsider. Some of the verse- which aspires to be as dubious and questionable as possible- was actually done on a psychiatric ward. Christmas and the Faith become emblems of that conventionality which may be so choking for a schizophrenic. The two faces of Christmas- the cynical and the celebratory- are bleakly investigated.
Christmas on a psychiatric ward! This is able to be the most pathetically poignant period of all for a patient. Amidst the loud crackers and the greasy mince pies, and those cards and presents from the nurses and other patients, after the all too flatulent Christmas dinner, the merciless medication is still to be dealt out. The schizophrenics are still locked up. Baby Jesus does not intend to liberate the lunatics...
So we offer Christmas, Easter and the Church through a schizophrenic’s shattered prism, with everything intentionally deformed, everything chaotically distorted! "
Goodbye Ana - Kate Le Page
"'Goodbye Ana’ is Kate Le Page’s first publication of poetry. This collection of poems shares the author’s battle to achieve and maintain recovery from anorexia nervosa. The work offers the reader a powerful, emotive insight into what life is really like when viewed through the eyes of an anorexic.
This book aims to explain the cognitive distortions that accompany starvation and seeks to hold the sufferer captive as well as to challenge the many misconceptions about the illness. "
Trust Yourself - Alexandria R Wesley
"The book is a story of my childhood written in poems. I am an incest survivor. As a child I was forced to take part in many rituals as my family worshiped satan. Many times I thought I would be killed. I was also forced to abuse others. These poems were written over seven years as I learned these things about my family and myself, as I learned the history that I was brought up to believe wasn't true. Instead of a perfect christian home, I was abused, and brought up to worship satan. "
Poetic Licence - Blu Tyler
"My poems are very self explanatory and some have sharp twists.
I went to university, but was bullied really badly, i had to go to hospital because of it, when I returned to university i was again bullied, and the my art department including teachers treated me really badly, and did not help me, even after i left i asked help in getting things like documents and they did not help.
this situation made me worse and i went to a crisis center and again to a hospital, all the people around me did not help me at all and even one of the doctors tried to blame me about things that happened in university, in a later incident the same person asked me if I found her rude, I skilled fully avoided her question, as doctor and nurses have a lot of power, better not to piss them off, one of my workers after painful months finally acknowledged what I went threw and the truth of the matter, where as my social workers and others wouldn't.
This really helped me, unfortunately that was not the end...
I have had mental health problems and people around including nurses and hospital workers have treated me badly, also the patients, my social worker not knowing what my diagnoses is, start telling me am I laughing because I am hearing voices? "
Where is the Key? - Sheila Brook
"This book follows on from when the story of my childhood, told in ‘Child of the Thirties,’ ended. I begin this memoir in the summer holidays after I left school in 1945; free time in those days is very different from free time today! My mother was still in a psychiatric hospital. I have tried to contract the events of over sixty years into a single book, giving a personal view of some the many changes that have occurred in society, together with some incidents in my personal life. I discuss a number of issues concerning the changes in care of the mentally ill. There are many contrasts made between aspects of life during the past sixty years with expectations and aspirations of today.
Constancy is a theme that occurs throughout the book. The constancy of my father’s concern for my mother; his regular visiting, and unsuccessful attempt to have her living at home again; his lonely life was impressed upon me as I wrote. In 1959 I met m mother again, and saw her for the first time in twenty years. From then on I kept in constant touch my mother, visiting her regularly until she died in 1992
"
As The Cold Wind Blows - Mark Jones
"‘The sickening murders of two close friends, Imelda Hart and Mabel Bright, begin a terrifying and sinister journey into the strange happenings of a small English town where sleep can mean torture, extreme psychological torment, and ultimately death for millions of other people worldwide. To fall asleep means to be watched by those who have appeared from nowhere and sleep when their work is done. The long, black, deathly cars patrol the streets now owned by this group of unknown, evil and crazy men called the Masters. On the streets their drones, powered by thoughts and callous orders, collect wandering spirits and still wide-awake souls for the nightmarish world they have created.
Min, Ritchie and their friends find themselves caught up this seemingly unending hell. The Masters can take you when you are awake and also while you sleep, in a place where the real world and the imaginary one collide with devastating consequences.
The Masters and drones are symbols, symbols of something else, deep within the subconscious mind, creating a strange scenario that just won’t let anyone go – not today, tomorrow or at any time in the future, whether in this world or the next.
"
Christmas Poems - Zekria Ibrahimi
"This difficult volume is about the far side of Christmas. We prefer to see only the tree and the tinsel, the mere exterior, and we forget, neglect, ignore the inner soul of religion. And religion can be the most dangerous thing of all...
How is this a schizophrenic spin on the Yuletide trivialities? Here is a querulous book that does not witness Christmas and all Christianity through the gaze of respectability, but through the poisoned eyes of the doomed homeless outsider. Some of the verse- which aspires to be as dubious and questionable as possible- was actually done on a psychiatric ward. Christmas and the Faith become emblems of that conventionality which may be so choking for a schizophrenic. The two faces of Christmas- the cynical and the celebratory- are bleakly investigated.
Christmas on a psychiatric ward! This is able to be the most pathetically poignant period of all for a patient. Amidst the loud crackers and the greasy mince pies, and those cards and presents from the nurses and other patients, after the all too flatulent Christmas dinner, the merciless medication is still to be dealt out. The schizophrenics are still locked up. Baby Jesus does not intend to liberate the lunatics...
So we offer Christmas, Easter and the Church through a schizophrenic’s shattered prism, with everything intentionally deformed, everything chaotically distorted! "
Goodbye Ana - Kate Le Page
"'Goodbye Ana’ is Kate Le Page’s first publication of poetry. This collection of poems shares the author’s battle to achieve and maintain recovery from anorexia nervosa. The work offers the reader a powerful, emotive insight into what life is really like when viewed through the eyes of an anorexic.
This book aims to explain the cognitive distortions that accompany starvation and seeks to hold the sufferer captive as well as to challenge the many misconceptions about the illness. "
Trust Yourself - Alexandria R Wesley
"The book is a story of my childhood written in poems. I am an incest survivor. As a child I was forced to take part in many rituals as my family worshiped satan. Many times I thought I would be killed. I was also forced to abuse others. These poems were written over seven years as I learned these things about my family and myself, as I learned the history that I was brought up to believe wasn't true. Instead of a perfect christian home, I was abused, and brought up to worship satan. "
Poetic Licence - Blu Tyler
"My poems are very self explanatory and some have sharp twists.
I went to university, but was bullied really badly, i had to go to hospital because of it, when I returned to university i was again bullied, and the my art department including teachers treated me really badly, and did not help me, even after i left i asked help in getting things like documents and they did not help.
this situation made me worse and i went to a crisis center and again to a hospital, all the people around me did not help me at all and even one of the doctors tried to blame me about things that happened in university, in a later incident the same person asked me if I found her rude, I skilled fully avoided her question, as doctor and nurses have a lot of power, better not to piss them off, one of my workers after painful months finally acknowledged what I went threw and the truth of the matter, where as my social workers and others wouldn't.
This really helped me, unfortunately that was not the end...
I have had mental health problems and people around including nurses and hospital workers have treated me badly, also the patients, my social worker not knowing what my diagnoses is, start telling me am I laughing because I am hearing voices? "
Saturday, 31 October 2009
Chipmunka Author Interview: Jarrad Dickson
Chipmunky's delighted to see out it's first month with this exculsive interview with Chipmunka author Jarrad Dickson. Jarrad's book Roseum Thornycum is available now:
Roseum Thornycum by Jarrad Dickson
Chipmunky:
Why did you want to write a book?
Jarrad:
I wrote the writing in this book without thinking it would be a book, for example I wrote Cain and Abel, my play, to develop my skills in meter and play writing; and I wrote the poetry to express my sadness at unrequited love as an escape. I ended up writing more once I had found out about Chipmunka, the two short stories The Holy Products of Pandora and Chinalalbino, which have more of a mental health focus than my earier writing. But I am writing "books" now, and I write them to develop something in society.
Why Chipmunka and how did you find out about the publisher?
I found out about Chipmunka on the internet, when I was searching for mental health publishers; that was intended to be my newest genre, and I needed a mental health publisher like The Cairn or Chipmunka to publish Roseum Thornycum and my forthcoming autobiography and novels.
What do you feel is the biggest hurdle for people with mental health problems to overcome today?
The biggest hurdle is the idea of treatment. We are taught that we have an "illness," but rather it is a condition. And the final treatment is not a leucotomy, but a suicide. Suicide is the final treatment for mental "illness." And we have this because we are taught that we have an illness. Hua Nian, who I wrote about, committed suicide as a final treatment for her pure obsessional disorder, and it was a mistake. She had a condition, though she was not ill. She wanted to be a writer, but couldn't write "properly," since academia in universities teaches us writing is not in one sense from a mental condition, but from sanity, and rather, it is the opposite. If we had Homer here I'm sure he would side with me. We can write from our conditions, we don't have to push them away. Psychosis and schizophrenia provides valuable sources for plots, characters and storylines and manic depression is one of the themes of the greatest poetry in human history, the psalms.
How did you feel about being published?
Being published is amazing. It is thrilling, and empowering.
Overall how has the reaction to your book been?
I'm not sure. I have always written disturbing literature, for I started writing when I started listening to Marilyn Manson. Writing about Lily Cole, an albino God, a chinese who killed herself because of China and God commiting suicide is disturbing. But I love disturbing themes in literature, it brings down taboos. And the taboo I want to bring down is the taboo of suicide in New Zealand society.
What do you do to relax/ what’s good for your mental health?
Exercise, getting up early in the morning, eating properly. We can institutionalise ourselves and not live in hospital. And it's that which gives us our sanity to achieve well in life.
How do you feel about the ‘cannabis causes mental health’ debate?
Cannabis was the reason I had a psychotic relapse. Or was it? Who knows. I think there is a relationship between memory and psychosis, often it is memories which are the voices that we hear and I think psychotic drugs act as memory come-back hallucinogens. I think there has to be a bridge between mental health sciences and neuroscience, if there's not already.
How do you feel about some peoples view, that people who have mental health problems and are claiming welfare are ‘scroungers‘?
If they didn't want us to recieve treatment, then they can first as a people stop making it compulsory, then taxes wouldn't be spent on mental health wards. That's the truth of the argument.
What are you currently working on?
I'm currently working on an autobiography, Thank You For This Beautiful Experience and two novels, The Dilworthian and The Grave of the Chinalbino Hua Nian. The Dilworthian is science fiction with the main character's beauty shaped around the beauty of the supermodel Lily Cole. And my school is in it with a cannibalistic Harry Potter spin. And the chinalbino novel is about Hua Nian, based on a true story, where a Chinese girl falls for a white male but kills herself because she is Chinese.
Any advice for aspiring authors?
Yes, don't solely aim to be published in your own country, often that is the way to go, but there's other paths out there.
If you could change one thing about the mental health service, what would it be?
They shouldn't be allowed to commit anyone. It's a crime against humanity.
Thank you very much for being interviewed by Chipmunky Jarrad.
Jarrad's new book is available in e-book format at Chipmunka's shop now
Jarrad's interview is the very first in a line of Chipmunka author interviews that will be exclusive to Chipmunky post. Please come back regularly to make sure you don't miss out!
Roseum Thornycum by Jarrad Dickson
Chipmunky:
Why did you want to write a book?
Jarrad:
I wrote the writing in this book without thinking it would be a book, for example I wrote Cain and Abel, my play, to develop my skills in meter and play writing; and I wrote the poetry to express my sadness at unrequited love as an escape. I ended up writing more once I had found out about Chipmunka, the two short stories The Holy Products of Pandora and Chinalalbino, which have more of a mental health focus than my earier writing. But I am writing "books" now, and I write them to develop something in society.
Why Chipmunka and how did you find out about the publisher?
I found out about Chipmunka on the internet, when I was searching for mental health publishers; that was intended to be my newest genre, and I needed a mental health publisher like The Cairn or Chipmunka to publish Roseum Thornycum and my forthcoming autobiography and novels.
What do you feel is the biggest hurdle for people with mental health problems to overcome today?
The biggest hurdle is the idea of treatment. We are taught that we have an "illness," but rather it is a condition. And the final treatment is not a leucotomy, but a suicide. Suicide is the final treatment for mental "illness." And we have this because we are taught that we have an illness. Hua Nian, who I wrote about, committed suicide as a final treatment for her pure obsessional disorder, and it was a mistake. She had a condition, though she was not ill. She wanted to be a writer, but couldn't write "properly," since academia in universities teaches us writing is not in one sense from a mental condition, but from sanity, and rather, it is the opposite. If we had Homer here I'm sure he would side with me. We can write from our conditions, we don't have to push them away. Psychosis and schizophrenia provides valuable sources for plots, characters and storylines and manic depression is one of the themes of the greatest poetry in human history, the psalms.
How did you feel about being published?
Being published is amazing. It is thrilling, and empowering.
Overall how has the reaction to your book been?
I'm not sure. I have always written disturbing literature, for I started writing when I started listening to Marilyn Manson. Writing about Lily Cole, an albino God, a chinese who killed herself because of China and God commiting suicide is disturbing. But I love disturbing themes in literature, it brings down taboos. And the taboo I want to bring down is the taboo of suicide in New Zealand society.
What do you do to relax/ what’s good for your mental health?
Exercise, getting up early in the morning, eating properly. We can institutionalise ourselves and not live in hospital. And it's that which gives us our sanity to achieve well in life.
How do you feel about the ‘cannabis causes mental health’ debate?
Cannabis was the reason I had a psychotic relapse. Or was it? Who knows. I think there is a relationship between memory and psychosis, often it is memories which are the voices that we hear and I think psychotic drugs act as memory come-back hallucinogens. I think there has to be a bridge between mental health sciences and neuroscience, if there's not already.
How do you feel about some peoples view, that people who have mental health problems and are claiming welfare are ‘scroungers‘?
If they didn't want us to recieve treatment, then they can first as a people stop making it compulsory, then taxes wouldn't be spent on mental health wards. That's the truth of the argument.
What are you currently working on?
I'm currently working on an autobiography, Thank You For This Beautiful Experience and two novels, The Dilworthian and The Grave of the Chinalbino Hua Nian. The Dilworthian is science fiction with the main character's beauty shaped around the beauty of the supermodel Lily Cole. And my school is in it with a cannibalistic Harry Potter spin. And the chinalbino novel is about Hua Nian, based on a true story, where a Chinese girl falls for a white male but kills herself because she is Chinese.
Any advice for aspiring authors?
Yes, don't solely aim to be published in your own country, often that is the way to go, but there's other paths out there.
If you could change one thing about the mental health service, what would it be?
They shouldn't be allowed to commit anyone. It's a crime against humanity.
Thank you very much for being interviewed by Chipmunky Jarrad.
Jarrad's new book is available in e-book format at Chipmunka's shop now
Jarrad's interview is the very first in a line of Chipmunka author interviews that will be exclusive to Chipmunky post. Please come back regularly to make sure you don't miss out!
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Recieve Regular Updates..
Thank you for all the email support we've recieved for Chipmunky's post since it's launch!
If you would like to be kept up to date with the lastest Chipmunky post then there is a mailing list option for this page! To recieve every update from Chipmunky, please email: chipmunkypost@aol.com and put 'EVERY UPDATE'in the email header.....To just recieve notification of Chipmunky's author interviews, please email: chipmunkypost@aol.com and put 'AUTHOR INTERVIEW' in the email header.
With this option, you'll never need to miss a Chipmunky post!!
If you would like to be kept up to date with the lastest Chipmunky post then there is a mailing list option for this page! To recieve every update from Chipmunky, please email: chipmunkypost@aol.com and put 'EVERY UPDATE'in the email header.....To just recieve notification of Chipmunky's author interviews, please email: chipmunkypost@aol.com and put 'AUTHOR INTERVIEW' in the email header.
With this option, you'll never need to miss a Chipmunky post!!
Sunday, 25 October 2009
New Book's This Week
Here's the latst book released by Chipmunka this week!:
The Weatherman Has Stolen the News - Andy Cattrall
"Persecution, I think, is my Big Issue. Danny Sharrot – freak, fake, an' even pedo – has had a hard loner's furrow to plough, like. He's had to tackle potential lynch packs of giants all on his petrified back. An' he's had to forgive, wit' hugely strange optimism, like Christ on the Cross. A plague X was scratched into his door in a delusional manic hostel, a long vacant-eyed time on from hilarious death in the devious Planet Factory, but well before the pointlessly negative spike in the princely Tower of Cameras. One hundred words? One million, even? Wasted... "
The Weatherman Has Stolen the News - Andy Cattrall
"Persecution, I think, is my Big Issue. Danny Sharrot – freak, fake, an' even pedo – has had a hard loner's furrow to plough, like. He's had to tackle potential lynch packs of giants all on his petrified back. An' he's had to forgive, wit' hugely strange optimism, like Christ on the Cross. A plague X was scratched into his door in a delusional manic hostel, a long vacant-eyed time on from hilarious death in the devious Planet Factory, but well before the pointlessly negative spike in the princely Tower of Cameras. One hundred words? One million, even? Wasted... "
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
New Music By Dolly Sen
Dolly Sen, the First Lady of Chipmunka, and author of the acclaimed 'The World Is Full Of Laughter', has been discovering a rythum for her drum!
Her alter-ego Sugar Psycho Sis has uploaded some more tracks on her myspace music page. You can check out her mysterious psychodelia here:
Sugar Psycho Sis
Which tune is your favourite? I'm liking 'Did You Sleep Will?' :)
Keep up the great work Dolly!!
Her alter-ego Sugar Psycho Sis has uploaded some more tracks on her myspace music page. You can check out her mysterious psychodelia here:
Sugar Psycho Sis
Which tune is your favourite? I'm liking 'Did You Sleep Will?' :)
Keep up the great work Dolly!!
Sunday, 18 October 2009
New Books This Week
Here'a the new e-books from Chipmunka this week, worth checking out!:
Unspent Possibilities - Jennifer Syrkiwicz
"‘Unspent Possibilities’ is Jennifer’s first volume of poetry. It explores the impact which Bipolar Disorder has upon those who have the condition, and works through these effects to ultimately realise a position of hope. "
Greengrey's Rambles: How To Remember North America - Marc Latham
"The Greenygrey proclaims itself Britain’s most famous werewolf. It has been a prolific rise in fame for the greenygrey one, and the GG brand is now known all over the werewolf world. Like a cross between Loki and Scooby Doo on the dog side, and Kerouac and Joanna Lumley on the human, the vegetarian werewolf helps the reader escape the restrictions of the body on an epic virtual travel across North America. As well as being an entertaining read as GG meets its heroes and lots of new characters across the continent, the book also has an educative angle, as the shape-shifting and chameleonising but mentally a bit muddled superhero creates an acronym map of North America that should help you remember your Newfoundland from your Nunavut and your Idaho from your Iowa. "
Unspent Possibilities - Jennifer Syrkiwicz
"‘Unspent Possibilities’ is Jennifer’s first volume of poetry. It explores the impact which Bipolar Disorder has upon those who have the condition, and works through these effects to ultimately realise a position of hope. "
Greengrey's Rambles: How To Remember North America - Marc Latham
"The Greenygrey proclaims itself Britain’s most famous werewolf. It has been a prolific rise in fame for the greenygrey one, and the GG brand is now known all over the werewolf world. Like a cross between Loki and Scooby Doo on the dog side, and Kerouac and Joanna Lumley on the human, the vegetarian werewolf helps the reader escape the restrictions of the body on an epic virtual travel across North America. As well as being an entertaining read as GG meets its heroes and lots of new characters across the continent, the book also has an educative angle, as the shape-shifting and chameleonising but mentally a bit muddled superhero creates an acronym map of North America that should help you remember your Newfoundland from your Nunavut and your Idaho from your Iowa. "
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
FREE E-BOOKS FOR ALL!!
To celebrate World Mental Health Day, throughout the month of October, Chipmunka are offering two of their best selling e-books to download for free!
See here: World Mental Health Day specials
See here: World Mental Health Day specials
New Books For October
Here are some brand new books for October (please click on the book's title for more information on the book!)
Choose Life - By Paul Johnson
Choose Life tells of a journey of personal growth and development, set against the realities of a stressful modern lifestyle. It shows the search for meaning and fulfilment in life, and takes a refreshingly honest and holistic approach to living the life that you want to live - one that is easily accessible, and very different from the usual 'ten easy steps to fulfilment' or promises of 'enlightenment in 30 days'
Roseum Thornycum - By Jarrad Dickson
'Roseum Thornyum' is a phrase Jarrad Dickson gained from seeing a gigantic rose in his bedroom when he was so delusional that he thought he turned into a Roseum Thornycum albino with twenty two fingers that had black, white and red nails.
This book show's the authors writings, mainly from the age of 16-18, showcasing his poetry as well as a short story and his play titled 'Cain and Abel', which he wrote in iambic pentameter when he was 18.
Knocking On Haven's Door - By Barbara Goulden
Barbara Goulden has worked as a journalist on weekly and evening newspapers for most of the past 35 years.
She still remembers the sense of relief she felt after finally being given a name for the condition which was creating such mystifying and upsetting thought patterns in a close relative.
Even though the diagnosis of schizophrenia probably helped Barbara more than the relative who was actually doing battle with the illness, at least it was a starting point for gaining some understanding.
She went on to join the National Schizophrenia Fellowship – now Rethink – and became one of the founding members of the Coventry group.
Choose Life - By Paul Johnson
Choose Life tells of a journey of personal growth and development, set against the realities of a stressful modern lifestyle. It shows the search for meaning and fulfilment in life, and takes a refreshingly honest and holistic approach to living the life that you want to live - one that is easily accessible, and very different from the usual 'ten easy steps to fulfilment' or promises of 'enlightenment in 30 days'
Roseum Thornycum - By Jarrad Dickson
'Roseum Thornyum' is a phrase Jarrad Dickson gained from seeing a gigantic rose in his bedroom when he was so delusional that he thought he turned into a Roseum Thornycum albino with twenty two fingers that had black, white and red nails.
This book show's the authors writings, mainly from the age of 16-18, showcasing his poetry as well as a short story and his play titled 'Cain and Abel', which he wrote in iambic pentameter when he was 18.
Knocking On Haven's Door - By Barbara Goulden
Barbara Goulden has worked as a journalist on weekly and evening newspapers for most of the past 35 years.
She still remembers the sense of relief she felt after finally being given a name for the condition which was creating such mystifying and upsetting thought patterns in a close relative.
Even though the diagnosis of schizophrenia probably helped Barbara more than the relative who was actually doing battle with the illness, at least it was a starting point for gaining some understanding.
She went on to join the National Schizophrenia Fellowship – now Rethink – and became one of the founding members of the Coventry group.
Launch
The idea for this blog was concieved on October 10th 2009, World Mental Health Day. The blog will essentialy be a "bulletin board" to find out the latest works from Chipmunka authors, as well as any successes that they would like people to know about.
Chipmunky hopes to bridge the gap between the authors or Chipmunka Publishing and their audience. Helping the authors to achieve their vision, while promoting Chipmunka Publishing.
Chipmunka Publishing is the worlds leading brand on producing books and biographies from people who have experienced mental health difficulties and is a leading name in promoting better mental health care and understanding in society for people who experience mental ill health.
www.chipmunkapublishing.com
Chipmunky is not affiliated with Chipmunka Publishing, but is an unofficial promotional window for Chipmunka authors.
Chipmunky hopes to bridge the gap between the authors or Chipmunka Publishing and their audience. Helping the authors to achieve their vision, while promoting Chipmunka Publishing.
Chipmunka Publishing is the worlds leading brand on producing books and biographies from people who have experienced mental health difficulties and is a leading name in promoting better mental health care and understanding in society for people who experience mental ill health.
www.chipmunkapublishing.com
Chipmunky is not affiliated with Chipmunka Publishing, but is an unofficial promotional window for Chipmunka authors.
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