Buddhist Prayer Guide at Cabramatta Vegetarian Restaurant

The vegetarian restaurants and supermarkets in Cabramatta, and many of the herbalists, all feature a little stand that gives out free Buddhist media - books, pictures, CDs, DVDs etc. The things are almost always in Vietnamese, but sometimes there is material in English, so they are always worth checking out.
This material is there for free distribution, so help yourself, if you are interested.
This is a laminated A4 poster which offers a program of chanting for the lay Buddhist.



Where?
Happy Vegan
Shop 11, Belvedere Arcade
66-68 John St
Cabramatta NSW

Proof Copy

As many of you know, I worked in bookselling, distribution and publishing for many years before I made the leap and became an author. I learned how incredibly tough it is being a first-time author, and how publishing companies can sometimes leave you to sink or swim.
But my experience has been the complete opposite. My publishing company, Allen & Unwin, has showered me with energy and enthusiasm and good wishes, and I am really pleased with how seriously they seem to be taking me and my book.
One of the most amazing and exciting things for me was to see some uncorrected proof copies of the book distributed to booksellers, reviewers and key players in the industry. In Australia the production of such proofs is costly, and therefore quiet rare - particularly for a first-time author. I was just blown away that Allen & Unwin saw my book as so important that they produced the proofs.
Actually holding a copy in my hands was an excitement beyond description. It is really just one minute step away from the finished product, and therefore almost the culmination of decades of dreaming and planning! I was only allowed one copy of the proof, as they are precious, and it really is better that they should find proper homes among people whose opinions count. I have already heard back from several who have read it and loved it, so the excitement builds.

Lien Yeomans

One of the main reasons I wrote my forthcoming book, Destination Saigon, was because of the unlikely links that have been forged over a generation between Vietnam and Australia. Vietnamese people have enriched Australia's culture since they began to arrive here in the late 1970s, bringing Buddhism, a vibrant and energetic approach to commerce which has enriched many sleepy outer suburbs in our capital cities, and, of course, delicious food.
I've just been watching one of my favourite TV shows, Food Lovers Guide to Australia, and it featured the gorgeous Lien Yeomans, one of Brisbane's premier restaurateurs and foodies. Lien is also the mother of Quan Yeomans, the impossibly handsome rock god of Regurgitator fame.
Lien, who hails from Hanoi, cooked a gorgeous Viet-Australian fusion dish of lemon myrtle prawns.

Destination Saigon: Adventures in Vietnam - Cover at last

The cover has been finalised for a while, but it has received some minor tweaking here and there.
I found out today that it may even end up with some gold on it, which sent me over the moon. I've always been a glittery gold kinda guy.
I think the jacket just looks fabulous - the designers have done a terrific job, and it's really going to stand out in the bookstores.
So don't forget:

Destination Saigon: Adventures in Vietnam
by Walter Mason
March 2010 release
Published by Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 9781741759495

Guerilla Networking

I'm kind of determined to make my book a bestseller, and am willing to pursue any avenue to make it so.
To that end I ordered a whole heap of self-promotion books from Amazon, and for the past couple of days I have been immersed in Guerilla Networking by Jay Conrad Levinson and Monroe Mann.
What a terrific book!
It's central premise is that the only real way to network correctly is to make yourself so fascinating and attractive that people will want to come to you. What a brilliant angle! Of course, they are absolutely right. A lot of the time you spend aimlessly schmoozing could better be spent actively working toward something really big that will make you a somebody, and therefore nullify the need to network. Just make 'em come to you.
More than a book on social networking, it is really a piece of inspirational literature, encouraging you to dream big and aim high. A piece of advice that particularly hit home was this:

Right now, you are certainly not doing nearly as many noteworthy things as you should be doing...and you know this. Right now, there are a number of things you know you could be doing to stand out from the crowd; to make a mark for yourself...that you are not currently doing. Our advice is simple: do these things! Do the things that are going to set you apart from your competition. Do the things that are going to make you noteworthy.

Ouch! I had more than a twinge of recognition when I read this.
Some more of their tips include: Help someone else become successful; Always smile and Get Media Exposure.
What I like about the book is the outrageousness of its advice - become an expert, write a book, get on Oprah. None of your usual milquetoast recommendations here.
So I thoroughly recommend this one to authors interested in making it big. A little bit of daring, dreaming and tough love to move you up!

Books I Must Read

While I am travelling I always keep extensive journals. It is something I have always done, and it was a habit that stood me in good stead when it came time to write my Vietnam book.
It's amazing what ends up in these journals. Of course, there is the run-of-the-mill observations of scenery, but also lots of complaining and lots of surprising obsession and flirtation.
But most interesting to me are the lists I make. I make lists about places I hope to visit wherever I am, and I also make lists of things I MUST do as soon as I get home. Invariably I get home and don't look at these lists for years, and when I do their content seems bewildering.
Being a confirmed bibliophile and compulsive reader, I also keep a list of books I will read immediately upon my return. Who knows where the content of these lists come from. Something has occurred to me while travelling, and I suddenly remember a gap in my reading. Or I have picked up some bizarre paperback at a book exchange in the backpacker area, and it recommends some odd titles I decide, in the heat of the moment, will be essential to my development when I get back to Australia.
Here is the list I made in my journal in October last year while in Ho Chi Minh City:

Books to Read When I get Home:

• Julian of Norwich
• Rousseau
• Rimbaud biography
• Dancing With Life by Phillip Moffitt
• The new Andrew Pham book
• Fame Formula by Mark Borkowski
• Cialdini's Persuasion
• The Four Agreements
• Patanjali's Yoga Sutras
• Birth of Vietnam by Keith Weller Taylor

Needless to say, I haven't read any of them yet.
I've attempted to read Julian of Norwich for years, but keep drifting off.
I've had the Rimbaud biography on my shelves for years but have never picked it up.
The new Andrew Pham book is disappointing, and I just can't get into it.
I've already read The Four Agreements years ago, and found it quite uninspiring, so heaven knows why I felt the need to re-visit it.

I think that the act of being a tourist is liberating in all kinds of ways, and these lists represent a re-invention a positive conviction that, upon returning, I will be a new and better person.
Alas, it almost always turns out not to be the case...

My Book - At Last

For years I've thought of myself as a frustrated writer - now at last I have an opportunity to become the real thing.
I have decided to write my first book - a spiritual journey through Vietnam. Vietnam is a place I know well and love very much - it is my second home, and in many ways my spiritual home.
I will be leaving for Vietnam in a couple of weeks time, and will spend 2 and a half months there, travelling and writing about all the the things I do and see. I will also be keeping a record on this blog.
So who are my influences when it comes to travel writing? Paul Theroux, Gontran de Poncins and Osbert Sitwell are probably my main inspirations, so I will blog more about those extraordinary figures in the days to come.