Alien Son

Congratulations, Azy!

2010-12-20T21:55:00.001+11:00

Editor Extrordinaire, Azy, celebrated his 19th birthday early in November. Six weeks later, on Wednesday 15 December, he graduated from Otago University, Dunedin, with a BSc in Maths and Computer Science. He begins work with an IT firm in Auckland in January.

If you think he's a little young to be graduating... well he completed most of the first year of his degree while still at high school (and at the same time finished high school a year early) and managed to knock off the rest of the course in two years. Smart little fellow, isn't he?

Seriously, Azy has been a wonderful friend and colleague, and I'd like to extend my congratulations on a pretty fine achievement. Well done, Azy!

Two Years Old...

2010-05-26T00:35:00.001+10:00

It's just over two years since alienson.com went live, and May 26 marks the day Google Analytics began keeping tabs on the site.

Since that day there have been 3533 visitors, who have clocked up 6807 visits and 15294 pageviews. These numbers are peanuts compared to many other sites, but for the son of humble dairy farmers from a tiny town in the Gippsland region of Victoria it's pretty exciting.

I remember asking myself after I began work on Black Dog, "Who am I to think I can write a novel?" I have always loved writing, but this time I felt like I'd bitten off more than I could chew. I've never had much confidence in myself, and I have a bad habit of beginning things and never finishing them, so you can probably imagine the sense of achievement (and a little surprise :)) I felt when I completed the story.

I haven't heard from anyone who identified themselves as a teenager—my target audience—but I have received emails from readers who told me how Black Dog helped them. In a couple of cases Michael's realisation that he needed to forgive his attacker struck a chord with men who had been struggling with the aftermath of trauma for many years.

It seems that only a small proportion of people who read stories online actually contact authors, but those who do make it all worthwhile. It's especially gratifying to know that my efforts have helped people.

Thank you readers!

John

Writing again!

2010-03-13T22:16:00.002+11:00

After a very long delay I've begun writing again. It shouldn't be too much longer before Will You Love Me? begins appearing on the site! Thank you for your patience.

Accidentally Poetic

2010-03-13T22:13:00.001+11:00

A small collection of poems dating from 1970 to 1972. These were mostly written during a six-month hospital stay following a car accident.

Click here to go directly to the poems.

Happy Birthday, Brody!

2010-03-01T16:56:00.002+11:00

About a year ago I received an appreciative email from a history professor / freelance journalist who curled up on his couch over a cold weekend with a long cup of coffee... and read Black Dog all the way through. He even included praise for my editors.

Some time later we began talking via IM, and soon became fast friends. Passionate about equality, fairness and the elimination of hatred, he later began blogging on gay and lesbian issues. He also began writing his own novel about a gay teenager who experiences in the worst way the hatred some people feel towards gay people.

Today (March 1) Brody Levesque turns... oh, never mind, he's old - that'll do. So, happy birthday Brody!

Brody's blog is at Brody's Notes and Scribbles. Be warned, he's hyperactive and produces an amazing amount of material.

Brody's story is being published here: What About Max.

Black Dog review

2010-03-01T16:36:00.000+11:00

I was surprised but delighted to find a glowing review of Black Dog at queersChOOL!

Thank you to Daniel for his review and recommendation...and the visitors he's sent to alienson.com :)

Facelift for alienson.com

2010-02-20T17:04:00.001+11:00

It's nearly two years since alienson.com went live, and it was time for a new look. It's been quite a lot of work, but the facelift is now complete.

Black Dog at other sites

2010-02-20T17:02:00.001+11:00

Some months ago Ted Louis, author of Joel published Black Dog on his site. I want to extend belated thanks to Ted for doing so, and for exposing Black Dog to a whole new audience. Thanks Ted!

Happy Birthday, Highwayman!

2009-07-04T01:13:00.010+10:00

Highwayman at The Night Rider blog is celebrating a birthday today (July 3). Highwayman has been a follower of this blog for a while now, and had some nice things to say about "Black Dog" in his blog. He's a long-distance truckie (as we say in Australia) and in the short time I've known him, has crisscrossed the USA several times moving freight from one part of the country to another.

Happy birthday, Highwayman!

New novel coming soon!

2009-03-12T06:41:00.008+11:00

I'm now working on a new novel: Will You Love Me?.

Brady O’Brien is a twelve-year-old orphan with attitude. He’s angry, disruptive and antisocial. He wears out foster families quicker than most kids wear out sneakers. As a last resort Brady’s caseworker places him with emergency carer Jonathan West.

Will You Love Me? will be published chapter by chapter as each is complete.

Trivia: crossword brings visitors to alienson.com

2009-02-05T15:35:00.008+11:00

There was a sudden spike in visitors from the UK to alienson.com on Sunday 1 February and Monday 2 February. They came from all over the UK, and most arrived at my site via search engines using variations of this search term: "____ grub, the wood-boring edible larva of certain Australian moths and beetles".

A little research turned up the answer—that search term was a clue in the 1 February edition of the Sunday Express crossword, and the solution was "witchetty". I mentioned witchetty grubs in chapter 4 of Black Dog, and an entry in the glossary described the grub using almost exactly the words used in the crossword clue. The UK visitors went straight to the glossary and spent an average of 13 seconds on the page—just long enough to find the entry.

Glad to have been of help!

Download Black Dog!

2009-01-16T15:50:00.004+11:00

The complete story is now available to download in pdf format from the Stories page. Here's a direct link to the download, blackdog.pdf.

The End is nigh!

2009-01-13T06:55:00.010+11:00

Well, it's taken a while but we've made it through to the end! The final chapter of Black Dog is now online. Click this link - Chapter 10: Recovery - to go directly to the chapter.

Thank you for reading Black Dog. I hope you enjoy the conclusion to Michael's story.

Congratulations, Azy!

2008-12-14T14:01:00.007+11:00

Azy, my editor, celebrated a couple of milestones recently. The first of those was his 17th birthday. Then, upon completion of his final year of high school, he was awarded Dux of the School. If that's an unfamiliar term, Wikipedia explains:

Dux (plural: duces) is Latin for leader (from the verb ducere, 'to lead') and for duke, and in Ancient Rome could refer to anyone who commanded troops, such as tribal leaders...In schools in Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Iceland, Dux is a modern title given to the top student in academic and sporting achievement (Dux Litterarum and Dux Ludorum respectively) in each graduating year. In this usage, Dux is similar to the American concept of a valedictorian.

Azy plans to attend university in 2009.

Black Dog Chapter Nine

2008-12-14T13:56:00.006+11:00

Chapter Nine: Forgiveness? is online at last. Click here to go directly to the chapter.

I'm sorry it's taken so long for this chapter to see the light of day. My depression caused some of the delay—for several weeks I wasn't feeling well enough to concentrate on writing or editing. In addition, Azy, my editor was completing his final year of high school, and was busy with exams and assignments, as well as holding down a part-time job (see next post).

I'm still writing Chapter Ten: Recovery, but I'm hoping it will be online soon. This will be the final chapter of Black Dog.

Alien Son at other sites

2008-10-11T22:58:00.004+11:00

The guys at The Mail Crew have provided links to my site, and these have brought quite a few referrals to my site. Thank you Mail Crew!

Web and print author Bobby Michaels has kindly allowed me to publicise each chapter of Black Dog through his Yahoo! group, which has several thousand members. Notification of each new chapter has produced a wonderful spike in traffic at alienson.com! Thank you Bobby.

Black Dog Chapter Eight

2008-10-11T22:53:00.004+11:00

Chapter 8: Hope... is now online. Click here to go directly to the chapter.

Chapter 9 is awaiting editing. It should be available soon. At this stage I'm expecting that chapter ten will complete Michael's story.

Black Dog Chapter Seven

2008-09-21T00:15:00.006+10:00

Chapter 7: Saviour is now online. Click here to go directly to the chapter.

Chapter 8 is at present being revised and edited. It should be online soon.

Black Dog Chapter Six

2008-09-03T15:29:00.004+10:00

Chapter 6: Retreat is now online. Click here to go directly to the chapter.

Please accept my apology for the long delay in posting this chapter. Several factors caused/added to the delay...a mild case of writer's block, a little depression, a shortage of time every time I actually wanted to write, and a bad case of the flu.

Chapter 7 is written, and is at present being revised and edited. It should be online soon.

Black Dog Chapter Five

2008-07-01T00:03:00.003+10:00

Chapter 5: Crash! is now online. Click here to go directly to the chapter.

Alien Son at other sites

2008-06-09T15:37:00.006+10:00

I'm now a hosted author at Codey's World! Thanks to Ben, Tim and Colin for having faith in me.

Ronyx at The Mustard Jar has kindly provided a link to alienson.com. Thank you Ron!

New Editor!

2008-06-09T15:29:00.005+10:00

From chapter four, Black Dog is being edited by Azyclar. I edited the first three chapters myself, with comments and suggestions provided by a lot of people (Tad, Penny and David, Nikki, and the guys at The Mail Crew). I'm a bit of a perfectionist so I tend to pick my work to bits. Having Azy there is great - he moderates my pickiness, but also notices the things I miss. Thanks Azy!

Black Dog Chapter Four

2008-06-09T15:20:00.006+10:00

Chapter 4: Interlude is now online. Click here to go directly to the chapter.

I'm sorry for the long delay. This was a difficult chapter to write (mainly because it required a lot of time-consuming research) and it needed numerous revisions.

Subscribe and Save! Time, that is.

2008-04-20T02:38:00.010+10:00

Ever get frustrated waiting for an online author to update a story? Do you keep checking the story's site to see whether it's been updated? It can be annoying, and it's also a waste of time.

Some websites offer newsletters and newsfeeds to keep you informed of updates. I offer this blog! I will post a message here whenever I add or update a story or change other sections at alienson.com.

If you would like to know as soon as these updates happen, just subscribe to this blog using one of the links over on the right. choose one of the online aggregators, or Atom Feed to receive updates in your feed reader (there are plenty of free readers available and most browsers can now read feeds).

For those sites that don't offer a way to keep me informed, I find FeedBlitz to be an excellent and very comprehensive service. It allows you to subscribe to a newsfeed or a webpage and receive notification of updates by email. Simply enter the URL of the feed or page and FeedBlitz does the rest. I haven't used FeedBlitz for newsfeeds, but I use it to keep me up to date with several webpages. It's easy, free, and works well. Other providers offer similar services, but FeedBlitz is the only one I've used so I can't comment on the others.

Print and Run

2008-04-20T02:25:00.006+10:00

Some websites suck! You agree, right?

I've tried to use layout and formatting to make alienson.com—particularly the story pages—easy on the eyes, so if you find it hard to read I would like to know. Please use the contact form here to tell me what's wrong!

The story pages are set up to be easy to print. If you need to "print and run", just pressing the print button in your browser should produce a nicely formatted printed chapter for you to take away and read at your leisure. If it doesn't, please tell me.

Black Dog Chapter Three

2008-04-10T11:00:00.004+10:00

Chapter 3: Emergence is now online. Click here to go directly to the chapter.

Black Dog Chapter Two

2008-04-10T10:10:00.003+10:00

Chapter 2: Safe! is now available. Click here to go directly to the chapter.

Black Dog Chapter One

2008-04-10T10:00:00.004+10:00

Chapter 1: Captive! is now online. Click here to go directly to the chapter.

New story - Black Dog - now online

2008-04-08T09:00:00.009+10:00

From the site:

Michael is a typical Australian teenager living in a country town. He has a loving family and cool friends, and is doing well at school. Then he suffers a major trauma. Black Dog is the story of Michael's journey inwards in the aftermath of this life-changing event.

Work in progress. Chapters one to three are online. Click here to go to the intro page.

New website now live

2008-04-01T09:00:00.006+11:00

My new website, Alien Son: Reflections of life—set up to publish my stories—is now live.

I guess I should introduce myself...I am a (very) middle-aged Australian dad of two sons and two daughters, one foster son, two daughters-in-law and a son-in-law. My foster son and his wife have two beautiful daughters.

I hate to see people hurting, particularly kids, so when I read of the problems that some young people—particularly gay and lesbian teenagers—face, it got me thinking. The suicide statistics for young people are alarming, and gays and lesbians are over-represented in those figures. Perhaps I could write a story that would encourage a person thinking about suicide to reconsider. Because I suffer from depression, and have many times felt like taking my life, I would be writing from experience. I began the story last year, and decided to publish it online so that it could have as wide an audience as possible.

Why Alien Son? That's the title of an autobiographical work about a Russian Jewish boy growing up in Australia after his family migrated here in 1914. He was an alien in a strange land. I suspect that some of my readers feel like that at times, as I do myself, so it seemed an appropriate nom-de-plume.

Click here to visit the website.