An Interview With a Welsh Buddhist Publisher

AmeriCymru is a social network for the Welsh, ex-pats, persons of Welsh descent and cymruphiles. AmeriCymru is the home of the West Coast Eisteddfod.

AmeriCymru talks to ’ö-Dzin Tridral of Aro Books worldwide, a Welsh printing press specializing in publishing works in the Aro Tradition of Nyingma Buddhism.

“Our two most recent publications are Relaxing into Meditation by Ngakma Nor'dzin and An Odd Boy (Volume One) by Doc. Togden. Relaxing into Meditation is an accessible introduction to meditation which can enable someone with no knowledge of the subject to approach meditation via practices of relaxation. An Odd Boy is a memoir from the period of the British Blues Boom of the 1960s and 1970s. Interwoven with this is the view that everyone has the possibility of being an artist and of appreciating life as art.”

Read the rest of the interview at AmeriCymru

Relaxing into Meditation - wins a Living Now Book Award

We are very happy to announce that Ngakma Nor'dzin's book Relaxing into Meditation has won Bronze in the Relaxation and Meditation category of the Living Now Book Awards from Independent Publisher.

"The Living Now Book Awards are designed to bring increased recognition to the year’s very best lifestyle books and their creators, and celebrate the innovation and creativity of newly published books that enhance the quality of our lives, from cooking and entertaining to fitness and spirituality. "

"The awards are presented by Jenkins Group of Traverse City, Michigan. Jenkins Group has been involved in book packaging, marketing and distribution since 1988, and is dedicated to promoting books that improve readers’ lives, bring families together, and make the world a safer, healthier place."

It is wonderful to see that Relaxing into Meditation has received this recognition.

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Relaxing into Meditation Aro Books worldwide  ISBN 978-1-898185-17-8 http://bit.ly/nrprim

Available from Lulu.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Wisdom Books, and other bookshops worldwide

The greatest British Blues band there never was

Volume I and Volume II of ‘an odd boy’ portray a plethora of poignant insights into what Blues meant to four lads during the British Blues Boom of the 1960s.

Doc Togden details his Blues education—as an 8-year old English boy—in terms of the informal schooling he received form Mr Love an elderly shell-shocked gentleman who introduced him to Bessie Smith, Big Bill Broonzy, Robert Johnson, Blind lemon Jefferson Memphis Minnie, and many others.

The story continues from 1960 to 1970. The initial idea of creating a Blues band comes into focus and becomes an on-stage reality by 1968. As Cream leaves the scene and Savage Cabbage takes its first steps as the band that could conceivably have filled their shoes – had not two untimely deaths intervened.

This is the story of the greatest British Blues band there never was – a story of a passion for a milieu that became a religion to four lads form the outskirts of the Thames Delta 

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Doc Togden is the author of Volume 1 of an odd boy published by Aro Books worldwide.
Excerpts can be read on Doc Togden's Facebook fanpage and at anoddboy.com

Should I Meditate?

Illustration: Oscar Ramos Orozco

'Should I Meditate?' is a wonderfully simple article on the subject of meditation, written by Scott McDowell and published on The 99%.

Scott's advice includes:

'Establish a routine. Many people meditate in the morning when they wake up, or at night before bed. The big thing is making it a regular part of your day. You can start by sitting for just a few minutes. In the beginning, it's feels very difficult to be still.  Work your way up 20-30 minutes, or more. But remember, meditation is all about consistency; it's much better to do 5 minutes each day than an hour once a week. '

Read the full article: Should I Meditate?

People new to meditation may also like to read Relaxing into Meditation by Ngakma Nor'dzin and subscribe to the eMail Meditation Course.

Lulu Celebrates 10 Years of Author Success

Lulu.com has now been in business for 10 years

"We started small by offering basic print-on-demand services and over the years worked up to being able to distribute author content all over the world in both print and digital formats."

Read more on the Lulu Blog.

In celebration of this milestone, they have a promotion in each of their stores until 18th May.

In France use the code DIXANS for 18% off.
In Germany use the code ZEHNJARHRE for 18% off.
In Italy use the code DECIMO for 18% off.
In the Netherlands use the code TIENJAAR for 18% off.
In Spain use the code DECIMO for 18% off.
In the UK use the code TENYEARUK for 15% off.
In the US, use the code TENYEAR for 20% off.

Lulu Publishing Advisor

If you are looking to self-publish, Lulu have produced a Publishing Advisor website which takes you through various aspects of publishing and offers advice depending on your answers.

If you are interested, go to publishinghelper.com

Changes at Lulu

Many of our books are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other good bookshops, both online and offline.  However all of our books are available from Lulu.

Lulu have recently made some changes to their website which should make it easier for people to buy books.

One major change is that it is now no longer necessary to register at the site in order to buy a book.

Please see the Lulu Blog for the list of recent and expected changes.

If you need to change the store language and currency go to the Store Selection Page.

We hope that you will enjoy the new features at Lulu and pay us a visit at our Spotlight Page.

A period drama which defines the lost time

Absolutely compulsive reading – a book you can read cover to cover in a day, if you don’t do anything else – and that’s just what I did. Then of course – I wanted to start at the outgoing again.

The only book that sent me straight back to page one as soon as I’d finished was Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. This book has something of this quality – but it’s a modern adventure, an account of a life of a young man exploring the arts.

It’s a memoire that reads like a novel – and a novel that reads at times like poetry. It’s almost like Dylan Thomas’ Under Milkwood but charged with the hip patois of the late 1960s.

The main characters, as the book evolves, are the members of the Savage Cabbage Blues Band – and they are described through the conversations they have with the author.

This is an English epic – and I find myself wondering ‘Is this the next Harry Potter?’ Nothing like this has appeared Since Jack Kerouac’s On the Road and it seems itching to be made into a movie.

The book is written in scenes and as each opens the reader is lead into another weird and wonderful world – but worlds that were still part of the 20th Century.

It's a period drama which defines the lost time, a epoch that ran from the early 1960s to the early 1970s – and the writer takes you right into that time frame. I recommend this book to anyone who loves reading – where they interested in the 1960s or not.

— John Hancock

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This review of an odd boy is from gwales.com, the website of the Welsh Books Council.  Read more reviews here.

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Volume 1 of an odd boy by Doc Togden is published by Aro Books worldwide and is available from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk and lulu.com - and your local bookseller.

Excerpts can be read on Doc Togden's Facebook fanpage and at anoddboy.com
 

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‘An Odd Boy’ - worthy of modern classic status - John Dummer

Young Victor Simmerson feels alienated growing up in a Surrey village in post-war Britain. A free-thinking lad with an outlook ahead of his years he is distanced from his elderly disciplinarian father and turns to his gentle neighbour Mr Love for company. The ‘shell-shocked’ Mr Love wears ‘Evelyn Waugh clothes and possesses a collection of American Blues 78 rpm records. Victor is totally hooked by the imagery and romance of Blues. At the tender age of twelve the story of how the Devil granted a super-human talent as a guitarist and singer to the legendary Bluesman Robert Johnson in particular fascinates him. He learns that Johnson met the Devil or the African god Legba at ‘the crossroads’. Victor wants to try this himself but reckons his local crossroads near the village of Netherfield lack the qualities of the Mississippi Delta and decides to ramp up the element of danger by cycling there naked with his plastic ‘Skiffle Junior’ guitar on his back. When the Devil fails to turn up he cycles home disappointed but undaunted.

‘An Odd Boy’ is crammed with little gems and enchanting anecdotes like this. The character of Victor is reminiscent of the best of the American writer John Irving’s creations. Peppered with Blues couplets and quotes from ‘Alice In Wonderland’ to illustrate his point the author recounts Victor’s thoughts and observations of the suburban world he is growing up in in the sixties. Preferring the company of girls to boys (much to his father’s disgust) at five he falls in love with Alice, the daughter of liberal-thinking neighbours the Trevelyans, and they plan their future marriage down to the last detail. At junior school Victor is bullied by the other boys because of his German mother with shouts of “I’ll ’ityer!” (Heil Hitler). His Grandmother (Clara Schubert) is sympathetic to Victor’s aspirations. She had fled the Nazis at the beginning of the war and her story of how Hitler had killed the family’s parrot is a memorable one. Seemingly the radio station would turn up the volume when Hitler came on the air. The parrot had been sitting on his perch alone in the living room. During a particularly loud rant by the Führer the poor parrot was so shocked by the menacing voice he fell off his perch and died.

Victor fails to achieve the necessary five ‘O’ level passes for Farnham Grammar School for boys and instead applies for an interview at the girls’ grammar which only required three ‘O’ levels using just his surname and first initial. At his interview with the headmistress she expresses disbelief. “This is a—gells’—grammar school - and you are a boy. Is that not a problem?” He explains the number of ‘O’ levels differences. “I’ll wear a skirt, I’ll buy the uniform myself.” Victor assures her earnestly. The headmistress is amused and writes a letter to the headmaster of the local comprehensive school to secure him a place there.

‘An Odd Boy’ is an absorbing and rewarding read, a memoire written as a novel, unique in its vision of the world and in my estimation, worthy of modern classic status. Apparently this is just Volume One and the sequel, ‘Hellhound on My Trail’ is in the pipeline. I look forward to reading it.

— John Dummer

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John Dummer has been a local paper reporter, music business press officer, record plugger and broadcaster. In the sixties he toured with his own John Dummer Blues Band and in the seventies drummed with the hit doo-wop revival group Darts. He met his wife Helen when she was the photographer on a Darts photo-session.


After Darts, Helen and John formed their own group, True Life Confessions, and also recorded as the duo, John Dummer and Helen April. John went on to manage the powerhouse rock trio the Screaming Blue Messiahs. 


After three years of touring the States, burnt out from all the madness, he upped sticks with Helen and moved to France. There followed a two year sojurn living in a windmill in the Alentejo region of Portugal, and a return to France with finances much depleted. They discovered if they registered as 'brocanteurs' (French antique market traders) they could work and be covered under the excellent French health system. 


It was working the French outdoor markets and the amusing and fascinating characters he met that inspired John to write his first book, Serge Bastarde Ate My Baguette. The sequel Son of Serge Bastarde is published by Summersdale on June 4th. John and Helen now live in South West France in the middle of the Landes forest with their dog Buster and quite a lot of cats.


Read more about Serge Bastarde on Facebook

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Volume 1 of an odd boy by Doc Togden is published by Aro Books worldwide and is available from amazon.com, amazon.co.uk and lulu.com - and your local bookseller.


Excerpts can be read on Doc Togden's Facebook fanpage and at anoddboy.com
 

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