How to Always be Top in Class

Coming your way on May 15, 2014 . . .

 

Read/download How to Always be Top in Class - book outline and Introduction.

Keep it here for updates.

Short Story 10 - Loving to Hate

We're almost there!
:)

Away from reading philosophical texts and coming up with awesome main characters, today we take a look at the tenth short story in the upcoming Counting Down the Days collection.

We have in the past looked at The Right to Remain Silent, Networking or not working, The Dilemma, Power to the People, Counting Down the Days, Nothing, The Vigilante, Daughters of Eve and The Socialite.

Loving to Hate

Adrian is a ladies-man. A smooth operator who is also a modern-day Casanova. His friends in college often told him that he loved women above all else. Something Adrian unrelentingly denied.

Adrian's "love" for women is in fact an obsession with sex. He sleeps around with women not because he loves them, but because they epitomize the commercialization of sex. It is through women that sex has been commoditized. And that is something he hates.

Ironically, Adrian hates women. Deeply.

He grew up in a run-down neighborhood, the only child of a single mother. She was a sex worker who often brought men into her house to perform deviant acts with her and on occasion, with other women as well. Group sex, homosexual acts... all that happened in Jane's house.

As Adrian grew up, he became more aware of other social ills in and around his house such as domestic violence, incest among his young age-mates and blatant use of drugs by both young and old.

In an effort to revenge against the one gender that willingly let sexual impropriety thrive, he has unwittingly slipped into an addiction that he cannot sleep his way out of.


My Current Reads

In addition to all the blogs, newspapers and texts I read on-line, I am now reading Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant. This reading is a joint effort with a great tweepal. I believe both the reading experience and understanding will be greatly enhanced when we exchange notes as we get along.

Have an awesome time reading and writing!
:)

Short Story 8 - Daughters of Eve

This is the eighth short story in my Counting Down the Days book, currently a work in progress. We have so far taken a sneak peek into other short stories in this collection viz: The Right to Remain Silent, Networking or not working, The Dilemma, Power to the People, Counting Down the Days, Nothing and The Vigilante.

Daughters of Eve

In this story, Noel discovers that the issues he's always had with members of the female gender were not entirely unfounded. He realizes, albeit the hard way, that it is impossible to understand women. He concludes that a man can never know what a woman truly wants. Even more tragic, women are largely oblivious to what it is that they want.

Since meeting Noelle, he changes his life a lot, to better accommodate the love of his life with a view to spending the rest of his life with her. It is a passionate relationship, one that is predicated on promise, liberal physical relations and overly-endearing language.

Fast however, is how the relationship ends. Much faster than a fiscal quarter. Noel quickly realizes that nothing is ever what it seems and that reprimanding loved ones is a delicate act that has unpredictable results. Most of all, he painfully realizes that there is nothing as complex as the daughters of Eve.

My Current Reads

In the recent past, I've been taking time to read archived articles by both Chris Anderson and Malcolm Gladwell. These two best selling authors have an ideological relationship that sometimes portrays them as frenemies. All in all, I love to indulge in their insightful writing, it is thought provoking and good fodder for wiser decision-making.

While not reading the aforementioned articles online, I'm taking time to read Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant. A very good book that invariably reminds me of Safaricom Ltd.

Have an awesome weekend guys!
:)

Short Story 7 - The Vigilante

This is the seventh short story in my Counting Down the Days book, currently a work in progress. We have so far taken a sneak peek into other short stories in this collection viz: The Right to Remain Silent, Networking or not working, The Dilemma, Power to the People, Counting Down the Days and Nothing.

The Vigilante

Julie has lost a husband she totally loved, thanks to the neglect, self interest and sloppiness of his friends. Njoroge, Wambua and Salim have deliberately opted to misinform her husband about the presence of law enforcement officials during a heist, and simply watch him unknowingly walk into a fatal trap.

With Kimunya now dead, she takes it upon herself to punish the remaining members of a terror gang she willfully belonged to and dutifully worked to protect. Her plan is to deal with them one by one, and successfully eliminates some of them, until something goes terribly wrong and exposes the enemy within.

How will she carry out her plan? Can she stop avenging Kimunya's death in view of the inherent risks?

My Current Reads

I have recently discovered eFiction Magazine on Issuu - my favorite online hangout where I get to read great stuff in an attractive, engaging and innovative presentation.
eFiction Magazine has been around for quite a while [how did I miss all this?], since April 2010. The August 2011 edition is the 17th issue!
Below are the very first and the current editions of eFiction Magazine. I'd urge you all to head to Issuu and subscribe to this online magazine that showcases the latest fiction across the web, for free. It is truly priceless for any writer worth his/her salt.

eFiction Magazine - then

eFiction Magazine - now

Do have a great day good people!
Cheers :)

Short Story 6 - Nothing

This is the sixth short story in my Counting Down the Days book, currently a work in progress. We have so far taken a sneak peek into other short stories in this collection viz:  The Right to Remain Silent, Networking or not working, The Dilemma, Power to the People and Counting Down the Days.

Nothing

My Current Reads

I have recently renewed my love for Issuu. This is partly because I'll very soon be publishing Connect eMagazine, with monthly editions available for online viewing and free download on our Issuu page.

The bigger reason, however, is that Issuu more than makes reading online an enduring pleasure. On Issuu, you get to read very useful documents as well. I have so far shared some of them both on The Walkabout and on this site.

Today, I'll share one about how to Innovate.
Hope you like it :)

As we eagerly await the Connect eMagazine launch later this year, I invite you to join Connect eMagazine on Issuu so that we can learn and share together, even as we count down the days...

Have a great weekend.
Cheers

Short Story 5 - Counting Down the Days

Counting Down the Days is both the title short story and the fifth in my upcoming collection Counting Down the Days.
We have so far highlighted The Right to Remain Silent, Networking or not working, The Dilemma and Power to the People.

Counting Down the Days

In this story, Edwin has been injured in what has been erroneously referred to as an accident. Interestingly, he had just watched Nokia's 4th Screen TV ad on YouTube minutes before this "accident". He was anticipating change, but is now forced to inevitably wait for that change for a very definite number of days.



With every passing day, Edwin gets to see a better version of the bigger picture that awaits him. He is able to better plan, and carefully review his choices.
In losing the ability to do something he really wants, he gains the latitude to ultimately attain what he actually needs.

My Current Reads

I am totally immersed in Chris Anderson's Free: The Future of a Radical Price. The book simply explains what has happened in our lives all along, where businesses make big money by offering free products and/or services.

Nothing is surprising or new in doing that, especially when you think about free-to-air radio and TV from commercial broadcasters.

Interestingly, Malcolm Gladwell [who authored The Tipping Point] doesn't agree with Chris Anderson. FYI, Chris also wrote The Long Tail. Malcolm had a lot to say about Free in The New Yorker.

As a strong advocate of online publishing and on-screen reading, I have recently started to read, and shall be actively sharing/embedding magazines in my reading list.
Most, if not all will be hosted at Issuu, which is my favorite hangout when it comes to reading online. Following is the June 2011 edition of CIO East Africa Magazine.

Please note that upon launch, Connect eMagazine will also be available for online reading and free download at Issuu.

Have a great week good people. Let's continue reading and writing together.Cheers!

:)

Short Story 3 - The Dilemma

In my upcoming book Counting Down the Days, I have so far given you a sneak peek into both The Right to Remain Silent and Networking or Not working?

Today, we take a brief look at The Dilemma.

The Dilemma
Trish went to Mombasa on official duty a few months ago. During the nights however, she lived large, slept around, even giving  the popular tag Mombasa Raha a whole new meaning of reckless abandon. She freely flirts, gets drunk, and parties till late.

At one of the clubs, she meets a former boyfriend and ends up spending the night in his house, where she proceeds to have unsafe sex with him.

Now back in Nairobi, she has very recently fallen head over feet in love with a young man who has every potential to become not just the love of her life, but the life of her love. They have gone ahead and decided to date, but he insists that they need to urgently to get tested for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections before they get more intimately involved.

Now seated in the waiting room in a VCT center, Trish ponders her options once the test results are out...

My Current Reads
I have no idea why I'm reading a book that has been in the house for almost a decade, without ever catching my attention. I bet it has something to do with the recent Prince William and Kate Middleton royal wedding.

Okay, the book is Diana: Her True Story by Andrew Morton. I haven't read a substantial number of pages yet, but I find it worth reading.
I'd however like to read Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words by the same author. Two perspectives are better than one, aren't they?

Beyond books, I have lately got more interested in articles in the New York Times and Comment is Free in The Guardian. They invariably carry engaging, well researched and topical stories on a wide number of topics of interest.

So much for reading and writing, enjoy your evening lovely people
:)

Short Story 2 - Networking or Not Working?

This is a sneak peek into another short story in my upcoming book Counting Down the Days. Last time, we looked at The Right to Remain Silent.

As earlier explained, all the short stories in this book focus on the human condition - our attitudes and responses to the things that happen in our daily lives.

Networking or Not working?
In this story, we examine the effects of spending hours online browsing and participating in social network activity. This includes, but is not limited to Facebook, Twitter, hi5, YouTube and others.
Whereas the social networks are pivotal in online marketing and brand development, they can, and often do get in the way of productivity for those who spend too much time there interacting with their friends..

Since breaking up with her boyfriend, Mercy has recently found a solution to her loneliness. She has numerous friends on Facebook, loves following cool 'tweeps' and engaging in popular trending topics on Twitter as well as sharing videos on YouTube. All this keeps her fully occupied in the office.

She no longer worries about friends in the real world, she actually has no more time for conventional relationships. She wonders why she even restricted herself to one person for a close relationship, now that the Internet offers countless people to chat with.

The super-fast Internet connection in her office has actually changed her attitude towards working on Saturdays, she gets in the office early and leaves late every working day. Thanks to a fibre-optic powered broadband connection, she spends more time "networking", not working.
Unknown to her, the IT department and her boss have been closely monitoring her online activity...

My Current Reads
I'm still reading Chika Onyeani's Capitalist Nigger and should be through with it later this week.

In addition, I keep going back to read a chapter or two of Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne.

This book has invaluable insights especially for those who seek to venture into new business such as publishing online in new eBook formats, in good time before every person else rushes in to make a buck in this business.

Go ahead and grab your own copy of Blue Ocean Strategy. You can also get an audio version here. You'll learn how you can create uncontested market space and thereby make the competition irrelevant.