In 2004-2007 I went to Iran three times. This is the story of what I saw on my first nine-day work trip, where I had three very different experiences in three different large cities. I suppose my lasting impression is of a very ancient culture undergoing its own process of modernisation while out of touch with the world, of a substantial divide in the population, and of a culture of risk-taking and conspiracy theories.

Oddly, when I first posted this story online,, it was instantly routed to a...

Flood, J (2024). “Big Dog and Man.” Hecate, vol. 47 no. 1/2, 2021 [2013], pp. 183–198.

Alf was the biggest dog, the most respected dog, and he would always win a fight. He was a loyal and fair companion, and a Pig Dog, there to cover your back fearlessly when the boars broke out of the brush. He was what Merv wanted to be, and never could be.

One of 70 or so posts that eventually ended up in the Unravelling the Code book. This 2007 piece tells the story of the Monmouth Rebellion, the Bloody Assizes, and John Coad who escaped hanging by being transported to the West Indies

A week or so ago I started the next book in my sequence, tentatively "He's not Heavy" about the life and death of my youngest son. Wading through all the material I saved 16...

I have finished promoting the serialised "Buffalo Gals" for now. I am investigating a shorter version for the African market, and am conducting market research before the...

Two days ago, I had a 45 minute radio interview on Community Radio Blue Mountains. "Rights, Rorts and Rants". I spoke on my work visits to Gaza (in "Buffalo Gals") and to Iran...

I wrote three chapters of the new book, then found it was pretty much a Filipino version of my Africa book - bad situation at home, hopelessly looking for a woman, prostitutes, work arguments, travel, suddenly finding someone out of the blue, pregnancy with a real baby this time. In fact- a true story of my life 1992-2002. Unfortunately, the Africa book has been highly unpopular. And I've now hit a description of leukemia treatment - something that could be even more unpopular with the...

I have been putting together the timetable of events for my new book (in my books, almost all the events actually happened). At that time (2006-10) I kept an online Caringbridge diary where I recorded everything. As things neared the end, I wrote more and more - out of desperation, including poems, something I have never written before. Reading it back now, I wonder how I could actually write it, it is so vivid.

On Feb 5 2010, three weeks after Nathaniel's death, I wrote "Some people have...

And so I come to the end of commentary on the longest book I will ever write, the two-volume Buffalo Gals saga – a semi-fictionalised tale about my greatest, my most rewarding and possibly my most foolish life adventure. This is a book I have intended to write for 30 years and now it is done.

It has not been easy to find readers for Buffalo Gals, let alone buyers. There have been some volunteers, but they have found parts of the book uncomfortable and have not provided feedback .

While I have...