September 2016 - Expat In Bacolod

BBC Radio Interview Stephen Bentley

Published by Stephen Bentley on September 30, 2016

A BBC Radio interview with Stephen Bentley today September 30, 2016 I am talking about the subject of my book Undercover: Operation Julie – The Inside Story and undercover policing in the UK. There is a second interview of some 40 minutes planned for next week. These are some of the more recent reviews posted on Amazon: 5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and compelling By donna on 14 September 2016 Format: Paperback Steven Bentley certainly provides a compelling depiction of not only one of the largest drug busts in history, but of the LSD manufacturing and trade in general. Bentley and his partner bravely fight against the drug underworld, police corruption, greed and against their own addictions culminating from the necessity to partake in what they…

How To Write A Novel In 17 Killer Steps

Published by Stephen Bentley on September 30, 2016

This post first appeared on my author website. Many of you are writers and some bloggers – if there is a difference? Some of you will have no intention of writing a novel but it doesn’t matter. What matters is the powerful writing tool called ProWritingAid. Read more to find out all about it. Writing a novel is not easy. If you are a writer of fiction then you probably fall into one of two broad categories – a plotter or pantster. If you are definitely in the second category then read no further. There is an excellent new eBook available that shows even the novice how to write a novel in 17 killer steps. How to write a novel in 17 killer steps The beauty…

The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way … – Book Review

Published by Stephen Bentley on September 30, 2016

The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a book I did enjoy for more reasons than one. The first reason is I found it fascinating in itself. The second, is that it helped me enormously in understanding the hallucinatory experiences of users of psychedelics. Why was that important? Back in the day as an undercover cop, there was no training for that role. I took it upon myself to learn about drug experiences prior to my involvement in one of the world’s largest drug busts, Operation Julie. You may read about those days in my book Undercover: Operation Julie – The Inside Story View all my reviews That was the review…

Puddled: Word Wednesday

Published by Stephen Bentley on September 28, 2016

A dip into British slang today. The word puddled is one I haven’t heard in a long time but was brought to my notice by Tony Bushell and his excellent anorthernsoulweb blog. As fellow northerners (North of England), Tony and I heard this said so many times during our formative years. So, for today I need to take you to a new source and that is peevish.co.uk: Adj. 1. Confused. See ‘puddle’. 2. Eccentric, insane. And puddle? Noun. A mess, a confused state. E.g.”Sorry, I’ve been in a bit of puddle since the party. I drank far too much.” You can follow how it was used back in the UK. Usually in reacting to a statement that you disagreed with as in, “You’re puddled!” Some…

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Next! Short Story By ‘G’

Published by G on September 27, 2016

Yet another short story by ‘G.’ I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. The Philippines has talent! “Next!” The person next to me nudges me, “That’s you.” “Sorry, not thinking too clearly.” Friendly hands guide me along to the voice. One of them tells me to take a seat, that I should answer the questions as quickly as possible, because there was a major accident on I-75 and things are backed up. “Mr. Ted Jacob Anderson?” comes through an intercom. “Yes, sir” “Mr. Anderson, this is Michael. I’ll be processing you. Did you get your photo ID at the gates?” “What gates?” “The ones you passed through at 09:19 hundred hours.” I feel for my watch; it’s not there. “I don’t remember…

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Most Frequently Asked Questions About Bacolod

Published by Stephen Bentley on September 26, 2016

As a blogger who blogs about Bacolod (and other things) I am often approached by complete strangers from all over the world who ask me questions about Bacolod, either because they are thinking of moving here or relocating for work reasons. These are some of the most frequently asked questions about Bacolod (in no particular order): Can I watch English football on the TV in Bacolod? Yes! BeinSports channels have now reached Bacolod at long last. You need a SkyCable subscription and the BeinSports channels is an add-on package for Php 500 per month. You receive all the English Premier League games that are shown live back in the UK plus some more with 3 p.m. UK KO times. In addition there is full coverage…

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Alarm Starboard!: Book Review

Published by Stephen Bentley on September 25, 2016

Alarm Starboard!: A Remarkable True Story of the War at Sea by Geoffrey Brooke My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is truly a remarkable story. In fact it is several remarkable stories resulting from the author’s career in the British Royal Navy from pre-WW2 1939 to the end of WW2 in 1945. It is remarkable and fascinating. So fascinating that I read all 288-pages of the hardcover version inside two days. I simply could not put it down! The author’s easy writing style certainly assists as the story gallops along from one life-threatening incident to another, and some of them were not related to ships or the sea. I seriously wonder whether the world will ever see another generation of young men like Geoffrey…

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Create Stop Creating!

Create Stop Creating!

Published by Stephen Bentley on September 23, 2016

This post first appeared on the Stephen Bentley – Author website. “Don’t create!” Where I come from it means stop making a fuss, stop arguing, even “calm down.” The time has arrived for me to “create stop creating.” I know a comma was missing there. Please excuse that as it was omitted for SEO reasons 🙂 I need to create and crack on with writing both of my works in progress. One a detective novel and the other the “faction” book about my grandfather’s Royal Navy career. Indeed the future is rosy because I have a collaboration in mind for a second fiction novel co-written with an author friend who has previously published a thriller novel. So where does the “stop creating” come into play?…

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Otiose: Word Wednesday – Improve Your Word Power

Otiose: Word Wednesday – Improve Your Word Power

Published by Stephen Bentley on September 21, 2016

Otiose is the choice for today’s Word Wednesday and, as is often the case, the word came to me as I was writing a piece elsewhere. Otiose is a word much-used by judges and lawyers and is often used as a device to spell out that the argument being advanced, legal or on the facts, is a load of baloney. So professionally polite! Merriam-Webster says this: adjective oti·ose \ˈō-shē-ˌōs, ˈō-tē-\ Popularity: Bottom 50% of words Definition of otiose 1 : producing no useful result : futile 2 : being at leisure : idle 3 : lacking use or effect : functionless otiosely adverb otioseness noun otiosity \ˌō-shē-ˈä-sə-tē, ˌō-tē-\ noun Examples of otiose in a sentence <since you haven’t read the book, I suppose that it…

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Why This Blog Is Called Expat In Bacolod

Published by Stephen Bentley on September 18, 2016

Expat in Bacolod is the name of this blog and this is a slightly tongue in cheek post. Some of you, not many, have commented that it’s not all about Bacolod and the Philippines. Correct! It’s about an expat in Bacolod, me, and I happen to be a writer these days hence the sub-title under the title of the blog. I would dearly love to write every single post about Bacolod as it’s a wonderful place with wonderful people (the City of Smiles) and it’s the principal city of a beautiful island, Negros Island. I have said it before and here goes again, I love it here. But look, I can’t write every single day about Bacolod because it’s where I now live. It’s an…

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Month: September 2016