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The Great Terror in Russia and how it influences thinking to this day: I believe that you cannot comment about a country or a society without knowing something about where it has come from. In Russia’s case, not to examine what was perpetrated on the population during the Soviet years would be to ignore the elephant in the room. When I lived there, I did many road trips around the country. Once, I was visiting the towns and cities in the Golden Ring and in a small town called

The main Pyramid at Giza Before I visited Egypt, I should probably have paid more attention or cognizance to my history knowledge. I was aware that for a relatively long period from the 1950’s to the 1990’s or thereabouts, Egypt was allied with and to a large extent supplied by, the Soviet Union. This had been at the back of my mind but I had assumed that it was a military thing because the US was supplying Israel so Egypt turned to the Soviets. What I didn’t realise was that

No Need to Sleep – excerpt: This novel explores the murky world of people trafficking. Prologue: The first night was always the hardest. The second, even though he was tired, got easier. By the third night, he was wired; totally alert; switched on; all senses operating at hyper level. He didn’t know how or why it happened this way, but after seventy two hours without sleep, Kyle Shepherd was unbelievably creative, instinctive, sensitive, aware of and in harmony with his surr

This novel explores the general apathy amongst most Russian people for their fellow citizens. The problem is that eighty years of communism, which was effectively a totalitarianism reign of terror, left people not knowing who, if anyone to trust. While Russian people in general are not uncaring in their immediate circle of family and friends, it never goes beyond this. During the years of the great terror, they could not afford it to. The main street of Novosibirsk in Winter,

This novel is mainly set in Kiev and is about the dismay of Russian commanders as they see the Soviet Union disintegrating around them. They resolve to do something about it. In reality, one of them, Vladimir Putin, actually did. Kiev, Ukraine, January 1998: Colonel General Igor Pavlovich Yavlinsky was not a happy man. As he gazed out of the seventh floor window of his office on Krechatik, the main street of Kiev, he pondered on what might have been; what should have been. H

Introduction: I first came to Russia over thirty years ago. Then, it was just emerging from being a mainly closed society with severe restrictions on travel. In the meantime, it has changed hugely. I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to live and work here for many years and I have found the country fascinating. As it is still a requirement to apply for a visa to visit Russia, tourism has been slow to develop so this is still a largely unexplored land. Author in

Introduction: One of the reasons I set up this website was to gauge the reaction to my writing so as to assess the possibility of publishing another novel. I’ve gotten lots of feedback, mainly in relation to shorter articles but I guess these things take time, so I’ll persist. For now, here are some extracts from another novel I’ve written. It starts in Hong Kong, where I lived for a time in the 1990’s. Being a novel, it is of course fictional, but some of the characters are

Brendan in the early days. I saw an item on TV recently about the erection of a statue in a place called Sixmilebridge, Co Clare, in Ireland, to Dr. Brendan O’Regan. Who was he, many would ask — probably one of the greatest Irish innovators of the 20th Century or indeed of any time. The erection of a statue is hugely deserved but it cannot even begin to quantify what this man achieved or do justice to his legacy. I’m not too sure as to what positions Brendan held in Shannon A

Biarritz Back to my theme of writing travel blogs on places I have been in the past, I have never done blogs on France, Germany, Spain or Portugal. In fact, there are many more I need to get to. I’ve decided to start with France as it is one of the countries I have visited most often. As far as I can recall, I have visited every region except Normandy. So the question is where to start? I’m tempted to just go with a series of anecdotal experiences and then try to summarise. B

This book is still in draft form and is as yet untitled. The working title I have given it is ‘Famine Book,’ but someone may yet come up with a more creative title. :) Prologue: “1847 was the year it all began deadly pains of hunger drove a million from the land they journeyed not for glory their motive wasn’t greed a voyage of survival across the stormy seas.” Ireland is situated as the western outpost of Europe — if you go west from there, you don’t hit land again until you

This novel examines the phenomenon of people who disappear, some who want to and most who don’t. Enclosed are the prologue and the first two chapters: Prologue: It is extremely difficult to hide; short term is possible of course, but permanently is almost impossible, particularly if you belong to the class where someone with resources wants to find you. Nat Cleary was firmly in this category. He had killed a senior Ndrangheta mafia boss on contract, but not before he had extr

The lost five-in-a-row: I was walking in west cork recently, in a remote part of the beautiful Beara peninsula. It was a magnificent day, one of those that if we had enough of them, you’d never want to leave the country. As I crested the top of a very stern hill, I met a man who had just climbed it from the other side and both of us looked like we needed a rest. The chat came easily, initially covering the beautiful weather, the gorgeous countryside etc. but before long count

No Chance to Dream: This novel is also unpublished. Here is a synopsis of the book, the prologue and the first three chapters. Synopsis of ‘No Chance to Dream’ by Liam Flood: The third novel in the ‘Mike Lyons’ series sees the former detective finally enjoying life in the Florida sunshine. Then he is asked by a friend to trace Del, a missing person. The man worked as a carpenter and was given to drinking binges and wandering off so the case seems straightforward but proves fa

Con, in pensive mode. What Con might have said:’ (this was written following the dramatic replayed All Ireland Hurling Final replay in 2013. Con Houlihan, my favourite sports writer, an immensely popular figure, had passed away a year before. The drawn game was magnificent and the replay was an epic. There is no doubt that Con would have been enthralled by the game and would have loved to have written about it. I tried to imagine what he would have said...) I don’t know if Da

I first published this article early in 2024 but at that time, I was only posting on Medium. Now that I have acquired a wider audience on other platforms, it bears repeating. It’s also an updated version. I recently told my partner a funny story about the trip to Kenya and she said I should have included it in the blog. So I will this time but you’ll have to read to the end to find it. J Before I visited Kenya, I was told to beware that there would always be people around me

On our recent trip to the Balkans, my partner and I visited four countries in eleven days. We started in Croatia, crossed into Montenegro, then Albania, back into Montenegro, then into Bosnia and back to Croatia. So we quickly got used to crossing borders in remote mountain enclaves; I think apart from one time, ours was the only car in the queue at the border posts and a cursory check on our passports was all that was required. Imagine our shock therefore, when we crossed th

When I write an article or a blog, I very rarely show it to anyone before I publish it. Maybe it’s stubbornness on my part but I also don’t like people editing my books. Anyway, on this occasion, my partner Gill, who was with me in the Balkans, said she enjoyed the article but that I didn’t tell the full story. Also, a mate of mine, who has lived in the Balkans, reminded me about the Mercedes.’ So, here is the fully expanded version: People say that if you want to get the bes

Largely because of Russia’s attack on Ukraine and President Putin’s seemingly total disregard for human life and human rights, Russian people in general have gotten a bad press in recent times and have had to keep their heads down. But there is another side to Russia, one which I encountered on a daily basis when I worked there full time. I am still in touch with former colleagues, most of whom abhor what is being done in their name. Back in the day, I wrote a book about Russ

A perspective in 2023: This article contrasts the situation from an article written in 2014 with what pertains today and why the country has regressed hugely. Novosibirsk Diary — 2014: The terror has ended but the fear lives on: I have a fantastic young team here in Novosibirsk. Most of them are in their late twenties or early thirties and they are symptomatic of the new, young, professional and confident generation of Russians. Most of them speak English or another foreign l

I am not an apologist for Russia or Putin. Far from it; like most of my Russian friends, I abhor what they are doing in Ukraine. But I have spent some time in the country and I have some understanding of their culture and character. This article is an attempt to explain to people where Putin and his ilk come from and why they act as they do but it is under no circumstances justifying the carnage and chaos that has been inflicted on an innocent nation. Firstly, let me relate a