Letter From Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai, Thailand. 2nd February 2014. I have just published my second work, a collection of short stories set in Thailand: No reviews yet, but several complimentary emails which pleases me no end.

Chiang Mai, Thailand. 21st July 2013.

"The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shockproof, shit detector. This is the writer’s radar and all great writers have had it." So said Ernest Hemingway in an interview for The Paris Review. Do I posess it? I'm begining to think so.

THE JK ROWLING - ROBERT GALBRAITH PR BOOK MARKETING SCAM

On being unmasked last week as the author of The Cuckoo's Calling, using the nom de plume Robert Galbraith, JK Rowling stated: "I hoped to keep this secret a little longer, because being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience. "It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation and pure pleasure to get feedback from publishers and readers under a different name." She went on to say: "To those who have asked for a sequel, Robert fully intends to keep writing the series, although he will probably continue to turn down personal appearances." So, we're asked to believe that Miss Rowling in order to fully enjoy the "liberating experience", submitted the work as a first time author and it was duly rejected before being accepted by her old publisher, Sphere, a Little Brown Publishing imprint. We are not told why Miss Rowling offered the book to other publishers before it was accepted by Sphere. But I don't believe for a minute that she submitted to Sphere anonymously as Galbraith. They knew who she was. And that's how it was published Miss Rowling's spokesman said: “I can confirm the book was treated like any new novel by a first-time writer. We are not going into any more detail than that or commenting further.” Yeah, right. And if you believe that you'll believe anything. How long she expected to keep this up is unclear, but we are told that a lawyer let the cat out of the bag. The lawyer, who works for law firm Russells, insisted the “leak” was not “part of any marketing plan.” Russells yesterday apologised "unreservedly" for the disclosure, which occurred after partner Chris Gossage shared the information with his wife's best friend Judith Callegari during a private conversation. A Twitter user under the name @judecallegari later appears to have sent a public message to a Sunday Times journalist. J K Rowling issued a statement saying she was “disappointed and very angry that her trust had been misplaced. A tiny number of people knew my pseudonym and it has not been pleasant to wonder for days how a woman whom I had never heard of prior to Sunday night could have found out something that many of my oldest friends did not know," she said. "To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. I had assumed that I could expect total confidentiality from Russells, a reputable professional firm, and I feel very angry that my trust turned out to be misplaced." A spokesman for Russells added: "Whilst accepting his own culpability, the disclosure was made in confidence to someone he trusted implicitly. On becoming aware of the circumstances, we immediately notified JK Rowling's agent." "We can confirm that this leak was not part of any marketing plan and that neither JK Rowling, her agent nor publishers were in any way involved." A spokesman confirmed that Gossage was still a partner but declined to comment on Rowling's relationship with the firm. In my view the whole thing is a PR scam involving the publisher, Miss Rowling and other actors. Miss Rowling has played her part well, but does not convince me that whole fucking thing is not another publishing house marketing con job designed to boost sales. I have little time for writers who pay this game. Are we expected to believe that Stephen King's "outing" as Richard Bachman, Kingley Amis' exposure as Robert Markham (writing crap James Bond by the way) was accidental?. Pierre Berton, the great Canadian man of letters also posed as one "Lisa Kronuk" to write Masquerade: Fifteen Variations On A Theme of Sexual Fantasy. (it bombed I'm pleased to say) This was exposed as a PR scam by McClelland and Stewart the big Canadian publishing house. I have a paperback on my book shelf: Colonel Sun by Kingsley Amis writing as Robert Markam And we often see the same for Stephen King. Will we soon see: The Cuckoo's Calling JK Rowling Writing as Robert Galbraith?

Miss Rowling is a rich and successful lady who does not need to do this. It's bullshit, it really is.

Chiang Mai, Thailand 12 th June 2013

This is a guest post from the Rogue Economist Bill Bonner. Say a Little Prayer for the Rich by Bill Bonner, Chairman, Bonner & Partners Last week, we attended a conference for the 1%. "Everybody thinks the rich have such easy lives," said a psychologist and family therapist. "But you wouldn't want the lives that a lot of 1% have. They're often so cut off from meaning in their lives... from the warmth of normal relationships... and from the psychological rewards of just having to earn a living... that they feel they have nothing to live for. "You know that the suicide rate has risen sharply in the US. More people die from suicide than from traffic accidents. As far as murder is concerned, you're much more likely to murder yourself than to murder someone else. "But as bad as suicide is for everyone else, it is much worse for the rich. In Aspen, Colorado, which is by some measures the richest community in America, the suicide rate is five times higher than the national rate. "And I can tell you, too, that rates of drug addiction, alcoholism and depression are also much higher in the families of the 1% than in other families." When Bad Things Happen... How do you like that, dear reader? We spend so much time and energy trying to get rich so we can move to Aspen or Palm Beach. And then, when we get there, our lives are so miserable we'd rather be dead. What to make of it? Maybe money can't buy happiness, after all. Or maybe when you get rich, bad things start to happen to you. For one thing, the poor rich bastards are widely resented... mistrusted... and reviled. The Democrats want to tax them more heavily, far more than their fair share (even though the top 1% of the population already pays 40% of the taxes). The rich flee to tax havens. But the taxmen keep after them. Rich Americans are hunted down even if they haven't set foot in the United States of America. And rich people in practically every country are pursued by the tax collectors. In the Soviet Union, the kulaks were tortured until they revealed their secret stashes of food. Now rich people everywhere are tortured by tax agents, audits, controls, shakedowns and seizures. No matter where they go, the taxmen are on their heels, trying to find their caches of money... And tax hounds are not the only ones who prey upon the rich. Lawyers. Accountants. Architects. Decorators. Travel organizers. Therapists. Wealth planners. Tax advisors. Tailors. Dressmakers. Artists. Charities. Politicians. Psychiatrists. All of them look to the rich to fund their businesses, their projects and their lifestyles. Without the rich, the luxury goods and services market would disappear. Who would buy their flashy houses... their racy autos... their silly outfits... their awful paintings? Who would support do-good projects and pay for political campaigns? The Trump Towers would be abandoned... the Ferraris would disappear... the mink coats, Patek Philippe watches and Zegna suits – all gone! It would be a much grayer world without the gaudy colors of the rich. Flattered, Deceived, Defrauded Entire industries are devoted to separating rich people from their money. The rich are flattered, deceived, defrauded, led on, sued, gauged... sometimes even married... just because they have money. Even their wealth – and the reputations of those who hold it – is smeared, besmirched and sullied. Popular authors tell the masses that "behind every fortune is a crime." Movies show rich people as shallow, stupid, vain and ruthless. Almost every villain is among the 1%. Every hero is poor or working class. One of the worst things about being rich, says our friend Nassim Taleb, is that you have to hang around with other rich people. Is it any wonder that so many rich people turn into nasty, petulant, spoiled and insensitive people? What's amazing is how many do not. As I mentioned yesterday, I've just come back from a small meeting of members of my family wealth advisory service, Bonner & Partners Family Office. About 30 of us gathered at the Chateau de Courtomer in Normandy, France, as we've done for the past four years. The rich people I met at our little gathering were all very nice... and very interesting... and a lot of fun. Despite being hunted and chased, they maintained their dignity and kept their pleasant demeanors. In our experience, the "one percenters" are no worse than the 99% –and usually a bit better. Their conversation is livelier. They have done more with their lives. They have been to more places. They have suffered more – not less – than the hoi polloi. Regards, Bill This article originally appeared at www.billbonnersdiary.com/ARTICLE-URL. About The Author Bill Bonner founded Agora, Inc in 1978. It has since grown into one of the largest independent newsletter publishing companies in the world. He has also written three New York Times bestselling books, Financial Reckoning Day, Empire of Debt and Mobs, Messiahs and Markets. His free daily e-letter Bill Bonner’s Diary of a Rogue Economist is your gateway to Bill’s decades of accrued knowledge about history, politics, society, finance and economics. Sometimes funny, sometimes frightening – but always entertaining and packed with useful insight, Diary of a Rogue Economist can help you make sense of the complex world we live in today.

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