When I started writing ‘My Big Fat Gay Life’, I set out to do something fresh and original. I wanted to create something that would shock and offend you, yet engage you and keep you interested. What I didn’t want was something that was wishy-washy, resulting in people saying “meh, it’s ok”. Judging by the comments and emails I’ve received, I’ve achieved that. People either love or hate MBFGL: it polarises them to one extreme or the other.

To the lovers out there: thank you! Your support and encouragement provide motivation and keep me interested in the work. To the haters out there: bugger off! It’s not like I stapled your eyelids open, strapped you in a sling, and read each Day aloud to you in a muppet voice. If you want to hate anyone, hate the lovers. They’re the ones that keep me going!

In response to all the worried questions from my friends and family: no! No character in MBFGL is based on any one person. Just because you’re secretly worried that you’re a terrible cook, don’t think that Patricia is based on you. Just because you’re a mature psychiatrist, don’t assume that Donovan is based on you. Just because you’re a gorgeous, down-to-earth, well-hung nudist, don’t delude yourself that Justin…. hang on a minute! I don’t know any gorgeous, down-to-earth, well-hung nudists. If you happen to be a gorgeous, down-to-earth, well-hung nudist, add me as a friend on facebook!

At the time of writing this entry, I’ve just finished Day 18. MBFGL in it’s current form is going to end with Day 21, so there’re only 3 Days left. My reasons for this are many, but essentially I prefer to end something on a high note, rather than let it just ramble on and die a slow death. I believe that characters should always be faithful to themselves, and that although situations may be extreme and outrageous, each character should still be written true to their core personality. With this in mind, there’s only so much I can do with the existing MBFGL and still have the characters believable and interesting.

But don’t despair! MBFGL will be back in a new series. The new series, ‘Chavs’, will still utilise the interwoven narratives format to highlight each character’s perspective. I believe this format highlights the importance of communication, and how each person views the same situation in a different light. ‘Chavs’ will see some of your favourite characters return, and also have a boatload of new characters. You can expect even more outrageous characters and situations. Stay tuned, and enjoy the remaining 3 Days of MBFGL!

‘Tunnel City’ started as a project to help me define and wrap my mind around the planet Binda. Binda is the setting of one of my first science fiction novels, and ‘Tunnel City’ is a tool to introduce my readers to the Binda Universe.

Binda is the setting and source of many of my planned projects. ‘Tunnel City’ is the first short story from the Binda Universe, but it won’t be the last. It’s a small story in an epic saga that introduces some of the ideas and concepts that will be used throughout the entire Binda Universe.

‘Tunnel City’ crystallised in my mind after watching a spider spin and re-spin its web in a pipe over several days. The pipe was debris from a renovation job on our home, and was lying on the edge of a creek. The poor spider couldn’t have picked a worse home, as the pipe was either flooded with water as the creek rose and subsided, or was whipped about by the strong Fall winds that gusted up the gully.

Emphasising my belief that the human spirit is strong, ‘Tunnel City’ highlights the tenacity of humans and the ability of humanity to cope under extreme adversity.

Read ‘Tunnel City’ here… http://brettkiellerop.com/tunnelcity

David and I lived in Canada for 5 years, and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Despite Canada’s reputation for cold, we found the people to be warm and friendly. We have several friends there we classify as part of our family.

Coming from Australia, snow was a source of delight and excitement for us. David was at work one day when the first snow of our first Canadian winter fell, and he sent me an SMS as he watched the delicate flakes drift down from the sky. It said, “SNOJ!” The mis-spelling stuck, and to this day we still privately refer to snow as snoj.

No matter how ugly something is, whether it’s a large industrial complex, a land-fill site, or a simple dog shit on the pavement, a covering of snow transforms it into something beautiful. Even the ugliest landscape is stunning under a complete blanket of snow.

I used to spend hours inside, seated on a chair facing the window, watching the snow work its magic. It made my mind race: if snow can do this to the physical, why not the metaphysical?

Read ‘Snow’ here… http://brettkiellerop.com/snow

We all know at least one of them: people who love to ram their own opinion down our throat and point out that we’re doing the wrong thing. How do we normally respond? We roll our eyes, we tune out to what they’re saying, and we try to end the discussion as quickly as possible. Ultimately, we place no value on their opinion and walk away thinking ‘what a tosser!’ They’re probably a good mate in all other respects, fun to go to the pub with, entertaining at a party, always willing to help us move house, but we have no respect for them at all.

One of the basic tenets I live by is this: never give unsolicited advice! That also includes my unsolicited opinion, as giving someone your opinion is tantamount to giving advice. Even before I trained as a counsellor and life coach and learned the value of silence and restraint, I’ve always strived to be open-minded and tolerant, and to keep my advice and opinions in check. There are a few reasons for this, and I’ll outline them below.

If someone really wants our advice, they’ll ask us for it.
If someone is asking us for advice, that means they respect us. In turn, they’ll respect any advice we give them. People won’t place any value on advice unless they’ve sought it out, and even then they often won’t value the advice highly unless they’ve paid for it.

Giving unsolicited advice requires us to make some huge assumptions.
We should never assume anything. We all know the old adage: ASS-U-ME. Never assume, because it makes an ASS out of U and ME. When it comes to giving unsolicited advice and making assumptions, the only person we’re making an ASS of is ourself.

• The first assumption we make when we give unsolicited advice is that we have all the same information relating to the situation as the person we’re giving advice to. Wrong! They’ll always know more than us, and the information we don’t know could possibly change our opinion, and would probably change the advice we’d give them.
• The second assumption is that we have some key piece of missing information that they don’t have: information that would change their mind, resulting in a different action or decision on their part. In some rare circumstances this may even be true, but in those situations the important thing is how we deliver the information.
• The third assumption is that the advice we’re about to ram down the other person’s throat relates to a topic that’s a high priority for them. Just because something is important to us, doesn’t mean it’s important to everyone.

The best of intentions result in the worst of consequences.
Although we may have the best of intentions, when we give people unsolicited advice we just end up with the worst of consequences. We are viewed as argumentative, opinionated, conceited, or arrogant, when what we actually hoped to achieve is being viewed as kind, generous, and caring. We also need to be brutally honest with ourselves: are we giving advice from a place of pure motivations, or do we harbour a secret desire to show off our superior knowledge and feel better about ourself?

Before any of you say it, this entry is not unsolicited advice. I didn’t force you to read this. You got here, to this blog entry, through your own unfortunate set of circumstances; through the wrong combination of words typed into a search engine. Any advice or opinions posted on any website aren’t unsolicited: you choose to visit that page. If you don’t like the sites you’re visiting on the Internet, maybe you should eat your modem.

So in a nutshell, we should keep our traps shut unless specifically asked for our advice. When someone does ask for our advice, we should stick to what we know.

When it comes to giving advice, less is definitely more.

Every day for 4 years, I rode the tram featured in ‘Ben’. David and I were living in St. Kilda, Melbourne, and I commuted the 15 minutes to work in the city centre and back on the 96 tram.

Sadly, the aggressive female passenger with the personality disorder in the story actually exists, although her name is not Rhonda. During my 4 years of riding the tram, I witnessed her attack innocent bystanders, violently and causing great harm, on at least 6 occasions.

‘Rhonda’ needs extensive treatment as an in-patient at a psychiatric facility, however the Victorian Mental Health Act can’t cope with everyone: some people slip through the cracks.

She may be a monster, but she doesn’t mean to be. I’m certain that with extensive psychotherapy and medication, ‘Rhonda’ could be a good person, and a good friend to someone.

When disturbances such as these attacks happen on a tram, most people choose to ignore it and just stare out of their window. It made me wonder what they were seeing out there that nobody else saw: the action was inside the tram!

With that in mind, I created ‘Ben’… Monstrosity is just a matter of perspective.

Read ‘Ben’ here… http://brettkiellerop.com/ben

One particular day I was contemplating the consequences of using Will for anything other than pure, unselfish purposes.

Unless used for altruistic purposes, Will always has a sting in its tail. Take, for example, the Wiccan who performs spellwork for money. Using Will in this manner may yield results, however the results can be a mixed blessing. The spellcaster may find that a relative has passed away, leaving them an inheritance.

I don’t believe that people are either good or bad; I believe we all have good and bad inside us, and we have to learn to recognise the two opposing aspects of ourselves and choose which way to lean.

We’re all selfish and vain. Conversely, we’re all pure and like to give unconditionally. There can be no good without bad: how often do people give of themselves selflessly, purely because it makes them feel good. All that really matters is what we project, and how we choose to utilise our Will.

What turns someone ‘bad’? Are they born that way? Are they conditioned by society and their parents? Are they driven to it by abuse? How bad is ‘bad’? Is vain and self-centred bad? Is vengeful and angry bad?

How good is ‘good’? Is wanting to raise and nurture a child good? Is loving a child unconditionally good?

In ‘Growth Spurt’, I examine the thin line between ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Read ‘Growth Spurt’ here… http://brettkiellerop.com/growthspurt

I firmly believe in Will. I believe that each person has the ability to attract what they desire, and to make their wishes come true. I also believe that some people have stronger Will than others.

Will is the force of Spirit, one of the five elements of the Earth Religions, or Kū (‘Void’, ‘Sky’, or ‘Heaven’) if you believe in Japanese Philosophy. The other elements are Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water, and each element has it’s own force. Just like Will is the force of Spirit, the force of Fire is harnessed as solar energy, Earth provides geothermal energy, Water provides Hydropower, and Wind supplies us with Wind Energy.

When used for altruistic purposes, Will is a beautiful thing. Combining your personal Will with the Will of others also increases the Will exponentially, so that the sum of all the collective Wills is far greater than the individual parts. This is why collectives such as political parties, unions, movements, churches, and covens are able achieve such mammoth accomplishments. When used for base, self-centred purposes, such as personal gain or revenge, Will always manages to find a way to give you what you seek, but at a price.

All of the ancient religions, such as Buddhism and Paganism, have encapsulated or defined their own version of Will. It may be known under different names, but the concept is always the same. Wiccans use Will for spellwork, Pagans focus their Will through ritual Magick, and Buddhists know the outcome of their use of Will as Karma. Despite their differences, all these ancient religions acknowledge that the force must be used only for good or altruistic purposes, or else the practitioner will suffer undesirable consequences.

The forces of all five elements, including Will, are regulated and monitored by Nature and the Universe. Although Will can be focussed, combined, and channelled through rituals, every intentional act we perform or decision we make throughout the day invokes Will to some degree. Act wisely.

‘Spike Zone’ is the first story I ever wrote. It was conceived onboard a transatlantic crossing aboard Cunard’s Queen Mary 2.

The cruise was terrible! The shower in my cabin ran hot and cold (just like the bar staff), the television didn’t work at all (just like the housekeeping staff), the air-conditioning was hot (unlike the food), and the passengers were herded around the ship’s facilities and fattened up at the buffets like cattle.

However, the cruise wasn’t all bad. I met some amazing people and had a lot of laughs. Also, my treatment onboard the QM2 gave birth to ‘Spike Zone’! I woke up one morning to the regular annoying voice telling me where to go (for bingo that is… I couldn’t turn off the announcements in my cabin) with the germ of an idea for a short story.

I made my way to a lounge, being a rebel and walking against the flow of traffic, and sat with my macbook in a comfortable chair. In a few short hours, the first draft of ‘Spike Zone’ was completed. I was thrilled!

Click here to read ‘Spike Zone’… http://brettkiellerop.com/spikezone

Writing is my passion! Despite spending most of my working life as a total computer nerd, I’d always harboured a secret desire to become a writer. When I’d had an absolute gutful of working with computers at the age of 35, I decided to pursue my 2nd love of counselling and gained qualifications as a counsellor and a life coach. I loved the work, but something was missing. I wanted to be a writer!

When my partner, David, and I moved to the UK, it was the perfect opportunity to re-invent myself. My qualifications weren’t recognised in the UK, and I had vowed vehemently to never return to computers, so I started writing. I’m in the fortunate situation to have David bringing home the bacon (mock bacon of course… he’s a vegetarian), allowing me the time to write, develop my style, and discover my favourite genres.

This blog’s purpose is to give me an outlet for my rants, musings, and news. I’ll post my observations on life, my rants, backgrounds to my various writing projects, and any news relating to my quest to find a publisher. Feedback on my stories, rants, and musings are always welcome, either through this blog (just log in with your Facebook account) or through Facebook. I love hearing from you guys!