Hi all,
I lost my previous username for the forum but my name is Tim and I have recently published a novel about Cambodia that I would like to pump up here. This book I believe is very relevant today as Cambodia gets ready for another contentious election season which has already featured the arrest of a main opposition leader, the closing of NGOs, and the curtailment of press rights. I don't take a stance on any of these issues, but the book deals in many of them. Below is the backjacket blurb:

In a subterranean bunker in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, members of a secret government organization--Angkor--meet to discuss how the ruling regime can maintain their loosening grip on power with national elections on the horizon.

At the same time, a major anti-immigration rally in front of Phnom Penh’s Vietnamese market is scheduled to take place, and American journalist Alex Speransky is desperate for a major scoop to reinvigorate his stagnant career.

When Alex receives word that a terrorist attack has been planned for the demonstration that evening, he thinks he has hit the jackpot. But Angkor is also aware of Alex, and they are aware that he is in love with a beautiful Khmer woman named Kimheng. With the clock ticking, Alex will have to choose whether his goal of becoming a famous correspondent is more important than the lives of countless Cambodians, including the woman who has stolen his heart.

Taking place over the course of a single day, Midnight in Cambodia takes the reader on a journey through modern Cambodia: its markets and food, the countryside, and the litany of social and political problems that can be traced to a past as dark and tragic as anywhere in the world.

Midnight in Cambodia has been published by The Invisible Man Press in New York and is available on Amazon as an e-book and paperback at the link below. You can read the first chapter there. The e-book is $4.99.

If you would like to grab a paperback copy in Cambodia, there will be an official release on September 13th at the Plantation Resort & Spa on St. 184, by the Royal Palace. This event, hosted by the Literati Society of Phnom Penh, will begin at 7pm and discounted copies of the book will be sold. There are also drink specials available at the bar. If you can't make the Plantation event and want to get a copy, I gave 15 copies to the Riverside book seller by KWest Restaurant. You can give her some business if you'd like.

I don't like self-promotion but the marketing of this thing has been left to me and I truly think the expat community will appreciate this book because it fills a literary gap for Cambodia based novels. The BISAC categories are: fiction, political, thriller.





https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1887681418/

Tim

thanks;
any previous books or is this your first??
how long were u in Cambodia?

There is a non-fiction, political theory book to my name but this is my first attempt at fiction. I've lived in Cambodia since 2012, with a one year gap in between where I went home.

@ Tim I thought your book looked interesting, but then I saw that you also wrote this article*, right ? I'm quite intrigued.
My reaction to this article is that we all come across as idiots - Khmers and foreigners both - as if we are all too dumb to deal with discussion and we can not deal with differences of opinion.
From [Upcoming elections]
Decision 2017 – should we be worried, and what can we do?
Posted on June 2, 2017 by Tim LaRocco

I wouldn’t recommend a single, white female to wander around Stueng Mean Chey when the sun goes down and, likewise, there are certain steps–common sense steps–we can all take to avoid potential hot spots during election season:

1) If you’re a foreigner, avoid talking about politics with Cambodians. It is not our place to speak about Cambodian politics, and certainly not in public; it makes people very uncomfortable. For example, my Khmer landlady is one of these inimitable elder Cambodians who can never go without a smile, despite what they have probably seen in their lives. And yet, when a political topic came up unexpectedly one time in her presence, her smile quickly transitioned into a scowl of the most aesthetic objection imaginable, as if she had never been privy to a conversation so offensively incongruous.

Political arguments have ended friendships of mine back in my home country. However, it is our civil right to debate and engage in political discourse in (most) of our home countries in the West.

Here, we are living in a Third World, quasi-dictatorship, and we should be cognizant of the fact that we have little to no rights here. I do not discuss the corruption, land grabbing, logging, or any of the other litany of sociopolitical issues associated with the ruling party out in the open. Nor do I bring up the outrageous xenophobic sentiments occasionally expressed by members and supporters of the opposition, statements that many in the West would find totally repugnant and condemnable. Living here for awhile teaches you to bite your tongue and save face.

I do agree with you that foreigners shouldn't assume that Cambodians have the same worldview as a westerner, but I don't agree that Cambodians are too stupid or too delicate to discuss things like politics, logging, land-grabbing and corruption. I am talking about having an adult discussion, not telling people what they should be thinking or how they should behave.

I do not discuss the corruption, land grabbing, logging, or any of the other litany of sociopolitical issues associated with the ruling party out in the open. Nor do I bring up the outrageous xenophobic sentiments occasionally expressed by members and supporters of the opposition

If they are up for it, I do discuss the abuses of the party in power with Cambodians I know, as much as I question xenophobic remarks from my Khmer friends, but of course I don't speak to strangers in the same way as I speak to friends. Like everywhere. And I would avoid discussing politics with my landlady (anywhere, ever).
As a conclusion, I'm looking forward to reading your book, but I really hate your article - too preachy for me
*article from TOF a few months back

Sounds like some Dan Brown level bollocks but good luck to you anyhow. Nothing happens in a day in this country.