My blogs

  • Matt Johnson Book review – Shell shock; The Diary of Tommy Atkins

    Shell Shock by Neil Blower Published by Firestep Press £1 from each sale is donated to the UK Military PTSD charity, Combat Stress.   oh, but it’s Tommy this and Tommy that and ‘Chuck him out, the brute.’ But it’s ‘saviour of his country’ when the guns begin to shoot. Rudyard Kipling 1892. ‘Tommy Atkins’ is… Read more

  • Reviewers to the Slaughter

    Following my recent blog on how books are appearing in best-seller listings following the purchase and mutual exchange of good reviews, this article by Mercia McMahon is another example of how people are even forming review groups to promote each others work. Such reviews con the genuine reader and, long-term the writer/author is only fooling… Read more

  • PTSD – how writing worked for me by Matt Johnson

    It has quite surprised me how many people are now trying out writing as a contributory means to help treat PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder. Questions levelled at me, as to how writing helped me, have prompted me to repeat this post, which I originally published last year. PTSD – the chemistry In examining PTSD, one… Read more

  • Oscar Pistorius – guilty as hell

    I have, like many people, been following the developments and questioning in the Pistorius trial. Several times, I have asked myself and discussed with friends why we find it so gripping. In my opinion, its not simply a case of celebrity fascination. We are not watching the trial because Oscar is well-known, we are watching… Read more

  • Murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher – 30th Anniversary – Matt Johnson

    Today is the 30th anniversary of one of the worst days I have ever experienced. It is a day when a friend and colleague was shot to death. 30 years on, despite the identity of the killer being known, he remains a free man. On 17th April 1984 I was a 27 year old advanced car… Read more

  • Follow Your Destiny

    Originally posted on Front Porch Politics: There comes a time in your life when you realize that if you stand still, you will remain at this point forever. You realize that if you fall down and stay down, life will pass you by. Life’s circumstances are not always what you might like. The pattern of… Read more