Book in a Bottle Project
Dreams of Gold is a comic novel about how the London 2012 Olympic Games were saved from the bizarre plans of a crazed dictator by a motley crew of international athletes, a minor Welsh poet and an English butler.
My name is Jonathan Chamberlain and I’m the author. I’m launching this ‘Book in a Bottle’ project as part of the general celebrations surrounding the coming Olympic Games.
In the old days, people would put messages in bottles and throw them into the sea in the hope that someone somewhere far off would read the message and respond. That’s what I’m doing. I am going to launch three books on long journeys. Obviously books don’t fit into bottles so it might be better to describe it as a ‘Book in a Packet’ project – but I think Book in a Bottle has more resonance.
The plan is to send the three books to three friends with a letter asking them to read the book, log a response, and then send it on to another friend (living at least 30 miles away) where the process will (hopefully) be repeated. What I want is to see where these three books go. I’m hoping we will be able to follow the books as they traverse the world, following the random currents of personal connections.
This project is a personal contribution to the national celebrations surrounding the London 2012 Olympic Games. Lord Coe has expressed himself ‘flattered’ that there is a Lord Coe character in the book. Other famous names who play cameo roles are: Tom Jones, Charlotte Church and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Top Amazon reviewers have said:
“The back cover describes Dreams of Gold as P G Wodehouse meets Tom Sharpe with a dash of Spike Milligan. Personally I would say there was a little Douglas Adams and a smidgen of Terry Pratchett in the mix too… It is one thing to write a page or two of witty and entertaining dialogue, but quite another to keep the ideas flowing for the duration of a book. This story is entertaining and amusing throughout, and at times extremely funny…. The characters were eccentric and memorable and anyone who reads this is not going to forget the likes of Anna, Solomon, Yoshi and Toshi and Jeremiah in a hurry.” – Brett H. (Amazon ‘Top 50’ reviewer)
“A funny take on the 2012 Olympics that does have you in stitches at times. Our youngest, 10, had a read and he enjoyed it…. The characters are all so well described, some you can see as being ‘real’” – C.A.D. (Amazon ‘Top 100’ reviewer)
“Firstly, one of the most appealing aspects of this novel for me was the writing style. The plot flows very well and there’s no unnecessary waffle, everything is straight to the point which I liked…, characters are well developed and you immediately understand their little quirks and character traits. Some of their back stories are very witty and made me want to learn more about them.” – Nicola F. (Amazon ‘Top 500’ reviewer)
“From meeting all these strange competitors we are on a roller-coaster ride of ridiculous hilarity,” – A Rose (Amazon ‘Top 500’ reviewer)
Other books I have written:
Whitebait & Tofu – sexy noir suspense thriller. Photographer gets caught up in a Japanese conspiracy. A taut as haiku tale of love and sex and death.
Alphabet of Vietnam – thoughtful, complex narrative exploring the consequences of war and the intersecting of love and violence.
Wordjazz for Stevie – personal memoir of how my life was transformed by my beautiful but profoundly disabled daughter
King Hui – Peter was a playboy, kungfu fighter, wartime Japanese collaborator, peacetime CIA spy, would-be criminal mastermind and a great deal more. He once owned all the opium in Hong Kong. One day he stopped me in the street and told me I had to write his life story – so I did. This is a true story. It is also a story of Hong Kong from the perspective of the streets.
Chinese Gods – a personal exploration of the folk religion that informs the thinking of over a billion Chinese people
The Cancer Survivor’s Bible – everything that everyone should know about how to live longer and feel better in the face of cancer.
In addition to my writing, I have founded two charities for families with children having developmental and intellectual disabilities – one in Hong Kong and one in China.
I have the following websites and blogs
In Praise of Older Books – www.2ndhandbooklover.wordpress.com
Fighting Cancer - www.fightingcancer.com
Cancerfighter’s Weblog – www.cancerfighter.wordpress.com
