What is ‘Wasteland’ about?  Here’s the blurb on the virtual ‘back cover’ of the book:

“Ryan is a cog in a corporate consultancy based in Montreal, Quebec. One day the steel doors of his office building’s elevator open up to reveal that his workplace has been completely transformed into a desert wasteland. Over the next few weeks he strives to reconcile the desolate vista that surrounds him at work with his seemingly untouched personal life, until events in each environment begin to intersect in ways he could never have predicted. Ryan must then negotiate both the sands that surround him and the intricacies of human relationships in order to save the life of a friend.”

When I started writing ‘Wasteland’ I was in a fairly dark place in terms of my future outlook on life.  I was much younger than I am today, working for the federal government, and I felt like just another replaceable piece of a much larger machine whose purpose was obscure but definitely had nothing to do with my well-being.  It took several years, but I eventually escaped the nine-to-five world and built a career as a freelance writer.  It was then that I found the strength to pick up the ‘Wasteland’ manuscript once again and pour my heart out onto its pages, bringing to life the isolation that had seeped into seemingly every aspect of my existence during that period.

Why did I choose to publish via Amazon.com?  In a word, access.  E-books are the future of the publishing industry, and the Amazon.com Kindle platform gives me the ability to reach millions of potential readers who either own a physical Kindle e-reader device or who have downloaded one of the free Kindle apps that allow you to read e-books on almost any device – phones, tablets, iPads, PCs and Macs.  That’s right – you don’t need to own a Kindle to purchase and read Kindle books, you can just download a free application in seconds.  I eventually plan to offer the book via other online platforms such as Barnes and Noble (the Nook and the Nook app).

Writing this book was something I could not have accomplished without the support of my friends and family, and the professional expertise of my editor Patrick Lavery and illustrator Angela Hodge.  I intend to continue to document my foray into the world of e-book publishing and promotion via my blog to give you a glimpse behind the scenes at what this new and rapidly-growing form of media distribution is all about.

Oh, and by all means – if you haven’t already (and I thank you if you have) – please feel free to buy a copy of my book at the following link:

Purchase ‘Wasteland’ by Benjamin Hunting at Amazon.com.

I find it absurd beyond belief that the FCC allows this type of visual image to be presented so casually in a program yet has an absolute fit when Janet Jackson briefly flashes a nipple during the Super Bowl. The fact that an incredibly violent act against a woman is treated so casually as to be background dressing for a standard cop show yet a millisecond of nudity results in hefty fines, apologies and a major decency crisis is incredible.

What kind of a message does this send to viewers? What kind of an attitude does this indicate with respect to the treatment of women? It is hard to imagine a world where advertisers line up to book time on a highly rated drama that features sexually mutilated corpses yet run for cover at the slightest suggestion of unintended nudity or sexuality. Yet this is the reality that is television, where even hardcore violence has filtered down to become yet another consumable to be processed by our couch-bound brains.

It may sound as though I am arguing against myself – railing both for and against censorship in order to tailor the content of what is broadcast to suit my personal tastes. That is not my intention. My aim is to ask you to ask yourself, what exactly do you, personally, find entertaining about absorbing such brutal and violent images? What do programs that feature these motifs bring to your life? And finally, what effect do you think being bombarded with ultra-violence has had on your perceptions of the world around you?

While these efforts are to be applauded – and don’t worry, companies like McDonalds and Taco Bell are getting the maximum publicity mileage out of each effort, no matter how small – there remains a significant source of pollution, waste and disregard for our planet that has yet to be addressed by any of the major players in the burger, fries and shake industry.

I’m talking about drive-thrus. The next time you stop by Wendy’s for a mid-day snack, count how many cars you see there just sitting, idling in line waiting for their food. Have you ever considered just how colossal a waste this is? I’m not going to lie – drive-thrus are convenient, especially when it’s cold or late at night and you just want to grab something quickly. But I’m having more and more of an issue with the idea of sitting in my car burning fuel and spewing out emissions just because I am too lazy to park and order from the counter inside.

Burger King & co might make ecologically-friendly overtures in the form of charitable donations and altered business practices, but in the one area where they could make a huge dent in global greenhouse gas emissions and take a strong leadership role when it comes to changing the habits of North American consumers, they have faltered.

The clean choice is clear – and it’s also the hardest choice. It’s obvious that a substantial percentage of profits are derived from drive-thru business, and if one chain were to shut down its windows they would lose customers to those who would forge ahead with the status quo. However, being the first also tends to have intangible benefits which could positively affect the bottom line further down the road, and the possibility of a strong consumer response could sway competitors to follow those brave enough to set an example.

Can our car culture divorce itself from the ‘need’ for drive-thru fast food service? What do you think?