Island hop through Oceania with veteran reporter Graeme Kennedy. Visit Samoa and American Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Niue, and Wallis & Futuna in this eagerly awaited, expanded, and newly illustrated FULL COLOUR edition of Volumes One and Two of his best-selling "New Tales of the South Pacific." This enhanced collection of beautifully written short stories is based on an intriguing cast of characters and their triumphant and tragic experiences. It has been expanded to feature a special new Tale, "The Adventurer," in which Kennedy pays tribute to an old and dear friend, John William Fox Walton. In yet another, he takes a short look at a few bits of uniqueness on the coral island of Niue. There is another, gritty side to the Pacific Kennedy has come to know well - a side away from the five-star resorts - where the realities of life make dreams fragile. Volume 1 begins with a brief history of the Oceania region; then moves on to highlight some of the varied cultures that have made the South Pacific their home; Kennedy uses some very personal vignettes to showcase a few familiar character types. The highlight of Volume 2 is the life story of the Queen of the South Seas, the legendary Aggie Grey, who was once thought to have been Michener's model for his outrageous character, Bloody Mary. "More New Tales of the South Pacific" includes stories of black humour, despair in the happiest of Pacific Islands, and the bittersweet end of life for two persons who, like Robert Louis Stevenson, go to Samoa to die. Reminiscent of the great Louis Becke, "More New Tales of the South Pacific" is Kennedy at his best.

Come island hop with me through the Samoas to the Cooks, Tonga, and Niue - and on to the many French Pacific possessions including remote Wallis and Futuna. I have found after almost 40 years of travel through these islands that a great sense of pride and acceptance of newcomers continues to be expressed by the local populations to those who make the effort to become a part of their beautiful world. The expats who live here continue to work in lands they no longer call foreign. Many marry locals, most drink in the downtown bars, and they all tell their stories. Yes, their stories - hilarious, heart-breaking, or thought-provoking - it is difficult to know where fact ends and fiction begins, but all are unforgettable and all are true to the raconteur.

A featured book at the 2012 Frankfurt Book Fair. The eagerly awaited Volume Two of Graeme Kennedy's best-selling New Tales of the South Pacific offers another collection of beautifully written short stories based on characters and their triumphant and tragic experiences in a region many believe to be Paradise. But there is another, gritty side to the Pacific Kennedy has come to know well - a side away from the five-star resorts, where the reality of life makes dreams fragile. Beginning with the life story of the Queen of the South Seas, the legendary Aggie Grey, who was thought to have been Michener's model for his outrageous character, Bloody Mary, New Tales includes stories of black humour, despair in the happiest of Pacific Islands, and the bittersweet ends of two lives of persons who, like Robert Louis Stevenson, go to Samoa to die. Reminiscent of the great Louis Becke, New Tales of the South Pacific - Volume Two is Kennedy at his best.

An Amazon 'Best Seller' in several categories and a featured book in the New Zealand Guest of Honour pavillion at the 2012 Frankfurt Book Fair. A beautifully written collection of tales with legends and locals - fiction hilarious and tragic but always thought-provoking to depict the reality of South Pacific island life: Paradise NOT. Beginning with an historic overview of Polynesia, a former NZ newspaperman brings a completely different point of view. New Tales of the South Pacific ranges from pristine lagoons to sleazy bars with characters to match, challenging readers' perceptions of the vast region many think of as Paradise. Scroll up... and click on "Buy Now," visit our CreateSpace e-Store, or select the Kindle edition to deliver a copy almost instantly to your Kindle or other reading device. For resellers' prices, please contact publisher, [email protected], for discount codes.

A QR Code primer

A 'starter kit' of information and application ideas for your use as we enter the new dimension of QR Codes.

The reality of QR Codes is that they are matrix type codes (much like the barcodes in universal use today) primarily designed to be scanned by a mobile device. They were developed to accomplish four primary goals:
*To provide immediate connectivity
*To enable fast, multi-directional scanning
*To provide high capacity storage within a small area
*To put unlimited portable information at your fingertips

The magic comes in as we get our heads - and imaginations - around this new technological paradigm; it seems that the virtual magic of this immediate interactive connectivity - held in the palm of our hands - has no limits; once we enter, it goes on and on and on . . .

Take a look at the staggering potential for use in applications ranging from Mobile Marketing to Education and Entertainment, as well as into the worlds of Culture and Fashion as mobile phones and other hand-held devices proliferate globally. Get in on the ground floor with this handbook of practical information, resources, and applications - for fast and easy entry into this new dimension.