“That is Banteay Srei, ma’am. The Citadel of Women.” Soun was still staring at her. Where the whites of his eyes should have been was a brownish color instead, as if he had been steeped in strong tea as a baby and never lost the effect of it over the visible parts of his body. [...]
February 3, 2008
Categories: avian influenza, bird flu, fiction, life, public health . Tags: bird flu, fiction, medical thriller . Author: tmacphail . Comments: No Comments
PART ONE - TRANSMISSION
Chapter One
Siem Reap, Cambodia – early April, 2010
The taste of it was in Myriam’s mouth – gritty like a mouthful of wet dirt, sharp like the crackle of dead leaves on the jungle floor, wet like the moisture from a steam-bath with its droplets of water dripping from the ceiling. Absurdly large, [...]
January 26, 2008
Categories: avian influenza, bird flu, fiction, life, novel, writing . Tags: avian influenza, bird flu, fiction, life, medical thrillers, novel, writing . Author: tmacphail . Comments: 2 Comments
PROLOGUE - GENESIS
Tay Ninh, Vietnam – February, 2010
I like the southern delta of Vietnam. It is sweltering, with air so humid that if I were a snake, I might stick out my tongue just to taste the musty, earthy water it contains. The vegetation is dense and rich and everywhere that the humans [...]
January 19, 2008
Categories: avian influenza, bird flu, fiction, life, travel, writing . Tags: avian influenza, bird flu, epidemic, fiction, pandemic, thriller, writing . Author: tmacphail . Comments: 1 Comment
I just put the finishing touches on my article for Language and Politics, an academic journal which is publishing a special issue on avian flu. This afternoon, I sent it off to the editor, two days ahead of schedule. So, in other words, I’m feeling pretty good and largely carefree right now.
The article is entitled, [...]
August 16, 2007
Categories: avain influenza, bird flu, politics, public health . Tags: academia, bird flu, China, disease, paper writing, politics . Author: tmacphail . Comments: 2 Comments
I’ve been asked to write an article on the political language of bird flu, specifically as it relates to the recent battles over viral samples from China and Indonesia. I’ll be focusing upon China, and discussing how public health is pretty much synonymous with politics these days. Basically, everything about global public health as it [...]
July 5, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Tags: academia, bird flu, China, disease, paper writing . Author: tmacphail . Comments: 2 Comments
I take it back. There is disease news to disseminate from the road.
Officials in China have confirmed that the microbe causing the mysterious epidemic in Guangdong, in which 300 pigs have died, has been identified. According to the Xin Hua news agency, it’s apparently a common pig illness called ‘blue-eared pig disease’. The People’s Daily [...]
May 18, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Tags: bird flu, China, disease, pig flu, politics, Uncategorized . Author: tmacphail . Comments: 1 Comment
My novel’s main character is a virus itself - a new strain of avian influenza that makes its debut in a small village in Vietnam. Like the American movie Crash, the story follows the virus as it travels first to Hong Kong and then to the United States. Like a ricocheting bullet, the virus affects [...]
May 15, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Tags: bird flu, China, disease, fiction, Hong Kong, medical thriller . Author: tmacphail . Comments: No Comments
The New York Times reported last week that an epidemic was killing pigs across the border from Hong Kong in mainland China, in two areas in Guangdong province.
This is ironic because this is the year of the pig in China, and the mystery disease allegedly began to surface immediately after the New Year celebrations. I’m [...]
May 14, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Tags: bird flu, China, disease, Hong Kong, politics, rumor, Uncategorized . Author: tmacphail . Comments: 3 Comments
Hong Kong is rainy this time of year. . . .
Well, I’m back from Hong Kong. After living there for nearly 3 years, you would think that I would be able to remember what the weather is like in summer. Luckily, I packed an umbrella, because we definitely needed it. It rained everyday. Actually, rained is a pleasant way of putting it for some of [...]
June 17, 2008
Categories: Uncategorized . Tags: Add new tag, avian influenza, bird flu, commentary, Hong Kong, travel . Author: tmacphail . Comments: 1 Comment