Myanmar is one of the richest countries in the world in gems.  Most of the rubies in circulation have come from there.  They also possess sapphires and, of course, jade.  Jade has always been prized in Asia and Myanmar has tons of it.  Here’s an investigative story about the jade smuggling in SE Asia:  https://www.globalwitness.org/jade-story/

It’s fascinating and scary at the same time for these reasons:

1.  Myanmar has been closed to the world for over 50 years.  It’s been run by a brutal military regime that has one of the worst human rights records of any country.  They’ve suppressed the Nobel prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi for years by putting in house arrest.  The investigative story traces how many of the leading generals and politicians are still raking in fortunes through illegal jade smuggling.
2. In the past few years, the regime has indicated their willingness to open to the world.  Tourism and business have been welcomed.  The generals insist that they are relaxing their brutal control and even allowing free elections in the near future.  But are they really?  This investigation points out that the jade smuggling in SE Asia is so corrupt and involves so much money, the government can’t possibly let go of it—and the human rights violations that go with the smuggling.
3. The U.S. has opened diplomatic ties with Myanmar in the hopes of providing a dam against the Chinese hegemony in the region.  But who are we really supporting there?  Aren’t we still supporting the corrupt and greedy generals who have run the country into the ground for years?
4. The main region where the jade is found comes from the Kachin area, occupied for centuries by the Kachin people.  The generals have been at war with these people (who are also citizens of Myanmar) for years.  They continue to battle for many things, including the jade trade and all the money the generals are stealing from the Kachin people.
5. I visited there about two years ago.  Although I didn’t travel into the Katchin area, we spent a lot of time in the middle of the country.  It’s filled with wonderful people who like Americans.  Luckily, I didn’t have any trouble with the government—they want tourists so they left us alone. Nor did we find any jade!

The post The Truth About Jade Smuggling in SE Asia appeared first on Colin T. Nelson.

Myanmar, ruled by a corrupt military junta since 1962, and embroiled in one of the longest-running civil wars in history, finally opens its borders for limited business and tourism in 2011.  The US Export/Import Bank, anxious to leverage trade agreements into democratic reforms, tasks an American finance expert to open doors there.

She vanished without a trace.

Investigator, Pete Chandler, dispatched by her panicked congressman father, is on a mission to find her and bring her home.  Chandler travels up the Irrawaddy River and charges into the heart of darkness of corrupt government, dictatorial generals, criminal network—and the fight of his life.

Up Like Thunder can be found in bookstores and at the following sites:

Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=colin+nelson

Barnes & Noble  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/colin-nelson?store=book&keyword=colin+nelson

Kobo  https://store.kobobooks.com/search?Query=colin+nelson

I think you’ll like it!!

The post “Up Like Thunder”–My New Book! appeared first on Colin T. Nelson.

To make the settings as real and accurate as possible, it’s important to actually go there.  It’s possible to get street names, for instance, from Google.  But not possible to get a feel for the location unless I actually walk down the street and smell the local food cooking.

The country of Myanmar (Burma) is located in SE Asia.  Because of a brutal and dictatorial military regime, Myanmar has been closed to the outside world for over 50 years.  In the fall of 2013, the generals had opened the country, slightly, to Western business and tourism.  I jumped at the chance to go.  I’m in the process of finishing a new book set in Myanmar.  It’s a mystery set among the mysteries in Myanmar.

How did the trip help my writing?  Here’s some examples:

1.  There are more Buddhist shrines, called pagodas, in Myanmar than any other country in SE Asia.  When I came in by plane, the jungled landscape was dotted all over by golden domes.  They poke up out of the carpet of green and glisten in the sun.

In the story, it’s ironic that a Buddhist country (it’s the official religion) which emphasizes peace and pacifism in many aspects of life, should be run by a brutal, unforgiving group of generals who kill all their opposition.  I was able to bring in that difference—which creates a mystery in itself.

2.  Right underneath the practice of Buddhism, there is a layer of magic, numerology, and animism throughout the entire culture.  Many people quietly worship something called, Naturals or Nats.  These are humans who have died violent deaths but come back and are thought to intercede in the living peoples’ lives.  Here’s statute of one of the Naturals.

This is also a deep-seated mystery about the country that I was able to include in the book.  Not only is the story itself a mystery, but there are the mysterious Nats that seem to have such a profound effect on people there.

3.  The type of Buddhism practiced in Myanmar involves reincarnation—the idea that through good works a person can come back in a better state than their present life.  This leads, I believe, to fatalism.  People accept the difficulties and brutality of the government, hoping for a better life in the future.  Although there have been democracy uprisings in Myanmar, the people seem to be more passive than in Western countries.  That worked its way into my book when the hero meets and works with a cop from Myanmar.  Their ways of solving the mystery are totally different.

The story I’m working on is about an American woman who is in Myanmar auditing the books of a timber company for the U.S Government. When she suddenly disappears, an American investigator Pete Chandler, is assigned to find and rescue her.  When he gets to Myanmar, he discovers that not only is she missing, but her boyfriend has been brutally murdered.  Pete will encounter mystery upon mystery as he travels up the main river into the heart of darkness in Myanmar.

I’m hoping the book will be out this spring.  Watch for it!!

The post Mysteries in Myanmar appeared first on Colin T. Nelson.