This is the web site of Rob Beattie, computer journalist, entertainment writer and author of books about camping, fishing and boating. I’ve written 11 books on subjects as varied as Windows Vista and Office 2007 to family camping, boating for beginners, traditional D-I-Y, home science, making movies and Ray Mears-style outdoors survival; I’ve also written thousands of articles for magazines and newspapers on home computing, music, film and general entertainment.

Meantime, let me commend my three latest ventures - The Boating Handbook, The Office 2007 Handbook and 101 Golden Rules of Fishing. The first is for anyone who has ever wondered what it would be like to muck about in a boat whether it's on a canal, a lake or even the open sea. It tells you about the different kinds of boat, where you can buy them and what to look for. It tells you how to stay safe on the water and explains what to do in an emergency - and there's plenty of fun too, including ideas for things to do on board, how to run a galley kitchen, cooking delicious meals on a tiny stove, getting along ith your crew mates or handling going solo. Dinghy Magazine called it "...a perfect training tool for you to look through before you even get in a boat." The second is an easy-to-follow workshop-based book that walks you through all of the major programs in Microsoft Office 2007, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook. The third has been praised by Go Fishing's John Wilson and Waterlog magazine said: "This great little book will appeal to most anglers."

If you'd like to know more about anything I've written - or would like me to write something for you - get in touch using the e-mail link at the bottom or by filling in the form on the Contacts page. Oh, the link below is to Joss Whedon's new Internet musical and since I watched it for free, I don't mind giving it a little plug.