Running Contra Diction

Ed is an adrenalin junkie who has spent years travelling the world in search of the next rush. But whether he is snowboarding off the side of an Austrian mountain or white-water rafting down treacherous rivers in Nepal, he is constantly haunted by a deep sense of emptiness.

Spurred on by the notion that peace of mind must be just around the corner, he heads to Ireland for the simple reason that he has been everywhere else and arrives at a beach as far west as he can go. It's just another dead-end.

Despairing on the sand he is approached by a stranger who hints at the truth Ed has been searching for and encourages him to stay on for the Winter. But the stranger keeps the biggest secret of all for the Spring.

In "Running Contra Diction" Matt Padwick tackles the big issues of life with a wry sense of humour and paints an intimate and colourful portrait of the manic existence of an adrenalin addict.

The novel is inspired by his own experience of leaving university none-the-wiser and spending a decade travelling the world before arriving at a Tibetan Buddhist meditation retreat centre on the Beara Peninsula in south-west Ireland where he surprised everyone (mostly himself) by entering a two-year closed retreat. After the retreat he joined the staff and then managed the centre for ten years until 2013.