An Email

Just received a nice email: 
Dear Shaun,
I read your book, ''Hard Time''. It was an inspiration to me to keep on fighting. I have serious health problems, and I have reached a point where I have seriously considered suicide on many occasions. I have chronic pain, and doctors seem to have no way to heal me, or they flat out do not care. Regardless, thank you for sharing your experiences with me and making my pain a little less. I am now going to read ''Party Time'' and ''Prison Time''.
The best part of your book was the fact that you did not try to be politically correct, but shared what you were really feeling, instead of what others want to hear.
Once again, thanks for making my miserable condition better, even if it is only for a few hours!

BOOK DONATION - MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Thanks to your book purchases, I've managed to raise enough money to donate 5,000 books to kids in state schools and prisoners. This increases the total donation over three years to 20,000 books. While in prison, kind people from all over the world sent me books. Reading became the lifeblood of my rehabilitation. #karma

NEW BOOKS

Next year I aim to publish these books:
Party Time New Edition
Pablo Escobar's Story
We Are Being Lied To: The War On Drugs
The War Against Weed
Two Tonys

Link to all of my books

VIDEOS

My latest videos and prison questions answered at my YouTube channel.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Dec 10 Manchester Pablo Escobar talk: Further info and tickets

Dec 17 Manchester Surviving Deadly USA Jail  talk: Further info and tickets

Dec 18 London Pablo Escobar talk: Further info and tickets

Jan 15: Manchester Pablo Escobar talk: Further info and tickets

Jan 16: Manchester Life Lessons From USA's Deadliest Jails: Further info and tickets

Have a great holiday season everyone!
Here's what I wrote from prison at Christmas.
Cheers from London!
Shaun Attwood

From T-Bone (Letter 70)

T-Bone is a massively-built spiritual ex-Marine, who uses fighting skills to stop prison rape. T-Bone’s latest letter from Arizona prison:

Can you imagine how dangerous it is for guys who steal in this place? But there’s always those who think they can do whatever. This jerk came into my cell and tried to steal my stamps and toothpaste and even my shoes. I threw him out by the back of the neck.


Now this is where it gets crazy: he went to the next door down and took another guys ID. He went to the inmate store and got the guy’s store order, came back to the building and tried to act like he did nothing wrong. Well, the guy next door found out what he had done and almost the whole yard wanted to kill him. They wanted his ass anyway.

I told the guy he stole from to let him go. They took the guy to the service centre, and then off the yard. Man, there are some crazy people in these places, who always do things that show they need help, but the system is designed to warehouse instead of helping people to change. We are the difference makers. The old me would have kicked the crap out of him, but now I see how we are influenced to think negatively, by evil, that kind of thinking becomes a culture, and it’s time to break the cycle.




Shaun Attwood  

After Prison Show Interview


Just did a podcast with Joe Guerrero (video above). I first recognised Joe's amazing ability to tell a story when he wrote to me in 2014 about getting pee tested in prison. Since his release 2 years ago, Joe has inspired prisoners and young people across the world by his meteoric rise on YouTube, where he now stars in the After Prison Show, which has over half a million subscribers. You can watch his videos here.

1: Prison Horror Story: A Sex Change Op

From T-Bone (Letter 69)

T-Bone is a massively-built spiritual ex-Marine, who uses fighting skills to stop prison rape. T-Bone’s latest letter from Arizona prison:

I’ve been having to keep cool because of this youngster named King. There are people who you can get into it with and you deal with them and they hit you and it’s over, and then there’s those who one has to hurt severely or maybe even leave to die. You have to make a choice to either walk away so that he you go home or take it to a very dark place.


This guy King is really asking for trouble in the worst way. He is serving all day [life] and has the attitude of one who says he has nothing to lose, and wants everyone to be afraid of him in this environment, but there are those who don’t leave. It’s very serious. This guy is a real asshole. He talks to people all the time like he doesn’t bleed. But I know how things are gonna work or be with this guy: he is going get hurt very badly or even worse because he won’t stop opening the door to evil. He doesn’t understand how things work, and man can it get ugly in this place! You know me and you can see and hear how serious it is.

I stopped a guy from going after him the other day and he doesn’t get it. He keeps being disrespectful to people and it’s because he’s angry at himself because he has a lot of time to do. It’s a real dangerous situation. This guy has nothing to lose. Well, as you know, I am trusting in God for help and I do know that I must make the right decision.

Each one
Teach one
Strength and Honor
Steel Embrace

T-Bone





Shaun Attwood  

Shaun Attwood Interview

Email from a Guard

I received this heartwarming email from an officer who read Hard Time and now relates to prisoners in a more positive way:

I am a judicial marshal for the state of Connecticut in the US far north of where you spent you time over here. Unlike most other states we work for the court house and are in charge of safety for the court house and transport from jails and prisons for court dates. We don't work for the jails/prisons or a police force we just deal with the court house. I came across hard time last week on Amazon and I read it in two days. As soon as I was done I had to buy prison time to finish your story. I must say it's an absolute nightmare but it's crazy intriguing and I just can't put it down. Within a week I will have both done and then play catch up and read party time. I started my job when I was 19 and thankfully I got taken under the wing of a few senior marshals that had great heads on their shoulders and aren't the type to fight everyday. I don't work in a prison or jail but I deal with inmates on a daily basis on my transport truck. Reading your book it makes me sick how some of the officers you deal with treated people. I understand that yes some on the people I deal with are 100% monsters but most are people who made mistakes or people who didn't have family structure to help guild them through a life without crime. I also understand that I am one mistake away from ending up right where they are. I made mistakes as a kid with drugs and minor criminal activity and had to spend a few nights in lockup because of it. I just want you to know that I read your book and now understand the mindset of someone who is locked up a little bit better. I also hope I know understand enough to maybe offer a kind word rather then a quick smart ass remark. We aren't all bad some of us do care. I know you don't think we are all bad but I just wanted to tell you that your book will help me interact with inmates on a much deeper level. Also most of the reading was done in a lock up and I was sharing stories with co-workers in hopes they will read your books a well. My goal of to keep everyone safe and go home to my wife and son at the end of the day. I would love to tell you we are all good people but we both know that's a lie lol. I definitely work with assholes who want to fight to prove that  they are tough but in the grand scheme that means nothing. Attacking an inmate when it's 5 on 1 makes you a coward not a tough guy.

Thank you for writing your journey through blogs and books.

Keep up the good work.

From T-Bone (Letter 68)

T-Bone is a massively-built spiritual ex-Marine, who uses fighting skills to stop prison rape. T-Bone’s latest letter from Arizona prison:

I had to write this letter even though these people are reading my mail to you. So check this out, as you know, there’s a serious drug problem in places like this. How crazy people get from and for it, especially Spice. That is some nasty stuff! They make the chemicals in China. I swear it has sexual chemicals sprayed on it. The prisoners smoke it. Well, they have a prison channel and they play this infomercial 24 hours a day about “The Dangers of Spice,” but it doesn’t make a difference to people who want to sell it and smoke it.

T-Bone

This guy by the name of L got to smoking it out on the recreation field. He fell head first in the hot sand and then he got to fighting the air. He was hearing and seeing things that weren’t even there. He was talking to demons, I believe. He’s a good-sized guy and everyone, and I mean everyone, was scared of him.

I couldn’t just stand there and let the man embarrass himself anymore, so I asked the Lord for help, and walked up and hugged the man. His eyes were open, but he was possessed. I held onto him. He’s a hard man. He stood there with his mind on something far away (something was in him). He was sweating and his muscles were twitching from head to toe, like the wind was blowing under his skin. I got scared for a moment, and he sensed it and started holding on tighter, but God calmed me and out of nowhere came medical personal who put him on a gurney and took him to Medical.

Prisoner on Spice

I went on to my cell and prayed and out of nowhere three buttholes who like to see things in a negative way, they stated that I was making it hot for them. I laughed and told them to leave before things got serious. The one who considered himself to be the leader called me a “stupid nigger.”

I kicked him in the knee and wham-wham-boom! I hit him three times. He was out. To my surprise, some guys came to support me. They knew what had happened to L was wrong.
The leader came back after he had woken up. His so-called homeboys put him up to it. He wasn’t ready, but he tried. I grabbed him and put him in a chokehold. He tapped my arm real quick and I told him to let it go and to grow up. His people ran off the yard.

There are always guys falling out from that stuff who know better, but they have to have it. I feel no sorrow for any of them because they are allowing a way of thinking that’s become a culture. Now, they go around giving hot ones (butt-kicking) to people falling out from smoking Spice.

The guy I had to deal with, his nickname is “Infant.” Does that say it all or what? I hope he changes his name because his nickname is without a doubt for a kid. Ha ha! I had to throw that one at you! Can you believe I was making it hot, because I helped a guy who had fallen out on the rec field? Wow! It’s hard to believe, but people do think like that. I’ve put everything in God’s hands, so please continue to pray for me.

Each one
Teach one
Strength and Honor
Steel Embrace

T-Bone





Shaun Attwood