have stopped using Twitter

 A writer with no Twitter

I am only posting to Twitter

From now on I am only using Twitter, to post blog pieces too, I am not chatting there. Since Elon Musk took control, the site has become a haven for scammers.

I won't miss the site, it has been useful for raising the readers to the blog, but it hasn't helped my eBook sales

There is NO Mystery

 The Roman 9th Legion

Annihilation

An enduring mystery in military history, to many people, is what happened to the the Roman 9th Legion, they were fighting one month, then disappeared.

For  me, there is no mystery.

One thoery is they vanished fighting in Scotland, based on the find of an eagle standard. Not a chance of this happening. The eagle was so small it would have become invisible at around 15 paces, and Scotland was an area that the Roman fighting tactics could not be employed, plus it is too far to be supplied.

The most likely scenario is so simple, people never consider it, as the elite force, they were sent to battle first to break up any attacks. This meant they hit the opposition at its strrongest, and took the heaviest casualties. The legion probaly took so many casualties, it was disbanded, and mixed in with other legions

Alan Place - Ghost Story Writer

 A Challenging Prospect

Ghost Casebook

A YouTube channel, my late wife and I enjoyed watching is Ghost Casebook. While some of the cases are most likely misunderstood natural occurences, some do raise my interest.

One in particular which I watched tonight is about a barmaid at the Red Lion, Malmesbury, who dislikes men with beards. As Malmesbury isn't too far, I may take a trip in the Summer, to challenge Rosie, the barmaid.

After all, I am a noted writer of ghost stories

Seaforth Highlanders

 RAF Lossiemouth

Scottish Regiments

Many years ago, my interest in military history was piqued by a regimental badge I came across. I had a feeling from the badge the regiment was based in Scotland, I was correct, however, I was wrong about which regiment. I thought it could have been the King's Own Scottish Borderers, it is from another famous regiment, the Seaforth Highlanders.

The odd thing about the connection between my badge, and my history, is that the regiment has its base in Inverness, not far from Elgin, where I was sttioned when I was in the Royal Air Force. Having served in Scotland, I am entitled to wear the RAF tartan, not that I would as my knees show the scars of many falls.

I did consider the option when I was in Scotland, also I thought about buying a book on the history of the clans.

A little-known fact is I own some land in Scotland

YouTube Favouries updates

 The History Guy

                                             Pirates

My viewing of YouTube has changed since my wife passed away in January, 2025. We used to watch Tasting History with Max Miller, and the last Christmas present I got her was his bestselling book.

I went through a series of months when I watched a lot of videos about India, and Indian music, to try to calm my nerves.

Through all this, I had several channels I kept watching, mostly about history, whether history in general or the history of Hollywood. I have watched Hollywood Mysteries for over two years, other channels include History's Forgotten People,  The History Guy, and several on the history of piracy in the Carribean

Readers in Pakistan

 UK readership is falling

Gaining UK readers

I have always struggled to gain readers for the blog in the UK.

This has now go the stage where I have more readers in both Finland, and Pakistan that the UK.

The surge in readers in Pakistan could be from my posts about the violence connected to the Islam faith, a fact I have witnessed since the 1970s, when I was in stationed in Germany with the Royal Air Force. This situation is mentioned in my story, Secrets, I only mention these incidents of Muslim terrorism in passing, as they are numerous, and ongoing.

One of the few times I got paid for writing an article was when my late friend, who lived in Seattle, asked me to outline the events in Europe, as the USA news service never mention them. That was in 2012, she couldn't believe what was happening. Stockholm, once had a beautiful city, had become the r##e centre of Europe, with police issuing maps of no-go areas to tourists. The Prime Minister of Norway, at the time stated, "If you don't stop these people crossing the border, I will authorise an armed response, and close the border."

Why don't I Praise myself?

 Self Promotion

                            Chronicles of Mark Johnson

To this day, years after the book, Chronicles of Mark Johnson, earned an award for me, I keep being asked, why don't you sing your parises?

The answer to the question is based in my philosophy, "Self-praise is no praise," I would rather repost a reader's comment, than say how good it is. It is the same when it comes to the Self Promotion of the Forgestiker series of 7 eBooks I wrote at the same time (2012). Though the series sold over 1,000 eBooks, I rarely mention it.

Another short story that I rarely talk about is Sea Ghosts, a story which earned an award given by Facebook for coming third in a writing contest, again in 2012.

I recently checked the MS for Chronicles, and I decided to re-edit it, as my skills as an editor have expanded