What do you find interesting?

 Blockbuster

Money talks

This afternoon on WhatsApp, I was approached by another attractive young lady who said she wished to be my friend.

We hadn't been talking more than half an hour, when she said she has a "private" account, and sent me the contact info; from this I considered this to mean a sex chat line. I have nothing against the girls, or how they get thier money. These days, it is hard to get a job with so many illegal immigrants.

Perhaps, if she'd taken time to get to know me, I may have accepted her offer.

As we began the chat, I asked her a simple question, "What do you ind interesting about me?" To which she did not answer, but changed the chat content. Following this, I said, "I'm willing to chat about most things, but money." After I didn't rush at her offer, she stopped the chat

Starmer OUT

 Illegal Immigrants 

Rats deserting a sinking ship

The way Labour are heading, there won't be a party left at the next election to fight for. 

There are so many defections that Starmer won't be able to rely on the illegal immigrant voters he's allowing to enter the country to save the party he destroyed.

A quote comes to mind when I see the defections "Rats desert a sinking ship," in this case the ship has had its bottom ripped out, and the candidates realise this with each propostion put forward by Rachel Reeves. Her mistakes have lost more voters than Yvonne Cooper welcoming the immigrants, and Sarah Rayner's rants together

Ubereats

 Ordering food online

Incomplete orders

In the last four months, I have had incomplete orders FOUR times. It is't if we order hard items to find, my daughter an I eat what is called a basic diet

This is not a SCAM

  Alan Place - Book Marketing Consultant

What makes me different?

Reently, I wrote a post on what I consider to be the book marketeer scam, in that case why am I putting my services for sale?

I am different to the rest in several ways.

What are the differences?

A) - I will be honest with you.

B) - I will charge little compared to other people.

C) - I have real qualifications.

HONESTY

My charges are small as I won't lead you on with false promises; I will be brutally honest, after 15 years as an Indie Writer, I learned a lot of things about the publishing trade.

COST

My charge is the cost of an eBook from my stock.

QUALIFICATIONS

I was a writer for over 15 years, with many stories to my name, including a series of eBooks which sold over 15,000 copies. I am an awardwinning writer.

The collapse of Horny Devil Publishing

 When my writing began

A Terrible site

Since I turned down the offer to write for Horny Devil Publishing in 2012, I have wondered why they closed down a few months later?

I had a friend who accepted their offer at the same time as I was asked, she said she sold more of her work via her website, than through the site.

As they approached me to write sex stories, and their remit was "keep it legal, but anything goes," I wondered had they been closed because they had crossed some rules of decency, which was one of the reasons I turned the offer down. Another reason in though I write stories with sex in, I don't write stories where sex is the theme.

The main reasons they were closed are bad customer reports, their covers were reportedly murky black and white, with a splash of red, and their overheads were more than other publishers who offered quality.

Apparently, none of the staff had any concept of what it takes to publish a book.

For months, I asked myself the question "Did I miss my opportunity," especially as I never got a real contract offer in my 15 years as a writer. People I knew at the time would tell me, "If you are asking the question, you know the answer."

I did miss the only opportunity for a contract, but from the reports, it appears they would not have helped me sell my books

I would have given my Award up

  A Writing Contract

                                                  The Chronicles of Mark Johnson

In 2012, my book, The Chronicles of Mark Johnson, earned an award from a non-profit organisation in the USA.

At the time, I thought this was wonderful, even if it took months to accept the concept of me earning praise. In the aftermath, I would have given the award up for the opportunity to have earned a contract to write.

I did get invited to write for a publisher in Miami, Florida, but I didn't like the remit that anything goes, "but keep it legal," it didn't matter as for some reason they were closed down several months later.

The only other offers came from Vanity Publishing companies. This concept is they will publish your book, but you have to pay for the first book; if that succeeds you may get the offer for writing a second book under contract. If you are going to self-publish the first book, why giv the firm the praise for the second, when they had no faith in the first book?

I do NOT use Twitter

 A site for Scammers

Once it was a good site

This morning, I decided to stop using Twitter, other than for posting YouTube links, or the occassional link to my eBay page, which is also running down.

I have never had any success with the site, so this decision will not affect me.

In the last 18 months, I have been plagued by people trying to either scam me, with Crypto choices, or book marketing promoters who do not understand I have no interest in writing these days

I saved myself from buying a Computer game

 Frostpunk

Tropico 5

Several months ago, I was enticed by the prospect of the computer game, Frostpunk. City building games such as the Tropico series are the games I enjoy the most, so I thought I would get Frostpunk as it is a city building/ survival game.

I didn't get to playing until a few months ago, as my year has been uprooted with the loss of my wife in January. A few weeks ago, I began playing the game, then decided, it was a good thing I did as I was planning to buy Frostpunk 2 soon; it is no use buying the sequel when I can't play the original.

I am getting on well with Tropico 5, I may get Tropico 6 in the near future if my finances improve.

There's a ghost in the house

 A Love that cannot be rekindled

Too many memories to count

Since my wife of 38 years passed away in January, 2025, several ladies have asked if I would be interested in a romance. How many were genuine, I have no idea.

I have to tell them I am not interested, it is too close to my wife's death, and her love was the love of my life, to consider another romance would not be fair to the lady.

Lana Pawcel

Before going further, I should explain the identity of the writer, Lana Pawcel.

Years ago, I was connected to a chidren's charity, so to keep my outside writing seperate I used pen names, one was Lana Pawcel.There is a funny story behind the name. One writer in the USA, who I had been chatting to for months, asked was I male, or female?

As I no longer have a reputation, or other connections to consider, if I write I use my name. 

My first short story, unpublished, was written for three ladies I knew who liked my work. This story was a comedy, the story was about a writer who wished to be read, yet retain his identity. Like Lana Pawcel, the name was an anagram of mine - Ecalpnala.

Alan Place - Trendsetter

The Rani Mukerji Trend 

The Madhuri Dixit Trend

On Twitter, I have noticed my posts about either Rani Mukerji, or Madhuri Dixit draw likes, and reposts.

I have enjoyed watching Rani for years, until last year, when she did The Fame Game, shown on Netflix; I was not a fan of Madhuri; the reason being she, like many actresses in Bollywood was shown as the romantic interest in musicals with the likes of Aamir Khan, or Anil Kapoor.

What puts me off Anil Kapoor is his films, like those of Salman Khan are about him; he is not in the film,the film is centerd around him.

Life without Facebook

 A blog without Facebook

The Death of my blog

I won't pull my punches, the ban by Facebook which began in February has killed my blog.

Readers have dropped from 100 a day to below 30, and posts rarely get more than 5 readers.

On a personal level, the ban made little impact, as the only person I was in contact with, outside my family was my late friend, Julia Petrakis, who lived in Seattle; she passed away not long after my wife in January, 2025. I stay in contact with my family via WhatsApp.

It's hard to Believe it's June

 Monsoon Season in India

                                                               Believe it or not

Time - 10:15 GMT

Date - June 12th, 2025

My first thought this morning, besides thinking of the loss of my wife in January, was when will it rain?

The sky is so dark I've had to put the lights on in the front room to see.

It is hard to imagine, we haven't passed the longest day yet, and already the available light is so low.

My next thought was this is like the monsoon season in India.

I am in no doubt, sometime today, Bristol will have a heavy rainfall.

How would you feel?

 The Doctor's Dilemna

                                                                 The Love Triangle

The Hindi romance, Dil ek Mandir, is a classic love triangle, but with an added edge of mystery as one of the triangle is a doctor who treats cancer.

Rajendra Kumar (left) is a doctor who is in love with Meena Kumari, to further his career he leaves India to train in the USA, on his return, he finds she has married Raaj Kumar.

Desolate, he dedicates his life to becoming a cancer specialist; this is where the dielmna begins. He is treating a patient, when the parient's wife turns up. She is none other than his former lover, what to do?

As a doctor you are duty bound to heal people, but knowing the man you are treating married the lady you loved must have made the choice to operate rather galling.

Why is my support of Israel waning?

 Another possible scam from a Jewish lady

The third attempt in a year

Tonight, I thwarted another possible scam from a lady from Israel.

Why do I think that?

The lady feigned concern over the loss of my wife in January, even saying because I think of my pain, it is there. How callous can you be?

She switched tack to talking about money, when I said that was my busines, she stopped chatting. This is the third time in a year, a lady from Israel has trid to scam me; once, it was actress Gol Gadot

The Shefali Shah Mystery

 The Birthday confusion

Did someone read my post?

I realise I am probably taking credit for something I had nothing to do with, but at least the confusion is settled.

What was the confusion?

I was looking through IMDb, and Wikipedia for the birthdays of ladies in Bollywood I consider attective, when I came across an anomaly.

The information on Shefali Shah (above) was misleading; IMDb said her birthday is 22nd of May, and Wiki couldn't decide between June, or July 22nd. Now they agree, it is May 22nd

Would you believe them?

The enduring enigma of Sridevi

Dynasty

Since the beginning of Bollywood in the 1940's, there has always been the Kapoor family involved.

In the late 60's they were involved in a suspicious death; the death of actress Sridevi has never been solved, and never will be while there are Kapoor family members in Bollywood.

Not only have the not disclosed how she died, they have BLOCKED any formal investigation since her death in 2018.

There are many unanswered question in this case.

One of the most asked is why did Sridevi, the biggest star in Bollywood come out of retirement to marry a man 15 years older than her, who has two children?

An answer would be pressure from the Kapoors to destroy her career, but she had been in reirement for three years at that time.

A burning question in my mind is why did she change her life insurance to covering her death in Dubai, and why did the payout cover the cost of her husband's debts at the time?

Those are the main questions, the truth is, after so long, if they did tell the world what happened that night, would you believe it? Or would you think how much time they had to change facts to suit thier needs?

The Yorkshireman who despises York

 A Viking Heritage?

There are cities other than York

This may come as a surprise, I come from Yorkshire, a fact I am proud of, yet, I despise York, why?

Nearly every documentary about Yorkshire centres on York, to the exclusion of other cities such as Sheffield, Leeds, and Doncaster, which have a far greater and interesting history.

I would consider outside London, York may be the most photographed city in the UK; the only city close could be Bath, another city I despise, both Bath and York are over-rated, and overpriced.

My late wife and I had a running joke, as I loved to cuddle her, she put that down to my possible Viking heritage, especially as my beard had tinges of red in. I don't discount the possibility, however, I loved geography, but never had the urge to travel. If I had not joined the Royal Air Force, I doubt I would have got a passport; to me there is such a lot to see in the UK, I didn't need to leave.

Each dawn I die

 The Invisible man

Vanished

There is a theory which until this year I didn't believe, now I do.

Pyschologists say a sign someone is thinking of suicide begins by cutting themselves off.

As I have no contacts online, nobody would miss me if I went offline. The only contact outside my children I have is with two ladies on Twitter, one in the USA, and the other in the Ukraine. My friend in the Ukraine is concerned about my mental health after losing my wife in January.

My only other friend died in March, I think, Julia lived in Seattle; we had been friends for 13 years before she passed away.

The title of the blog is not only an eye-catcher, it is true, each dawn I die a little more inside

I am hard to define

 I have an eclectic taste

A man of many tastes

Over my life, I have been asked many times who, or what do I like the most?

My answer is always the same.

It is easier for me to tell you who, or what I dislike.

The only thing for certain is I dislike films, or books which depict violence for its own sake.

When I was a writer, I never wrote sex stories; I have nothing against sex in a story, but I couldn't write a story were sex is the theme, I did try once. To clarify the point, I have written stories with sex in. A little rough sex is good for a story, my view, but I once wrote a series of stories for a lady in London, what aroused her was blood-letting, but were does that lead?

In 2012, I got my only offer of a contract by a firm in Miami, Florida, which I turned down on those grounds. That was the only offer I had in 16 years as a writer, for months I asked myself, did I do the right thing? Several friends commented, if you're asking yourself the question, in your heart you know the answer.

I checked on the site later, to find it had either closed down, or been forced to close. A friend who joined the firm at the time of my offer told me, she sold more of her books than the site did.

When I had a reputation to consider, I would second guess my replies to requests, now, with no sales, or reputation to think of, all that matters is could I write the story?

One strange request came from San Diego, California. I was asked to write some fake reviews to boost products, the odd aspect of the request is it came from a person "claiming" to be a lawyer.

Medical Aftereffects

 Swollen foot 

                                                                                        Ankle Strain 

Yesterday, I was concerned about the possibility of my right ankle giving way, the area arounf the tendin has been swollen for days; making even a short walk painful.

After a little research, I found the swelling was NOT caused by a tendon strain; it is the after-effect of an anti-cholosetrol tablet I am prescribed.

Why haven't I left Twitter?

 Leaving Twitter

                                                         Two young ladies I chat to

The main reason I stayed on Twitter was to ease the pain of my late wife, after the loss of her son in August, 2024. The family decided to ease her loss by showing her videos of cats, and dogs.

Since my wife passed away in January, 2025, the thought of leaving the site crosses my mind each day, though I have contact with two younger ladies, one in the USA, and the other in the Ukraine. I use Twitter mainly for trying to get sales for my eBay page

The Appeal of Older men

 Personality

Safety

This week on Twitter, as many times before, I have been in conversation with a younger lady who told me she feels safe talking to me.

Over the decades I have been chatting online, I have been told several times by ladies, they feel safe talking to me, why?

A) - Unlike some men, if I see a lady online, all I see is a lady seeking company, NOT a lady looking to hook-up for sex.

B) - I don't force myself on a lady.

C) - I am not the type of man who is all about himself, to the exclusion of the lady.

D) - I am easy to chat to, I have few things I won't chat about. I won't talk about money, that subject usually leads to the ruin of a conversation. I am not against talking about either religion, or politics, but I would rather not, those topics can lead to animosity.

My Golden Rule

I will not direct a chat to sex, but if the lady wishes to discuss it, that is fine with me. If we discussed the subject tonight, I do not assume the lady is open to chatting about tomorrow, unless she chooses.

We older men may not be as energetic as young men, but older people have more to talk about.

The Unfollow Trend

 The Twitter Trend

Nothing New Here

If I cared, which I don't, I may be worried that my followers on Twitter are constantly falling. I am not concerned about the falling figures, I rarely make contact, other than one lady fighting in the Ukraine.

I stayed on Twitter to ease my late wife's sorrows at losing her son in August, 2024. The family decided to cheer her up by showing her videos of cats, and dogs doing odd things; to a small extent it did ease her pain.

As she passed away a few months ago, I stayed on to keep trying to get some eBay sales; and to attempt to get readers for this blog. I will probably leave Twitter soon, I am closing my eBay pages over the next month, unless sales pick up. I get so few readers on Twitter it is not worth writing a post

I don't claim to be knowledgeable about Bollywood

 I do appear to know more than most YouTube uploaders on Twitter 

A little research is all you need

I will not say I am the ultimate fountain of knowledge about Bollywood. I will say I appear to know more about the history of films in India, than the majority of YouTube uploaders, that is because to me, the correct information is more important than getting viewers for a video.

All it would take is a small amount of time to get the correct information, which could be the difference between gaining, or losing viewers.

Some errors are acceptable, especially if you are writing in one language, and being read in another, the best example being UK English, and USA English.
To me, there is no excuse for misspelling names, they can be checked online in seconds. Some uploaders, don't even check to see if the image they show is the correct person. An example of this is a video I watched in the Then and Now series. The video of the older film showed Bindu Desai, in her film role, while the new image showed her cousin Aruna Irani. Other than being the wrong lady, it is easy to see Bindu and Aruna are not alike facially.

Another Bollywood misconception

 Nagin at 70

Vyjayanthimala is the original Nagin

This morning, I had to correct another writer on Bollywood from India.

The point of correction is he wrote that Reena Roy was the original Nagin - snake godess - she may be the first one he can recall, but she is NOT the original. The first lady to play Nagin is Vyjayanthimala in 1954. 

I have the majority of the several films on dvd, including one with Rekha. I can't give my opinion on which I think is the best version, as I have yet to view the two with Sridevi. I can say which is the worst film, as they recently did a seven series story line, in my view the worst is the 1984 version with Rishi Kapoor, and Rekha; this hs nothing to do with my dislike of RK, considering it was made in the mid-80's, the technology is so poor you can't laugh at it.

I do not envy Shraddha Kapoor, in 2017, she took on the role of Nagin, a role her late aunt, Sridevi made her own.

The news is they are doing a remake next year with a man as the new Nagin; lord, save us from the curse of rewrites.

I did begin to watch the serial, but I fail to see how you can turn a very good 90 minute film, into a series of over 90 1/2 hour episodes, and retain the quality

Facebook NEWS

 I have NO account

Que Sera

The NEWS from Facebook is I have no account there.

I have had my account deleted, C'est la Vie. The blog readers have gone down drastically since my ban began in January, but as for me; I am not bothered I have no account.

My only contact is with my family on WhatsApp, and a friend fighting on the frontline in Ukraine, she contacts me on Twitter, other than that I have no onlince contact, and no wish for more

The Roving Eye

 True Love

38 years of devotion 

My lovely wife who passed away in January, 2025, and I shared 38 years of devotion to romance.

I am not saying I was a saint, far from it; but Linda, knew I loved her above all else, and though I had my dalliances, we knew it was nothing to worry about.

We shared lots of lovely moments, what made us smile was until our last years together we would get asked out by the opposite sex

How would I liked to have been remembered as a writer?

 Alan Place - Writer of Ghost Stories

Alan Place - Writer of Science Fiction

I was asked many times during my time as a writer, how would you like to be remembered?

My wish was to be remembered as a writer of ghost stories. However, if people do recall my name at some time, it will more like be for my Science Fiction short story series - Forgestriker - which sold over 1,500 eBooks across the seven short story collection

Which is more disconcerting?

 The Dream

                                                The Waking

This morning - Monday, May 26th, 2025 - I had a dream which may have scared many people.

In the dream, I commited suicide, the dream took place in Clevedon, Somerset. You may ask why Clevedon; the answer is I lived there for over 25 years, and apart from having a few friends, I hated the place. I have said several times, Clevedon is the place to go to die.

I set my popular ghost story - Old Chruch Ghosts - in the village.

The special edition above contains the four versions of my short story, including the one I thought I had lost.

Which is more disconcerting?

I am not sure which is more worrying, the fact I had the dream, which was so clear, or that when I woke from the dream, I had no worry over having had the dream?

Automatic sending of email

 Julia Petrakis

My BFF in Seattle has passed away

I realise my BFF in Seattle, Julia Petrakis, could have passed away as long ago as January. I thought  she was alive until last month, as I was getting an email from her via Yahoo, on various book sites.

It was only today, I thought they could have been sent automatically; the last reply I had from Julia was the day after my wife passed away (18th January).

Aid4Ummah

 It is a SCAM

Do Not sign

If you get a knock on the door, and are approached by a person "claiming" to be from Aid4Ummah, ignore them; they are a SCAM.

The orginisation appears to genuine, but the people going door-to-door in the UK are trying to work a SCAM.

If you sign up, they will use your signature to forge documents in your name, and you get a letter from a mystery law firm saying you have been involved in a no win, no fee law suit; but if you win you will still have to pay your costs

What is a Ghost ship?

  Abandoned ships

The Big Difference

What I am about to write will fly in the endless chatter of "ghost ships," but this is my view.

There is to me, a large difference between a ghost ship, and a ship found crewless. In most discussions on the subject, the Marie Celeste comes up as the main vessel, yet to me, she is NOT a ghost ship.

I will cede, the disappearance of her crew is a mystery which we may never solve, yet, I have my theory on the subject.

My theory is she was carrying liquor, and thinking the barrels were leaking in a storm, not unusual for the North Atlantic, the captain ordered everyone to abandon ship thinking she could blow up.

As with other ships, if she was abandoned to the winds, she would remain afloat until she was found, or crashed.

What happened to the crew?

Adrift in the raging Atlantic Ocean in a lifeboat, on a cold November day, they may have lasted a day, or two. The ship was abandoned only two days into the voyage, but with little light, and no idea where you are, the crew had no idea where land was, if they did, 25 miles is a long way for a crew to row.

What do I define as a ghost ship?

To me, the term GHOST is vital. This indicates something which is tangible, but unreachable. The classic case for this scenario is The Flying Dutchman. There have many sigthings of her, but nobody has been able to verify her existence beyond a sighting; nobody has seen her, only her image through the misty seas of the Cape of Good Hope. The seas around the cape are some of the worst sailors come across. You have the warm water from the Indian Ocean meeting the icy South Atlantic Ocean, causing the appearance of sea mist as the waters crash on the rocks. 

Yet in the mid-1980's a shipping firm from Russia challenged the Cape, and lost BIG TIME. A firm from France asked a Russian firm to transport some pipes from Sweden to India for a project. The French paid for FOUR tugs to undertake the trip, this would have ensured a relatively safe journey.

From this moment on, the voyage was doomed.

Four tugs would mean a rope at each corner for safety. The Russians decided to pay for THREE tugs, meaning the lead tug would take the strain, and be the guide; if that wasn't bad enough, the tug's captain made what turned out to be a fatal, and very costly error.

With the three tugs, he chose to chance going between a rocky outcrop, and the mainland; the result was catastrophic to say the least. Cutting through the gap, for the sake of about half-an-hour, he lost control of his rope; this meant the ship was yawing to-and-fro, and she was out of control. With the ship rocking, and rolling it was impossible to get a rope to the tug at the head, and she had to be released, to save the other tugs from being wrecked.

The French sued the Russian firm, who went into insovency the year after; the up side of the incident, as the wreck cannot be saved, it has became the most expensive bird sanctuary.

To end, an abandoned ship maybe a mystery, but to me, they are NOT a ghost ship

Why would she want access?

 It is a SCAM

My Google Account

Several months ago, on What'sApp, I was asked to give the password to my Google Account to a lady.

There was NO WAY I was going to give that information to a stranger. Her reason was she wanted to know what I did online, I said, "that is easy, read what I post on Twitter," but she persisted in the foolish notion the more she pestered me, the more likely I was to give in to her pressure,WRONG!

In the end, I blocked her.

Amar Prem

 Another Hindi movie mystery solved

A Hindi Mystery Film

Last night, I found I had doubled my order from eBay of the Rajesh Khanna, and Sharmila Tagore movie, Amar Prem, so I added one of the copies to my page on eBay.

This is where the mystery began.

I had both versions listed as paid for, but could only find one copy. I spent hours searching for the other copy, to no avail. I was sure I hadn't sold it, as I couldn't recall seeing the dvd.

This morning, all became clear, I couldn't find the movie as it hadn't arrived 🤣🤣, it arrived this morning.

Nemesis

 Me and my phone

R.I.P. Linda

A long-standing joke in our family is I call myself the Nemesis of the cellphone.

While it sounds weird, it is true.

My late wife would spend hours playing games on her phone, as she was bedridden for the last two years of her life; she was taken into Southmead Hospital, and diagnosed with pleurisy, and pneumonia; which left her both weak, and struggling to breath. 

I rarely use my cellphone, other than to keep in contact with my children via Whatsapp.

When my writing began

 Book Promoter Scam

                                                                    So many sites

I have to laugh at the number of times I have been approached by book promoters on Twitter.

They don't realise I was promoting my eBook content before many of them were out of college, and I forgot more about promotion than they "claim" to know.

I added my eBooks to so many sites, I forgot the names on most of them; apart from one in Miami, Florida, and one based in Iceland; all they wanted was for me to be a "slush reader," in other words to read, and comment on the works of writers they had published.

The magazine based in Florida was called "Horny Devil," as you can imagine, they wanted sex stories. I didn't accept, not that I don't write sex stories, I didn't like their remit of anything goes; keep it legal. I used to write stories for a lady I was in contact with in London, years ago, she was into violent sex. A little rough sex play can be arousing, but she was into blood letting, and the more the merrier; where, if at all, did she draw the line?

I kept asking myself, did I miss my only opportunity to be published?

My friends kept saying "if you're asking the question, you know your answer." Several years later, I checked if the site was ongoing, it had either closed, or been forced to close.

Writing for a magazine based in Iceland may appear desperate, but the magazine, Abandoned Towers, has a considerable following in the Science Fiction world.

I lost this contract through the jealousy of a person who "claimed" to be an editor. I sent my eBook to her for a few tweaks, but she did nothing for me, the rest is history as she trashed the story online, mainly because it earned an award

Those were the days

 Download Centre

Free Computer cafe

All I have become to my son is a free download cafe, well, the new regime plans to end the old times.

Since my wife passed away in January, I only see him IF, he needs to download films for his friends; and I am tiring of him using our fast internet for the use of his friends.

He was "supposed" to help me clear rubbish from the back garden, that never happened, I have seen him twice in the last two months, only because he needed to download films. It isn't all his fault, the "lady" he is with is a bitch.

She got her comeuppance; she kept saying she'd take her children, and go to live with her mother in Morecambe, one night, tired of hearing this threat, my son said "go ahead, we can't stop you."

A month later, they went to Morecambe for a weekend, and her mother told her she wanted nothing to do with her grandchildren.

She'd heard stories of the wonderful lives her single-parent families had, and believed this was for her; she forgot one thing, those friends have friends, and family to help take the strain - she has nobody - after years of bullying my son, our family don't even mention her name.

Our Secret

  Julia Petrakis

The Secrets die with me

Not long after my late friend, Julia Petrakis, who lived in Seattle, made contact with me she took me in her confidence, and told me a secret about a late friend of hers who had just passed away. That was in 2010, to this day nobody knows what I was told; and nobody will know.

Three years earlier, another lady friend told me her secret, Tina was born in Bari, Italy, and took me in her confidence as we'd become close online; that was in 2008, and only I know what I was told.

In the 38 years of our marriage, I only kept one secret from my late wife, that is because I was so desperate to be recognised as a writer, I allowed myself to be the victim of a scam in July 2024.

As far as I am concerned, unless the person concerned tells me I can relate their information, I shall not do so. As Julia died, and my wife died within months of each other this year, and I haven't had contact with Tina for a long time, the secrets are safe with me

My BFF in Seattle has passed away

 Julia Petrakis

The Chronicles of Mark Johnson

Though I will not be able to prove my theory, I think my BFF, Julia Petrakis, who lived in Seattle passed away in March 20225.

I am led to believe this as I have had no posts forwarded to me, or emails answered since March 15th.

Our initial contact was on a business level, when Julia asked if she could edit my eBook, The Chronicles of Mark Johnson, which in 2012 earned an award.

Julia was the most ardent supporter of my work as a writer, we collaborated on several of my book projects, the last being The Awakening, a story set in India, which came about from a conversation I had with man living in India on the LinkedIn site.

 Julia's wish was for me to have been granted a writing contract, something which would have made me realise my writing had some value, she never knew that my hope for another story, Untold Truths,  which  saw could become a series never got off the ground.

Julia would have been 87 this year.