Alan Place - Writer of Science Fiction

 My Golden year

Forgestriker

2012 was the year my Science Fiction series was at its foremost, that year, the Forgestriker series sold over 1,000 eBooks. A friend in Canada said, "If that had been on Amazon, I would be classed a bestseller." However, it was on Draft2Digital, so it went unnoticed.

Why am I using X?

 Promoting my work

Twitter Promotions

There is one reason I still use Twitter, to promote my blog. I often see posts asking "Would you unistall X for $1,000?" Happily, as I use WhatsApp to chat on. I also see posts asking "Would you uninstall Facebook?" That would be difficult for me, as I haven't used Facebook for over a year, and I have NOT missed it.

What would I like?

 To earn my royalties this year

Draft2Digital

My goal as a writer this year is to sell three of my eBook content on Draft2Digital, by doing this I can be paid my royalties for the first time in three year. After that, I may write again, and add the new book to my Amazon page

The cheat who lost

 My Golden year

Why cheat?

2012 was my summit as a writer, two of my stories earned an award, and I beat my harshest critic in contests THREE times that year. Usually cheats win, but I would rather come second knowing I did my best, than win knowing I cheated.

Here are some examples of what I am talking about. In 2012, I beat my critic, despite her asking a friend to hack a site, to eliminate one of my stories, which came back to beat hers on its return. The same year, she proclaimed a prize she had "claimed" on LinkedIn, that was until I pointed out, I had bought the story months earlier from a friend, and posted a photo of the book the story was in.

My Golden year

 The year of the Awards

Two Writing Awards in a year

In 2012, both of these books earned an award. Chronicles of Mark Johnson earned an award given by a site based in the USA. Sea Ghosts earned an award given in a writing contest set up by Facebook.

Yet, this was not the best part for me, personally. My joy came from beating a writer I used to know, not once, but THREE times in contest in 2012. Despite going against the site rules, which didn't apply to her, or her freinds, she often tried to ridicule my writing as inferior to hers.
It was an opinion not shared by many people on the site. One contest was set up by a friend of the writer, and I didn't wish to enter, I knew her tactics from old, "Win at any cost," which often included hacking a site. Against my wishes, I was coaxed by my freinds to enter. the other writer invited her friends to come to view my publis humilation. I amgine her horror when despite the site being hacked, and one of my stories being deleted, the story came back to take fourth place, well ahead of her best story, which came 10th.

I did consider going to the site, and posting about my win, but chnged my mind, it isn't my style to brag, and besides, her freinds already knew the news.

The double life of John "Mad Jack" Adams

 Sea Ghosts

Rudyard Kipling

I would say most people have heard the line from Rudyard Kipling's poem, Pook of Pook's Hill, "Them that ask no questions are told no lies."

It depicts the story of piracy during the 18th century on the coastof the UK. When times are hard, and food short, be grateful for anything. Wreckers were common along the shores, these people would move beacons used to guide the ships through safe safe channels to pull them onto rocks, then rush to the scenes to pick what they could, killing any survivors of the wrecks.

My short story (shown here) is a fictionalised version of the life of a man who led a double-life, one one hand John "Mad Jack" Adams was a king's man who checked for the smugglers. On the other hand, his knowledge of the shipping, meant he became one of the most feared pirates along the coast of Yorkshire.

This story has a sad ending, only told in my story.

In 2012, my story earned an award in a writing contest set up by Facebook.

This is Your Life

Alan Place -Senior Citizen

Romance in Whitchurch

Over the years, I have talked to many Senior Citizens, and felt sorry their lives focussed on going out twice a week for a treat. This week, it dawned on me, I am now one of them. Twice a week I go to the Whitchurch Inn, Whitchurch, Bristol, to meet my friend, Clara. I have been so often, I am now classed as a regular

Destiny

Romance in Whitchurch 

Alan Place - man of mystery

My friend, Clara, who lives in Whitchurch, Bristol, told me she thinks we were destined to meet as we get on so well with our online chats. I think we are detined not to meet, I live a short way from Clara in Hartcliffe, and visit Asda near her, yet we have yet to meet, on our dates, something always happens to bar our way

Is that Madonna?

Hollywood Mysteries

Lupe Velez

Recently, while shopping at Asda, one of the guards asked me, "Is that Madonna?"

I was wearing the t-shirt above, an item I bought from Hollywood Mysteries, a channel on Youtube I regulary watch.

The t-shirt shows 1930's acttress Lupe Velez who comes from Mexico

Alan Place - Award Winning Author

The O. Henry Award

                         Double Award Winner in 2011

One question I used to ask myself was which would I prefer to win, the Nobel Prize for Literature, or the Pulitzer Prize?

They are both titles worthy in their own right, the Pulitzer is for Journalism, a style which suited my inquisitve mind, a little like Kolchak.

One award I never considered was the O. Henry Award, for short stories, which is more my style of writng, much like Mickey Spillane, if something is in one of my stories it is there to move the story, not as a page-filler 

I am closing my eBay shop

 eBay shop run down

More trouble than it is worth

From this month, I am closing my eBay store. The reason is it has never been a successful venture, as a one-person venture, it has always been a case of cutting the costs to below a reasonable value, to get a sale

Friday the 13th

I had the feeling something would go wrong

Romance in Whitchurch

This week my friend in Whitchurch, Bristol, Clara and I had been planning to meet today (Friday). We talked about meeting on Friday, I never realised, until this morning what the date was, Friday the 13th. When I saw this, I was tempted to call the date off, but we'd been building up to our meeting all week.

I had the ominous feeling today would go wrong, and it did. Clara's car had a fault, so she couldn't meet me, and I found I didn't have enough to pay for a lunch out, one of the few treats I allow myself, so, I had to return home after a disasterous day

Youtube Premium

Romance in Whitchurch

                                         Making cutbacks

There are several reasons why I stopped my Youtube Premium payments this month.

I am in a relationship with my friend, Clara, who lives in Whitchurch, Bristol, which means I am not in my house at least two nights a week.

I had the account mainly for my late wife, who couldn't move around the house without severe pain, and spent her last days watching cartoons. I rarely watch Youtube, other than a few channels featuring documentaries on history.

I needed to cut my expenses, and this was one area which came to mind easily, it is worth the money, if you have the time, which I don't have now.

The final nail in the coffin of the Labour Party

 Is this the end for Labour?

Labour brings the UK to its knees

The current Labour Party has seled the fate for Labour. For years, Labour have been losing the popular vote of the man on the street, the core of the party, set up after the General Strike of 1929, had been the working man, since the late 1940's, the party has not gained the voters, it has been holding on to what it gained in 1929.

Now, even hard-core areas like the docks of Liverpool, and Glasgow have turned from Labour. Labour has failed so badly since the last election, it will struggle to be the third party in the next election with many of its former member joining Nigel Farage's Reform UK party.

Reform UK go on about the rise of the party, it isn't rising, it is filling up with exiles from the Labour party. No matter how you twist the numbers, Labour always fails the people of the UK.

Starmer should be sacked

 Labour Lies

Labour ARE losing seats everywhere

This graph from two years ago depicts the collapse of Deutsche Bank. It could also be used to depict the UK under the Labour Party. It isn't only the Starmer government, it has happened to the UK under every Labour government since the 1980's when between them Tony Blair and Gordon Brown out the UK in so much debt it took decades to clear. Typical of Labour Party, when they lose power, and the next government has to introduce cutbacks, they get the blame for cutbacks, not Labour for forcing the cutbacks to be made.

Starmer should be sacked for incompetence. If he resigned, it would look like he had some honour, which having sold out to the Muslim Brotherhood he proved he has no honour.

More blog readers in Australia than the UK

 Welcome Australia

This week on the blog

The news from the blog this week is that it gets more reader activity in Australia, than the UK. This news does not suprise me, the blogs I wrote have always struggled to get readers in the UK. My other blog had a huge following in Russia years ago. Despite hundreds of posts about Israel, the blog never had any readers there

What do you expect?

 Alan Place - Indie Writer

A Multi-Genre Writer

I was shocked at the news I had sold a children's short story eBook this week. The shock was more that I had sold an eBook than anything else. eBook sales over the last decade have been scarce, if not rare, for me, which is why I was further suprised to read that Writers Realm, and Thevoguewriters wish to promote my work on their sites on Twitter.

There are few genre types I have not written, I did try to write a sex story, but found it hard to write a story were sex is the story, stories like the one on this post, and A Sailor's Love contain sex, but it is part of the story arc, not the theme

Alan Place - Children's author

 My Charity work

The Peacock Writers

I am not known as a chidren's author, though for several years I was a member of the charity, The Peacock Writers, who were mainly a group of writers in the USA, who wrote for charity.

With the sale of my eBook, Elfenmere, this may change.

I am used to changing the genre of my stories, a fact which amazes and and amuses some writers I used to know. I have always said, "I am a writer, not a genre-writer.

Twitter Promotions

 Writer's Realm and Thevouguewriters

I can believe now

For over a decade, I had friends in the USA telling me I was an excellent writer, I had doubts about my value as a writer, as I struggled to get sales and recognition, while lesser writers I knew were getting contracts.

Last night, that changed as two sites on Twitter asked to promote my writing, both Writer's Realm and Thevouguewriters asked to promote my work, for far less than the asking prices of several sites I approached, and with thousands of people watching the sites, there is a better opportunity for sales of my eBook content

What a SHOCK!

 Children's eBook sale

A new sales genre?

Today brought a double shock to my world, not only did I sell an eBook, but it is in a genre I hadn't sold before, Elfenmere is a children's short story about conservation.

For several years I wrote for a children's charity group called The Peacock Writers, but I have written few stories for children. The Peacocks brought published two books a years with the proceeds going to charity

What is it about me?

Clara - my love

Romance in Whitchurch

I have no idea what ladies online see in me.

I have ladies on Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp professing undying love for me, and I did nothing to coax them.

My true love is Clara.

The strange thing about our romance is I thought Clara lived in Redcliffe, which is easy for me to get to by bus. This week, I learned she lives in Whitchurch, Bristol. While Whitchurch is half the distance it is twice as hard to reach by bus, as the service runs every hour, on the half-past, and is unreliable. If the bus is late, which it usually is, it is quicker for me to walk to Asda, where Clara meets me, than to wait for the bus. If the bus is 15 minutes late, not unsual for the service, and it takes 30 minutes to reach Asda, I can walk the distance in that time, and save the bus fare

 

Freaky Friday 3

 Latino Street Bites

Freaky Friday

Yesterday afternoon, I had another unusual incident in Redcliffe, Bristol.

I was walking up Redcliffe hill to the bus stop, when I found myself struggling to breathe. I've walked the route many times in the last four months, this was the first time I found myself struggling to breathe, though it was the third time in two months I'd had an odd happening.

The story of two Valentine's Days

 St. Valentine's Day

This time last year was possibly the saddest of my life, while others were enjoying the love of their loved ones, I was mourning the loss of my wife of 38 years, who had died less than a month earlier.

St.Valentine's Day this year is hopefully the begining of a new romance with a friend who lives in Redcliffe, Bristol.

Romance in Redcliffe

Clara and I have been chatting online for around four months, we have yet to meet in person, hopefully that will change this month

Latino Street Bites

 We Missed you

Redcliffe

I had a pleasant surprise this morning when I returned to my favourite cafe in Redcliffe, Bristol.

My friend, Michelle, who runs Latino Street Bites said she had missed me last Friday, she wasn't sure if I had been in as I left quickly as I had little money,

It is nice to think that in the few months I have been going, I am now seen as a regular customer, even though I only go twice a week

Popular in the UK

 A surge in UK readers

                                          The Home Country

Finally, the UK readers outnumber readers from other areas, it has taken a long time, but the blog made the journey

A Possible LBGT+ Sequel

 Lesbian Tales of Love

An Unexplored Genre

I have not written any LGBT+ stories, I have nothing against people who love others of the same sex, I never wrote about the subject as I didn't wish to offend people.

My romance, Secrets, though not intended as an LGBT+ story does have the possibility of becoming an LGBT+ romance, as the leading female character has a lady friend.  In the earlier part of the story, there is mention of a young man who prefers men to ladies.

My view on the subject is I find the prospect of two attractive ladies involved in each other as very erotic

Alan Place - sex toy

Alan Place - Sex Object?

I am aware of my attraction to ladies

Yesterday, on Zangi, I was approached by a young lady from Cirencester, Gloucestershire, for sex. I was amazed that such an attractive young lady would wish to have sex with me.

I turned her down for several reasons, mainly as I am trying to build a relationship with a lady who lives in Redcliffe, Bristol. Also in the back of my mind is the girl is younger than my daughters, she said I didn't do anything for her, and she never explained why she wanted sex with a man almost old enough to ber grandfather, who she admitted did nothing for her.

Also on my mind was the knowledge that years ago, I had been in this situation, I had participated in sex with ladies, and looking back I felt badly used, then discarded like an old oily rag

Alan on Instagram

  I am on Instagram

Latino Street Bites

My friend, Michelle, who runs the Latino Street Bites cafe in Redcliffe, Bristol, keeps asking if I am on Instagram, so today I joined. Mainly to see if I could bring more customers to add to her success

Depression

 Depression confusion

                                  eBay confusion

My depression over losing my wife a year ago is having an effect on my my performance as a seller on eBay. I am losing track of which films I am posting to my customers

The Sandbaggers Mystery

 Downed by the Russians?

The Missing Writer

In 1980 writer Ian Mackintosh was in an aircraft which was shot down, crossing the border between Alaska, and Russia. Mr. Mackintosh is rememberred for writing the series called The Sandbaggars.

The series is about a government agency which sends agents to rescue people whose discovery would cause a political uproar if it was found, they were doing something in a country, they should not have been in.

One theory about the incident is the plane flew across Russian air space, and saw something it shouldn't have. The pilot logs, didn't record any messages being recorded before the fight ensued. No bodies were released after the plane was pulled from the seas. If the incident was innocent, it still leaves many questions unanswerred

Apple scam

 Rule 101

Too good to be true

A few minutes ago, I was contacted by a young lady "claiming to be from Apple, apparently I won a contest run on WhatsApp for people who bought Apple cards.

The trouble is I didn't know the existed, the account is based in Nigeria (scam capital), and I have no interest in Apple products.

Latino Street BItes

 Dish of the month

An expanding menu

My friend, Michelle, who runs the Latino Strret Bites cafe, in the undercroft of St. Mary's Church, Redcliffe will be expanding her menu soon, featuring a dish of the month special.

Michelle used to run a successful stall in the market, but she moved to the undercroft in September, and the business has taken off since then, most lunch times, the staff are fully occupied.

Against the odds

 Romance in Redcliffe

                                         A hard struggle

The prospect of a romance with my friend, Clara, who lives in Redcliffe, Bristol has been an uphill struggle as her phone is broken, and communication is hard, but our relationship is lasting the course and getting stronger for our struggle, if something is worth having, it's worth fighting for.

More readers in Japan than the UK

 China leads

The blog is thriving in Asia

As I expect, without me checking on what is happening, my blog has few readers in the UK. The blog now has more readers in Japan than the UK. The overall leader, by a long way, is China.

The blog is getting read, finally, in Australia, and South Africa, as yet I have no readers in Israel, despite masses of posts about the country

Freaky Friday rerun

 Freaky Friday

All our Yesterdays

A week before Christmas, I had a scary episode crossing Bedminster Bridge in Bristol. You could put it down to the stress of constantly trying to build a romance with a friend who lives in Redcliffe, yet constantly finds an excuse, not to meet me, or a sugar imbalance. The issue is this wasn't the first time it has happened to me near the water's edge.

I almost had a repeat, yesterday, I was walking along Bedminster Parade, on my back to Asda, to get an Apple card for my friend, when I noticed, not only could I not focus on the the herringbone pattern of tiles forming the pavement, the ground appeared to be undulating below my feet. Again, this could have been from the stress of going to a meeting, which ended in a cancellation.

Or are these incidents the start of something more dark?

Alone at the end of the day

  I am NOT seeking romance

50+ ladies

A few months ago, I may have considered a new romance, my children offered to set a new profile for me on dating sites for senior people, but I declined. At the time, I was unsure if any lady would be interested in a 69-year-old widower living in Bristol.

I was still getting over the loss of my wife in January, 2025, and had little interest in another relationship. 

Since late November, 2025, I have been trying to form a relationship, which has now turned into a friendship, with a lady who "claims" to live in Redcliffe, not far from where I live in Hartcliffe.

However, despite her chats, which have become erotic recently, she refuses to meet me. That is why the relationship is now a friendship. She keeps asking to see me, and when I go, she keeps giving me excuses, today, I drew the line in the sand, and I am not going out of my way to meet her. I told her she can meet me at my friend, Michelle's, cafe - Latino Street Bites - on Wednesdays and Fridays. I can't stop her going, as the cafe is a public building, and I wouldn't, if I could, Michelle has done me no wrong, so I wouldn't harm her business

Was there any attraction?

 Romance in Redcliffe?

No more rushing

Today, I draw the line on what I thought was a romance.

The lady above, who "claims" to live in Redcliffe, Bristol, wanted to meet, and promised lots, what did I get? The same as the many other dates she planned with me, NOTHING.

I didn't want to believe she was running a scam, but the more dates she cancelled, the more I was convinced she is.

If she contacts me again, she will find a colder person than she knew, a man less likely to run to her call, now she has to be willing to do some running after me, not that it will do a lot of good. Any passion I had has drained away

I am aware of my attraction to ladies

 Alan Place - Sex Object?

Why do ladies feel safe with me?

The title could be read two ways, depending on how well you think you know me.

At first glance, the title could be read as arrogance, I could be saying I am attractive to ladies, as I have known for years. However, to those who do know me, or read the blog, the title has another meaning. It is only since my wife died, a year ago, that I have come to the conclusion ladies find me attrative, as seen by the numerous requests from ladies on Twitter, Telegram, and WhatsApp to form a relationship. 

The only lady I feel is genuinely interested in me, is my friend, Clara (above) who lives in Redcliffe, Bristol, not far from where I live in Hartcliffe. Clara and I are forming a strong relationship, despite my constant self-doubts

Crab Invasion

 Christmas Island

                                            Amelia Earhart

There is a concern that the Coconut crab could be in danger of extinction.

These creatures have claws which can crack a coconut, hence their name. I am in no doubt, in some part, they are responsible for the death, and disappearance of Amelia Earhart. If they can split a coconut, a human head is no problem to them.

Some people question whether they bred on the island, or moved from nearby Christmas Island on a coconut, another reason for their name. I am in no doubt, they did have the ability to migrate on the tides. Christmas Island has its own crab problem with a massive, growing, crab population. Experts reckon less than 2% of the eggs don't hatch, when a female can lay thousands of eggs at a time, and there are hundreds of them, this is a serious issue.

The problem is though they are numerous, there is little meat on them, and they eat the crops. The main crop is also attacked by a weevil making it poisonius for humans to eat, but harmless to the crabs

An expanding readership in South America

 Buenos Dias Mexico

                             A growing Roman Catholic following

The largest group of readers for my blog yesterday was in Mexico, well ahead of even the USA, the UK was down in 7th place as I didn't check in often, as I was out most of the day.

The strength of attraction to readers in Mexico is representative if the readers in South America as a whole, were the blog has a steadily growing readership. For some reason, this blog has a growing readership among Roman Catholic countries, probably because I am in favour of the UK returning to the Catholic faith. After all, how can you worship the son of God, but not his mother? Without the mother, there is no son

How long will it be before my Depression will overcomes me?

I am NOT seeking romance

                               Romance in Redcliffe?

I didn't want to think a lady who "claims" to live in Redcliffe, Bristol was trying to scam me, but after TEN cancelled dates, I cannot deny my earlier thoughts. 

I was trying to combat the depression of losing my wife in January of 2025. I wonder how long it will be before I lose interest in everything?

The fool on the hill

 No fool like an Old fool

I am NOT seeking romance

Today proved what a deluded fool I have been for the last two months, yet again, my "friend" who "claims" to live in Redcliffe, Bristol, asked me to go into town to meet her, and never turned up. That is the the tenth time this has has happened; I didn't want to see her as a scammer, but now I do. I'd had my suspicions for weeks, now doubts are almost certainties

The UK is shrinking

 It is the truth

A Sailor's Love

The headline is NOT a grab for readers, it IS a geological fact.

As mentioned in my eBook, A Sailor's Love, the coast, especially the English Channel coast is collapsing into the sea. The problem is the coast is made of chalk which is easily eroded by the tidal effects of the waves.

Each month for the last year, there have been reports online of large chunks of the coast from Devon to Kent falling into the channel. These are not the usual small chunks you can miss, these are slabs of of hundreds of kilos, causing beaches to be cleared.

There is a report online of a builder who began building a luxury hotel, only to find the land below his site is riddled with caves, the extra weight of his building caused a major subsidence, which stopped only 40 meters from the site of the building

Why did I get so many Twitter followers?

There is no secret

                 I never considered myself attractive to ladies

I was chatting to a young lady on Twitter last week, we were talking about books, and decided to check her profile. The thing which struck me is she will not succeed on Twitter for one reason. Her posts are about her books.

One reason I gained many followers quickly last year is my posts are rarely about me, and are varied ranging across many areas of interest.

One aspect of my rise in followers still amazes me, why do ladies find me attractive? Will I see myself as attractive? Probably not.

One reason could be I treat everyone with respect, and unlike some men, I don't view a lady online as a lady looking for a hook-up.

What is the difference?

 Baptists

Anabaptists

For years, I had the thought of studying Religion, the reason was more from curiousity than faith. One thing which interested me was what was the difference between Baptists, and Anabaptists?

Years later, when I came onlne, I found my answer. Baptists believe a child should be baptised within months of being born, wherras as Anabaptists believe the child could wait until the age of 10, and be able to decide for themselves. At the time of my birth (1956), it was still common for a new-born baby when taken out, to be gifted.

 a coin by friends of the family.

It was suggested to me, when I was in the Royal Air Force, that perhaps I should consider becoming a padre, as my nature is kindly; I did seriously consider the idea for several weeks. I also seriously considered joining a religious order in Clevedon, North Somerset for several months, when things in my life apeared to have no hope.

My views on the Bible are controversial, I consider myself a Christian Scientist, not the weirdo variety, but I believe things written in the Bible DID happen, but the basis is in Science, not religion. 

If I held a recognised faith it would be a return to the Roman Catholic faith. Not for the ceromonies, and the worship of the Saints, but for the simple reason how can you worship the Son of God, but not his mother? Without the mother there is no son.

My belief is in Spirituality, I believe there is life after death, which explains the popularity of my ghost stories.