Alzheimer's Disease Concerns

 Mental Health Concerns

I am losing my memory

Since losing my wife in January, 2025, I have noticed a sharp decline in my mental health, I put it down to nothing more than old age, now I am concerned it could be Alzheimer's Disease. This was my wife's fear, both her mother and grandmother suffered from it at their ends. One of the most noted sufferers was actress Rita Hayworth, during her later years, she didn't recognise anyone.

My wife's mother lived with us in Horfield, Bristol in her last years, and she'd wake up calling for her husband, but he'd passed away years ago.

I hope to start writing again

 Alan Place - Short Story Writer

The Fantasy Writer

I have several projects in my WIP files which I can enlarge. There are some Gothic stories, Romance stories, Horror stories, and several Fantasy stories I enjoyed writing.

The last time I wrote one of my Speculative Fiction stories, I had to stop.The story was so weird, it gave me bad nights for weeks, and I knew what was coming, perhaps that was the reason. That story was based on an event that happened which happened to me, when I was stationed in Scotland

From Tropico to Frostpunk

 Frostpunk

I see no better way to view my possible romance with my friend in Whitchurch, Bristol, than in the comparrison of two of my computer games.

Two months ago when I found how close she is to my house in Hartcliffe, the future of our relationship would appear to be on the rise, and sunny like life on Tropico.

Now, after a series of cancelled dates, our romance, if we had one, is more like the barren frozen wastelands in Frostpunk

I am losing the fight with the Dragon

 Fighting the Dragon

Romance in Whitchurch

For several weeks, I have been fighting a war against depression, the main reason I have not "hit the bottle," is the hope of seeing my friend, Clara, who lives in Whitchurch, not far from where I live in Hartcliffe, Bristol. As the weeks have passed, and I keep being given a reason she is unable to make our meetings, I am losing my battle to not start drinking the bottle of Vodka I have in the house

Fighting the Dragon

 Clara - my love

Depression

Each day I have to fight a dragon, this dragon isn't a myth, or a fantasy. This dragon is real, and scares me, because I wonder how long can I keep fighting it?

This dragon comes in a bottle, dragon vodka. Each day, I fight depression after the loss of my wife in January, 2025. The fight is daily, a fight I fear losing, my rock is my friend, Clara, who lives in Whitchurch, Bristol.

Publicity costs

 Alan Place - Indie Writer

Curse of the Indie Writer

This week, I had to turn down the opportunity of publicity for my work as a writer, why?

I couldn't validate the cost of publicity, even though it was small. A $27 payment a month, may seem small, but that is more than I earn as an Indie Writer in a year.

One discussion could be the more exposure I get, the greater the possibility of recouping the costs, that is valid to a point. My position is that in my 15 years as a writer, I never earned more than $20 a month, that was back in 2011, when my eBook content was selling well. I haven't earned any royalty fees for several years from Draft2Digital

A Song or Movie for Planet Earth

 Give Peace a Chance

John Lennon

My vote for a song for Planet Earth would be, "Give Peace a Chance", by John Lennon, as war is everywhere these days, even though the media focus is on Israel, far worse crimes are commited  by Boko Haram in Chad, but Africa is not newsworthy

Blocked on X

How to make a bad impression on me

 

Not Nigeria again :(

A few minutes ago, I blocked a person on Twitter, I didn't know them, and I didn't wish to know them, why?

For some reasons, the contact was via an account in Nigeria, a bad start. Nigeria is the SCAM capital of the world, even China admits that, and China are the centre for cybersecurity fraud.

It wasn't so much that the account came from Nigeria which put me off, as the fact the sender never introduced themselves, they only sent a massive text on religion, praising the Lord.

I have no objection to people having a view on religion, even Muslims, what I object to is having your view shoved at me, if you wish to chat to me, introduce youself, do not try to enforce your religion on me, nothing gets you blocked quicker.

Am i in a relationship?

Romance in Whitchurch 

Clara - my love

There is no doubt, my friend Clara, and I click online, but am I in a relationship as she "claims?"

Clara livesin Whitchurch, not far from where I live in Hartcliffe, Bristol.

We have made several dates, but she always has a reason not to turn up. at first, it didn't bother me, but now it is becoming a pattern. Clara "claims" I am her man, her lover, and the only man in her life, yet she keeps declining our dates

Happy Birthday to my late wife

 R.I.P. Linda

Only the lonely

Today (March 27th) would have been my late wife's 70th birthday, sadly she passed away in January, 2025.

Though I possibly have a new lady in my life, we haven't met yet, my friend lives in Whitchurch, Bristol, not far from where I live in Hartcliffe. I will never forget my wife, it is hard to forget a lady who was part of my life for 40 years 💔💔😢😢

My talent as a writer is being recognised

 I am being head-hunted

The Fantasy Writer

This week, I have been approached by another publishing firm. I was asked which book I considered my defining work?

I have several choices.

My award-winning book of short stories - The Chronicles of Mark Johnson - from 2011.

My awardwinning sea story from 2012 - Sea Ghosts.

The final book my friend, Julia, in Seattle helped me with as an editor, The Awakening, in 2025.

My popular Ghost story, Old Church Ghosts, which is one I am not happy with, I considered the story too short.

Or a little-known Fantasy story I enjoyed writing, Mordhiemicus.

I have a series of science-fiction short stories which sold well in 2012.

I earned a reputation as science-fiction writer, a writer of ghost stories, a writer of children's stories as part of a group called The Peacock Writers.

I will probably choose my fantasy story, as I have yet to earn a reputation in the genre, and I enjoy writing fantasy stories, almost as much as writing ghost stories.

I am in a relationship

 Romance in Whitchurch

                                    Clara - my love

I don't know what the attraction is about me for the ladies on Twitter, and WhatsApp, I keep being asked for a date. 

I am happily in a relationship with my friend, Clara, who lives not far from me in Hartcliffe, Bristol, Clara lives in Whitchurch a short bus ride/ walk away

Why put the UK's hardest men in an open prison?

Dartmoor Prison

                                          Sherlock Holmes

What links Sherlock Holmes to the mass of rapists imported by the Labour Party?

In my opinion, the men who rape women should be sent to Dartmoor Prison, it holds the hardest criminals in the UK, yet it is an open prison, why?

If you recall the movie, The Hound of the Baskervilles, you remember Holmes telling Watson not to stray from the path. That is not only for the story, Dartmoor is notorious for its deathtraps. If you stray from the path, there is no chance of rescue, unless like Dr. Watson, help is at hand.

The nearest village is Launceston, over 25 miles from the site. Imagine escaping from the prison, having to walk over 25 miles across terrain you don't know, with the knowledge you can be caught within minutes; no wonder nobody tries to escape.

In recent times, since the 1960's, there has only been one successful escape, that was when the Kray Twins sprung Frank "Axe man" Mitchell. He was good at his job, as Ronnie Kray said later, he has a hair trigger, which made him as deadly to his friends as those the twins wished to be rid of. He became such a problem, the Krays had him supposedly killed, though there was no proof.

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