Trending

 My way

I could have made the blog more popular by writing about what is Trending on Twitter, Politics, TV shows, or celebrity gossip, but that wasn't my style. There are masses of bloggers doing that each day, I wanted my blog to be my voice, and I paid the price for being an individual.

It is the same with my stories, I may have been able to earn more if I had followed the trend of writing stories in the Harry Potter style, or about 2012, but again I wanted to be my voice, not a copy of someone else's style.

What will I do now?

 DVD viewer

Now I am no longer writing, I can concentrate on other aspects of relaxation.

I have a selection of Hindi movies to watch, and a wide range of books to read in my library.

Do I regret the last 15 years? In many ways I do, and in some ways I don't, I made one very good friend in Seattle.

What about my view on my journey as a writer?

The end result is what I thought it would be. I never expected to succeed, I have no qualifications, so I got ignored. I have no money for publicity, so I couldn't get my books seen. Also, I live in the UK, not the USA which is a big hindrance, I didn't sell an eBook in the UK

Bestselling Writers on Twitter

 The Great Irony

It is a joke

For some inexplicable reason, for the second time this year, I have been approached on Twitter by another bestselling writer.

I find it laughable that these people know about me, when I have given up on writing.

What don't they understand that after a struggle for 15-years, this year is the end. Also amusing is the wording of the request for me to continue; it is almost as if they copy/paste a section of a speech.

They all have the best agent, this agent can boost my online visibility, and sell my books.

In desperation, I believed this rubbish in June of this year, and it cost me £140 for nothing.

Another aspect of this joke is I am now being approached by several book promoters pushing to improve their online visibility.

Look Back in Anger

 Hard Times

Look before you Leap

I realise now, I was conned, it was my fault as all the signs were there for me to see; the red ffags were warning me not to go on, yet I ignoted them in my desperation.

This year, I was contacted, out-of-the-blue on Twitter by Linda Lael Miller, a NYTimes bestselling author. This came as a total suprise, why would such a prominent writer notice me?

She told me she would intriduce me to her agent Joy Mautin, 

After discussing the outline of a story to Joy, we decided to publish my book (A Sailor's Love).

All through the discussiona with the ladies, I couldm't help asking myself, how did Linda notice me? I asked her several times ovre the space of the three months (June - August), but never got a reply which appeared genuine.

Joy and I agreed on a price, as I have few resources, and when I was about to pay, the prive took a 40% rise to $150, way more than what I had budgeted for. Joy said for a further $50 she would put the book on Amazon for me, an option I never accepted, despite protestations from both ladies that the book needed the coverage to sell.

I explained, I'd had book on Amazon for years, and none had sold. Linda being a bestseller can guarantee sales to cover the outlay, me as an unknown author have to consider expennses Vs income, and I can see no way of getting back my original outlay in my life.

From June to August, they were in contact with me, at least once a week; since the last week of August there has been no contact, and I found Twitter have blocked Linda's profile.

I should have smelled a rat when Joy dropped the price from $250 to $100 to suit my budget.

The signs where there to be seen, in my desperation to be recognised after a 15-year struggle, I ignored Rule 101 

If something looks too good to be true, it usually is.

Good news for me

 Frostpunk

CDKeys

Many moons ago, I bought the software to play the game Frostpunk from CD Keys. The problem was, at the time, my pc didn't have the capacity to play the game as it wasn't a gaming console. last year, my family upgraded my pc to a gaming console for a birthday/ Christmas present for me.

Recently, I have been trying to free space, last night, I was able to free enough space on the disc to install the game. I did try to play Metro Redux a short while ago, but my daughter, Sarah, told me it has a major hitch you cannot kill some of the monsters. 

I am more at home playing games like Tropico, than First Person Shooter games, my reactions are not up to the speed for FPS games. I usually have problems with First Person games, as I find it hard to play when I don't know the position of the character. Saying that I am looking forward to playing Thief, as I loved the original Xbox game.

Virtually Invisible

A reversal of fortunes 

I find myself in an unfamiliar position, for the first time since I came online almost 30 years ago, I am virtually invisible.

Fifteen years ago, when I began writing my short stories, I was writing for three lady friends, that was a thrill to have three readers interested in my writing. Now, I doubt this blog will be read by more than six people this week.

My 10th Anniversary

  Poor Circulation

Ten years ago, I was told I may have Fabry disease, at the time I had no idea what the specialist was talking about.

After a little research, I was shocked to find out it is, yet another, genetic disorder, I inherited. The scariest part was finding out it usually kills men by the age of 59 - not a good thing to find out when you had 58th birthday a week ago - however, here I am.

I used to joke, I thought I was made from Frankenstein's rejected parts, the more I know about my genetics, the less it has become a joke.