My beef with experts

I’m not the only one who can’t stand experts! Read on…

Jim Webster

People tell us that we’re wrong to disbelieve the experts. After all they’re the ones who know stuff so we should listen to them. The problem comes when you get older. Experts are best if they’re like historians who look back and pontificate on the past. That works. Yes you can argue with other historians, but you’re only arguing over the interpretation of the information. You’re not making the dangerous mistake of using your expert interpretation of the data to predict the future.

Once you predict the future you run into problems. Reality is perfectly happy to run your predictions and in ten or twenty years you can see how right or wrong you were.

So looking back, let’s look at BSE which came close to destroying the UK beef industry and compared to which, Brexit is a trivial irrelevance. Eventually they found that a Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy could move…

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…a rerun of a superb post from my pal, Brendan Gerad O’Brien…

More from our man in the Middle East

Seumas Gallacher

…this Guest Post featured on my blog a couple of years ago, and it popped up again on the files recently… well worth another read from my great writing pal, Brendan Gerad O’Brien… enjoy…

Interview with Brendan Gerad O’Brien for the Seumas GallacherBlog

1 – Tell us about your connection with Wales:

I was born in Tralee on the west coast of Ireland and came to the UK when I joined the Royal Navy at 18. It was while I was on a course in Portsmouth that I met a beautiful Welsh girl, Jennifer Marshall, who was on holiday from Newport, South Wales. After a short romance we got married and when my service contract ended we went to live in Newport to be near her family. We’ve been there ever since.

2 – Tell us about yourself as a writer and as a person:

When…

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Nikola Tesla: The Prometheus of Electricity

Interesting stuff…

lampmagician

By SearchingTheMeaningOfLife With a great Thank

I’ve just been wonder about this man, that is a respectable wonder. I think we are not mature enough to understand this alien 🙂❤

George Stamkos

^{“Nikola Tesla remains the myth, the central point, the archetype of all 20th-century scientists.”Gerry Vassilatos, Lost Science}

Nicolas Tesla was born at midnight ^on July 10, 1856, during a terrible storm full of glowing lightning … It was an electrifying night and he was fortunate enough to be born in one of Europe’s most electrified regions: divided two empires, the Austro-Hungarian and the Ottoman Empire. He was born in the village of Smilian of Lika, an area now owned by Croatia, but then part of the so-called Vojna Krajina, the border region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was autonomous and was mainly inhabited by Serb refugees from various areas of the occupied the Ottomans of Serbia. He left life on…

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Pseudo experts, the cross we all have to bear

Good advice – take it!!!

Have We Had Help?

Have you ever noticed that no matter what the subject, there will always be certain individuals who assume that they know more about it than anyone else? Take writing for instance. In this case the only ones who can be labelled true experts are writers with books selling in their tens of thousands, despite what any editor or gate keeper may say! If like myself you are fortunate to fall within this category as a successful published Indie writer, it’s bad enough that you instantly come to the attention of non writers in the form of trolls without armchair critics, grammar nazis, pedants, and worst of all, self appointed editors adding to the mix.

I’m sorry to disillusion you all, but just because you may have a degree in English in one form or another, it does not give you the right to poke your often ill informed oar in.

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Filling Holes

A few words from Adam 😉

itinerantneerdowell

My dog, Max is slowing down as a result of aging. It’s difficult to watch. He wants to go on long walks, but it no longer is the best course of action.

I suppose Max’s aging reminds me of my own mortality. For dogs it happens at a much faster pace.

This past week, I communicated with someone from my past. It was someone, from almost fifty years ago, when we served at the same airbase in Germany.

Due to the end of the Cold War, the air base is no longer there. Our shared experiences were only memories–although pleasant ones.  Sometimes it’s nice to fill-in holes from my past.

Fifty years are a long time. There were a lot of life changes for both of us. I wondered what my friend thought about, after being contacted by someone, out of the blue, after fifty years.

This came about because…

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Pseudo-experts and other lunatics

Something of mine still worth reading…

Have We Had Help?

As a published writer, sooner or later you will encounter one or more of the following!

~~~

Once you have published a book or books, it is inevitable that you will attract the attention of individuals with a doctorate in incomprehensibly stupid! When Amazon opened the can of worms by giving everyone and their dog the privilege of being able to offer their opinion on your work on their sites worldwide, was the day the age of the internet troll and other non-entities was born.

Today, not only Indie writers, but also traditionally published ones find themselves on the receiving end of what can only be described as pseudo-expertise. For the latter its bad enough that their editors are imposing their often misguided personal opinions on how a book should be written, often to the detriment of the story, instead of sticking to correcting grammar and punctuation. But now all…

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How? Why?

More from Pete…

beetleypete

We have a fault with the new cooker we bought last year. It’s not a ‘won’t work’ fault, but the fan refuses to turn off, and comes on of its own accord, even when the oven hasn’t been used all day. Just another of life’s little annoyances, add it the list that grows daily. The small niggles that make me so frustrated with modern technology, I am in danger of biting through my bottom lip.

Luckily, it is under guarantee. Just get the receipt that doubles as the guarantee, contact the shop that supplied and fitted it, and off we go.

Hang on. Where did I put that paperwork? Somewhere safe, obviously. A place so secure that not only would I never lose it, I can be sure of never remembering where to find it, if I live to be 100.

My fault of course, not my wife’s. I dealt…

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Will your book cross international borders?

Yet another oldy but goody from yours truly 😉

Have We Had Help?

When writing your latest story, have you even considered that you may be subconsciously writing with a specific geographical reading public in mind, or has the idea never occurred to you?

Quite a while back before I went independent, I was involved in a discussion on this very subject with my former editor, long before we fell out and parted company. In particular we were talking about one specific book written by an American in the same writing stable as myself at the time. It involved its main character living in nineteen fifties America with a sci-fi element thrown in for good measure.

I put forward the argument that while I could see it doing very well within the borders of the US, whether its success there meant it would appeal to the world at large was highly debatable. Undoubtedly it would sell a few copies in Australia. It may…

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Calling all the so-called literary experts in the blogosphere

…worth repeating, ting, ting, ting…

Have We Had Help?

Think you are experiencing de ja vu? Bear with me.

While we all know there are many individuals who profess to be experts on certain subjects, especially here in the blogosphere, the day before yesterday I decided to set a challenge for the so-called literary experts who still pounce from time to time from among my many blog followers. These particular individuals always insist that as they know everything when it comes to literature, at least according to them, that it follows they are always right. Needless to say it came as no surprise whatsoever when they failed to participate. Only one person had the decency to comment by stating that they didn’t know any of the authors listed, which was fair enough.

So ‘experts’ now its time for you all to either put up or shut up, once and for all. If none of the self styled editors, armchair…

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Science Fiction Fans: Please Read

Magazines are good, Books are better. 🙂

beetleypete

I have received some information about magazines that contain great stories for fans of the Science Fiction genre. I am pleased to note that one of those featured is Unfit Magazine, from the publishers of Longshot Island. Please check out the links if you are interested.

Eight Times the Gift of Science Fiction

Here are 8 places to find great science fiction short stories. The list is divided between 4 magazines (1-4) with a more traditional lineup of authors and 4 magazines (5-8) that typically showcase younger authors. All the magazines listed here have both, making any of them a great choice as a gift for someone who wants a little of everything.

1. Galaxy’s Edge – This magazine starts with “The Editor’s Word” and believe me, Mike Resnick’s got something interesting to say each time. Although this is a newer magazine, it tends to be graced with stories by…

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