Self-Isolated Blogging: An offer

From our man in Beetley – Ollie’s dad…

beetleypete

With doom and gloom all over the news, and a lot of very worried people unable to get out even to go to work and socialise, I am trying to think of something positive to offer via the platform of blogging. Facebook and Twitter can be a diversion, but they are also sadly also packed with negatives, scams, and sometimes downright meanness and offensive remarks.

So, back to blogging. Here is my offer, which is of course completely free, and has no catches.

(To contact me for any of these, use petejohnson50@yahoo.com )

Guest Posts.
If you are writing more than usual and hoping to reach a new community or a wider audience, send me a guest post to be published here.
Under 2000 words please, with a short personal bio, and a link to your site.

Book Promotions.
Many people may now have more time to read, so if…

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What it takes to write a book

A few thoughts on writing…

Have We Had Help?

I’m taking one of my frequent breaks while writing my latest story to reveal how I go about doing it. I’ve spent the last twenty-five years honing the particular method that works for me.

First I write a paragraph. Then I take a cold hard look at the words I’ve written, in particular their order as I’m doing right now while writing this post. It is at this point that I begin to edit the words written, not only for ease of reading, but also from the point of view of spacing, capitalization when required, spelling, grammar and punctuation. While at the same time asking myself what other words can I use that mean the exact same thing, but still clearly convey my meaning to the reader, bearing in mind that there is alway more than one way to say something.

There is only one method when it comes to…

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They wouldn’t let me use the first title I had in mind for this

More from our Jim…

Jim Webster

Obviously I’m an expert epidemiologist, I’ve read three facebook posts on the topic. To be fair I did farm through foot and mouth so I’ve learned one thing. Matters go better when the politicians shut up, back off, and let the epidemiologists run it. One of the big problems back in 2001 was that the Prime Minister wasn’t listening to his epidemiologists, he wanted his general election and was trying to say the outbreak was beaten so he could hold it on his preferred date.

But one thing I learned, unfortunately the hard way, was that back in 2001 social media was full of people who knew infinitely more about virology and similar sciences than those who’d merely spent their entire careers in these fields. Every political nutcase and every single issue pressure group was sure that everything was a conspiracy and that it could all be sorted in an…

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Last Days

A sci-fi story just for you…

Have We Had Help?

The Discovery

Our ship took up its stationary orbit above the planet; it had taken six thousand years for us to answer the call. The day when the ancient battered space probe was brought aboard our orbiting space station by its tractor beam, had been a momentous one for all concerned. To learn that there were more sentient beings out in the vastness of space caused great excitement for both the scientific community and the general population.

Over the next several months, our scientists worked at fever pitch in an effort to unravel the secrets of the probe’s departure point. Here was a clear invitation by an alien civilization across the other side of the galaxy to come and visit.

Many hours of careful analysis had gone into the strange markings on the plaque attached to the side of the probe. There were clear engraved representations of both male and…

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my muse

Love this!!!!

The Lonely Author

Grateful for all the warm messages and wishes. Doing much better now. Thank you.

Now, let’s get back to poetry………my muse deserves that.

.

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My muse
is a prism
for when she writes
I see the other side of light
As I read her words
I become an unraveling knot
That slowly comes undone
If she knew
how she brightens my darkness
with her inspiring poetry
my muse would understand
she is a prism
illuminating a spectrum of love
deep inside of me

.

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I wonder…

See what you think…

Have We Had Help?

… how many readers of our books realise how much of ourselves is contained within the pages? Reality dictates that in all probability the answer to my question is less than the number of fingers on one hand.

Yesterday I watched a video of my friend the best selling author Michael Jecks and Karen Maitland discussing what goes into any story for a gathering of book lovers.

Unlike the first timer we don’t just sit down and start writing thousands of words in the vain hope that something might work. Those who think that NanoWrimo is best are fooling themselves. No book worth reading ever emerged from that approach.

Long before we begin we start by researching the idea that just won’t go away. As a consequence, during a protracted period of time the original idea may be forgotten in favour of something far more interesting. Ask Michael, he knows…

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Quantarelli’s Formula

More from our Stefie in Italy…

e-Tinkerbell

I have always been of the opinion that even in the worst sistuations, just like this Covid-19 pandemic, there is something positive, a hope. The experience of disasters, somehow, often promotes social changes and, why not, the coming together of communities in order to help one another. Quantarelli explained this through a simple formula: the worse the situation is, the better people become.

Enrico Quarantelli was not a utopian, but an American sociologist, specialized in the study of reactions to disasters. He started with a tornado in Arkansas in 1952 and went on with dozens of cases.

It was after the great earthquake in Alaska in 1964 that, having noticed the same recurrent behaviors, he drew the first conclusions: catastrophic events bring the best out of humanity. It is not true that we react hysterically. Solidarity prevails over conflict. Society becomes more democratic. Class inequalities and distinctions vanish, at least…

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