Stuart Aken's Blog, page 267

Writing This Week

Not been the smoothest of weeks, for all sorts of reasons.
But, I've finally found the 'voice' for the NaNoWriMo novel, after a number of false starts. It means some modification, but will result in a better book, so worth the effort. I've done the first 3 chapters so far and I'm finally feeling pleased with the results.
No short stories this week. But I've completed a new blog post and continued with the debate on ethics and morals, as shown a couple of posts below this one. Why not get involved? I'm working towards a discussion on piracy of books, so it should interest most of you.
Been a bit off colour this week again, following last week's virus, but now on the way to recovery.
Also been making a start on some technical help for a female friend, who writes well but hasn't a clue about technical issues. She needs to get her work published as ebooks and I've offered my help. Initially, I'm intending to run a bit of promotion for her work (all erotica of the more gentle and romantic sort, I gather) here until I can get a blog set up for her. She's new to the idea of publishing and is still choosing her pen name, so I can't even flag that up yet. But her writing is good, so worth the effort and the wait.
It's been a week of bits and pieces: I'll be glad to get back to a bit of normality. Whatever that might be!
Still, did manage a reasonable walk with Valerie during the week. And I'm picking up some of the technical improvements on Photoshop Elements 10, which I installed a couple of weeks back. So, some progress, even if I feel I could have been more productive.
Keep reading and, if you write, writing.

Smashwords Read An E-Book Week. Last Day

My ebooks are available free or, in the case of Breaking Faith, at 50% off until midnight tonight (PCT), as part of a Smashwords promotion. 


Smashwords is the publisher I use for my ebooks. 


If you'd like to download a copy of one of the ebooks as above,  visit  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/stuartaken where you'll be able to get four of them free and Breaking Faith for $1.50.
  
All I ask is that, if you take advantage of this offer, you do a short review and place it on Smashwords, Amazon and /or Goodreads. Indie authors depend on reviews for readers, as they don't have the powerful marketing machinery used by major publishers.


So, what have you got to lose? This is an ideal opportunity to enjoy some fiction at either no cost or less than the price of a cup of coffee.
Enjoy.

Is Copying the Same as Theft?

Image via Wikipedia
Honest Questions From a Simple Man.


We continue the debateregarding the heading 'When is Theft Not Really Stealing' from last week. Ifyou missed it, you might want to start there. Here's the link: http://stuartaken.blogspot.com/2012/03/when-is-theft-not-really-stealing.html
Theo: Last time, we established that there's ageneral public attitude about petty theft from the place of work that considers suchthings as the taking of small items of stationery, chatting around the watercooler in work time and printing stuff for charities as not really stealing,you agree?
Dave: Yeah. And we said the bosses do it as well, whenthey have meetings on the golf course or travel Business Class to conferences,when they could just as easy meet on video conference.
Theo: So, there's a generally accepted feeling thatpetty theft is simply a part of everyday life in which most people participate?
Dave: Everyone does it.
Theo: Does this extend to such things, I wonder, as borrowinga book from a friend and never returning it?
Dave: That's not fair, but I don't think most peoplewould think of it as theft. I mean, it's usually just because they've forgotten,isn't it?
Theo: How do we feel about copying a music trackfrom a friend's CD so we can play it in our car?Dave: Happens all the time.
Theo: No doubt. But is it theft?
Dave: How would it be theft? I mean, the guy whoowns the CD can copy it legally so he can have a copy in the car and one at home,can't he?
Theo: That's actually not quite as straightforward,legally, as you might think. But forget that for the moment. The point aboutthe guy with the CD is that he's already paid the artist by buying the CD. Hisfriend, however, has made no contribution to the artist, has he?
Dave: I suppose not. But he might decide to buy thewhole CD once he's listened to the track, so the artist gets a new fan.  
Theo: On the other hand, he might not. And if hecopies the whole CD from his friend's?
Dave: Same goes. He might decide he'll buy the nextCD the artist brings out. So, the artist gains.
Theo: Or not, of course. It's a bit tenuous, thoughisn't it? Justifying this activity on the grounds that it might result infuture payment to the artist? There'll be those who decide never to buyanything from that particular artist but still retain the original copied CD.
Dave: Yeah, well, that's the way things are, isn'tit? Any case; look at the sort of money pop stars make. They're not going to missone or two sales, are they?
Theo: So, what makes it okay to steal income frompop stars is the fact that they're already wealthy from performing? Supposethis particular artist is just emerging, has produced the CD at his or her owncost, whilst working nights as a supermarket shelf-filler?
Dave: Well, no, you wouldn't want to do that fromsomeone just starting out, would you?
Theo: Selective theft, then. Interesting idea. Letme ask you, would you go into a shop and steal a CD off the shelf?
Dave: Jeez! 'Course not. That's shop-lifting.
Theo: But it's okay to do exactly the same thing bycopying material without paying for it?
Dave: Not the same. If you shop-lift, you're takingfrom the shop keeper as well. He's already paid for it and you've robbed him ofhis costs, haven't you?
Theo: Since the legal purchase of the item wouldalso involve the retailer, the only actual difference I see is that the shopkeeper hasn't, in that case, lost his expenditure but merely the opportunity ofthe profit, which is the part of the transaction that keeps him and his familyalive.
Dave: Record companies should make their CDscheaper, then people wouldn't be tempted to copy them, would they?
Theo: So, it's the fault of the supplier? You thinkit's the cost of the item that makes theft justified? Champagne's ridiculously expensivefor what it is; is it okay to steal that as well? At what point would the theftbecome wrong?
Dave: What do you mean?
Theo: Well, say for example, that the item was soldfor £10.00 ($15.68) for, say, 12 tracks? Is that too much to pay?
Dave: It's a lot.
Theo: So, how much would be not too much?
Dave: Hard to say. But I guess I'd pay, say, £6.00($9.41).
Theo: And £0.50 ($0.78) per track would stop youcopying in the future, would it?
Dave: Probably.
Theo: Theft, then, isn't an absolute but a qualitydependent on certain personal judgements about the worth of the object and the deservingnature, or otherwise, of the creating bodies?
Dave: Jeez, you do like to complicate things, don'tyou?
Theo: Sorry, Dave, I thought I was clarifying them. You feel it's okay to steal providing the person ororganisation you steal from can afford it? That seems to be what you're sayingand I simply want to make sure I understand you correctly.
Dave: Well, yeah, except I wouldn't call it theft.
Theo: What would you call it?
Dave: Dunno.
####
Please let me have your comments and observations.By the way, apologies for the delay this week: I've been a bit under theweather.
Next time, we'll move on to the next part of thedebate, especially as it pertains to written material, which is, after all,what most readers of this blog are involved with.

Read My Novel, Free: Chapter 9.

You've come this far, soyou don't need me blathering on with stuff you already know. Enjoy the read.
If you missed the start,here's the link to it: http://stuartaken.blogspot.com/2012/01/read-free-my-novel-here.htmlChapter 1 appeared on 13January and following chapters appear each Friday. You can find them via thearchive.
Read, enjoy, invite yourfriends.
Chapter 9
Wednesday 31st March
We had travelled for halfan hour in uncomfortable silence. 'Have I upset you,Leigh?''I don't say much about the way you look at work,Faith, because I know you've no fashion sense and clothes are just covers toyou. But I thought I'd made it clear today was a bit special. I mean, thatdowdy old tweed skirt, a blouse that'd look better on your grandmother andthose shoes that seem to be all you ever wear. And that's hardly an eveningbag, is it?''I'm sorry I'm a disappointment. Perhaps you'dbetter take me back home.''Don't get all injured with me. I hoped you'd makean effort, that's all.''I did what I could. I took up the hem of my skirtas far as I dare, persuaded Father to let me have a bath and washed my hairlast night.''And that's it?''What else could I do?''Oh, come on! A bit of make up? Your best dress orskirt? A pair of new shoes? I'm sure you could…''Oh, you're sure are you? It's easy for you,Leigh. You have a wardrobe full of clothes. Several pairs of shoes. What I'mwearing is what I have, Leigh. I can't do better than that. Unless you'd haveme travel in the stuff I wear for housework? Or naked?'His silence unnerved me but I had said enough. Theday had started badly and now I had made it worse. I wished he had neversuggested the trip out.'I'm sorry, Faith. I just assumed that… Well,you're a young woman, earning a decent wage. I automatically assumed you'd havenew clothes and make up. What else would you spend your money on?''Father doesn't work because of his back andbecause he has to stay home to care for Hope. My money goes into thehousekeeping.''All of it?''All.'Again, he was silent. The hostility had gone buthis continued silence unsettled me. From Ma and Old Hodge I had learned some ofthe basic social skills my father had neglected. A change of subject mighthelp.'I never said before, but the lift you gave mewhen you asked me to come back to work was the first time I'd been in a car.'His silence persisted for a few seconds thatseemed an eternity. 'I'm an idiot. I've taken on a bright, gifted, generous andhardworking assistant and I know nothing about you. It's so easy to take thingsfor granted. So easy to assume. Faith, I need to know something of yourpersonal history. I need to know more about you.'It was my turn for silence. Where to begin?'Begin from your earliest memory and take me asfar as you like.''I was very young; perhaps not even four. Fatherwas shouting at my mother. At the time, I'd no idea what caused the argument,but now I know it must've been when Mother finally accepted Hope would never beany different, would always be a baby. Father won't see it. He still believes;he has faith that she'll somehow miraculously emerge from her silentimprisonment and start to talk and walk and laugh and cry. Of course, she neverwill. But that was the beginning of a change that made my mother leave andabandon me when I was six.'I'd had my first year at school and was doingquite well, I think. In any case, I remember Mother praised me, cuddled andkissed me for my efforts. Then, one day, I was waiting for her by the schoolgates and she didn't arrive. Father came at last, with Hope in her pushchairthat was too small, and took me home. I haven't seen my mother since.'I gazed at the curling strip of tarmac flowingquietly beneath the car, unwinding as we drove over hills and vales as foreignas a distant land. Pictures of my childhood filled my mind and I was suddenlyaware that Mother took all joy and laughter with her. All the days since thenwere grey.'Don't dream it, Faith, tell me. I can't hear yourunspoken memories.''Sorry. I just discovered something very sad.''Tell me.''When my mother left, she took all the colour withher. Father only works in black and white, mostly black.'Don't grow all lyrical and metaphysical on me.Now isn't the time for poetry. Just tell me what happened.''I went to school for one more day, but Fathereither wouldn't or couldn't take me after that. He was supposed to teach me athome. At any rate, when I was about thirteen, someone came to check and hepersuaded her, with my help, that he was teaching me well enough. I'd startedto learn to read before school and I was quick enough to learn the rules oflanguage so I could read well very early.'There was an atlas, a history of the world, anold encyclopaedia and a dictionary in the house. Father had been through themwith a thick black pen, crossing out words and paragraphs. There were entirepages missing from the encyclopaedia. There was the Bible, of course, and somebooks of sermons by eighteenth century clerics.''You had no television, I know. Radio?''Father says they're instruments of the Devil,won't have them in the house. Same with newspapers and magazines. I've seenthose at Mrs Greenhough's, of course, and I can understand why Father rejects alot of them. All that flesh and talk of sex. It's as if nothing else matters inthe world.''I know you've only travelled within a few milesof home, so all this is new to you?' He waved a hand at the passing countrysidewith its flat fields and huge sky.'If I had to get out of the car now, I wouldn'teven know which way to go to get back home.''Any idea how far you are from home, Faith?''About ten miles?'Leigh chuckled. 'Sixty. Another ten and we'll bein York. One thing you can teach me regarding local geography; you oncementioned a small tarn above your cottage. I don't know of it. Is it far?'I smiled secretly. 'It's my refuge. Small butquite deep in places. It's where I go to be alone. I discovered it one day whenFather wanted me to get some fresh air and sent me off for a few hours in thesummer. Later on that same summer, it's where I learnt to swim, almost by accident.'I was too ashamed to tell him I had been trying to drown myself because my lifewas so miserable.'I'd like to see your tarn, Faith, like to see youswimming.''I bet you would! But you're not going to.''Hey, no need to get all haughty. I'm not suggestinganything improper. Your swim suit would cover your...''People don't wear suits to swim. You're pullingmy leg again, Leigh. I'm not that daft. They'd get all wet and drag you underthe water.''No, really, it's a special sort of…' He realizedthe import of my words even if I did not. 'You swim nude?''Of course! Doesn't everyone?''But I thought you believed it was immoral to benaked?''Only in public. I don't wear anything in the bathor in bed, so why should I wear anything to swim? There's never anyone about.No footpaths for walkers. And I'd hear a farmer with his dogs or tractor inplenty of time.''But not a peeping tom.''What's a peeping tom?''Doesn't matter. Are there trees at the tarn, ornearby?''There's a small copse of mountain ash at thesouthern end, a few rocks along the western shore. Why?''The farm where Merv lives with his father andbrothers hugs the slopes on the other side of the hill above your cottage.'This had nothing to do with what we were talkingabout. 'I know; horrible family.'Leigh grunted. 'That explains that.' He was silentfor a while. 'Apart from teaching yourself your many skills, keeping house foryour father, nursing Hope and cleaning that barn your father calls a chapel,what else do you do?''Read and sleep mostly; of course, I only have thebooks Father thinks are suitable.''Does your father actually do anything at all?''He has a back problem. He can't lift anything oreven walk far without pain. He hides it very well, though. Some people believethere's nothing wrong with him, but that's because he's so brave anduncomplaining.''Or such a good actor.''What do you mean?''No matter. We'll be in York in a few minutes.After we've found somewhere to park, and that'll take half a day, we'll go forcoffee and then find our new typewriter. Once that's out the way, the rest ofthe day is ours to have a bit of fun, do some sightseeing, okay?''Sounds exciting. Is it a very big place?''You know we passed through Hawes earlier on?''That big market town?''That big market town is a very small market town.Think of fifty of them packed together, add a few buildings four or fivestoreys high and you're getting near to the size of York. And York's not aparticularly big place.'I shook my head and let him have his joke on me. Iwould discover the truth when we arrived.'There is one thing, Faith.''I'm listening.''I want no argument about what I'm going to say.No refusals, no fuss. Today is a treat for you, for me as well, but mostly foryou. I'm going to spend some money on you, buy you a few presents, treat you.Okay?''Why?'He opened his mouth to speak and then shut itagain and drove in silence for a few moments. 'Faith, you're extraordinary. Anyother woman would've started suggesting things I might buy her. You just wantto know why. I'm having to learn a whole new set of rules in dealing with you.''You're having to learn?''Okay, fair point. Anyway, as to the "why?", it'squite simple. You earned me a great deal of money with your handling of thosebad debtors and....''I was just doing my job.''Faith! I want to reward you. I want to buy yousomething. I want to do it, I can afford to do it, and I'm going to do it. Isthat clear?''Yes, Mr Longshaw, sir.''Good. And don't be so cheeky.''No, master.''Mmm. In a couple of minutes, we'll be on theoutskirts of the city. You'll begin to see what I mean about the size of theplace. Do I have your word that you won't argue about the presents I want tobuy you?''What will you expect in exchange?''What?''I'm sorry, Leigh. It's just that Father said I…''Your bloody father's got a lot to answer for. Andhe's wrong. Not all of us expect to be paid with sex for presents. Not all menexpect a girl to whip her knickers off for the price of a dress or a piece ofjewellery. Some men like to give women presents because they like to give womenpresents. I like to give women presents. I expect and require nothing inreturn. Not even your gratitude. Do I make myself clear?''I keep making you angry and disappointed. I'm sorry.There's so much I don't know and almost everything I do know has come fromFather. His views differ so much from those of most other people. Thank you foryour offer, Leigh. I accept gladly and I'll try my best not to embarrass you.'Leigh took his hand from the steering wheel, foundmine and squeezed it gently. 'Thank you. I'll try to remember you're aninnocent with a fanatical puritan hypocrite for a father. Here comes York.'We were travelling in a long queue of traffic.Leigh had called Father a hypocrite and I worried about that for a moment,especially when I remembered Mrs Greenhough had said the same thing. But thenthe volume of traffic and the buildings took my attention instead. In fact,there were more cars visible from my seat than I had ever seen in the space ofa single day before. And houses lined both sides of the street; a street thatseemed to go on forever. Where did all those people go when they wanted to bealone?There were so many people on bicycles; so manypeople on foot. Men with beards and flared colourful trousers, men wearingshorts and coloured vests, women with skirts as short as Abby's, some evenshorter, some a lot longer, women with bare shoulders and necklines that madetheir breasts obvious. People in all sorts of clothes, people with differentcoloured skins, people of all shapes and sizes. And a huge stone wall with anarched gateway and towers. And so many shops I could not count them. It wasamazing, exciting, frightening, fascinating, wonderful, alarming, incredible.We drove into an open space that seemed big enoughto hold my entire village and Leigh parked the car amongst hundreds of othercars in an area that seemed to exist only for that purpose. He switched off theengine and laughed at me. 'Close your mouth, Faith, you'll catch flies.''It's… everything's so… I've never seen so many… Ifeel so small and … there's so much to look at and…''I thought it might be a little overwhelming foryou. But you're bright and brave and I'm sure you'll cope. Don't stare and gape,especially at people; they're not so tolerant of innocence in cities. Countryfolk are a lot more accommodating of strangeness, rather oddly. I'll answer anyquestion you want to ask. And, please, do ask. Don't be afraid or embarrassed.I'd much rather you asked than made an idiot of yourself.''Or of you.''True. But it's you I'm most concerned about.Right. Stay in the car whilst I get the ticket.''I want to come with you, Leigh. I want to see. Iwant to see everything.'
###
You've come this far, so it'sunlikely you'll stop now. But, just in case you get impatient waiting, you knowwhere to buy the book.
Web site: http://stuartaken.co.uk
Tweet with me: http://twitter.com/@stuartaken
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/StuartAken

The Dangers of Distraction.

Image via Wikipedia
Do you do it? You know what I mean; participate insocial networking. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Digg, StumbleUpon and Google+are all sites where you'll find me commenting, posting, bringing items ofinterest to other people. Then there are the peer review sites; those placeswhere you post a piece of writing and hope for some reviews, but in exchangeyou have to post reviews of the work of others, which, of course, means readingthem. There are even altruistic sites, like Critters, where the emphasis is onthe support and nurturing of young talent for no reward other than that ofhelping out.
All these activities detract from your writing byinvolving the use of your time. There's so much advice out there on how best tolearn to write and how to learn to write well. But one piece of advice standsout from the rest, in my mind at any rate: if you want to write, and writewell, ignore everything else, and write. That, of course, is a little sparseand not as comprehensive as it ought to be. If you write without reading, forexample, you're doomed to repeat the mistakes of others, doomed to repeat whathas already been written, doomed to remain enclosed in your world of delusionwhere you're a brilliant, if untried and unpublished, writer.
So, to that injunction to write, I must add; read.Read often, read well-written work only, which doesn't necessarily meanbest-sellers. I mean, Jeffrey Archer's novels are sometimes described as'best-sellers', but would you call it good writing? I've read a few of theauthors who sell lots of books and discovered that they often write in clichés,clichés of both phrase and idea. Formulaic, superficial writing seems to sellwell for reasons I don't understand. But if you're more interested in dollarsand pounds than the quality of the work you produce, you know where to findyour role models. But be prepared to be forgotten as soon as your book is read.Prepare to be lost to history and the future. It's rare indeed for abest-seller to outlive the era in which the work was published. Oh, there areexceptions; there are always exceptions. They prove the rule, after all.
So, to improve your writing, read extensively fromthe best you can find. And then, write. Write something new every day, as apriority. Even if you can manage only a few words, even if it's no more than adiary entry, write something, something new, every day. Make it the best youcan if it's only a few words. If, on the other hand, you're engaged in theconstruction of a more beefy piece, a short story, essay, novel or non-fictiontome, then I'd advise you to get the words down first. I know some people are,or feel they are, incapable of moving on until what they've written is the verybest they can make it. For most would-be writers that way leads to an eternityof unfinished work. If you get the words down first, you can then revisit anduse the editing process to refine and improve.
To return to the beginning: social networking andthe like. If you must network, connect, interact - and which of us doesn't dothis?- I'd suggest you do it only after you've done your day's writing.If you treat your writing as a profession, treat it as work, you'll be far moreable to set and keep to your real priorities. The job of a writer is to write.That's the first priority. Everything else is secondary and should be treatedas such.
I speak from experience here.
I've spent most of the past few months engaged insocial networking; building that essential writer's platform beloved of agentsand publishers. So, I've Tweeted, posted stuff to Facebook, engaged indiscussions on LinkedIn,joined groups on Goodreads.It's been productive in terms of contacts and connections. And I've had a greatdeal of fun in the process; made a great many new friends at various levels ofthe writing craft from real beginner to accomplished author and every stagebetween. Met and connected with readers of all sorts. I wouldn't have missedthe experience for the world. But, in that time, I've written and submitted toofew stories, put down too few words (apart from November last year, when Iparticipated in NaNoWriMo as a way to drive myself back into actually writing,and produced the first draft of a comedy thriller, writing 112,242 words beforethe time was up). But I have, sitting on my computer, two volumes of an epicfantasy trilogy, and I should have written volume three by now, should have hadthe books out there in the market place for readers. But no; the networking hastaken precedence. So, I know what I'm talking about here.
So, following my own advice, I'm now aiming toproduce at least one new story each week, complete the editing and route to publicationfor my NaNoWriMo novel titled An Avenger Unseen, and begin work on volume threeof the epic fantasy. All social networking will take a back seat and be doneonly when I've completed my writing for that day.
If you want to write, I urge you to write. Leave thedistractions, digressions, procrastination for others and you might find thereare people out there actually reading the words you've put down. Isn't thatsomething worth aiming for?
A silly question to ponder: If corn oil comes fromcorn, olive oil from olives, and vegetable oil from vegetables, where does babyoil come from?

Read an E-Book Month 2012

Choosing an E-Book Reader (Photo credit: Andrew Mason)
Adapted from Mark Coker onthe Smashwords site.Wonderful News: March is now Read an E-book Month in Canada!By virtue of an Order by the 41st Parliament of Canada, FirstSession, Motion M-293 was passed declaring the month ofMarch Read an E-Book Month.The Order reads:That, in the opinion of the House, the government should: (a)recognize that the ePublishing industry has created economic opportunities forentrepreneurs, authors, publishers and e-reader manufacturers; (b) recognizethat e-books present significant benefits for seniors and children; (c)recognize that e-books are an environmentally-friendly alternative to books;(d) declare the month of March as "Read anE-book Month"; (e) support the goals and ideals of "Read anE-book Month; and (f) encourage Canadians to observe "Read anE-book Month".Canada has taken steps to recognize the innovation of e-bookentrepreneurs and the value this new technology brings to society.Wouldn't it be great if we could have the whole world join inand have a worldwide E-book Month? Some event sponsors are also doing something special for Readan E-Book Month.E Ink: Look for contests and exciting factoids on the E Ink Readan E-Book Month Facebook page!Content will be unlocked as each day of the month arrives. They have also setup a website page forthe event.Indigo Book & Music willoffer $10.00 off a Kobo WiFi e-reader during Read an E-Book Month.####
E-book Reading Devices
E-books have gone mainstream! The latestannouncements on airlines include: "Please turn off all electronicdevices, including electronic book readers...." That translates into ahome run for e-books. They have arrived!Of course, e-books can just as easily read on a computer orlaptop. That's what the first e-books were created for. But now e-books aremore commonly read on e-book reading devices like the iPad, Sony Reader, Kobo,Kindle  and a host of other dedicateddevices.The list of e-book readers, and formats they read in, is growingyearly. The good news is that new technologies make these devices more durableand easier to see in all lighting situations.E-books can also be read on handheld computers (aka Pocket PCs,or PDAs). These pocket-sized devices are popular with people on the go, and cancarry an astounding amount of memory!Smartphones are combined PDAs and cellphones, and like PDAs,they are great e-book readers for people with long commutes on publictransport. Try an e-book on your Nexus One.Last year during Read an E-Book Week we had a list, and link, tothe most popular e-book readers. This year there are simply too many to keeptrack of. Instead, here's a few great links to learn about e-book readers --past, present and future!

E-Book Matrix 
The eBook Reader Blog
The eBook Reader
E-Book Reader ComparisonSo, if you don't already own one of thesedevices,  now you can discover which isbest for you and go ahead, take the plunge, and find your way to reading morebooks, often at greatly reduced prices. In fact, many of the classics areavailable free as ebooks. And taking books on holiday no longer need take upspace or weight in your luggage if you have an e-reader; they can often carry up to 1,200books!

Smashwords Read An E-Book Week

My ebooks will all be available either free or, in the case of Breaking Faith, at 50% off, for the week 4 March to 11 March as part of a Smashwords promotion. 


Smashwords is the publisher I use for my ebooks. 


If you'd like to obtain a copy of one of the books as above,  visit  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/stuartaken where you'll be able to get four of them free and the major romantic thriller, Breaking Faith, for $1.50.
  
All I ask is that, if you take advantyage of this offer, you do a short review and place it on Smashwords, Amazon and /or Goodreads. Indie authors depend on reviews for readers, as they don't have the powerful marketing machinery used by major publishers.


So, what have you got to lose? This is an ideal opportunity to enjoy some fiction at either no cost or less than the price of a cup of coffee.
Enjoy.

When is Theft Not Really Stealing?

Image via Wikipedia
Theo: You do the boss afavour, staying at your desk over your lunch break to field an important callfor him, and, whilst you're captive, in what's generally your own time, yousurf the net. It's company policy that you can do this during your lunch break,provided you don't enter inappropriate sites, of course. You come across anarticle you've been wanting to read; research for a private project. So,without the time to read it there and then, you print off the five pages withthe colour illustrations, on the firm's laser printer so you can take it hometo read in comfort. Is that theft?
Dave: What, taking fivesheets of office paper and a bit of ink they'll never even notice? You'rekiddin', right?
Theo: The question isthis: Is it yours to take?
Dave: Hell, man, you'redoing the boss a favour in your own time. He owes you, doesn't he? Any case, Ibet you waste more paper and ink than that nearly every day by mistake.
Theo: So, you don't thinkit counts as stealing?
Dave: No way.
Theo: The same, I suppose,goes for those odd paper clips, rubber bands and envelopes you take forpersonal use?
Dave: Look, everyone doesthat. You can't call it stealing. The amount they pay for stationery, they'dnever even notice, would they?
Theo: And the privateletters placed into the post tray to be stamped or franked?
Dave: Maybe in an emergency.You know, when it needs to go today and you don't have a stamp or you can't getout the office for some reason. Once in a while won't do any harm, will it?
Theo: What about thatphotocopying of the club's agenda for that meeting you've arranged tonight assecretary? A copy of three pages for each of thirty seven members. How aboutthat?
Dave: It's for a goodcause, isn't it? I mean, I know the boss doesn't give to that cause, but thefirm chooses a charity every year to support, so they don't mind a bit ofgiving, do they?
Theo: Not, then, a matterof principle? More one of expediency, I suppose?
Dave: Horses for courses,mate. What harm's it do. That sort of thing doesn't hurt the company. Any case,everybody does it.
Theo: And because everybodydoes it, that makes it acceptable, or right?
Dave: Well, you can'treally call it stealing, can you? I mean, stealing's important things, thingsthat cost, not little bits and pieces like that.
Theo: So, just to get thisright: everybody does it and they're only small things?
Dave: That's right.
Theo: So. A hundredemployees take a hundred sheets, together with the accompanying ink, what,every week, month, year?
Dave: Now you're beingdaft. Not everyone does that much, do they? I mean that's ten k sheets and alot of ink. No. It's not like that; it's just occasional and not all the staffdo it, do they?
Theo: Not everybody, then?
Dave: Well, no. Some folkaren't interested in that sort of thing. They take other things instead.
Theo: Ah, you mean time?For example, the quarter of an hour they spend talking at the water cooler whenthey're being paid to work? Or the few minutes each day they arrive late? Ormaybe those odd minutes they need for shopping over lunch? That sort of thing?
Dave: That's right. Mostpeople do that sort of thing.
Theo: And that's notstealing, even though they're paid for that time?
Dave: You think the bosseswork every hour of every day? Think they're working when they have a  'meeting' on the golf course? Think they'reworking when they fly business class to some conference they could do by videocall?
Theo: I understand yourpoint. So, what you mean when you say the everybody does it, is that thepractise of petty theft is rife throughout the structure of the workplace andis accepted simply as a part of daily life?
Dave: Well, I wouldn't putit like that. But, yeah, I suppose that's really what it is when you look atit. I mean, no one works every minute of every day doing what they're paid todo, do they?
Theo: I expect not. Infact, I suspect it would be bad for their mental health if they did. But, mypoint here is more about what we call such things. What we label this activity.The bosses see their own small thefts as 'perks', the natural reward for theirlevel of commitment. How do the ordinary workers see their own small acts ofstealing?
Dave: Most of them see itas getting something more out the bosses, if they think of it at all. You'remaking more of it than it really is, Theo. It's just part of working life.
Theo: You're probablyright. But what that means in reality is that workers, and their bosses,actually approve, even if only by not disapproving, the daily general theftwe've discussed.
Dave: Life's too short toworry about things like that.
Theo: But, what concernsme, Dave, is whether the casual acceptance of such petty theft allows somepeople to consider rather more valuable items taken to be also acceptable. Wedon't have time to discuss this now. But I'd like to plant the notion that it'sthe general acceptance of small theft as unimportant that allows some folk togo on to steal the work of others, to see such theft as something normal and ofno harm to anyone.
Dave: It's a thought. But,like you say, we best get back to work. The boss is looking over here andglancing at his watch.

Ariel, by Sylvia Plath, Reviewed

Mostly incomprehensible. For me, atleast, that encloses in a nutshell the bulk and content of this overly personalpoetry. Oh, the mood of depression and despair is thick enough to be tangibleand some of the imagery even peers through the gloom in a form that I canrecognise. But much of this self-indulgent outpouring of grief, bitterness andbile is so utterly personal to the poet that, without those essential notesused by the students of literature, I find I'm lost in a morass of meaninglessreferences.
The exceptions are the poems about thebees. These, at least, I can understand and therefore appreciate. There is lifeand light and some understanding of both the insects and their keepers here.
As for the rest; I'm at a loss tounderstand the poet's reputation as foremost amongst those of her time. Whilstaccepting that poetry is necessarily a personal experience set in the form ofwords employing descriptive language and often obtuse references that make formetaphor, I do expect to be able to take something from the verse apart fromutter incomprehension. I read Dylan Thomas and know where I am and what it is I'mbeing told. I need no interpreter, no student's notes, no back history aboutthe writer. But, without such guidance, these poems are, for me, just so manywords.
If the poet intends to communicatefeeling, mood, impressions in any manner that her readers will understand, thensurely density, obfuscation and abstract reference must occasionally bow toclarity, mustn't they?
I fully understand that the disciples ofthese works and their creator will label me a philistine, an ignoramus, perhapseven a fool. In my defence, I would simply say that I read the entire anthologyand was able to comprehend around ten of the eighty pages. That the poet wasmostly living a troubled and despairing life is evident. But what she actuallymeant by the mass of the work presented here will remain a mystery to me.
I wonder if this is another of thosewriters who ranks with James Joyce and a few others as an object of admirationbecause the critics are terrified of appearing foolish should they admit tofinding the work unintelligible. I recognise that the failing may well lie withme, but I'm unable to quite avoid the impression that somehow the literaryworld has allowed itself to be fooled in much the same way as the art world hasaccepted Damon Hirst's  biologicalspecimens as works of art rather than the anatomical samples they are inreality.
Not a poet I shall read again.Disappointing and ultimately deeply unsatisfying. 

In Aid of Inshore Rescue

A friend of mine, Rick Sumner, has produced a slim volume of comic verse to be sold to raise funds for the local inshore rescue service. This maritime service has done sterling work over the years since it was first introduced, rescuing people in difficulties in the seas around the East Yorkshire town of Hornsea. If you'd like to obtain a copy, but don't get as far as Hornsea, here's the contactlink.

And, by way of a tempter, here's an example of the verse:

 A very small fellow once stated
That he wanted his legs elongated
But when his friend Jack
Stretched him out on a rack
He screamed 'STOP, being tall's over rated.'

Rick's Rescue Rhymes can be purchased for the enormous outlay of £1.00 from Hornsea Inshore Rescue, or by post, by contacting Rick using the link above. For that service, there will be a small postal service, but all money raised goes to this excellent cause.