Larry Jeram-Croft's Blog, page 10
November 3, 2016
Fed up - I feel like a rant
In 1975 we had a referendum to join the EEC - it passed (democratically) and no one ran around with their hair on fire as a consequence.
Last year we had a vote in parliament for a referendum on the EU - it passed (democratically)
This year we had the referendum and the result was clear (democratically)
All this despite:
Being warned of immediate total economic meldown (to the tune of £30 Bn) - didn't happen
Being warned of long term economic disaster by the head of the Bank of England (who also predicted the immdediate Armageddon).
But:
The aforementioned banker now says we have at least 2 years of economic growth ahead of us - even while we are negotiating with the EU to leave.
The Pound has dropped (not collapsed, although many use this emotively and see this as a terrible thing) BUT our exports are thriving as a consequence.
The Scots had a referendum and voted to stay in the UK (democratically). As part of the UK myself - me and the rest of us weren't allowed a say in MY country breaking up. But now they won't bloody shut up. Two refendum (referenda?) that they agreed to, haven't given them the result some of them wanted. I really wish the BBC would stop giving that Sturgeon woman so much air time!
The High court today ruled today that parliament must have a say in the article 50 invocation - fair enough.
All the remainers are now shouting this as a victory. It isn't of course but it clearly shows that they see this as a way of overturning the referendum result. Wow now that is democratic!
I am fed up being insulted on Face Book and other web sites as an idiot/moron/person who hates his grandchildren - (I see today I am a F***kwit apparently) . I passionately feel that leaving the EU is the best for us for far too many reasons to state here - if you don't agree, fair enough but stop insulting me in the process.
Its funny that most of the vitriol and hyperbole is coming from the remainers. Maybe its time us silent majority (until now in my case) stood up to be counted - by the way there are 1.7 million more of us!
Last year we had a vote in parliament for a referendum on the EU - it passed (democratically)
This year we had the referendum and the result was clear (democratically)
All this despite:
Being warned of immediate total economic meldown (to the tune of £30 Bn) - didn't happen
Being warned of long term economic disaster by the head of the Bank of England (who also predicted the immdediate Armageddon).
But:
The aforementioned banker now says we have at least 2 years of economic growth ahead of us - even while we are negotiating with the EU to leave.
The Pound has dropped (not collapsed, although many use this emotively and see this as a terrible thing) BUT our exports are thriving as a consequence.
The Scots had a referendum and voted to stay in the UK (democratically). As part of the UK myself - me and the rest of us weren't allowed a say in MY country breaking up. But now they won't bloody shut up. Two refendum (referenda?) that they agreed to, haven't given them the result some of them wanted. I really wish the BBC would stop giving that Sturgeon woman so much air time!
The High court today ruled today that parliament must have a say in the article 50 invocation - fair enough.
All the remainers are now shouting this as a victory. It isn't of course but it clearly shows that they see this as a way of overturning the referendum result. Wow now that is democratic!
I am fed up being insulted on Face Book and other web sites as an idiot/moron/person who hates his grandchildren - (I see today I am a F***kwit apparently) . I passionately feel that leaving the EU is the best for us for far too many reasons to state here - if you don't agree, fair enough but stop insulting me in the process.
Its funny that most of the vitriol and hyperbole is coming from the remainers. Maybe its time us silent majority (until now in my case) stood up to be counted - by the way there are 1.7 million more of us!
October 23, 2016
The worm turned and then the mouse roared
6 emails, one of which was the the CEO of Amazon, several phone calls and the next day I get a message back saying the 'issue' with my reviews has been resolved. Didn't actually say what the 'issue' was but all the reviews are back up so:
Either they got fed up with me and decided to put them back to shut me up
The CEO told them to stop being stupid (not likely!)
They actually bothered to look into what was going on and found they had been overzealous
There really was a technical issue
Either way - LJC One, Amazon Nil
Either they got fed up with me and decided to put them back to shut me up
The CEO told them to stop being stupid (not likely!)
They actually bothered to look into what was going on and found they had been overzealous
There really was a technical issue
Either way - LJC One, Amazon Nil
October 21, 2016
The worm is turning
Firstly let me say that this is NOT a marketing ploy! Amazon seem to have an odd and arbitary policy for reviews for books and one thing they do is remove any they think are 'fake' ie written by friends and family etc. In addition and I'm not sure how they do it but they also seem to be able to use FB and decide if people are in that category and remove their reviews as well. Yesterday 'Retribution' received its fifth five star review. Like all the others, it was an honest one and the words were those of the reader himself. However, last night all my reviews were removed and I have yet to be able to get an explanation as to why. I know that at least two of the reviewers are likers of this page and can only assume that is what Amazon have taken exception to. Bloody silly, as it effects their revenue as much as mine. So I am asking a favour, could anyone who has purchased the book go to the Amazon web site and say something about it, it will only take few minutes - its a little button at the bottom of the reviews section - 'write a customer review' please only talk about the book and be honest. Maybe it will convince them not to be so bloody silly. Here's the link:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Retribution-Jon-Hunt-Book-7-ebook/dp/B01J28457O
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Retribution-Jon-Hunt-Book-7-ebook/dp/B01J28457O
October 14, 2016
And now for the next one
Now that 'Retribution' is out and selling extremely well and apart from the Lynx book which has just gone through a second draft, I have mostly been working on the new Jon Hunt Novel which will be called 'Formidable'. It will be about an aircraft carrier (fictional) of that name - chosen by me because my father flew Martlet fighters off the last real ship of that name with 888 squadron (which will also be resurrected for the story) in the Second World War . I'm about twenty thousand words in and it's shaping up well. I had a really good idea for a plot twist as I nodded off to sleep last night. I only wish I could remember what it was! That's the problem with 'writing', all the clever bits are done away from the computer. I've now reached the stage where I'll have to leave notepads and pens around the house so I can write things down as they appear out of nowhere. I'll also have to put some in my golf club bag. Anyway, here is a very rough idea for the new book cover:
August 31, 2016
Yet another slightly odd book launch
My book about the Lynx is not due for publication until March next year. Indeed only yesterday did I receive the first set of proofs and there's a great deal of work to do to get the formatting right. However, imagine my surprise when I went on to my Amazon pages the other day to see the book advertised for pre-order. I spoke to my publishers and they apparently release the cover very early and let Amazon do their thing. Anyway - there it is ready for all of you to buy and only have to wait another mere seven months!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Royal-Navy-Lynx-Operational-History/dp/1473862515
I guess this means yet another change to my FB profile picture as well as the one on this blog. Writing the things is much easier than all the other hassle!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Royal-Navy-Lynx-Operational-History/dp/1473862515
I guess this means yet another change to my FB profile picture as well as the one on this blog. Writing the things is much easier than all the other hassle!
August 22, 2016
Newsletter/mailing list
Good old teknology moves on and I even catch up on occasions. For some time I've been meaning to set up a mailing list so I can send out the occasional newsletter to anyone interested in the progress of the latest epic. I've finally got around to doing just that (after several very frustrating hours on the 'MailChimp' web site that manages mailing lists). I think I've got it right and there is a sign up button on the right of this page. There's also one on my Face Book page and web site. I promise not to use this as anything other than an occasional mail shot to tell anyone interested of the progress of the latest book or other relevant news like a new audio version being available. Also, MailChimp is very secure and personal emails are protected and will only be used by me. SO I would really appreciate some sign ups - it only takes a second. Thanks in advance.
August 14, 2016
RETRIBUTION
Despite my rather limited book launch it seems I must have quite a following for the 'Jon Hunt' books as sales figures are looking very good so far. I'm now about to start on the next one to be called 'Formidable' and this time I expect the name won't change at the last minute as it's the name of the ship Jon will command. Anyone who has read Retribution will already know that of course. While I'm at it I have an authors page on Amazon which readers may want to have a look at - it can be found here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Larry-Jeram-Croft/e/B004XHVJV0
July 26, 2016
Oops - slightly late book launch!!!
So I put the new book 'Retribution' into the web site 'Createspace' who do my paperbacks, expecting it to take the normal 5 days to appear on Amazon. Instead it appeared almost straight away. Today the Kindle goes live and I was intending to do one of my spectacular (not) book launches. Actually its quite hard to do anything that spectacular as a self published author, its just as good to announce it here and on FB etc and let the sales do the talking. Anyway imagine my surprise when I got the following comment on my Author's FB page first thing this morning:
Well it's 4am... and all I can say is AMAZING! Couldn't stop reading. Retribution is great, fast paced, action packed and perfect Jon Hunt.
Loved the twist and links to past books in the series. Not as much flying in this instalment, however it worked for the character and the rank he holds.
Now I've got to try to sleep as my alarm goes off in 3 hours!
Not bad for a book I hadn't actually 'launched' yet!!
Hopefully others will feel the same:
Well it's 4am... and all I can say is AMAZING! Couldn't stop reading. Retribution is great, fast paced, action packed and perfect Jon Hunt.
Loved the twist and links to past books in the series. Not as much flying in this instalment, however it worked for the character and the rank he holds.
Now I've got to try to sleep as my alarm goes off in 3 hours!
Not bad for a book I hadn't actually 'launched' yet!!
Hopefully others will feel the same:
July 24, 2016
Better book distribution?
I must be a glutton for punishment because not only have I spent the last two days going quietly deranged trying to format the latest book for publishing but I've also decided to take some of my books out of Amazon's 'Select' programme which means I can only sell through Amazon. So now I've put 'Jacaranda' up on another site which distributes to all e-publications sites like Barnes and Noble. The other two will follow shortly. It will be interesting to see what the effect on sales is. So if all you lot out there have Kobos or whatever, you should be able to get those three books shortly.
July 23, 2016
Jon Hunt Number 7 out next week
The Blurb:
1995, the vicious war in the fragmented former Republic of Yugoslavia is moving to an end game. The United Nations have troops and observers in the country but are finding it impossible to act. Thrust into the maelstrom of rape, murder and ethnic cleansing, the newly promoted Captain Jonathon Hunt joins the UN Protection Force UNPROFOR and finds himself being drawn into the struggle. The only way the war is going to end is if the might of NATO becomes fully committed to stop the fighting. Jon plays a major part in the momentous events that finally convince the world that the war has to end. At the same time, investigations by MI6 allow him to finally discover the truth about why his wife died so tragically three years earlier. In both cases, retribution is called for.
1995, the vicious war in the fragmented former Republic of Yugoslavia is moving to an end game. The United Nations have troops and observers in the country but are finding it impossible to act. Thrust into the maelstrom of rape, murder and ethnic cleansing, the newly promoted Captain Jonathon Hunt joins the UN Protection Force UNPROFOR and finds himself being drawn into the struggle. The only way the war is going to end is if the might of NATO becomes fully committed to stop the fighting. Jon plays a major part in the momentous events that finally convince the world that the war has to end. At the same time, investigations by MI6 allow him to finally discover the truth about why his wife died so tragically three years earlier. In both cases, retribution is called for.
