K. Morris's Blog, page 795
January 1, 2014
Got The T-Shirt
I have sought comfort in the masses and lost myself in crowds. Like an excited child at the fair I have sought ever greater speed, for speed kills thought. I have looked for excitement and found fleeting pleasures which turn to ashes come the morrow. I have played the cynic while caring deeply, laughed to hide the fact I care. I have been there, done that and got the t-shirt.
Well Done Amazon!
I updated my Amazon Author Page with my collection of short stories, “The Street Walker And Other Stories” this morning and I am impressed to see that Amazon has already made the necessary changes. Well done Amazon! If some poor soul is working on new year’s day to manually update author profiles then I am especially grateful to them! You can find my updated author’s page here http://www.amazon.co.uk/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
December 31, 2013
I Want To Live...
I'm so sick and tired..
Sick and tired of existing...
I want to live..
Not just exist..
Drifting in and out of days..
Doing whats expected of me..
School, University, Work, Marriage, Kids..
Until one day I finally die..
I feel drained, hollow, devoid of meaning..
I walk and travel the long road..
I fly, swim, drive, paddle..
Searching, aching for a path to take..
Happy New Year!
So Janus, (the Roman god of beginnings, time and doors) approaches. He is often represented as looking back to the old year and forward to the new. As I look back I feel a sense of gratitude to you, my followers for making the blogging experience so pleasurable. All the comments and likes are very much appreciated. A big thank you also to all of you who have helped to publicise my writing and bought my books.
Come the new year I will, of course keep writing.
To all of you a very happy new year.
Kevin
Street Walker and other stories by Kevin Morris
Reblogged from The Story Reading Ape's Short Stories Bookcase:
In this collection of flash fiction we meet a variety of characters, many of whom have been deeply damaged by life. The stories range from a young prostitute who walks the dangerous streets of London to tales of vengeance and comeuppance. Serious issues of abuse of power are touched upon. Anyone who is looking for a comfortable read should avoid this book.
Many thanks to Chris, the Story Reading Ape for adding my collection of flash fiction "Street Walker And Other Stories" to his Bookshelf. Chris continues to provide an invaluable service to authors.
Street Walker And Other Stories Available In The Kindle Store
My latest collection of stories, “Street Walker And Other Stories” is now available in the Kindle Store. In this collection of flash fiction we meet a variety of characters, many of whom have been deeply damaged by life. The stories range from a young prostitute
who walks the dangerous streets of London to tales of vengeance and comeuppance. Serious issues of abuse of power are touched upon. Anyone who is looking
for a comfortable read should avoid this book.
You can find “Street Walker And Other Stories” here, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HLRNDP4 (for the US) and here, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Walker-other-stories-Morris-ebook/dp/B00HLRNDP4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1388476386&sr=1-1&keywords=Street+Walker+and+other+stories (for the UK). For my Amazon Author’s Page please go to http://www.amazon.co.uk/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0.
December 29, 2013
My Page On hellopoetry.com
I have published a couple of my poems on hellopoetry.com. You can find them here, http://hellopoetry.com/-kevin-morris/.
December 28, 2013
The Splintered Ukes
On Saturday 21 December I went with my mum and her partner to listen to The Splintered Ukes, a Liverpool group who perform cover versions of other group’s tracks, http://www.splinteredukes.com/. Despite the terrible weather (it poured down for much of the time) I very much enjoyed the performance which took place in Liverpool’s Clayton Square. I had heard The Splintered Ukes perform once before in Liverpool’s Sefton Park and as with the band’s previous performance I was impressed by the group’s abilities. I ought to declare an interest as my sister is friends with several of the group. If you are in Liverpool I would recommend checking out this band.
The Face Of Bigotry
This morning I popped into my local Whetherspoons pub for breakfast. As I sat tucking into my fry up the words of a fellow customer reached me.
“I don’t go into Croydon because of the blacks”.
The man then proceeded to regail his fellow patrons with his views on race relations which where reminiscent of those expounded by the late Enoch Powell in his “Rivers Of Blood” speech delivered on 20 April 1968, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/3643823/Enoch-Powells-Rivers-of-Blood-speech.html. The speech derived it’s title from Powell’s statement
“As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding; like
the Roman, I seem to see “the River Tiber foaming with much blood.”
I am white and my first girlfriend was of West Indian origin but born in the UK which makes her as British as I am. It is not the colour of a person’s skin but what lies within which renders them human. The colour of one’s skin is a mere accident of birth and to imply (as my fellow pub goer did) that an entire section of the population ought to be avoided due to the colour of their skin is monstrous. I was sorely tempted to walk across and express my displeasure to the speaker, however this would have served no purpose other than making me feel better and could have resulted in a blazing argument. Such an argument would have benefited no one so I held my tongue.
One of the strengths of the area in which I live is that people of many races live together in harmony. People are just that, people. Skin colour is surface deep, it is the heart which beats within that matters.
Kindle Discount Deals – Do They Work?
Amazon’s KDP Select programme, https://kdp.amazon.com/select, offers authors the ability to promote their books free for upto 5 days in any 90 day period. Free promotions do, in my experience work. As a consequence of the free promotion of my story Samantha it received a respectable number of downloads together with 4 4 star reviews. Encouraged by the success of Samantha I determined to try out Amazon’s recently launched Kindle Discount Deals which, as the name suggests allows authors to offer their work at a reduced price. I offered my collection of short stories, An Act Of Mercy And Other Stories at the reduced price of 99 cents on amazon.com from 18-24 December. However, to my disappointment not a single copy of An Act Of Mercy did I sell.
What lessons (if any) do I draw from the above? Readers are more likely to download books which are free than those which are discounted unless you happen to be a household name or your book has attracted a number of 4 or 5 star reviews. I will consider using Kindle Discount Deals again. I will, however enrol Samantha or Sting In The Tail as both have attracted 4 star reviews.
I don’t claim to be an expert on the workings of KDP Select and other authors will, I am sure have different stories to tell (no pun intended)! As regards Kindle Discount Deals and other aspects of the KDP Select programme. As always I would be interested to hear the experiences of others.
For my Amazon Author’s Page please visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
