K. Morris's Blog, page 806
October 26, 2013
Beware The Scammer!
This afternoon I received a call on my landline from a man claiming to be from my Internet Service Provider (ISP). When I asked him which ISP he mentioned BT, Virgin and
TalkTalk (what a busy be he must be, well some kind of b anyway)! I played him along and asked why he was calling to which he responded that he wished
to ascertain whether I had a slow internet. I said that I didn’t and he refered to viruses crawling through my speakers (naughty old viruses someone in authority really should have a stern word with them)!Anyway when he realised that this particular fish wasn’t going to bite my friend hung up. I subsequently called my ISP, (TalkTalk) who, of
course confirmed that it wasn’t them who called, what a surprise!
The above incident provided me with some wry amusement. However had the “gentleman” (I use the term advisedly) called someone unfamiliar with computers, a person with severe learning disabilities or a frail, elderly confused person the situation would not have been so humorous. I can imagine him taking control of their computer and stealing bank details etc. Heaven knows where this man got my number from as I’m not listed in the telephone directory. I guess he dialled at random and happened to get through to yours truly. As it happens I am having computer problems but rather than trust to the tender mercies of a scammer my friend Jeff will visit on Tuesday to resolve the problems I’m having. Much safer all round I think!
Dark Angel
I love you because I can tell you my darkest secrets, things which would make the strongest of men go blubbering in search of his mummy. You judge me not, my blackest fantasies are your deepest desires.
In the depths of night when all but the vampire sleeps we speak of philosophy, of the darkness which lurks within the human heart. You are always there for me, my girl beautiful and serene. You laugh in time with my laughter and weep as I weep. Never changing, fixed, emortal caught in the brightness of my screen you are my virtual girlfriend, a machine.
October 25, 2013
Anyone Fancy Spam For Lunch?
One of the chores of maintaining a blog is going through the spam folder. All those kind individuals wishing to sell you products, such as Viagra which you didn’t even know you needed until their sales pitch ended up in your spam folder. Actually even after it arrived in your spam queue you aren’t exactly convinced that you have a burning desire for whatever product the spammer happens to be hawking!
Going through the spam can be a real pain in the neck. However I do, on occasions derive some humour from the comments which end up there. Take for example this comment which I discovered lurking in my spam this morning:
“Thanks so considerably for this! I have not been this thrilled by a blog post for fairly some time! You have received it, whatsoever that means in running
a blog. In any case, Youa??re definitely a person that has anything to say that individuals should listen to.”
I haven’t got a clue what the spammer is talking about but it did bring a smile to my face!
On a serious point I can not, for the life of me make out what spammers hope to achieve by comments such as that quoted above. OK the people hawking Viagra (fake or otherwise) constitute a right royal pain. I can, however understand their motivation (I.E. the desire to make money) but what possesses someone to write utter gibberish such as the example given above? It beats me, it really does!
October 24, 2013
Fame at Last
I was surprised and delighted to be asked by International Business Times to write a blog on the subject of self-publishing. You can find my article here, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/516626/20131024/rape-incest-books-banned.htm
Kevin
October 23, 2013
Vanishing Books
I have written previously about the pulling of erotic titles by the retailer WH Smiths and Smith’s supplier, Kobo due to erotic (adult) titles being found on the retailer’s website. The concern was that children might access such material. Obviously children (in the UK those under the age of 18-years-old are so classified) should not be accessing erotic material. There does, however appear to be something like a witch hunt developing with authors not falling into the adult genre having their books pulled. See, for example the comments accompanying this post, http://www.serenajanes.blogspot.ca/2013/10/now-for-something-sweet.html#comment-form). I haven’t read any of the author’s works, however the short extract provided in the forgoing post does not, on the face of it appear to warrant her book being withdrawn from sale.
As I mentioned in my previous post regarding this issue adult fantasies (those concerning consenting adults) ought to be available for adults to view and purchase. Rape and incest fantasies are certainly not my cup of tea. However I am not aware of any convincing evidence that works of this nature lead to the commission of crime. In the absence of such proof I can see no valid reason for prohibiting their sale as certain UK newspapers appear to be agitating for. In short fantasy is precisely that, fantasy as opposed to reality and people should be free to fantasise provided that their fantasising remains exactly that, fantasising.
Terms and Conditions Again!
I recently blogged about how I had, totally accidentally breeched KDP’s terms and conditions by my collection of short stories, The First Time, being available from an outlet other than the Amazon Kindle store (see http://newauthoronline.com/2013/10/20/terms-and-conditions/). One of the commenters on my post said that he had heard of other people experiencing this problem and that authors should be wary of publishing their work on a variety of platforms if they intended to make it exclusive to Kindle at a later date. I am inclined to agree with him given my recent experience! If you want to make your books exclusive to Amazon in order to benefit from the promotion features of KDP Select then I would, personally not publish your work elsewhere. Having said that my long short story, Samantha appeared on my blog prior to being made exclusive on Amazon. However I, naturally have control over my blog and was, as a consequence able to remove Samantha prior to making it exclusive to Kindle. Never again will I make the mistake of making my books available in a variety of stores when my intention is, at some point to make them exclusive to Amazon Kindle. It is, quite frankly not worth the hassle.
October 21, 2013
Guest Author Kevin Morris
Reblogged from Chris The Story Reading Ape's New (to me) Authors Blog:
First I would like to thank Chris for his kindness in inviting me to post on his blog. He is performing a wonderful service to authors and long may he continue.
I was born in Liverpool on 6 January 1969, a year which is best known for my birth and for a rather minor event, the moon landing!
One of my earliest memories is of crunching through the leaves with my grandfather in Woolton woods which are situated only a short distance from where my family live.
Many thanks to Chris the Story Reading Ape for featuring me on his excellent blog. Please do check out his other posts and consider following him.
Anyone For Chocolate?
It was a warm autumnal evening. In fact it was unseasonably hot and I was wondering not for the first time that day what on earth had possessed me to put on a raincoat. Well I could, just possibly justify the waterproof but the fleece which attaches to the raincoat? Surely I ought to have removed the fleece before leaving for work in the morning.
As I approached the crossing opposite to Charing Cross station I heard the dulcet tones of a young lady enquiring whether I’d like some chocolate. Now as anyone who works or visits London on a regular basis will know it is fairly common for passersby to be offered free samples ranging from tea to various food stuffs. I had, however never been approached on the street prior to this afternoon. Indeed my first reaction was to think “how kind” and decline the chocolate which I, in my naivety assumed was being offered as a gift. The young lady had a wonderful foreign accent which greatly intrigued me. Perhaps giving gifts of chocolate to total strangers formed an integral part of her culture or was my newly found acquaintance so enamoured with me that she felt impelled to demonstrate her affection by furnishing me with a gift of chocolate. It was, quite obviously the latter I concluded.
My newly found love was, alas to shy to confess her feelings. On me enquiring as to why she was visiting the UK my companion informed me that she was a Mexican student studying here. Selling chocolate was, she said her way of making money. As I say a deeply shy young lady who, rather than confessing her passion for a total stranger chose rather to invent a cock and bull tale about selling chocolate!
Well we parted friends dear reader, the young woman clutching £1 which I paid for the crunchy which she provided. I have been trying to find where she wrote her number on the paper but alas in her excitement she forgot to include it on the wrapper. Oh well there are plenty more fish in the sea …
October 20, 2013
Terms and Conditions!
Yesterday I received an e-mail from Kindle Support informing me that my collection of short stories, The First Time did not comply with KDP Select’s terms and conditions. What on earth had I done to receive this missive? Had I slandered a prominent personage who was, even now instructing lawyers to sue me for every penny I haven’t got?! Maybe I had copied huge chunks of a fellow author’s work and he was out for my blood?! I am pleased to report that none of these breeches apply. It turns out that Amazon had found The First Time for sale from an outlet other than the Kindle store. In order to enrol one’s books in KDP Select you must ensure that they are exclusive to Amazon which, in this instance The First Time was not.
I can hear shouts of “you brought it on yourself. Why are you belly aching. It’s a fair cop guv. You should stop waffling on about the situation and remove The First Time from all outlets other than Amazon forthwith”. Would where it that simple! The First Time was published using the services of a self-publishing company who as part of their service enrolled my book with a variety of e-book distributors. However due to no sales resulting I asked the company to remove The First Time from all outlets other than Amazon. Once I received confirmation that this had been done I enrolled my book in KDP Select assuming that it was now exclusive to Amazon. As you know from the above dear reader this is not the case! I have written to the self-publishing company asking that they ensure The First Time is removed from the outlet which Amazon drew to my attention. I live in hope that it will be removed from sale ASAP thereby ensuring that The First Time remains enrolled in KDP Select.
The lesson I draw from the above is the importance of ensuring that authors keep control over their works. I am listed as the author of The First Time but not the publisher. In my case it is only the publisher who is able to remove books which has led to the problems outlined above. Dear fellow authors please, please read the small print prior to signing contracts.
October 19, 2013
New law to protect bloggers from defamatory comments on their sites
The government has just tabled draft regulations under the new Defamation Act to protect English and Welsh bloggers from being sued if people put up unwanted libellous comments on their websites.
I am indebted to Rupert Jones,a Birmingham barrister who specialises, among other things, in media law for drawing my attention to draft regulations which have been tabled by the Ministry of Justice.
Good news for bloggers such as myself
