K. Morris's Blog, page 697

Please Support RNIB’s Campaign To Protect The Right Of Visually Impaired Persons To Continue To Receive Personal Independence Payment (PIP) By Writing To Your MP Before 29 January 2016

The UK government is consulting on possible changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP), a benefit paid to disabled people which, if implemented could lead to blind individuals losing some (or all) of the financial support they are currently receiving. The purpose of PIP (previously known as Disability Living Allowance) is to provide support to disabled people as regards the extra expenses they face as a consequence of being disabled. So, for example a blind person such as myself may (and,...

The Sea

The sea roars
Flooding barren shores
Then slowly withdraws
Leaving the sand to dry
And gull’s to cry
In the darkening sky

Update on Amazon’s new Editing policy roll-out

On the face of it this appears to be a perfectly reasonable stance by Amazon. Kevin

Kawanee's Korner

http://johndopp.com/writers/amazon-kindle-spelling-mistakes/ No, Amazon Will Not Penalize Your Book for a Typo BY JOHN DOPPLERJANUARY 21, 2016NEWS, SPOTLIGHT

Here we go again…

There’s a change coming at Amazon. You know what that means.

Panic! Share the first poorly-researched blog post you can find! Scream! Rage at Amazon’s cruelty until your fury is spent and you’re left crying into your...

Backup And Backup Again!

Over Christmas I took my trusty Sony Vio laptop to Liverpool with me. Much of my time in Liverpool was, not surprisingly spent celebrating the festivities with family. I did, however find time to write and, as always saved my creations to my laptop’s hard drive.
On returning to London I powered up my trusty old work horse only for the machine to display an error message saying that Windows had been incorrectly shut down. I tried the usual solutions (start Windows normally and when that failed...

He Will Go His Way

Birds sing
Yet spring
Is far away.
The day
Is cold.
I think of arms that enfold
And do not hold.
The gold
Coin doth spin
And what some call sin
Enters in.
I think of a girl’s scent
Of those who do, and then repent.
I dwell on heaven
O how close ‘tis to hell!
And think it well
To leave the stone
Alone.
Why this desire
To know the secret fire
That in man does burn
And how he doth turn
Away
From the light of day.
He will go his way
Whate’r the moralists say.

On The Closure Of A Retro Shop

The retro
Must go.
A version of the past
Is sold off fast.
Perhaps I will take a look.
Perchance happen upon an old book.
I meant to visit before
But now the door
Will soon close
On retro clothes.
People are interested in the old ways.
The days
When all was right, or seemed so.
The stock must go
For a song.
Before long
Another business will take the shop’s place.
The bland corporate face
Will occupy another space.
We race
Knowing not where we are going
Or what we may be sewing.
Without a feel...

My First Poetry Reading

I am excited to announce that my employer has kindly agreed to host a poetry reading by yours truly together with a fellow poet and colleague, Toby Wheeler. The event will take place on 10 February and will be open to all employees of the organisation for which I work. This will be the first time I have given a poetry reading. While I am delighted to have this opportunity, I must confess to feeling somewhat nervous at the prospect.
Please do check out a selection of Toby’s work here (http://w...

The Flower Seller

She stood for hours
Selling her flowers
By Grim towers.
Their scent
Was long since spent.
Their bloom
Was gone to soon.
But still some bought.
Sometimes she thought
Of the bee that does take
And then forsake
The budding rose
Then goes
On to devour
Another flower.
Hour after hour
She saw the power
Of beautiful flowers.
The bees their sweet nectar took
And she was struck
By how the rose does decay
And the bee will have his way.

Self-Promotion the Friendly Way

I agree with the points made here. Kevin

I Read Encyclopedias for Fun

Have a book to sell? Always sending out tweets asking people to buy your book? You’re probably being ignored.

After a couple years of using social media to promote this blog, I have seen a trend. I have more than 3,000 followers on Twitter, and I get maybe two or three views per day from Twitter. That’s it. Promoting on Twitter doesn’t work. I have only 62 followers on my Facebook page, and more than 200 friends on my perso...

Touching Words

To hold one’s own book is a wonderful feeling. The tangible representation of one’s endeavours writ large. For most authors the pleasure is enhanced by the ability to read the print editions of their works. However, for me as a blind author (who is unable to read print) the situation is rather more complex. I can read ebooks using the text to speech facility on my Kindle. I can not, however read the print edition of my book, “Dalliance; A Collection Of Poetry And Prose” which sits on the book...