K. Morris's Blog, page 759
November 30, 2014
Lets Talk About Eugenics
In 1913 the British Parliament enacted The Mental Incapacity Act. The legislation had it’s origins in the Eugenic idea that the poor, the mentally incapacitated and other marginal groups where placing an intolerable burden on the state and should be sterilised and/or confined to secure facilities (hospitals for “the mentally defective” as they where then frequently termed). Eugenics was predicated on the belief that defective genes where responsible for poverty, unmarried motherhood and other things which the eugenicists wished to eradicate. As a consequence of the Act 40,000 individuals where confined to institutions, those imprisoned ranging from those with learning disabilities through to petty criminals and unmarried mothers.
Eugenic measures where widespread with America being particularly zealous in their promotion via the Eugenics Society (a similar organisation existed in the UK). As a consequence of the murder of people with disabilities under the Nazi’s Action T-4 Programme eugenics, not surprisingly became a dirty word but as late as the 1970’s eugenic measures where being employed in Sweden against people with certain disabilities.
Support for eugenics has come from people with divergent political views. The Socialist Fabians (Sidney and Beartrice Webb) where strong proponents of Eugenics and the Labour MP Will Crooks described the poor as “almost like human vermin”. The Liberal Beveridge (the man responsible for drawing up the modern welfare state) advocated for Eugenics while Winston Churchill (a Liberal and, later a Conservative politician) advocated for Eugenics.
In “An Act of Mercy” I imagine a UK in which eugenics has been adopted as official government policy. Individuals are tasked by the government to visit families and identify those with disabilities. Anyone so identified is removed from their family and subjected to special measures. Such an idea was, in fact proposed by Leonard Darwin in the early 20th century although he did not support the killing of so-called “defectives” but their separation from the rest of society.
For an interesting article on the support for Eugenics by people on the Left please see the following piece in The Spectator, http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/5571423/how-eugenics-poisoned-the-welfare-state/. (The article is skewed as it fails to mention that many non-socialists also advocated strongly for eugenics, a fact mentioned in the comments following on from the piece. It is, none the less worth reading).
The New Statesman has a good article on Eugenics which can be found here, http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2010/12/british-eugenics-disabled.
For information on Will Crooks please see, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Crooks.
For my collection of short stories, An Act Of Mercy And Other Stories please see, http://www.amazon.com/An-act-mercy-other-stories-ebook/dp/B00EHS74CS. An Act Of Mercy is free in the Kindle Store until Monday 1 December.
November 29, 2014
Fragment
Sunlight on a late November day,
Transitory beauty, all will pass away
A 4 Star Review Of My Collection Of Short Stories, The Suspect And Other Tales
A great 4 star review of my collection of short stories, The Suspect And Other Tales,
“I, too, enjoyed these stories. Short but tasty morsels that dont fill you up but yet leave you satisfied!”. My thanks goes to the reviewer for taking the time to write a review. For the review please visit the following link (http://www.amazon.com/review/R5ZYKHOEVDT3L/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00PKPTQ0U). To download The Suspect And Other Tales please visit the following links, (http://www.amazon.com/The-Suspect-other-tales-Morris-ebook/dp/B00PKPTQ0U/ref=cm_rdp_product, for the US or http://www.amazon.co.uk/Suspect-other-tales-K-Morris-ebook/dp/B00PKPTQ0U/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417268733&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Suspect+and+other+tales, for the UK).
The Joy Of Audio
I grew up listening to books, recorded by professional actors and actresses on cassette tape, (does anyone remember cassettes by the way?!). My listening ranged from Brontae’s Wuthering Heights through to Dick Francis’s High Stakes. I still own a huge library of spoken word cassettes which fill several shelves of a bookcase in my living room. Many of the recordings have warped with age. However, as with books I am reluctant to throw them away.
Today cassettes have been replaced by audio downloads from sites such as audible.co.uk/audible.com. CDS retain a foothold but it is digital downloads where the future lies.
Being blind, talking books are a wonderful way for me to enjoy a good story. The text to speech facility on my Kindle is wonderful. However the Kindle’s speech is robotic and can not compete with the quality of a well produced audio file.
I have been thinking for some time now about producing audio versions of some of my books. It would be wonderful to give my readers the choice of an ebook or audio version of my stories. However the costs of producing high quality audio appear, from my preliminary investigations to be prohibitively expensive, (professional actors do not come cheap nor do recording studios). I think that the idea of producing audio downloads needs to remain on the back burner unless I can sweep away an actor with my charm and get them to record my works at a huge discount. Is that my phone I hear ringing …!
My collection of short stories, The Suspect And Other Tales is currently free in the Kindle Store (the free promotion being scheduled to end later today (Saturday 29 November). My anthology, An Act Of Mercy also remains free in the Kindle Store until Monday 1 December.
You can find all of my books by following the below links, (http://www.amazon.co.uk/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0, for the UK and http://www.amazon.com/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0, for the US).
November 28, 2014
My Last Duchess With A Modern Twist
In My Last Duchess the poet, Robert Browning describes a seemingly simple scene. A Duke is showing a portrait of a beautiful young woman to the servant of his future father in law, (the Count). As the poem progresses it becomes apparent that the Duke had his previous wife (the Duchess) killed owing to his jealous nature. The Duke became insanely jealous at his Wife’s open nature and, in particular the way in which she would smile at other men. The Duchess’s inability to conform to the standards of behaviour expected of her by the Duke are her undoing,
“Oh, sir, she smiled, no doubt,
Whene’er I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smile? This grew; I gave commands;
Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands, as if Alive”.
The Duke’s matter of fact description of the events leading to the murder of his previous wife is chilling, the chill being compounded by the manner in which he moves on from speaking about murder to talking of plans to marry the Count’s daughter. (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173024).
My Last Duchess prompted me to write Claire, a short story regarding the obsession of a man with his beautiful lover. Set in the 21st century Claire draws on Browning’s analysis of how love moves from passion, through to jealousy and thence to murder.
Claire appears in my collection of short stories, The Suspect And Other Tales which is free in the Kindle Store until Saturday 29 November (http://www.amazon.com/The-Suspect-other-tales-Morris-ebook/dp/B00PKPTQ0U).
November 27, 2014
#Readers #Book #Promo – An act of mercy by #Indie #Author Kevin Morris is #FREE from 27th Nov – 1st Dec
Many thanks to Chris Graham (The Story Reading Ape) for the below post regarding my collection of short stories, An Act Of Mercy, which is free in the Kindle Store until Monday 1 December.
Originally posted on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog..... An Author Promotions Enterprise!:
A collection of dark and intriguing tales encompassing blackmail, murder and sex.
Amazon:
November 26, 2014
The Free Promotion Of Street Walker And Other Stories Ends On Thursday 27 November
The free promotion of my collection of short stories, Street Walker And Other Stories ends on Thursday 26 November. If you would like to download Street Walker please visit http://www.amazon.com/Street-Walker-other-stories-Morris-ebook/dp/B00HLRNDP4 (for the US) or http://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Walker-other-stories-Morris-ebook/dp/B00HLRNDP4 (for the UK).
Room 101
Today I was subjected to the worst thing in the world. I attended a meeting, at my place of work in room 101. In point of fact the meeting was an uneventful one. There was no O’brien threatening me with a ravenous rat in a cage which, if released would tear me apart. Nor where there any posters with the slogan
“Big Brother is watching you”.
Yet, for all that it was still room 101. My uneventful meeting got me thinking, not for the first time how words and phrases find their way into common usage, often with those employing them never having read the publications from which they eminate. How many viewers of the television programme, “Big Brother” have actually read George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four? I suspect the answer is that a majority of viewers have not read Orwell’s novel, although most would, I think entertain a vague notion that “Big Brother” and room 101 originated in Orwell’s dystopian novel. It is rather sad that Orwell’s critique of totalitarianism has been reduced to the level of popular entertainment by the TV show, “Big Brother”.
Interview With K J Rollinson Author
Thank you to K J Rollinson for the below guest post. You can find out more about Kathy and her books by visiting the following links: http://www.amazon.com/K-J-Rollinson/e/B009ATNOQO and http://wordplay-publishing.com/wordplays-authors/rollinson-kj/.
NAME Mrs Kathy June Rollinson (I write under the name of K J Rollinson)
I live in the Costa Blanca, Spain.
Did you pick your genre or did it pick you?
The ‘Fallyn’ trilogy picked me. I used to go to an art class, and a friend had drawn a picture of a very proud dragon. I wrote a 500-word story for her, and the trilogy grew from there.
Do you write in multiple genres or just one.
Multiple genres.
Q. How much time do you devote to writing per day?
Usually between 4/5 hours per day. I get up at about 4/5am each morning. By the time I have read/answered my emails, sometimes do a blog, written at least 1,000 words per day on any book I am writing, 4/5 hours has gone by.
What have you published so far?
‘Fallyn and the Dragons’, ‘Fallyn in the Forbidden Land’, ‘Fallyn and the Sea Dragons’ , (Fantasy Books) ‘The Rode to Justice, (John Rode, 1st grade detective, murder stories)’.’A Twist of Fairy Tales’, modern fairy tales for ages 5 – 10 years. Some based on classics.
Has your method of writing changed over the course of publishing your books.
No the method is the same. I still publish through Wordplay Publishing. I think my writing has improved book by book.
Where do you see yourself a year from now?
Still writing, I hope. If I am not a success (which we all want to be) I will still carry on writing because I love it.
Did you self-publish, go the traditional way, or do both?
Only self-published with the help of Wordplay Publishing. I had heard so many people say they had been rejected by publishers – and usually you still have to do your own promotion – that I decided to go down the route of self-publishing.
Which method did you prefer.
I haven’t used any method other than self-publishing so I cannot comment from personal experience.
Of the books that you have written, do you have a favourite. Why?
Each one is my favourite when I am writing it. It is my baby at the time. I treat my books like children, and like having children you should not have a favourite. If you had asked the question Do you have a favourite character(s) I would have answered yes, and gone onto explain why.
Why did you become a writer?
I have always enjoyed writing since I was a child – short stories, poems. As I got older I dreamt of being published, and when self-publishing came along the dream became a reality.
Who is your target audience.
For the ‘Fallyn’ trilogy anyone who enjoys fantasy books. But I have just asked the publisher to add the ‘Young Adult’ category on Amazon because I read in the Writing Magazine that ‘Young Adult’ books were increasing. For the murder book – anyone who enjoys crime. It is suitably categorized on Amazon. I stress in the book the protagonist, John Rode, seeks justice. In one story he says, ‘This is a court of law, not a court of justice.’
What are you working on now?
I am really excited about my latest project. The Wordplay Writers’ Forum, of which I am a member here in Spain, has devised a 5-year competition, now in its second year, open to anyone, details found at www.WordplayPublishing.com
A founder member of Wordplay died a few years ago called Ian. He always said that he had never read book where the main character was called Ian. So the main character has to be called Ian, and into social issues. Apart from these criteria the book can be on any subject. My character goes to a little country in East Africa that has been torn by wars and famine to help. My book is called, ‘Where Lies My Heart’.
What makes you different from other writers in your genre?
With regard to my Fallyn books, I have always felt St George and the Dragon, gave dragons a bad press, seen as an enemy to be slaughtered. My dragons have individual characters and can talk between themselves and understand what humans say to them. They can be funny, intelligent – all are very loyal to the main protagonists, except for the occasional ‘baddy’ dragon (you have to have one or two of those, don’t you?).
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November 25, 2014
Competition To Win A Free Copy Of The First Time
I am giving away free copies of my collection of short stories, The First Time to anyone who can answer the below question. (In order to participate you will need to download my collection of short stories, The Suspect And Other Tales, which is free in the Kindle Store until Saturday 29 November). Everyone who guesses correctly will receive a free electronic copy of The First Time. Entries must be received on or before 12 PM (UK time) on Saturday 29 November. To obtain a free copy of The First Time please answer the following question,
Which story in The Suspect And Other Tales derives it’s title from a Shakespeare quote and what is the name of the play from which the quote derives?
Please e-mail your answers to newauthoronline (at) gmail dot com (the address is given in this manner to defeat spammers).
In The First Time I explore why young women enter the world of prostitution while other stories look at what happens when the
worlds of sex and technology collide.
In “The First Time”, the first story in this collection, we meet Becky a young graduate who enters the world of prostitution in order to clear her debts.
The story looks at the effects of prostitution on Becky and her fellow escort and friend Julie. In “The Pain Behind the Smile” Issie presents her friend,
Peter with a birthday cake, however things are not what they seem.
In “Lucy” the acquaintances of a crusty old bachelor speculate how he could attract and retain the affections of a beautiful young woman. As with “The
Pain Behind the Smile” things are far from what they seem.
“Hemlock” explores what happens when machines attain the capacity to appreciate high culture. The story is both humorous and deeply serious.
To download The Suspect And Other Tales free please go to http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Suspect-other-tales-Morris-ebook/dp/B00PKPTQ0U (for the UK) or http://www.amazon.com/The-Suspect-other-tales-Morris-ebook/dp/B00PKPTQ0U/ref=cm_cr_pr_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8 (for the US).
