K. Morris's Blog, page 769

Anthology to Raise Money For Guide Dogs – A Further Update

I posted on 17 September regarding my idea to raise money for the Guide Dogs For The Blind Association (GDBA) by producing an anthology of stories and poems, (http://newauthoronline.com/2014/09/17/possible-anthology-to-raise-money-for-guide-dogs/). Many thanks to everyone who reblogged and agreed to provide material. I have now received the first story from Sally Cronin, (http://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/), – Many thanks Sally! A big thank you also goes to Dave Higgins for his kindness in agreeing to edit the anthology free of charge.

The anthology is still in need of contributors. If you haven’t already agreed to contribute and would like to do so please contact me at newauthoronline (@) gmail . com (the address is rendered thus to try and defeat spammers).

 

Many thanks,

 

Kevin

Automation

On Tuesday 23 September I picked up my home phone (landline) to make a call. The cordless handset produced only static and I was unable to dial out. I tried an experiment with my mum calling me to ascertain whether it would be possible to receive incoming calls. The phone failed to ring. It did, however make a slight noise and on picking it up the sound of ringing, but no mum’s voice could be heard.

On Wednesday morning I contacted my Internet Service Provider (ISP) who also provide my phone service, to report the fault. I fully expected to be asked 20 questions by the automated system prior to being privileged to speak with an actual flesh and blood person. However from start to finish I had no interaction with a breatheing entity.

An automated voice asked me to explain my problem (my inability to make or receive calls using my home phone). I was then asked whether I would like to divert calls to my mobile while the fault was being investigated. I answered “yes” and was asked to say my number. The system then repeated it back to me and asked me to confirm that my number was correct by saying “yes” or “no”. It wasn’t and I then had to enter my number using the buttons on my telephone.

Over the next few days I received regular texts updating me on progress. The first one confirmed that tests indicated that there was, indeed a problem with my line while the last one, received on Friday 26 September informed me that everything should now be working and asked that I confirm the position by text. I picked up the phone and joy of joys was able to make a telephone call. I texted my ISP confirming that the phone was now working and my interaction with a robot was at an end.

The whole interaction with Mr or Mrs robot was surprisingly painless and efficient. Other than the automated system not understanding the mobile number which I relaid using voice, everything worked smoothly. I have visions of an android engineer twiddling with dials, checking connections until, finally my telephone connection was restored to working order. Of course there was no android diligently working on restoring my telephone connection. It was a living, breatheing human being but, in the future who knows.

I must confess to having been sceptical as to whether the automated system would relay messages regarding my phone problems correctly. Surely something would go wrong? Well it didn’t and I admit to being impressed with the automated system employed by my ISP.

In theory at least the automation of tasks such as resolving faults should enable organisations such as my ISP to free up resources for customer services so when I have a query about my account which can not be answered by the online system, an actual person will pick up the phone, in double quick time and deal effectively with the query. Well I can live in hope!

I am Puzzled

I must confess to being puzzled as regards why reviewers who (by their own admission) do not care for a particular genre choose to review books which (clearly) fall within it. Very recently I came across a review which awarded a book 2.5 stars. By their own admission the reviewer is not a lover of romance which contributed to the low rating, (the work in question is, in part at least a romance).

I don’t review many books. However on those rare occasions when I sharpen my favourite quil pen, dip it in the ink well and write a review it is for a book which falls within my range of interests. I would not, for example review a Mills and Boon romance because romantic fiction is not, on the whole my cup of tea. The writing would, almost certainly not captivate me leading to a review which wouldn’t do justice to the author’s hard work. I could not, in fairness post such a review because, in my heart of hearts I would no that my own personal tastes had influenced it.

I have not read the book in question and have no acquaintance with either the author or the reviewer. I have taken the decision not to name the book or the reviewer because my comment is a general one and I have no desire to get into a discussion with the reviewer regarding their review. I would, however make a plea to reviewers to ask themselves prior to embarking on a book review whether their dislike of a particular genre could impact negatively on what they write.

 

(Note: I have reviewed one work of romance due to being intrigued by the author’s blog. You can find my review here, http://newauthoronline.com/2014/01/22/book-review-12-days-the-beginning-by-jade-reyner. I enjoyed the book). /

A Cup Of Tea

A cup of Earl Grey, no sugar, just milk. I lift and sip. Bits of china, fragile as a life disintegrate and fall away. Tiny pieces of broken existence nestle in my hand. A chip crater-like decorates the fragile under belly of the handle. I continue to drink. The handle holds. Once finished the plain white cup will be discarded, it’s utility at an end. The landfill beckons.

Cyberbullies, Trolls, Mobs & Haters—How to Protect Yourself & Others in a Dangerous World

drewdog2060drewdog2060:

Trolls are sad individuals in need of psychological assistance. As the post rightly says, the best policy is to not engage with them (don’t feed the trolls).

Originally posted on Kristen Lamb's Blog:

Image via “The Terminator.”

As the WANA Mama, I am fiercely protective of my writer peeps…like Giant Kodiak Mother Bear Protective. I will and have gone to the mattresses for fellow writers who’ve found themselves under senseless attack.

Yet, as a counterpoint, I choose my battles. I love Sun Tzu, and have read his Art of War until the pages were falling out. When it comes to dealing with a formidable enemy, Sun Tzu is the master tactician. One of my favorite quotes?

The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. ~Sun Tzu

A few days ago Psychology Today posted an article I found interesting in that 1) this article gives data to support what we all know deep down but 2) don’t want to believe. We know there is something different about trolls. They exhibit what is called The Dark Tetrad Personality—Machiavellianism, narcissism, sadism, and…

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The Reverie – A New Poetry Journal

Thank you to Laura A Lord for her guest post announcing the launch of a new poetry journal, The Reverie. Good luck to Laura with her project and do please check out her site.

 

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The Reverie is a poetic publication that features submitted original work in a biannual journal. A themed anthology is published once a year.

Which is a fancy way of saying, we are looking for your work! We will be hosting weekly prompts here to get the creative juices flowing, but during our reading periods you are welcome to submit work to us for potential publication.

Please check out our Prompts Page and our Submission Guidelines for information on both of these options.

Visit our anthology page for information on submitting for this year’s theme.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for poetry that is real, brutal, honest. We want the words you are afraid to speak out-loud. We want strong voices that cut through to the heart of the matter at hand. We want to step away from your poetry feeling a little raw. We want words that awaken emotion.

Check out our About page for more info!

 

 

Laura A. Lord

historyofawoman.com

thereveriejournal.wordpress.com

 

 

The Power Of The Mindless Task

A short piece in which the author argues that the best way to clear one’s brain when you are not in the right frame of mind for writing, is to perform a mindless task. I don’t know whether walking Trigger, my guide dog, in my local park can be construed as being mindless. It does, however afford tremendous pleasure and assists in clearing my mind for writing. For the article please visit https://forums.createspace.com/en/community/community/resources/blog/2014/08/04/the-power-of-the-mindless-task?ref=822525&utm_id=6002&cp=70170000000bgWg&ls=Email&sls=KDP_NL

Female

Originally posted on Speaking Voiceless:

Certain words hit me in funny ways

that stick

and I repeat them over and over,

silently moving my lips

and feeling my tongue push against my teeth.

Incarceration.

Linger.

Language.

Lengua.

I get stuck on L’s, sometimes.

Other times it’s the hard C sound that gets me:

Cocoa.

Cloaca (another L).

Constrict.

I think sometimes

maybe

it’s the ownership I get,

that by constant repetition they become mine,

or my mouth or my vocal chords

become more mine

by this constant, conscious usage.

Ownership of body is hard to find

when wearing a dress to

well,

anywhere really

any time of day

skirt of any length

sleeves or not,

bare legs or in tights

and there’s something about just looking nice that means

too solicitous door-holding

free drinks when I don’t want them

hands on my shoulder, my cheek, my thigh, my knee (if seated)

my back

my waist

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Controversy Rages Over Mantel’s Fantasy About The Assasination Of Margaret Thatcher

The author, Hilary Mantel has written a short story in which she imagines the assassination of the late Lady Thatcher. The story is set in 1983 and imagines a fictional scenario in which a middle-class lady allows an IRA terrorist into her house to assassinate the Prime Minister.

Mantel’s story has been condemned by people of all political complexions as being in poor taste and some are calling for the police to investigate. Others defend the story on the grounds of literary freedom. It is, they argue a work of fiction and Mantel has every write to express herself. For one of the many articles on this hot potato please see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2764520/Hilary-Mantel-unrepentant-backlash-grows-fantasies-assassinating-Margaret-Thatcher.html

My First Independently Published Poem, Dalliance Is Here

I am extremely pleased that one of my poems, Dalliance has been accepted for publication by Calamities Press. Dalliance first appeared on Newauthoronline in August 2014. It can be found on Calamities Press, in slightly amended form by following this link, http://calamitiespress.com/2014/09/21/dalliance-poetry-by-kevin-morris/.