K. Morris's Blog, page 784

From Book Reviews to Interviews

drewdog2060drewdog2060:

I very much appreciated the time and care Kev took in presenting my author interview. As he says it isn’t easy to review a book if you are acquainted with the author even if your relationship is confined to the online realm.

Originally posted on Kev's Blog:

I never properly explained why I started doing Kev’s Author Interviews. I basically just said, ‘here’s the deal’ and explained what I was going to start doing. Not once did I say why. So, here it is:

I’ m bloody crap at doing book reviews.  It’s not that I can’t do them or even that I couldn’t be good at doing them. I’m just plain crap at it and don’t like doing them for the following reasons:

There are so many books that I just cannot get into. I’m not really interested in them, they are not the right genre and the authors haven’t even tried to edit them. Oh, and just because I’m a guy, it doesn’t mean I want to read smut lit in the guise of fiction and fantasy where the author thinks that (filth)sexual scenes cover up bad writing.

These kinds of books actually give self-publishing…

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Hitler’s Liverpudlian Half Brother

As a Liverpudlian bborn and bred I was interested to read the below article relating to Adolf Hitler’s half brother in respect of the 1911 census, http://blog.findmypast.co.uk/2014/adolf-hitlers-liverpudlian-half-brother-in-the-1911-census/. There are those who claim that the infamous Adolf actually spent time in Liverpool although so far as I have been able to ascertain there exists no historical evidence to substantiate this claim.

I remember, many years ago reading a fictionalised account of Adolf’s visit to Liverpool. There are, almost certainly a number of books written along similar lines but I can not, for the life of me remember the title of the one I read.

Shed A Tear For The OED

As a child (a precocious one at that) I owned a Braille edition of The Little Oxford Dictionary of Current English which ran to some 16 volumes in Braille. As a small boy I recall having the idea that one could assemble a library encompassing all the knowledge available. I possessed a vague idea that The Little Oxford only contained a tiny portion of that knowledge but, somehow I believed it was possible for me to know, at the very least, a little about everything.

I know longer cherish the erroneous view that one can ever comprehend all there is to no on a single subject let alone on the ever expanding knowledge base which exists out there. Despite the fact we can never know everything I felt a sense of regret when I read that the next edition of The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) may well only appear online due to the sheer vastness of the project and the prohibitive cost (for many) of £750) of purchasing the print edition. The ever evolving nature of language is, no doubt better suited to an online work of reference hcapable of being easily updated, rather than the many paper volumes which will be out of date as soon as they leave the printing press. None the less I feel a sense of regret at the passing of the OED in it’s traditional printed form. There is something reassuring about holding a real book in one’s hands and I regret the demise of that sense of permanence, however illusory that undoubtedly was. For the article please go to http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/10777079/RIP-for-OED-as-worlds-finest-dictionary-goes-out-of-print.html

Is it just Me?

Is it just me who finds this video a little sinister. Yes I know it is supposed to be funny and it is humorous. I can’t help however feeling a slight sense of unease when I listen to the clip, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXZMZ-XvvzI

As Insubstancial As A Dream

Last night I had one of those strange dreams which remain with you on waking. I dream most nights but rarely remember my dreams. On this occasion I fell into conversation with an author outside one of those trendy coffee places which have proliferated in London and other cities. He told me that every day he could be found sipping coffee at this establishment and went on to name several novels he had authored. I remember, while dreaming clearly recollecting the titles of the books he had authored, however, on waking their titles flew away to be remembered no more.

In my dream I felt envious that this man could enjoy a life of ease while I worked in a 9-5 occupation. I haven’t written anything substancial for a while so perhaps my dream is telling me that I need to start scribbling again. The ocean going yacht and the country cottage beckons …

They Shall Not Pass

This morning, as usual I took my guide dog, Trigger to the park in order that he might fertilise the vegetation, (there is a wooded area away from where children congregate so his business card causes no issues)!

On the way home Trigger stopped dead in his tracks as there was a large vehicle blocking a drive which I needed to cross in order to continue on my way. “The vehicle will move out into the road once there is a gap in the traffick” I thought. However several gaps came and went but it remained immovable. I began cursing silently wondering whether I might be able to judge a break in the traffick, step off the kerb and negociate the vehicle without running the risk of ending up decorating the paint work of some ppassing car with colourful red splodges! Fortunately a man came to my rescue and assisted me to bypass the vehicle,

“Some stu …”.

“We where unloading something, sorry” my saviour said.

Oops, I wonder if he caught the gist of what I was starting to say,

“Some stupid person has parked their vehicle so that its blocking the pavement”! A Victor Meldrew moment on my part!

Fading Out

The melodious voice of Suzanne Vega. A flick of a switch. The music fades as I too one day will fade and be no more.

Amazon: Experimenting with Review Changes..?

drewdog2060drewdog2060:

I must admit that I haden’t picked up on the changes mentioned by Chris in his post.

Originally posted on chrismcmullen:

If you’ve shopped for Kindle e-books recently on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk, you may have noticed some changes to the way that search results are displayed.

Or maybe not. Not all shoppers have been affected.

Apparently, Amazon is testing something out with many customers, but not all customers. That would make sense, actually. Then Amazon would have data for two groups: a control group, shopping like normal, and an experimental group, experiencing the changes.

What’s going on?

This doesn’t apply to everybody. Many customers are observing the following:

The review tally and average star rating are not showing up next to Kindle e-books in search results for many (but not all) customers.

Just to be clear:

Reviews are showing, but only on the product page. Normally, you see the total number of reviews and average star rating before reaching the product page, but for those who are experiencing the change, you…

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Stranger than fiction

My story, The First Time relates how Becky, a young graduate with a first class degree in English literature becomes a prostitute in order to clear her debts. The following post reminded me of an incident in The First Time where Julie, Becky’s friend and a fellow escort is asked by one of her clients to pretend to be his 14-year-old daughter. For the true account by a former working girl please visit http://recoveringsexworker.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/fantasies-of-business-men-on-their-lunch-hour/. For my story, The First Time please go to http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-First-Time-K-Morris-ebook/dp/B00FJGKY7Y

The Man Who Saw Hell

A moving article about a member of the SAS, John Randal who entered the Nazi death camp Belsen, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2601131/The-man-stumbled-HELL-His-place-history-never-revealed-But-just-published-memoir-SAS-officer-recounts-uncovered-horrors-Belsen.html. Randal was one of the first to enter the death camp and, not surprisingly the recollection of what he saw has remained with him for the rest of his life.