Here I am at the edge

 First Wedding Anniversary It was our wedding anniversary a few weeks ago; this reminded me of a joke my wife and I share about our first anniversary . When we got married, our friends didn't think we'd last two years; we proved them wrong, this year is our 37th annniversary. Back to the joke. On the day in question, my late mother phoned u to congratulate us, after speaking to my wife, she asked to talk to me. My wife replied, "Alan isn't here, he has gone to Taunton to watch a cricket game." Apparently, this horrified my mother, how could I leave my wife on our anniversary? This shows how little my parents knew / cared about me. If they had known me, they would have known for me to travel to watch a cricket game, or any sports match it must be of high interest to me; in this case the match was between Somerset , and Yorkshire . Also, to us, our anniversary is just another day' we rarely celebrate it.

 Where has the year gone? In a few hours, it will be September again, where has the year gone? It must be a sign of getting older, the days at times appear to be endless, but the months have flown by. Also, this means in a few days, another month has passed with no sign of my last royalty payment from Draft2Digital . I passed the minimum automatic payment level of $10 back in May, and there is no sign of any payment  https://www.draft2digital.com/book/ .

 No Sleep Last week, while cleaning my room, I came across some  Amitriptyline - sleeping - tablets; I've been prescribed them for years because of a mix of depression , and insomnia . I don't make a habit of using them for several reasons, the main one being I don't wish to become an addict, though my sleep pattern is low, I prefer to have a hot milk to ease me into sleep . However, a few nights ago, I was in the middle of a long stretch of sleepless nights, and long days when I found the tablets. That night, I took two tablets - my recommended dose - I did get to sleep, but the dreams I had were the worst I'd had for decades.

 A Foregone Conclusion                       Indie Alone This post is an exercise in futility because I know the result as I type the posr; I would like nothing better than to be proved wrong, but I won't be. This is designed to show how few readers come to this blog without using Facebook ; if this post is read at all I will be amazed as I am not putting it on Meta .

 I have a big Problem A lack of Knowledge This week, some new knowledge came to me, through learning about the geography of India . This knowledge has caused me some concern as it changes the route of my latest story https://hereiamattheedge.blogspot.com/2023/06/project-india-update.html , and raises some issues. The problem is caused by the distance between several of the cities I was going to base the story in. The issues are should I adapt the story with the new information, or should I drop the story? I am rending to dropping the story as it won't sell if I put if for sale  https://author.amazon.com/books , and if I leave it on here, it will gain five or six readers at the most.

 Follow the Trend Don't try to be an individual My opinion on how to succed is simple to adhere to. Stage 1 - Warch the trend , and follow it. Stage 2 - Keep going until the tide changes, then move to the new trends. Stage 3 - Put an attractive person on the book cover , preferably scantily clad. Stage 4 - Probably, the most imprtant section, never try to be an individual. I could have jumped on the 2012 ( Mayan Calendar ) trend, but I chose not to, and paid the price. While those books won't sell again, the writers of them not only made money at the time, many were offered a  contract  or later writing . I didn't jump on the Twilight , or Harry Potter trends, not that I wished to; at the time, I was more interested in making my mark as a writer in my voice, not as a copycat.

  The Gutter Press                               The Only way is Up I can't recall who said it, and I hope they are right, one person said "When you're at the bottom, the only way is up." In my opinion, I am close to the bottom in my view of myself as a writer . I have reached the stage where I'm adding scantily clad young ladies to my short story   book covers, in the hope they will atract some interest.  After this, there is one step lower, which is semi-naked - or naked images - God help me, if I sink that far. Well, if the ladies attract readers, who am I to complain, I tried all sorts of images, and none sold an eBook    https://www.draft2digital.com/book/ .

 Spanish Gold For over 350 years, Spain and the UK have had an argument over who the gold on the ship, Nuestra Senora des las Mercedes , belongs to. She was part of a fleet that left Cartegana , Colombia in 1645. She was sank by a British ship off the coast of Gibraltar - she couldn't have gone down in a worse place for these countries - to this day, Gibraltar is a hot potato. The Spanish say the gold is theirs, it came from the colonies in South America, and was headed to Spain during the Wars of the Spanish Succession , so they say it belings to Spain. The UK said as she went down off Gibraltar, the gold in in British waters, but Spain has never agreed to Gibraltar being British, and as she went down 12 miles out of the port she was in Spanish waters. In 2007, a US-based crew dived on the ship,using a  and recovered some of the gold, this lead to the crew being accused of looting, and a long trial being held in Tampa Bay , Florida . After a long legal battle, the court ruled

 Skinwalker  Ranch Mothman There are some stories based in the USA that I believe are possible; and others which could only be a hoax . I cannot prove it, but I believe in the existence of Bigfoot .  But  Skinwalker Ranch , I class with the Mothman , why? The ghosts of people whose skins are used for Native American rites are "supposed" to be being used, yet, there is no record of any activity in the area before the mid-1980s. The activity being filmed is on land owned by one of the film crew, and now Netflix has been sucked in, so the group filming will make a fortune from their hoax. If these things have been going on, why has nobody reported seeing mysterious lights before?

 In a Fictional Setting                                       True Crime Some of the stories I have written can be classed as True Crime , even though the story is fiction , why? The reason is that part of the story is based in fact. The story above is a sexual fantasy , but the crime mentioned in the story did happen; I know because I was the person who reported the theft. Likewise, the anti-semetic crimes mentioned in my romance (below) did occur, and can be read online, they are happening as I write this article. The crimes commited by Muslim men in this story    https://hereiamattheedge.blogspot.com/2012/10/here-i-go-again.html have been recorded for your reading, even if they are years old; the  grooming school system is still in action; this is for men to have sex with under-age girls , otherwise known as rape using the excuse of preparing them for Allah.

 No Difference To some people, restricting myself to selling only on Amazon may appear a backward step, as I haven't sold there in over a deacade. There again, despite the spreading of Draft2Digital I haven't sold on that site either in the same time; plus Amazon don't give my work out free as D2D have been doing. In my view, D2D has gone from  being reliable to being a SCAM .

 Will it make a Difference?                                     I doubt it The empire o f monopoly that is Draft2Digital now includes an online shop based in the south of the UK ; they have included Gardners https://www.gardners.com/Search/KeywordAnonymous?Keyword=alan+place&searchPreferences=0&pg=1 , not that I expect any change in the service they provide - I am now over three months overdue my last royalty payment. I said last, not latest, as I am not using the service again.

 Come what may      If fortunes be told, in days of old, the work of a writer was valued. These days, the only way I get ,y writing  read is to give it away FREE . This is proved by the popularity of this blog , which attracted over 2,000 readers a day in Singapore this week; yet, not one of my eBook  https://author.amazon.com/books   selection sold. I canot say what I could have written as my mind sometimes gets carried away, given the enouragement.  All I can say is I have lost the urge to write .

 A Warning from Space Th is is a science fiction short story. Chaper 1 The reasearch team from Cargodan University recieved a message from S.E.T.I. -  Search for Extra-Terrestial Intelligence - that there maybe a meteor strike in the neoghbourhood of Valderma, Spain. Immedaitely, they got in contact with their colleagues at EMSC ( Euro-Mediterranean S eismicological Centre ), in Seville to warn them something big was approaching, The phone was picked up by Alejandro Domiguez, after seeing the caller ID, he replied, "Hello, John, I can imagine what your message is; we were tracking a large mettalic object in the flight of Saturn when we noticed it had spat out a cylinder the size of a billdozer." John Harlet, chief science officer for Cardogan Uni commented, "Alejandro, I think you have a larget issue than what you imagine, our readings show the oblect is not only speeding up, but growing in size as it spins into our orbit. I don't know what you can do, if anything? I

 A Message to SETI S.E.T.I. ( Search for Extra-Terrestial Intelligence ) kast week reported they recieved a message from Commander Robinson of the Jupiter 2 Mission. The message was short, and to the point, it read, "Lost on another planet, believed to be Zebulon 4 in the Niroid system; is help coming?"

 Could this be the Reason? I may have found a reason why my blog has had a massive readership in the UAE, Hong Kong , and Singapore in recent months. The same reason people with little money like to read about people who are wealthy, it is a form o f escapism . The countries I mentioned are all linked to fast-moving, high finace worlds, so reading about my life, and its struggles brings a little relief to thier world of rushing to the next deal. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am.

 Ending in October Though I began this book in August , I doubt if I will be close to finishing it by my birthday, in October . I spent so long as a writer , I am finding reading harder than I thought, but I will persevere. As you see, I may not be writing , but I have a lot to keep my mind active. My project to stop myself from thinking about writing a story from my dream s is going well. I still get ideas, but I dismiss them as soon as soon as they arrive.

 Producing Results Late Spring Clean Project Under the bed is the name I give to my late Spring Clean of my room. The project has already proudced a result in the finding of a pair of spectacles I thought were lost four years ago, I hope to find the film Keemat which I bought several months ago from eBay , but have not seen in a long time. The film features two of my favourite actors, and a favourite actress, Raveena Tandon , from India .

 Stay Small An Extended and Revised Book Among the writing projects I could undertake are a revision, and extension of my romance    https://www.draft2digital.com/book/621255#ebook , with the difference being the writers won't go to live in Israel. This time, the lady writer goes on a trip to meet a friend in India. I have on file a fantasy story entitled Shandra which I could continue writing. One of the advantages of staying writing a short story is I don't spend a lot of time writing a story that doesn't sell. Another advatnage is by keeping the story short I can post it on here; it may not bring any sales, but it has a greater opportunity to being read as my blog is FREE . What do I think? I have no opinion either way, it depends on what the readers prefer.

  Game Over I needed votes I knew I wouldn't get any votes for my short story selection in the contest, but I entered on the off-chance; that is it for me. I would have liked to at least qualified for the first round, but que sera (it wasn't to be). My only hope now would be for me to buy my way into the next round, what is the use when nobody voted at this stage?

 No Short Story in mind Though the book above could give me some help with my next short story , if there is one, I have nothing in mind to write . Unless there are some sales of my eBook selection    https://www.draft2digital.com/book/ I have little interest in writing short stories that do not sell; after over a decade without a sale , who can blame me?

 The History of Cinema in India  Today, I finished reading the book above about the History of cinema in India .  My next book to read is called   Forts of India ; this book is a bit of a collector's item as the authoress didn't do any other books.    

  Religion God Walks These Dark Hills The orgainsers of the writing contest I entered this week suggested I put some stories in sections which have few entries, to raise my profile. I entered this mystery short story in the religion section last night. The story is available to buy, if anyone is interested. The theme of the story is about how a man who didn't believe in God gets saved from a life-threatening accident.

While the light is good  In a few weeks time, Summer will be over, did we have one? While the light is good, I decided to clear out uner my bed; there is a lot of items I wish to be rid of, so I put them out of sight, and out of mind.  With my new interest in fims from India , I need space to move some of my less seen DVD selections to boxes which I can put under the bed.

 Cooking with Alan 3 It may come as a surprise to you, even to close friends, I can eat a vegetarian meal as happily as a meal with meat products; and I do not mean a fish meal, but a meal which has no inclination to meat products such as a cheese salad. The only proviso I make is it has to be my choice; I have known several people who are vegetarian, and two were told to eat meat by their doctors as their bodies lacked minerals needed to live; that was many years ago and cuisine has come along way since the 1980s.

Betaal enters a Contest This short story has been entered in a writing contest, if you enjoyed it, you can vote for it with this link  https://soopllc.com/blog/short-stories/betaal-by-alan-place/   For as long as there have been people living in the Kaldor region of I ndia, there has been a cult worship of the Lord Betaal; he is a deity, but no one can say what religion he belongs to, only that his vengeance is severe. The villagers of Kaldor have kept a watch on Betaal's mountains for longer than anybody can recall. They stand vigil outside the cave but never go further than the entrance to offer their gifts, for fear of Betaal's rage. There is a rumor of a book in the back of the caves that can make a person immortal. During the Indian Rebellion of 1856, the East India Company set up a post to guard their investment in India against the rebels. The post was manned by the 19th Regiment of Foot, under the control of Colonel Charles Carrick. This post was an isolated building su