Here I am at the edge

 I am the Spider When a young lady approaches me on Facebook , and asks to move to another site, in my space , little does she realise the rules of the game are changed, they are my rules .

The Missing Pages  What a relief; I thought I had deleted about 20 pages of my project for my agent. I found I had posted the files to a lady I knew a few weeks ago. The story - A Homecoming - is five years old, and as my writing / editing has improved in that time, I need to rewrite the story, it is nice to relocate the missing pages though.

 Alan Place - Published Author According to many people, I became a published writer back in 1972, when I had a short story published. Others say I am a published author for my ebook selections. but, in my terms I wouldn't ckass my self as published until I had an officail publisher print one of my books . That day has arrived with the help of two friends on Twitter .

 The two-day rule If I get approached on Facebook, or Twitter by a young lady, I usually give them two days befoe they ask for money ; so far, this rule has been unbearable. The problem with a scam is the scammer is so focussed they are unable to chat normally, so when you change topics, all they can do is answer with an Okay, or sure.

 Gmail In the last few weeks, I have been asked by several young ladies, do I have a contact other than Facebook Messenger ?  Yes, I do, I can be contacted by Gmail , if you wish for a private chat . My usual rules to chat apply here as on other lines, it is a lady's choice what we talk about, I will not force her to talk about things she feels uncomfortable with, and because we talk about delicate matters tonight, does not mean I will talk about them tomorrow unless the lady takes the chat that way. Ladies over the years, have said they feel safe talking to me; one reason is if I see a lady online, I do NOT assume she is looking to be chatted up for a date; I see her as a lady seeking someone to talk to, after that it is up to her.

 A hard job for little reward Years ago, I approached several magazines with the intention of getting a short story published. Most never bothered to reply. Some came up with the concept that I should promote their magazine , and get paid that way; what was the rate? For each 100 members I drew in, I would receive $1. Publishing my writing , never mentioned.

 Verified on X For the last week, I have toyed with the idea of being verified to blog with Twitter ; this means I would get paid to write my blog . On the surface, it appears to be a good idea; that is until you go to see the rates you'll get 👎👎 For every 1,000 views, of a post you get paid the HUGE (laughs) sum of 5 cents. As few of my posts even get a dozen views, it is a no-brainer for me. To get those views, you would need to hit as many trends as you can, and this writer does not work that way.

 Modern Art Anyone who knows me, or reads this blog , will tell you I am not a fan of modern art ; most of it I wouldn't give room for in a skip. To me, the best thing about modern art is what Andy Warhol said, when he said, "I don't know a lot about art, but I know what I like." So, this brings me to my dream . In the dream I was running an exhibition of modern art, the show displayed a collection of multicoloured glass balls, and large concrete balls. In the museum I worked in for many years, there was a selection of coloured glass paperweights I enjoyed viewing, but I hadn't thought of them for nearly 25 years. My art style is art deco of the 1920's, or the styles of the 1940's to 60's.

 The book that caused a row Coming out later this week on Draft2Digital is a romance that has connections to Israel . When this was first published the story attracted a lot adverse mail for me, from supporters of Palestine , however, it was my bestseller of 2020 with five sales on Smashwords .

 Untold Secrets Two days ago, while trying to edit my story , I decided it would be far easier to write a new version, rather than try to correct the errors of the original from 5 years ago. The new version will relate more to what is happening in the UK , and Europe as the Muslim men create crime wave , after crime , and are freed by the Labour Party of the UK. Life in the UK has become so treacherous in the last week since Labour won the election , thank to Nigel Farage that non-Muslims are not safe on the streets as gangs outnumber the Police 10-1, and the gvernement backs the terrorist action. The title will be either Untold Secrets, or Unseen Sin, the reason for this is both Facebook , and Twitter , along with the media , are blocking posts which attack the government action.

 An unknown side to me To most people, I am known for ghost stories, science fiction , a little romance , and recently stories about India , and Spirituality . Today, I agreed to write some children's stories for a friend in the USA to read to her 8-year-old son. To some people, most who read the blog , this news may come as a surprise; but, I did wrtite for a children's charity book for several years at one time. At one time, I thought about writing a story about a group of t eddy bears who go on an adventure.

 The mystery unfolds Yesterday, readers on Reddit s earched my links, my popularity online - if not eBook sales - apears to be spreading.

  I keep asking the same question I have an agent , who wishes to go ahead with the big project of joining two stories about a cross culture romance . But, as I go through the manuscript, finding more errors which slow down the outcome, I can't help asking myself, the same question again - is it going to be worth it - this is why I have many WIP projects on file, I begin, then think I like this, but who else will?

 A lot of changes to make Having reveied my files of the book - A Homecoming - from five years ago, I realise the task ahead is greater than expected. Not only will I have masses of additional storyline to add, but as my ability as a writer , and editor has improved in the time since the book emerged, I can spot my errors in the book, and boy are there some terrors. The schedule has now dropped from the middle of this month, to at the earliest mid- October , around my birthday (18th).

 Young girls on sex chat sites I have changed my style on Twitter , until now, I would have thanked girls on sex lines using the site for giving my posts a ☝, to give some of my blogs a boost - not that I did - I have stopped that tactic this week.

 The International Date line Last night, I learned the error of not presuming you know something. I had been chatting with a friend in the USA , and foolishly thought she lived on the east coast, when she lives on the west coast near Seattle . This reminded me of an incident from years ago, that still amuses me; I was chatting to two writers, one in Queensland , and the other in Arizona . I was in the same day as both, but in a different direction, yet, despite being far closer to each other than me, they were in different days because of the date line.

 A question I asked myself For many years, I asked myself which I would prefer, the Nobel Prize for Literature , or the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism ? Most writers would opt for the Nobel prize as it has a more powerful echo, I would have gone for the Pulitzer prize, why? I saw myself more like Carl Kolchak - an investigative reporter - than a writer of stories. From experience, I can tell you, winning an award means nothing unless it is a MAJOR award; I used to chat to writer in the USA , Canada , and Australia as well as other areas, and we agreed on this matter, some of my friends have earned multiple awards in their countries, and yet remained unknown outside their country. I have been asked many times, why don't I write about earning my award, my reply is always the same, "Does it matter?" Apart from that, I am not a person to boast about my achievements; I would rather post a comment from someone else about my writing , than give myself self-praise.  I have oft...

 Science over Faith From my school days, I never believed completely in the Bible stories; which annoyed my Religious Education teacher. Many of the stories could well have happened, the Great Flood is a good example, I had no doubt it happened as it is recorded in many writings from different cultures, who were not connected. If you believe in the Bible, stop here. The catching of the fish, Jesus was a fisherman, so he knew the best way to catch fish is in the shadows, that is why he told Peter to change the side he fished from, no miracle, fishing knowledge. Walking on the water; I could have done that in Germany . No, I am not a miracle worker, all it takes is a little time, and good sight; if you watch the river, you can see where there are stones creating ripples, and all you need do is follow the stones. The wine drinking, it is an old trick used many times in the catering world, get your party started on the "good drink" and when they are inebriated, and happy, s...

 Sasquatch It is a matter of belief; I have always, and will always believe    Sasquatch / Yeti live, because nobody has positive proof does not mean they don't exist; a few months ago a fish turned up in Japan that the world thought had been extinct for over 500,000 years, at least. There is a story of a monk who lived on an island off the coast of Scotland for over 80 years, living off nuts, and berries. This will cause some thought, and a little annoyance, but consider this. Think of how many people believe in Jesus without questioning the story. Here you have a man who was nailed to a cross for three days, put in a cave to die, and mysteriously vanished; which is more believable? A creature can live in forests, or mountains without human contact, or a man can come back from the dead after being nailed to a cross for three days?

 Are you real? As I appear online a lot, a young lady asked if I was for real a few days ago. It is a justifiable question in this age, when you can create a profile , and use a photo you download of the internet . This week, without trying, I came across two fake profiles , on Facebook . How do I know they are false ? Both profiles have the same photograph of a actress based in the UK sex trade known as Lady Sonja,

  A big difference This afternoon, I changed the status on my Facebook profile from Husband and father to Retired Pensioner ; I have no money to spare. The effect has been immediate, I have not been pestered by young ladies trying to scam me.

 Stopped at customs I recently told my friend in Canada about the times I was stopped at customs on entering Canada, she said she was was in tears with laughing at the stories. Strange, but true The first case happened in June 2009 I was stopped as the sniffer dogs were aroused by an odd smell from one of my bags; I can't blame them. I never thought of it happening, on the train to the airport, I had a cheese and pickle sandwhich , me being me, I put the wrapper in my bag, and forgot about it. The heat must have activated the smell of the pickles, and that is what the dog picked up. The second time, I was stopped for carrying a jar containing strange leaves; the customs officers had no idea what was in the jar, so I can't blame them. What was in the jar? Bay leaves, the daughter of a late friend in Lac La Biche , Alberta , knew we had a bay tree, and asked if she could have some leaves to set the jellies she was making. I didn't consider I may not have been allowed to impo...

 Being weird is normal For the last two, or three days, I have been in contact with a young lady on Facebook , living in Canada , we get on so well it's like going back 20 years for me. 20 years ago, I had a friend called Sarah, we hit it off from the start, and had a lasting friendship which was helped by sharing the same weird jokes, and likes; it is the same with my new friend, we "get" each other so well.

 Untold Truths My revision of this romance set in Israel will be called  Untold Truths. The reason for the title change reflects the changes in society that occured since the book came out five years ago, when it was my bestseller for the year. The title relates to the rise in crime caused by Muslim men across Europe which the media in the UK ignores, instead the media attack people defending the police , and our way of live from terrorists .

  No flight of Fantasy If you read my blog, you will know I am not prone to flights of Fantasy (unless I am writing a story. What follows may astonish you, yet it is true. I beleive one young lady I chat to on Facebook is developing a crush on me, why? She has been asking me about ladies I have chatted to online, in a way that suggested concern, I have chattted to many ladies online, they tell me they feel safe talking to me. Mainly because I won't get a lady to do something she is not happy with. If I see a lady online, all I see is a person seeking company, beyond that, for me, it is upto the lady what we chat about. Am I concerned about the development, no. I am always puzzled about my attraction to ladies, as I never saw myself as attractive; I am told I have a nice personality . Part of the attraction could be that unlike a lot of men, my profile picture does not show me half-naked; that would show I am more interested in the person than their appearance. I won't de...

 A dream come true For many years, I asked myself, what would I do if I was offered a contract to write ? It was a hyperthetical question , as I never imagined, in my wildest dreams the day would come. The answer to my question , would I take a large sum, or a small sum has always been the smaller, for several reasons. A writer 's wage is an advance for sales of a book, as I am an unknown quantity to many readers, I am wary of being paid too much. Also, a small advance is quickly paid for. I never imagined I would see the day I had an agent , but the day is here.

 "They ain't got a chance" Every day, I have to fend off young ladies on Facebook trying to scam me. If I was arrogant, I could believe their compliments about me being attractive, but that is far-fetched, and I am not that arrogant; I wasn't that sort of person even in my youth. 

 The expanding story Not long after I began my project on India , I realised I may have taken on more than I could have imagined. The original problem arose from an error on my part; I didn't consider the number of princes in India who would build forts to protect, and  subjugate  their domains. The next issue came when I suggested this story could become a series to my agent , Lina Cruz . The issue has now expanded to not only joining the halves of the story, and extending part 2 to a satisfactory conclusion, but I can foresee another story to link in.

 A long time ago It amuses me to think I could claim to have been a published writer for 50 years this year. I had a short story published in a men's magazine in the UK when I was 17, and all this time later, I can still remember the story.

  Facebook hack upside The upside of the recent Facebook  is it cut my contact with several young ladies who used to attempt to chat me up, and by doing so, they cut the time I could dedicate to my writing .

Jehovah's Witnesses  Last night, I was involved in a discussion with two  attractive ladies about joining the  Jehovah's Witnesses . I have no thoughts about joining the faith . I recall an incident in the 70's in Southampton when despite the pleas of the hospital staff a father let his daughter die, because HIS faith disapproved of blood transfusions . I pointed out that my belief is I am a Christian Scientist . I believe events in the Bible did happen, but were caused by events dealing with Science , not Religion . I raised a few questions for them to ponder too.  Like many groups, they use sexual attraction as a lure; I won't deny the ladies who came were attractive to me, but I had no intention of being swayed from my belief. One lady was late middle aged, and the other was in her late 20's.

  I knew it was coming I knew I would get a bad week this week; the reason is last week I had an unusual amount of good nights sleep , and now I am paying the price.

 The lady is NOT my type Though I am olde, and have standards, I am not a stic-in-the-mud, it does take someting nasty to offend me, and for the second time it has happened.  As with the first incident , the offense involved a young colored lady with larrge breasts, I have nothing againsr coloured ladies, I wasbot offended by this laady asking to see my penis as soon as we chatted, it was a little weird she was so forawrd when she'd only been chatting a few minutes to ask. What I found offensive, again, is she assumed having large reasts, and in her case an oversize bottom was what I like In short, she has nothing of interest for me..

 The same questions as before If I am to believe what I have read about my writing for years; I am an excellent writer , you would think I would have got passed the age-old question I ask myself - is it worth it? I have an agent who is keen to work with me, yet, I keep coming back to the old question, am I wasting my time editing a story which may not sell? One reply would be, if you don't write the story, it will not sell. I can't argue against that, yet one story I wrote took almost three years, and has not sold in nearly a decade.