Here I am at the edge

What drags me down Why go on? #WhatDragsMeDown There are two things to consider, both of equal importance. 1- My decline in writing, three years ago I was writing between 1,500 to 2,000 words a week, and loving every minute  #amwriting  . Now, I've gone down to less than 750 words a month.  2- Equally important is the fact that over the last year, I have got to the point I don't care about my decline - it isn't as if I will be missed - or I made a lot. On a good week, I made $3. #amwriting Will I continue to write? That is hard to say. There are a few good days when I feel the old enjoyment, not many. 

What you get From the writer #amwriting  I write because I used to believe I was a good story teller, from my school days I was told I could tell good stories; I thought it would be nice if this ability made me a little money. Outside my sci-fi series Forgestriker this hasn't been the case- in fact only the first three books of the series garnered any real sales.   To write a page of about 300 words takes me about an hour - on a good day - and I don't get many good days these days.  #amreading   Two of my books on Barnes & Noble have been classed as rip-offs, and one person accused me of being a fraud, and a thief. Honestly, what do you expect for $1? Checkov?   All I see for my hours of work is $0.60c a book, and you wonder why I feel like quitting writing. Wells Festival of Literature   This year would have been the third year of my entering the contest, but I have chosen not to enter. Being an award winner mea...

This is a real rare occasion, me talking on line. I may do a longer video later, with more about my new works.

Don't hold your breath The final chapter I know I said it before, but..   This time is final. I have logged out of Twitter; I never found it useful in the decade I was on the site. Twitter   When you consider the immeasurable number of people who follow the people who follow me, and I get less than a dozen blog readers from Twitter a week, it isn't worth going on.  GooglePlay Google Play is the new arena for possible ebook sales    https://play.google.com/store/books/author?id=Alan+Place&hl=en_GB&gl=US for me. Effectiveness Though I have only sold eight ebook is three years on Google Play, so far, that is more than I have on Draft2Digital in the last decade, despite Draft2Digital's expansion program. I am not surpried, the sites D2D is absorbing are FREE LENDING  libraries, this means until the book reaches a number of readers, the writer won't see a dime.  Freebies This has been a bugbear for as long as I ...

Tastes in food Appetites Can it be true?   Can you wish for something so much that when it comes, you dislike it violently. I'm not on about the success of my books this month, this time it's food.   I know my appetite has changed radically with age, at one time eating dark chocolate was as likely to induce a migraine, as drinking red wine. Now I find milk chocolate too sickly at times to eat. The same goes for Coca -Cola, when Coke Zero came out I dreaded the thought of the taste changing, but now it's all I can drink. I find even Diet Coke too sweet for my taste.  Fishing   For four generations my kin have fished the North Sea for cod. I wrote my last novella - A Sailor's Love - as a homage to the hard-working, honest fishing communities around the world.   For the last two weeks I have desired some fish and chips. Today I had some mackerel, and found I couldn't eat it. It isn't the taste that put my off - as it does with some ...

Out cold Proof positive Being disabled  Yesterday was insulting to me; I've been classed as medically disabled for over 15 years, and yet every two years I have to prove I am disabled, even though I keep telling the various inquests and committees that my condition is only getting worse by the day. Yesterday's trip - two hours each way - took its toll on me. When I got back home I needed to rest, and I could hardly stand. Any long trip takes it out on my system, if I go out for more than an hour I'm ill when I return, yet yesterday I needed to be out from 1130 to 1800.  I went to bed early as I was so tired, and went into a dead sleep for ten hours. This only happens if I need to take an extra sleeping tablet to kill my pains. Even though I restrict myself to one trip a week, I still have two trips to make this week, making the total three journeys in eight days - far too much for my ankle to safely manage. This isn't including a possible trip to ge...

Genetics Genetic manipulation   To the vast majority of us, our genetic codes are something we hardly - if ever - think about. I must admit until recently I was among the many. Then things changed... Ehlers Danloss Syndrome EDS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehlers%E2%80%93Danlos_syndrome  is an inherited illness which is incurable, irreversible, and ultimately will put me in a wheelchair - I estimate by next year - I'm not annoyed. When I heard I had it to this severity, I gave myself to 50 before needing the chair. The extra 9 years have allowed me to do a lot of things, including two trips to Lac La Biche, Alberta, Canada , and a a final trip back to my home lands of the northern shires to see my beloved Scarborough . I found I had this illness when I went for a blood test for arthritis, it is amazing how a simple blood test can change your whole outlook on life, and make you wonder about how you lived, and did you know something subconsciously. Because...