Monthly Archives: November 2013

‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ by Wilfred Owen

As Emily says it is difficult to know what to say about this poem.

emilyardagh's avatarA poem for every day

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime…
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes…

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The First Time By Kevin Morris Free Until Friday 15 November

For a limited period (10-15 November) I am giving away free copies of my e-book, The First Time which retails for £1.91 in the Amazon Kindle store. In The First Time we meet Becky a young graduate who enters the world of prostitution as an escort in order to clear her debts. The story takes an honest look at why young women enter the world of sex work and the impact of working as as a prostitute. Other stories explore what happens when robots attain the capacity to act like humans. For information on The First Time and my other books please visit my Amazon author page at http://www.amazon.co.uk/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0. To obtain your free copy of The First Time please send an e-mail to drewdog2060 at Tiscali .co.uk (the address is rendered in this manner to defeat spammers). Alternatively you can leave a comment here which automatically notifies me of your e-mail address. Please note, your personal information will be used solely for the purpose of providing you with your free copy of The First Time. You will receive no marketing e-mails! Happy reading!

(please note, this is being posted with the help of a sighted friend due to the recent problems I have been experiencing with my screen reading software (Jaws) and the WordPress interface).

 

Update to my About page

I have finally got around to updating my About page! You can find the updated page here: http://newauthoronline.com/about/

 

I am posting this with the help of a sighted friend as I am still having problems posting this independently.

Problems posting

I am experiencing problems in creating new posts. The problem appears to stem from some incompatibility between the screen reading software which I use (Jaws which converts text into speech and Braille enabling me to read my computer’s screen) and the WordPress interface. Everything appeared to be fine until yesterday then, suddenly I can not create new posts. I have raised this issue on the WordPress Forums (http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/problems-accessing-dashboard-with-screen-reading-software-jaws?replies=1#post-1509979) and, with a bit of luck the problem should be resolved soon.

The above is being posted with the help of a sighted friend.  

Living in a Virtual World

Sometimes I feel as though I am living in a virtual world. All of my books are available solely in e-book format (there is nothing concrete which my readers can grasp hold of not counting their reading devices of course)!

Other than close friends, family and a smattering of acquaintences who I actually (shock horror talk to face-to-face) all of the communication regarding my writing takes place in the virtual realm (either on this blog, Twitter and, occasionally via Facebook).

Blogging is wonderful and I enjoy communicating online with readers and, of course reading other people’s blogs. However I yearn for something concrete which I, and others can reach out and touch. With this in mind I am considering having business cards produced with the address of this blog together with my contact details printed on them. It will be nice to have something solid to hand out to people as their eyes glaze over while I regail them with information about my books! Seriously the internet is great but there is no substitute for actually talking to people face-to-face about your writing and that business card is, at the very least a useful object for the kids to crayon on if nothing else!

For my Amazon authors page please visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

The Importance Of Research

The ability to express what resides in one’s head in a manner which grabs and maintains the interest of the reader is, in my opinion what makes a good author. Many people have interesting things to say but most of those never go on to write anything or, if they do their work remains unpublished.

As pointed out above it is the capacity of the writer to express himself in an interesting manner which makes a good teller of tales. However in many instances the good author is also marked out by his ability to conduct high quality research thereby rendering his books believable.

I set my long short story, Samantha, in the city of my birth, Liverpool, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samantha-K-Morris-ebook/dp/B00BL3CNHI. Despite my familiarity with Liverpool it was still imperative that I conducted thorough research. For example part of the action is set in a Whetherspoon pub in the city centre. I have visited the place on several occasions but not being able to recall the name of the pub or it’s location I visited JD Whetherspoon’s website to ensure that my portrayal of the place was accurate.

During the course of Samantha Sam is subjected to a rape. In order to ensure her compliance Sam’s drink is spiked with a date rape drug. Knowing nothing about such drugs I spent some considerable time on medical sites and forums (the latter warnn women about the dangers of date rape), in order to ensure that my description of how Sam was drugged and the effects of the drug where accurate.

While research is vital it can be the lazy person’s excuse for failing to express themselves with originality and flair. I recollect downloading a book from Amazon which purported to be an examination of a particular subject. Having downloaded it I found that the work consisted almost entirely of citations from Wikipedia. As you can imagine I was far from impressed and returned the title to Amazon for a full refund! Anyone can quote chunks from Wikipedia, it is the ability to use source material with discrimination which separates the effective researcher/writer from the lazy so and so who just wants to make a quick buck or book!

For my Amazon authors page please visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/K.-Morris/e/B00CEECWHY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

New Tool For Authors To Promote Their Work

amazon.co.uk and amazon.com have introduced a new discount tool which allows authors to discount the price of their book. The tool is different from the KDP Select Promotions Manager which enables authors to offer their e-books free of charge for up to 5 days in any 90 day period. For further information please see below which has been taken from an e-mail I received from Amazon.

 

“We are excited to introduce our newest KDP Select benefit – Kindle Countdown Deals. This is a new book promotion tool that lets you provide readers with

time-bound promotional discounts for your Kindle books, available on Amazon.com and

Amazon.co.uk.

 

Here are some of the benefits of Kindle Countdown Deals:

 

list of 5 items

• Set time-bound promotions – You control how long your book is discounted. The time remaining for your promotion will be visible for customers to help

generate excitement for the price discount.

• Customers get a great deal – Your customers will see the great deal they’re getting with the regular price included on the book’s detail page, right beside

the promotional price.

• Retain a 70% royalty rate – You will earn royalties based on your regular royalty rate and the promotional price. As a result, if you are using the 70%

royalty option, you’ll earn 70% even if the price is below $2.99.

• Increase discoverability – Customers can easily browse live Kindle Countdown Deals at

http://www.amazon.com/kindlecountdowndeals

– a great way for you and your books to get discovered.

• Monitor performance in real-time – A new KDP report displays sales and royalties at each price discount side-by-side with pre-promotion performance, so

you can compare results.”

 

 

For detailed information on the workings of Kindle CountDown Deals please visit the below link https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=201298260&ref_=pe_445910_34749920