This young poet (Max is 16-years-old) is well worth checking out, http://maxmillerpoetry.wordpress.com/. I particularly enjoyed Max’s poem, The Boy On The Train. The poem resonates with me as someone who travels on the tube Monday through to Friday. I can imagine Max sitting or standing, on the tube, pen in hand quietly observing his fellow passengers.
A good post containing useful advice, Kevin
This post is from a reader’s point of view. With just one complete (unpublished) manuscript and so much to learn, it would be presumptuous of me to give advice to anyone as a writer. Although I may be very new to writing, blogging and platform building, my fifteen-year experience as a translation instructor (tons of proofreading) plus a seasoned reader’s
mentality qualify me to form a solid opinion on both the quality of any text and its potential appeal to readers. I also consider myself a good “success gauge meter”: I voted for J. R. Ward’s
Lover at Last
and Margaret Atwood’s
MaddAddam
in the Goodreads Choice Awards, and both titles won in their respective categories. I missed in the Paranormal Fantasy category, but I hadn’t read the winning title (
Cold Days
by Jim Butcher) so there you have it.
When I got myself a Twitter account and a…
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Escape into tranquillity. The scent of books reassures, beckons me in. A world of wonder fills the shelves. Some volumes stand atop high bookcases, tantalisingly out of reach of a small boy. Poe, Hardy, so many authors call to me.
I sit, the only sound that of a clock ticking and the occasional turning of a page. Engrossed, safe from the hurly burly of the playground. Footsteps pass the door. I hold my breath, friend or foe? Will I be chased out to god’s fresh air?
Sometimes the footsteps pass, peace lays her gentle hand on me once moreand I return to my books. On other occasions the door opens and a friendly teacher enquires what I am reading. An exchange ensues, oh the delights of not being talked down to, discussing books man to man with a kind adult.
The dreaded voice
“go outside and get some fresh air. Play with your peers”.
Sadly the book is replaced and, casting a backward glance I exit the peaceful harbour to swim in a sea of children.
Yesterday I came across an interesting debate on Youtube regarding a Private Members Bill being piloted through Parliament by the Labour MP John Mann which, if it becomes law would make it illegal to pay for sex with a prostitute aged under 21, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHukn6AHHi4. Under UK law the age of consent is 16 for both men and women. It is, however illegal to pay for sex with anyone under the age of 18. John Mann and his supporters believe that those aged over 18 but under 21 are particularly vunnerable so making it illegal to pay for sex with this group would reduce the demand for young prostitutes giving these ladies (and men) breathing space and the chance to explore alternative career paths.
Opponents of the proposal argue that it is unenforcible and that the law should be left as it currently stands. Others believe that the Swedish model should be implemented under which those who pay for sex are prosecuted while men and women engaged in the sex industry are assisted to exit prostitution.
In my story, Samantha, Sam is forced into prostitution in the city of Liverpool by her brutal pimp Barry and it is touch and go as to whether she will survive or end her brutalised existence in the murky waters of Liverpool’s Albert Docks. In The First Time we meet Becky, a young graduate who becomes a prostitute in order to pay off her debts. The First Time explores the psychological effects of working in the sex industry on Becky and her fellow escort and friend Julie. In neither story do I refer to the age of Samantha or Becky, however I had in the back of my mind that Becky is 21 while Sam is 18 or 19 (Samantha is studying at university when she becomes entrapped into prostitution).
For Samantha please visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samantha-K-Morris-ebook/dp/B00BL3CNHI (for the UK) or http://www.amazon.com/Samantha-K-Morris-ebook/dp/B00BL3CNHI (for the US).
For The First Time please visit http://www.amazon.com/First-Time-K-Morris-ebook/dp/B00FJGKY7Y/ref=la_B00CEECWHY_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1393147163&sr=1-1 (for the US or http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-First-Time-K-Morris-ebook/dp/B00FJGKY7Y (for the UK). For a recent review of The First Time please visit https://cupitonians.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/the-first-time-book-review/.
My collection of short stories, An Act Of Mercy is free in the Kindle Store until Tuesday 25 February. To download An Act Of Mercy free please visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/An-act-mercy-other-stories-ebook/dp/B00EHS74CS (for the UK) or http://www.amazon.com/An-act-mercy-other-stories-ebook/dp/B00EHS74CS (for the US).
“About suffering they were never wrong,
The old Masters: how well they understood
Its human position: how it takes place
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;
How, when the aged are reverently, passionately waiting
For the miraculous birth, there always must be
Children who did not specially want it to happen, skating
On a pond at the edge of the wood …”.
Those lines of W H Auden came powerfully to mind when I received a call from The National Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Children, the NSPCC, who are running a campaign in schools to explain to very young children what abuse is and how to report it. As a donor to the NSPCC they wanted me to increase my direct debit to assist in paying for Childline in schools. The Society say they are receiving an increasing number of calls from children aged around 11 which has prompted the Childline initiative in schools.
The tragedy of the situation is that many children blame themselves for the abuse or somehow try to convince themselves that it is normal. Here in Crystal Palace it is a lovely sunny day but those lines of Auden, quoted above just keep replaying themselves in my head. Terrible suffering of children does go on while we go about our daily lives. As I write this a child, somewhere is being physically or sexually abused. I can give money. I only wish that I could do more.
For Auden’s poem please visit http://english.emory.edu/classes/paintings&poems/auden.html
A great post on Jade’s Jungle about the dangers of basing a character on people you know.
Not a second glance do you bestow on me as I hurry by, unassuming, heading for my lair.
Wrapped in darkness, encumbered by hate I sit fingers tapping oh so busily tapping, on keyboard spewing hate. I care not for you, my pleasure is your pain. Hatred like a stench fills the air, I am a troll ensconced in his lair.
My collection of short stories, An Act Of Mercy And Other Stories, is free in the Kindle store from 21 February to 25 February. To download An Act Of Mercy free please visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/An-act-mercy-other-stories-ebook/dp/B00EHS74CS (for the UK), or http://www.amazon.com/An-act-mercy-other-stories-ebook/dp/B00EHS74CS (for the USA). If you download An Act Of Mercy or any of my other books I would appreciate it if you would please consider leaving a review.
Kevin
I have published two previous posts containing interviews with characters from my story, Samantha, http://newauthoronline.com/2014/02/14/have-you-ever-interviewed-one-of-your-characters/. Today I am interviewing the leading character from my story the First Time, a young graduate named Becky who enters the world of prostitution in order to clear her debts.
Interview
Me: “What is your earliest recollection?”
Becky: “Collecting bluebells with my grandfather. I remember the sun was shining, the birds singing and I was so happy to be with my grandfather. Those memories are incredibly precious”.
Me: “It sounds as though you had a happy childhood?”
“Becky: “Yes, I was surrounded by people who loved me. Mummy and daddy doted on me. Both of them read to me, I grew up in a house full of books which is why, I guess I ended up reading English literature at university”.
Me: “much of the research into why people enter into prostitution appears to indicate that they suffered childhood abuse or some other trauma. From what you have told me about your childhood it doesn’t appear that you fit in with this stereotype”.
Becky: “You mean what is a nice middle class girl like me doing working as a prostitute?”
Me: “Not to put to fine a point on it, yes”.
Becky: “I ran up a huge credit card debt. There was no way, as a part-time barmaid I would ever be able to clear it. One of my friends, Julie worked as an escort and, in desperation I asked her to help me to enter the sex industry, as a prostitute which she did by introducing me to one of her clients, Mike”.
Me: “Didn’t you consider turning to your family for help?”
Becky: “No, mummy and daddy would have been so disappointed in me. They brought me up to live within my means, not to borrow accept for a mortgage. If you can’t afford it then you should save up for it or do without. That is there philosophy. I would have died of shame if they had found out about my debts”.
Me: “What do you think their reaction would be if they found out that their daughter was working as a prostitute?”
Becky: “they would be horrified! Christ I would die of shame if they found out, that will never happen though. I live in London and mummy and Daddy live in York”.
Me: “Do you feel that you have a choice in prostitution?
Becky: “If I haden’t entered sex work I would have had a huge credit card debt and it would have been impossible for me to live as all my money would have gone in paying off my card. I wasn’t physically compelled to become an escort but I had no other choice given the state of the jobs market”.
“Me: “do you enjoy your work?”
Becky: “What kind of a question is that?! I hate being treated like a piece of meat. Some men are nice and, of course it’s easier if the man is polite and converses with you rather than grabbing you as soon as you come through the door, doing the deed and then throwing you out in 30 minutes or so, but no I don’t enjoy being treated as a sex object”.
Me: “Can you see yourself giving up working as an escort?”
Becky: “I’d like to but, although I hate the work I like the money. You can make thousands a month if you work as an independent escort as you don’t have to give a percentage to the escort agency. I’ve seen girls who hate the work but love the money. I’m afraid that I may end up like one of them”.
Me: “Many thanks for talking to me Becky”.
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For a review of The First Time please visit https://cupitonians.wordpress.com/2014/02/17/the-first-time-book-review/
K Morris - Poet 