Tag Archives: culture

Modesty Forbids

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I have blogged previously about my early new year’s resolution to start leaving reviews, on Amazon of the books which I purchase from the Kindle Store (please see https://newauthoronline.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/book-reviews/). I have got off to a flying start by leaving a review of a book which I recently purchased from Amazon. I was, therefore rraring to go, my fingers poised above keyboard, on receiving an e-mail from Amazon asking me to rate one of my recent purchases – that is until I read the title of the book which they wished me to review – “The Girl At The Bus Stop”, by K Morris. To explain, as the author of said book I don’t feel best placed to provide an unbiased rating/review of my writing (can’t think why)! It would have been fun to attempt to rate my own work just to see how robust Amazon’s systems are at weeding out author generated reviews/ratings, however I would have died of shame had my rating actually appeared on the site!

Why you may ask did I purchase a copy of my own book? Simple, I wished to check that “The Girl At The Bus Stop” could be read without difficulty using a Kindle.

Well the above certainly made me smile!

The Rise In Student Prostitution

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I am in the process of publishing my second book of short stories, “The First Time” which will be available to purchase from late December. The primary story in my collection is entitled “The First Time” and looks at why Becky, a young graduate with a first-class degree in English literature enters the world of prostitution as a professional escort. In the story Becky sees no way of clearing her credit card debt other than selling her body. She fears losing her flat and becoming homeless and, in desperation requests her friend, Julie to introduce her to Mike one of Julie’s customers.

 

In an article entitled “The motivation behind the rise in student prostitution” “The Angle”, a student newspaper, suggests that the increasing numbers of students entering the sex industry can not simply be laid at the door of financial hardship. The author argues that people taking out mortgages rarely turn to prostitution as an easy way of paying off the loan, so why therefore do significant numbers of students perceive escorting/prostitution as a way of making easy money? The author largely discounts financial hardship as a factor in the rise of student prostitution, rather he sees the growth in student prostitutes as stemming from the naievity of the students themselves. By the time they realise what they have let themselves in for (the provision of sexual services rather than merely providing company for lonely professionals) it is to late for them to back out of the contract.

In contrast to the above Becky understands at an intellectual level at least what escorting entails. Her friend, Julie is an escort and Becky knows that men who use the services of escort girls want a full “personal service”. However at an emotional level Becky is wholly unprepared for what awaits her when she enters her first customer’s flat.

For the article please visit http://www.theanglenews.co.uk/comment/article-c5139118fa1/the-motivation-behind-student-prostitution.html. For an extract from my forthcoming book, “The first Time” please see https://newauthoronline.wordpress.com/2012/12/02/extract-from-my-forthcoming-book-the-first-time/.

Extract from my forthcoming book, “The First Time”

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Below is an extract from my forthcoming book of short stories, “The First Time”. The first story in my collection is entitled “The First Time” and explores why Becky, a young graduate with a first class degree in English literature enters the world of prostitution as a professional escort girl. The extract follows on from Becky’s first encounter with a customer

“Becky pulled open the car door and flung herself into Julie’s arms.

Julie hugged her friend close neither girl speaking for several

minutes. “God it was horrible. I can’t believe what I’ve just done up

there” Becky said eventually breaking the silence. Julie could think

of nothing that could serve as anything other than a wholly inane

response to Becky’s distress so kept her peace. “Julie are they all as

awful as Mike”! “Beks there are guys much, much worse than Mike Carter

believe me!” “I can’t believe that Jules!” “Becks I recently saw a

bloke who asked me to dress up in a school uniform and pretend to be

his 14-year-old daughter. He wanted me to call him daddy while he screwed me”. “You told him where to go didn’t you Jules?” Julie looked out of

the window into the dark night  for a long time without speaking.

“Lets get you home Becks” she said after what seemed an age.”

(“The First Time” is scheduled for publication in December. For a limited period I am giving away free copies to my blog’s followers. If you would like a 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 attempt to defeat spammers).

The Perils of Self-Publishing

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As an author I entered the world of self publishing like a naïve young virgin with little (if any) idea of the big bad world. I self published my first book “The Girl At The Bus Stop” on Amazon with only very minor difficulties and, best of all it cost me £0 to do so! However I am still waiting for what should have been my first published book of short stories, “The First Time” to be published as an e-book. Unlike “The Girl At The Bus Stop” I chose to use the services of an outfit specialising in assisting authors who wish to self publish when publishing “The First Time”. Their website states that books should appear within 6-8 weeks and be sent to approximately 200 e-book publishers for distribution. It is now around 1 month since I signed up with this company and as of today (19 November) I am still waiting for the book cover which I paid extra for to be e-mailed to me for approval. I’m beginning to wish that I’d gone down the road of using Amazon’s self publishing feature for both books not just “The Girl At The Bus Stop”.

I paid just under £400 for the privilege of having my book cover designed, the book formatted in order to make it suitable for e-readers and for the file to be sent to around 200 e-book publishers. I am, as I say beginning to question whether this was money well spent.

I would be very interested to hear the views of others.

Ebooks versus print

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I am, on the whole a huge fan of ebooks. The technology allows the user to carry around a veritable library of world literature in their hands. No longer need one trip over piles of books littering the floor in the spare room or spend ages dusting ancient tomes with a yellow duster. Electronic books unlike their traditional counterparts are instantaneous. With the click of a mouse one can order and have delivered in seconds War and Peace to the electronic device of your choice whether it be Kindle or I-Pad.
On the flip side I love the smell and feel of traditional books. One of my happiest memories as a child is of visiting W H Smiths and browsing shelves of children’s classics ranging from The Famous Five to The Secret Seven. It was (and still is) that wonderful scent of books which hits me whenever I enter Smiths or any other book shop. Ebooks have many advantages but scent is not among them!
I also like the permanence of physical books. Its wonderful to sit in a room surrounded by books. To take down a book at random and flick through it’s pages is surely one of life’s great pleasures. Physical books can (and do) last for centuries. There is something essentially civilised about entering a room full of books which I for one value. Where I to lose my Kindle I would be anoyed given the large quantity of ebooks I own. However I would be devestated where I to lose my traditional library. I simply can’t imagine living in a house without physical books.
For my ebook “The Girl At the Bus Stop And Other Erotic Short Stories” by K Morris please visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/other-erotic-short-stories-ebook/dp/B00A6H75Y6/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1352954780&sr=1-2