Thursday 29 January 2009

Is it Thursday Already?

I can’t quite believe how quickly this week has gone. I suppose all the running around I’ve done this week is the reason for it having flown by – well, from my perspective at least. It’s just been one thing after another quite honestly. And the piles of work on my desk to not seem to have gotten any smaller despite my going ten-to-the-dozen. If anything, they’ve gotten bigger. Still, at least we got paid this week. Of course, I run payroll, so getting paid involves more work for me – but that’s one job I’m more than happy to do.

Running around trying to get an online web conference sorted when the technical problems are at the other end – isn’t. I’m supposed to be the “Accounts Manager”, so why do I end up doing IT as well?

Sorry, moan over.

On a different topic, I’m chuffed by the spike in website visits I’ve had this week. I guess it’s proof that freshening things up often pays dividends. All I need to do now is translate those visits into book sales. Of course, I’d guess the majority of visits were prompted by the promise of a free book, and my Google stats holds that out to be true because the number of hits on the “Free Stories” page is pretty much the same as the homepage hits. So hopefully, people have downloaded Reunion and will now read it, love it and go out and buy Charlotte’s Secret, Lost&Found and wait eagerly for Kissed by a Rose.

Hey, it’s nice to be an optimist about some things.

Of course, this leaves me a dilemma – do I spend time making amendments to the website, or working on my WIP. Or Blogging. Or Promoting. The demands on my “Free Time” are considerable. “Free Time” is, of course, defined as time when I’m not doing the day job or spending time with my family.

So, I’ll leave you with today’s useless fact. I saw it on Twitter and had to retweet it and now I’m blogging it too. did you know that 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 ?

Told you it was useless. Aren’t i sad?

Today's Tweets

Tweet, Tweet, Here's a list of all my twitter postings in the last 24 hours.
  • 11:54 @ladlem I wish.
  • 11:55 Now Loud Twitter has shipped my tweets at a totally random time! What?
  • 12:11 Had a nice spike in website visitors yesterday after some promotion on the yahoo groups.
  • 12:42 On the Blog : Today's Tweets tinyurl.com/b849pb
  • 12:42 On the Blog : And Then the Shit the the Fan tinyurl.com/agca4g
  • 13:41 I know I say this a lot, but I really have had enough of today. I'll be glad when it's over
  • 13:55 Just added ping.fm to my account and testing it
  • 14:03 Cool! ping.fm works great. It changes my MySpace status with each tweet. Great huh?
  • 16:07 Just sent out my first "Credit Control" letter in MY name - so now i'll get the client asking after ME! Bugger.
  • 16:08 @emily83176 You can have cold. I don't want to think about the crap coming out of my nose right now.
  • 16:29 Had a really bad day today. might take up all my pent up frustration and channel it into some writing for the last half hour.
  • 16:40 why is it people can be shitty to me - but then moan when I'm shitty back?
  • 17:15 Must remember to get petrol on the way home.
  • 22:20 @Gazmaz You're right, that is a useless fact. Good one though.
  • 22:21 Retweeting @Gazmaz: Random / useless facts : 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
  • 22:22 WAtching "Life on Mars" S1 Ep2. Love this stuff.
  • 22:54 @Alessia_Brio Wine Good. Wine Very good. Me want some too.
  • 08:51 @Alessia_Brio I was up late working on a new stroy. Missed your reply thou' I was in bed. lol
  • 08:53 Morning world.
  • 09:14 According to the Stats, my webby has had over 100 page views in just 2 days. I know it's not mega amounts, but it's good for me.
  • 09:27 In meetings most fo the orning now.
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Wednesday 28 January 2009

And Then the Shit the the Fan

I’m am having a seriously bad day today. Traffic problems this morning meant I travelled about two and half miles, stop/start, in half an hour. Which really set me up for the day.

Next, LoudTwitter has failed to ship yesterday’s twitter tweets to my blogs, which isn’t the end of the world but is a bit annoying. Last time that happened it took about a month to get fixed.

Then there are work issues. Stress. Stress. Stress. And to make it worse I’m taking it out on my poor assistant who really doesn’t deserve it. I’m turning into the kind of boss I hate. Bugger.

People keep asking me to do stupid jobs which means I’m not ploughing my through the jobs I need to do.

And to top it all off, my Man-Flu is at the stage where my nose is blocked because what’s coming out of it when I blow it is thick, green and gloopy. I swear, you could probably feed a small African tribe with what’s coming out of my nose. It might not be very flavoursome though.

So, all in all, I’m a tad pissed off today. I’m glad it’s lunchtime.

Today's Tweets

Tweet, Tweet, Here's a list of all my twitter postings in the last 24 hours.
  • 7:59 Need my fog lights on this morning!
  • 8:52 @emily83176 @Cassixx - My kind of girls!
  • 8:43Damn it was foggy on the way in this morning! And yet still cars didn't have fog lights on - or in one case, any lights on at all. Dickheads
  • 8:43 Website is still not working! Bugger
  • 8:43 Time to find a new host.
  • 8:53 @Cassixx @emily83176 Oh my god now i have to spend a day at work thinking of what you two might get up to in July. I feel a story coming on
  • 8:54 And now my Website seems to be working. Am I going nuts?
  • 9:17 @Cassixx as if. I have a feeling I won't be able to walk around the office much today - if you know what i mean
  • 9:40 Do you ever find you've got SOOOOO much to do, you don't know where to start?
  • 9:50 I've got "write offs", invoices to pay, estate accounts to do, loads of filing, the plumbers in, a guy is putting a sign on the door
  • 10:52 Finally - thewater supply has been fixed.
  • 11:08 @Alessia_Brio Positive Mental Attitude - Good one. let's hope it works.
  • 12:07 Lunchtime!
  • 12:43 Stephen Fry on Twitter - is.gd/heGd - Good Vid, but you might not be able to see it from outside the UK
  • 12:55 Interesting opinion on The Premier League. - is.gd/ho0e
  • 13:06 @Alessia_Brio I find "Shrek, Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third" very useful on days like those.
  • 13:22 From my website - "My characters use industrial language and often engage in activities that you wouldn't want your mother to read about."
  • 13:24 From my Website - "If you are offended by body parts doing things to other body parts, I suggest you point your browser to another website"
  • 13:29 @MaXsiM I had to shorten it for Twitter. Read it in full on the site - is.gd/fF4P
  • 14:02 @Jaye_Valentine lol. i was going to say "swear like troopers" instead.
  • 14:03 @MaXsiM Glad you enjoyed it. If you like that one - try the "Ladz" series.
  • 14:29 Crazy idea - should I post one of my 300 word Flash stories via Twitter? Might take a few posts.
  • 16:25 @PortiaDaCosta Love Poirot
  • 16:26 Just writing a blog entry before the day endds
  • 16:33 just fixed a printer problem with the magic "oos" - on/off switch.
  • 16:43 On the Blog : More Website updates tinyurl.com/argmzr
  • 17:01 just had a meeting with the boss. Now I'm off home.
  • 17:11 MySpace blogs are pissing about and won't 'copy/paste' properly. Keeps putting random carriage returns in the text. Very annoying
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Tuesday 27 January 2009

More Website updates

If you’ve been following my Tweets you’ll have noticed that last night I had a lot of trouble uploading the updates to my website to my host’s server. And then when they were updated, the bloody server wouldn’t serve the pages and i couldn’t access my site.

to say I was livid is somewhat of an understatement.

Thankfully, the site seems to be working today – albeit slowly. That said, I’m checking the site as we speak and it isn’t loading at all. It worked this morning while I was looking at another host’s package (ohh err, Misses) so maybe they knew I was checking out the competition and started working as a result.

I’ve had a few people today tell me they’ve visited the site and a few who told me they enjoyed some of the free stories on there – so it must be working to some extent.

I swear – the host knows I’m talking about them. Checked the site again just now and it’s fine. Freaky or what?

So, what changes prompted all this activity? Not much actually. I added links to some other authors sites – primarily fellow Phaze authors. If anyone would like their link added, by all means let me know. I also added an extract from Charlotte’s Secret and Lost & Found. I will probably add another extract from each at some point as well as doing a page for Kissed by a Rose and adding extracts for that.

All this pissing about with websites though does mean I’m not writing. Well, apart from blogging and Tweeting. An old friend of my comment the other day that I blog ‘a lot’. I wouldn’t say it was a lot. Two or three posts a day would be a lot. Even one every day might be called a lot. But i only post every few days. Yeah, sometimes I have a splurge and post ever day for a week or whatever, but not normally. Unless you count the Tweet lists, which i don’t. They get shipped automatically.

Some would consider blogging to be a waste of time when I could be writing. But I don’t. After all, writers need to write. And writing anything at all, even blogs, is good practice. Hopefully, i get all my bad habits out of the way in a blog and then when I write actually real stories, they are better for it. Hopefully.

Anyways, I’m going to shoot off and do a couple of Tank reviews.

Monday 26 January 2009

Today's Tweets

Tweet, Tweet, Here's a list of all my twitter postings in the last 24 hours.
  • 23:42 On the Blog : Today's Tweets tinyurl.com/da6d77
  • 09:09 It's bright and Fresh this morning. (For Fresh read 'cold') The sun is out, and I have a spring in my heart. * i just went too far didn't i?
  • 09:45 Just ordered new payroll stationary as I'm running out. You didn't need to know that, but what the hey.
  • 15:04 I've done loads again today, but it doesn't feel like it.
  • 15:21 I uploaded a bunch of "silly" photos taken with my webcam to Myspace at the weekend. Go take a look. is.gd/eFwU
  • 15:22 do you ever get to that point where you have a big task to do, but find ways to not start it?
  • 16:24 I really wanted to write a blog entrytoday but haven't found the time. Maybe later tonight.
  • 16:25 Can someone explain why the DEC is complaining about the BBC not showing thier film? they've got more publicity out of it than if they HAD
  • 16:35 Was playing the chess game that comes with Vista at the weekend. Took me three goes to beat it on levl 1. Not good.
  • 21:08 Sitting down to upload my webby updates, do some promo, write a blog and then work on my WIP.
  • 21:08 Got media player on - currently listening to Slade - Cum on Feel the Noize
  • 21:12 @Cassixx I know. Slade rock. From my neck of the woods too. Love Noddy. Great hair.
  • 21:20 Free! - "All Right now!" Great song, but can't help think of a guy, a girl, a bus and chewing gum when I hear it.
  • 21:35 Can't get at my ftp upload site. Bugger
  • 21:46 Promos lovely promos
  • 21:52 Space - Female of the Species - very cool song.
  • 21:52 Media Player random play is serving up a treat tonight
  • 22:05 ABBA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • 22:10 Getting very annoyed now - can't connect via FTP to update my website.
  • 22:29 I've uploaded my website changes - and now can't open the damn website. Keeps timing out.
  • 23:06 bloody typical! I upload website updates, do some promo to get traiffic there - the host goes down so no-one can get at it.. Bugger!
  • 23:06 Now I am really pissed off
  • 23:08 even my logo on my blog/myspace isn't loading.
  • 23:14 now this is interesting. Connected to a remote desktop server and my website is loading fine. Must be my ISP causing the problem
  • 23:17 Right. I'm off to bed. My Website better bloody work properly tomorrow or I'm changing hosts! Do you hear me, host? Do you?
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Friday 23 January 2009

Today's Tweets

Tweet, Tweet, Here's a list of all my twitter postings in the last 24 hours.
  • 08:09 Cold, wet, & dark this morning. Not very nice.
  • 08:56 @victoriablisse I have a cold too. Well, Man-Flu. But I have to be at work or no-one will get paid and I'll get shot. bugger
  • 08:57 @sherrieholmes Sex with a robot? Surely that woudl depend on the robot...?
  • 08:58 @ybcmark I wish. Hawaii sounds like heaven.
  • 09:01 @ybcmark Right now, I think anywhere sounds better than dreay Northamptonshire.
  • 10:42 On the Blog : Back to The Tank? tinyurl.com/c5sq4d
  • 10:46 @JackBastide Hi! Although it probably doens't count as it's 10:45 on this side of the pond.
  • 10:47 I really need to crack on and do payroll.
  • 11:08 I DO NOT like the look of those thick black clouds gathering outside my window.
  • 11:20 We're trying to decided on a sign for the Reception door. And everyone has a different opinion. Bugger.
  • 12:12 Just done my first Fishtank review in almost a year. I'm a good little boy. is.gd/gWHO
  • 12:27 Man kills wife over Facebook 'status' - is.gd/gWnV
  • 13:28 the nice thing about reviwing flash - you can do a whole bunch of them in a short space of time and not get bored.
  • 13:46 had wanted to do some promo posting on the yahoo groups today, but doens't look like I'll get a chance now.
  • 14:32 What are you doing? eating a peppermint Areo.
  • 15:39 an hour and a half of the week left. Yipee!
  • 17:01 changed my profile Pic to a "Friday Afternoon" mugshot. Hot huh? lol
  • 17:02 Okay, I'm off home for the weekend. byes all.
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Back to The Tank?

Yesterday I was invited, no, invited isn’t the right word, I was ordered back to The Fishtank by the very scary Ms Mount. As it happens, I’d been thinking about dipping my toe back in for a while, especially since Cassie told me it had gone nuts in there following the call from Ruthie’s for Valentine’s Day flash stories. So being ordered back wasn’t that much of a burden. I mean, I’ve always enjoyed it in The Tank, haven’t I?

I’ve been lurking for a while, not so much reading the stories up for review, but keeping an eye on the forums. There was a particularly lively thread about Obama that caught my interest.

But last night, I figured I could read a couple of flashes, post a couple of comments and I’d be right back into it. How wrong I was. I think I’m going to have to look under the bed or something to re-discover my Tank-head. I suppose it’s my own fault. Since she’d bullied me back in there, I figured I’d start with Ms Mount. That was a mistake. I never knew that 300 words could scare quite so much shit out of someone.

I swear, I knew there was a reason I never wanted to upset Kenda – and that story she posted is why. lol

SO I gave up. well, it was late and I’ve been ill. I was tired and I wanted to work on one of my own stories. So I gave up. but I swear, I will get around to doing some reviews. I swear. I will. Honest.

Thursday 22 January 2009

Today's Tweets

Tweet, Tweet, Here's a list of all my twitter postings in the last 24 hours.
  • 00:43 On the Blog : Today's Tweets tinyurl.com/bb5wtw
  • 08:41 I didn't twitter at all yesterday, got caught up doing some actual work stuff. But it's okay, I won't let work get in the way today.
  • 08:49 Not feeling great today and yesterday. Just sipping a mug of lemsip and hoping it will help me. Brain operating at around 25% right now
  • 10:26 A portrait of actor Colin Firth as Mr Darcy fetches double its estimated price at auction. tinyurl.com/c39n8y who would have guessed
  • 10:43 Just having a cuppa and waiting for the chap to arrive to look at our window graphics]
  • 11:13 Just posting some promos to the various yahoo groups to invite people to my webssite. is.gd/fF4P
  • 11:43 That gods it's nearly lunchtime - I'm starved
  • 12:19 Just sittingd down to eat my sarnies.
  • 12:55 My nose is running, and even though I blow it, nothing is coming out! Gross, I know. Sorry.
  • 14:11 been reading some blogs at SOL. Seems not everyone on the site is at all friendly to everyone else.
  • 14:29 One of my Fee Earners has told me his e-mails are getting SPAM filtered because his last name is Love and they think he's selling porno. lol
  • 15:43 On the Blog : This Blog and blah, blah, blah. tinyurl.com/d2vem6
  • 15:50 Right, this sums up my day so far - It's 3:50pm and I'm having a Galaxy Caramel!!!
  • 16:13 @emily83176 I don't mean to intrude - but the words "Slumber party" caught my attention. ;-)
  • 16:28 It still seems odd to me to see people saying "Good Morning" when it's half four here and I'm going home soon.
  • 17:00 Clock says 5. It's time to go!
  • 21:44 I'm going to sit down and do some more writing tonight. I'm hoping to an hour or so before bedtime
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This Blog and blah, blah, blah.

Some time ago (we’re talking 6 to 8 months) I was posting the entries on this blog to several different sites. MySpace, Blogger, Soulcast, Zoo Weekly, and StoriesOnline. One by one they drifted away until only the Blogger and MySpace entries were kept up.

My initial reasoning was that I wanted to get as much exposure as possible. But it proved to be too much work, or I didn’t seem to be getting any readers, or, in one case, I was asked to stop. Well not asked to stop completely, just asked to stop certain posts.

But, I think it’s time I gave it another go. These days I’m using the MS Live Writer to write my posts, which actually makes things pretty easy. So, in theory, it should be fairly simple to post to multiple sites again. I don’t know if it will be, but I’m certainly willing to give it a go and see what happens.

Which is why, if you’re reading this on one of the sites that I haven’t posted for a while, the posts have suddenly started up again.

What’s prompted this? Well, to be honest, I’ve read a couple of blog entries today on StoriesOnline, from Bradley Stoke, Rache and Lubrican, which has prompted it. They were talking about reader reaction to blogs and stories and it peaked my interest.

In the case of Bradley, he was complaining (sic) about the lack of interesting blogs on SOL. He said that most were dull and self-promoting. “I’ve just posted chapter 6”, that kind of thing. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that – it’s just a way for SOL writers to announce what they are doing to people who might be following them. But Bradley’s right, it’s not exactly fascinating stuff.

At the same time, Rache has been taken to task by a correspondent because she doesn’t use her blog to do just that. She actually posts interesting articles about a range of interesting topics.

This blog, of course, falls somewhere between the two. It is, primarily, a marketing tool. I want people who read my blog to buy my books. And to that end, I keep them informed about what I’m working on, new releases and the occasional excerpt. But, I’m also a writer. And I write. About all sorts of stuff. If a topic moves me, I’ll write about it. I’ve been told it’s these ‘off topic’ posts that keep my blog interesting. And you need and interesting blog to generate readers – and hopefully those readers will like the way in which I write and so give my books a go.

I the end it’s all marketing.

But this is MY blog. And I write on it what I want to write on it. Otherwise, what would be the point?

Tuesday 20 January 2009

Today's Tweets

Tweet, Tweet, Here's a list of all my twitter postings in the last 24 hours.
  • 10:22 Having a shitty morning so far today. Not a happy bunny. I'm being moaned at again!
  • 11:54 I tell you. I'm having a hell of a morning. AGAIN. Plus, I left my lunch at home today. Guess I'll have to go to McD's then. Oh well.
  • 11:55 @Alessia_Brio I voted. Can you make my cookie White Choc Chip and Raspberry please?
  • 13:07 @Alessia_Brio White Chocolate is yummy - 'specially in cookies with raspberry pieces. Ask Mille - she makes lovely cookies.
  • 13:08 I really should do some work. Ive got a very complex estate open on my desk and I'm dutifully trying to ignore it.
  • 14:07 it's only 2pm. It feels a lot later. i want to go home.
  • 14:08 I suspect that in a couple of hours, Twitter is going to go mental.
  • 14:09 The second unmarked police car of the day has just gone screaming past my window. I wonder what's up.
  • 14:14 @ArticlesBase The wailing siren and flashing blue light gave it away. You know, like they had on 70's cop shows.
  • 14:17 @shultquist Love that thought for the day.
  • 14:31 Is something important going on in the US today? Everyone seems very excited.
  • 14:33 @ArticlesBase It would be cool, wouldn't. But no, it just whizzed past at high speed.
  • 14:34 Inauguration: Lego Obama Presidential Inauguration Brings Hope to Bricks Too tinyurl.com/9fx5k7 via @ShareThis
  • 14:43 @ArticlesBase lol
  • 14:45 Now a bloody car alarm has gone off right outside my window. How annoying is that?
  • 14:50 @JillShalvis Will do pretty much anything for cookies. Well, almost anything.
  • 15:58 BBC NEWS | Business | Bank woes push pound below $1.40 tinyurl.com/8q4dgl via @ShareThis - Shit!
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Monday 19 January 2009

Today's Tweets

Tweet, Tweet, Here's a list of all my twitter postings in the last 24 hours.
  • 23:42 On the Blog : Today's Tweets tinyurl.com/8l3f2n
  • 09:21 Good morning Tweets Welcome to the week. Let me start by pointing you towards my Webby - where you can get a FREE novella is.gd/fF4P
  • 10:21 It's been a busy morning so far. Phone hasn't stopped ringing
  • 10:37 @Cassixx Thanks. Glad yo liked it - it took a lot of effort. lol
  • 10:40 I have four "Estate Accounts" to go through, when what I want to do is write. should I put them off and get moaned at? or do them now
  • 11:31 This morning my wife got out the shower and I kopped a feel. Only to find my son in the bedroom doorway telling me "No touch the tot-tot."
  • 11:31 I can't help it, Boobs are great, aren't they?
  • 11:32 Won't don't men have boobs? Because they'd sepnd all day playing with them and never get anything done.
  • 13:03 @Cassixx Sometimes, I think I get paid to be the person everybody moans at. And I'm soooo good at it.
  • 13:04 Have I told you all about the free novella I'm giving away for free on my website. Did I mention it was free ? is.gd/fF4P
  • 13:29 I knew it! Scientists have found that the pleasure women get from making love is.. tinyurl.com/8wyv3t
  • 13:33 @Alessia_Brio Six covers? Good luck.
  • 15:00 DOn't you hate it when you can't get something to add up to what you know it should be.?
  • 16:00 An hour of the day left. Lot's done. settling down to do some sneaky reading and maybe a bit of writing
  • 16:14 @GlennaMageau i found the problem. One of my Fee Earners can't add up. Damn lawyers.
  • 16:14 Is it worng to be eating chocolate biscuits 45 mins before hometime?
  • 16:25 Do you ever read an e-mail and think "What's he on about?" then read an earlier one and have everything make sense? Ever do it hours apart?
  • 16:25 @AddisonAlbright Oh good. They were very nice biccies BTW
  • 16:27 great line - Phillip would never forget seeing her tanned body, with her two white buttocks lifting and falling, as she walked away from him
  • 16:42 On the Blog : Free! It's Free I tell you. tinyurl.com/7hx3gt
  • 16:48 Just finished off a 'sex' part of a sex scene and now having toruble with the "afterglow" to lead where I want it to go. I hate being stuck
  • 17:02 Okay. Off home now. Might check in later if I get the chance.
  • 21:11 Son's asleep, tomorrow's sandwiches are made, and I'm sitting down to do some reading before bed.
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Free! It’s Free I tell you.

Do you remember in my last post (my last proper post, not the automatically shipped ‘twitter’ listings) I mentioned that I would be very soon posting Reunion for free on my website?

Well, it’s there now. That’s right, completely free of charge, my gift to you, for free, a free novella.

It’s free by the way.

Actually, it’s not as big a deal as it sounds. Reunion has been available for free on the StoriesOnline website since 2004, when it was first written, work-shopped at The Fishtank, and posted. Still, I’ve cleaned it up slightly, given it a better spell checking that it originally received and formatted it as an Acrobat document.

So why not head on over there and download it?

Of course, the reasoning behind this generosity is that you’ll read this book, love it, then rush out and buy Charlotte’s Secret and Lost&Found and wait eagerly for Kissed by a Rose in June.

Did I mention it was free?

Sunday 18 January 2009

Today's Tweets

Tweet, Tweet, Here's a list of all my twitter postings in the last 24 hours.
  • 21:40 It's sunday night, there's bugger all on the TV, so I'm going to sit and do some writing, and blab on twitter
  • 21:58 Well, been productive so far. Written exactly zero words. But I have added a comma to a previously written sentance.
  • 21:58 Perhaps I should do some reading instead
  • 22:06 How's this for a line from a virgin? - "Really? Damn, I feel full. I can't describe it any other way. It's like... I just know I like it."
  • 22:22 Why doesn't Vista come with any skins for Media Player?
  • 22:42 Okay, I couldn't get any audio to play through the headphones' on my laptop, even when they were plugged in.
  • 22:42 But, good news, I've fixed it now.
  • 22:52 Okay, I've not been around long, but I'm off to bed. I have to be up early in the morning.
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Friday 16 January 2009

Today's Tweets

Tweet, Tweet, Here's a list of all my twitter postings in the last 24 hours.
  • 23:42 On the Blog : Today's Tweets tinyurl.com/7j9d3l
  • 09:11 Not a very good start to the day. Had to drop the boy off at nursery so knew I would be late, then realised I'd left wallet in house.
  • 09:12 So late start today. Haveb't even had a caffine injection yet.
  • 09:12 Just off to the kettle to make a cuppa.
  • 09:32 If we are in a downturn, why do I always seem to have a mountian of work?
  • 09:32 And why does it not seem to get any smaller?
  • 09:48 I'm the only one about today - or so it seems. Getting loads done as a result.
  • 11:48 It's just about lunchtime. I reckon I deserve some chippies today - I've bloody hard all week, it's friday i want some fatty food.
  • 13:16 Free novella length story now available on my website -is.gd/g6Bw
  • 13:17 Back from lunch - had chips, steak&kidney pie and some mussy peas. Now I feel full and fat. AndI'm ready for a kip. Shame I have to work.
  • 14:46 @chrisredding And I tell you, I feel so much better for it. Fatter, but better.
  • 15:17 Damn, i 'm getting a lot donw this afternoon again. I should worn a room alone more often.
  • 16:03 day's nearly donw. Week's nearly done. It's Weekend eve!!!
  • 16:16 perhaps the reason I've got so much done today is that i've been ignoring my e-mails. Maybe I should ignore them more often.
  • 17:01 @emily83176 What's 15F in real temps? I'm guessing it's quite a way below 0c as that's 32F. Mind you 100F is only 30c so maybe it's not.
  • 17:01 Right - Week's over. I'm off home. Bye folks and folkettes
  • 20:53 @chrisredding See , now I want some grilled cheese. too. Just had fish finger sanies thou, and they don't go with cheese
  • 20:54 @emily83176 Damn! That is cold. And to think I complain when it hits -1C
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Thursday 15 January 2009

Today's Tweets

Tweet, Tweet, Here's a list of all my twitter postings in the last 24 hours.
  • 23:42 On the Blog : Today's Tweets tinyurl.com/9veo8z
  • 08:50 IT's was a hard day yesterday. No Tweets - spent most of the day setting up new credit control procedures, Need to chase those unpaid Bills
  • 08:50 I'm hoping for an easier day today.
  • 11:13 Just finished preparing "Reuinon" as a .pdf ready to give away for free on my website. I'll upload it later tonight
  • 11:13 Now I've got some bills to pay.
  • 13:39 I really must get on with some work now. Spent lunchtime reading news and blogs and got a little carried away.
  • 13:41 just popping off to do some photocopying.
  • 13:42 On the Blog : A Few Changes tinyurl.com/9vormn
  • 15:13 You know, I seem to have los tthe twitter habit to some extent since going on holiday. Why does it seem so hard to get back into it?
  • 15:15 Just googled myself. It's amazing some of the places I'm turning up. Who knew?
  • 16:52 @jeannestjames i thought everyone googled themselves. Or is it just me?
  • 16:52 Don't you hate when you called away from your desk for a few hours for no good reason?
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A Few Changes

This week has seen a few changes for me. Yesterday at work, I spent the whole day setting up new Credit Control procedures. After all we need to chase up those unpaid invoices. So there’s a big change for a start.

But actually, I’m talking about my website. Having to buy a new laptop after my old one died has finally prompted me to get hold of some half decent web design software and I’ve given my website a touch up as a result.

You’ll see from the header of this page that the “marcnobbs.com” logo has gone all 3d-ish and shiny.  And it’s the same across the rest of my website. All the graphics have been touched up. No, not like that, you dirty-minded whatsit. I mean they’ve been given a shiny make over. Look :

I’ve also re-ordered my home page, which now features my YouTube teaser-trailer for Kissed by a Rose, and RSS feeds of my Twitter stream and blog.

The “History” page has been updated with latest developments, as has the “Works in Progress” page. I’ve also given the “Free Stories” page a re-ordering, grouping the stories in to categories – Longer Romantic Shorts, The “Ladz” series, Written for Ruthie’s, Erotic Shorts and Flash Fiction.

Feel free to take a look and let me know what you think.

I’ve also started to add more to the “Links” page – but that will be an ongoing process.

The other big change is that I’m making Reunion available as a .pdf free to download. It will be the ‘original’ version, as published at StoriesOnline, but with the formatting and spelling tidied up.

Why? Well, I had planned to do a re-write of Reunion, but as I’ve started to do it, I’ve changed the names of the characters, and found that they are different people. The ‘new’ version I’m working on is already significantly different in terms of plot than the original. In other words, it’s a whole new story. And by treating it as such I’m not going to find myself bound by the plot of the original. Actually, I’m quite looking forward to where these new people, William and Amy, will take me.

Next, I’d like to add some story extracts from Charlotte’s Secret and Lost&Found, which I shall try to do over the weekend. I’ll keep you posted.

Tuesday 13 January 2009

Today's Tweets

Tweet, Tweet, Here's a list of all my twitter postings in the last 24 hours.
  • 23:42 On the Blog : Today's Tweets tinyurl.com/8wm2rd
  • 08:40 Early morning and ready for a hard-day-work. Or ready to get moaned at all day, one or the other.
  • 08:40 Do you ever get the impression I'm not enjoying my job just at the moment?
  • 09:20 My website has been given a shiny makeover is.gd/fF4P
  • 15:11 I've had another busy, busy day today. Still got loads to do and only a couple of hours before knock off time
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Monday 12 January 2009

Today's Tweets

Tweet, Tweet, Here's a list of all my twitter postings in the last 24 hours.
  • 23:41 On the Blog : Today's Tweets tinyurl.com/9qzyoq
  • 08:02 My god, it's dark this morning.
  • 08:44 @Ayla_F i remember 9am lectures. I hated them. Think I missed more than I went to. Don't have the option these days. Have to work. No Choice
  • 08:45 Retweeting @commonsense4: RT @MikeGeffner: Please spread the good karma by re-tweeting: Writers Helping Writers tinyurl.com/4jkw5y
  • 08:46 Talk about streotype - saw a chap this morning in a flat cap, wax coat, smoking a pipe and driving a Land Rover Defender. A Farmer me thinks
  • 08:47 Good morning btw. It's a bit brighter now than half an hour ago. Still quite dark though.
  • 08:47 @Jimconnolly Good Morningback at ya.
  • 08:57 Just looked at my 'dashboard' and I've got tons of blog posts to catch up on.
  • 09:56 I can already tell - It's going to be one of those days.
  • 10:34 I was right - it IS one of those days.
  • 10:59 I'm getting cold now. Finding it hard to type. Best put the heater back on.
  • 12:42 On the Blog : Why 'Anonymous' feedback is the worst possible kind tinyurl.com/7qlj5q
  • 13:08 Just made an enquiry about a new house. It's a part-ex oppurtunity, so finers crossed.
  • 14:15 I'm being moaned at again - and not in a good "oh yes more" kind of way. I think I just get paid to be moaned at.
  • 16:58 what a damn afternoon that was. bloody people. Grrr.
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Why ‘Anonymous’ feedback is the worst possible kind

Even though I’ve been publishing for cold hard cash for just over three years now, I still have a bunch of stories available to read for free over at StoriesOnline. They are mostly older, short pieces and the Ruthie’s Club stories that have gone past their six month exclusivity period.

And I still get feedback from the site on some of the stories. In fact, I’ve gotten quite a bit of feedback in recent months – more than I’ve had for a long while. One story in particular generates more feedback than others and that is Reunion. Matt and Kelly’s story still tugs and people heartstrings, raises their pulse-rate and prompts them to write to me and tell me why they loved/hated the piece.

And being a good little author, I do like to reply to any messages I get. And not just a ‘thanks, glad you liked it’ kind of response either. Where ever I can I like to do a considered reply, answering any questions and perhaps pointing the reader in the direction of some of my other stories.

But… SOL allows users to submit feedback anonymously. And it’s really, really frustrating to get a message and find that you can’t reply to it. I can, perhaps, understand why you might want to remain anonymous if you are going to slag off the author, although it’s not something I’d ever do. I have always believed that if you want to state your opinion you should at least admit to who you are when you do it. But to remain anonymous when you are praising a story just seems a bit silly. Take this message I got yesterday.

Very well written.    Just a few typo's that can
easily be cleaned up.
Congrats !!!!

Why does that need to be anonymous. The reader clearly liked the story, so did they think I would be offended by the “typos” comment? I know that unfortunately some authors would have been. Me? I know that the version of Reunion on SOL isn’t as clean as it could be, and I’d have offered to send this reader a ‘clean’ .pdf copy I have on my heard drive. I know I should clean up the SOL copy, but whenever I’ve tried to update stories on the site before, it hasn’t worked so I stopped bothering and publish up-to-date copies on my website instead.

It is a shame that some authors can’t take criticism and this leads to some readers feeling the only option they have is to comment without revealing who they are. Writing is a tough business – you have to have a thick skin. You’ll get criticism and you’ll get knock backs. But some people can’t take that. They write ‘for fun’ and ‘for themselves’. They only want their ego stroked. It’s a good job these people aren’t publishing for money.

Saturday 10 January 2009

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Tough Week

Well, it’s been quite a week for little ole me. The first week back at work after the Christmas break is always hard as there is so much catching up to do, but this past week has seemed to me to be particularly difficult. At one point this week, I sat down to reconcile the firm’s bank account at 9am. I printed the statement from the Internet banking facility for the two accounts we use, opened the reconciliation program in my accounting software, and then the phone rang and I was called away to solve someone else’s problem. And it was the same every single time I tried to do the rec. Either the phone would ring, or someone would come in to my office and me to go off and do something else. It was, as you can imagine, rather annoying.

Still, the next day was better, I didn’t get interrupted as much and I was able to finish everything I needed to have finished by quitting time on Friday.

Of course, all that means I wasn’t able to do any writing. At work I was busy, and at home I’ve been copying all my shit over from my old laptop (I ripped out the HD and put it in an external enclosure) to my new laptop. Now that job’s out of the way, I might be able to settle down tonight and do some much needed writing.

One thing I did manage to do this week, during my lunch hours no less, was produce a “Filmography” for Chloe from my next novel, Kissed by a Rose.  Here is it.

Film Title Year Age at time of Release
Neighbourhood (TV Soap) 1995-1999 6-10
Spy Squad (TV Series) 1998-2001 9-12
Centenary Close (TV Soap) 2001-2004 12-15
Until Midnight 2004 15
Don’t Say Goodbye 2004 15
To Eternity & Back 2005 16
High School Hell 2006 17
Charlotte’s Secret 2007 18
Reunion 2008 19
Sophie & Jack 2009 20

 

These are the films mentioned in the book, but I’d like to add a few more. I mean, she’s meant to be a huge star, right? So that calls for at least two films a year, maybe even three. Guess I need to think of a few more cool titles. Or, if anyone has any suggestions, then I’m listening.

Finally, I’ve upped a few photos to my Flickr account that I took over the holiday. Why not take a closer look.

Bethune Belfrey and ChurchA Street in BethuneTop of the Bethune BelfreyBethune Belfrey and Town HallA Street in BethuneA Street in Bethune

Thursday 8 January 2009

Today's Tweets

Tweet, Tweet, Here's a list of all my twitter postings in the last 24 hours.
  • 08:55 Not as cold today as yesterday. Which is good. Still bloody cold though.
  • 09:59 An hour of the day gone and I feel as if I've done nothing. Keep getting asked to do odd jobs around the office. Very annoying.
  • 14:23 Do you ever have one of those days when everytime you sit down to do something, the phone rings and you have to go and do something else?
  • 14:30 @LynnDaniels Unfortunaly, I AM having one of those days. Like you couldn't guess. I'm tempted to rip the phone from the wall.
  • 14:33 @alisonkent I say that every day, and get "not" very much writing done. Still, it's the thought that counts.
  • 15:04 @LynnDaniels Virtual Hugs always help - but real hugs are better. I'll just have to wait till I get home for one of those.
  • 15:04 @TessHarrison E-mails are normally as bad - but today it's all about the phone
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Tuesday 6 January 2009

Today's Tweets

Tweet, Tweet, Here's a list of all my twitter postings in the last 24 hours.
  • 08:50 Damn it's cold this morning. It was -5C when I got in the car at 8am. Damn, It's not been that cold in Blighty since before I was a lad.
  • 09:05 If you ask a client for £250 and they send you £300, why is it so hard to understand that you'll have £50 left over that you don't need?
  • 09:18 Just realised that my MySpace profile pic still has me in a Santa hat on it. is.gd/eFwU
  • 09:19 @queenoftheclick I'm already up. and at work. But that's time differences for you.
  • 09:42 On the Blog : Yesterday's Tweets tinyurl.com/8nrzzz
  • 10:31 @jacquierogers Ah, but we're not used to temps that low - the gulf stream usually keeps us warm.
  • 10:41 On the Blog : Yesterday's Tweets tinyurl.com/9ahkrt
  • 11:00 @PortiaDaCosta Eat Now.
  • 11:42 On the Blog : New Year, Same Old Shit tinyurl.com/9dclst
  • 13:47 Okay, so I try e-mailing my best bud and the e-mail bounces back. She's on Yahoo, so I send an e-mail to my yahoo addy -bounces back.
  • 13:48 I think Yahoo might be broken. Is this like when people trash a house before it's repo'ed? Are they trashing Yahoo before selling to MS?
  • 14:25 And as usual, the volume of tweets goes through the roof mid-afternoon. Me thinks that the working in on the East Coast has just started.
  • 16:18 45 mins till quitting time. Still have a ton of shit to do - so much i don't know where to start. Maybe i'll just leave it until tomorrow?
  • 16:42 My 19yo assistant has never heard of Twitter - and neither have any of her "cool" friends. So does that mean twitter isn't cool?
  • 16:43 Or does it mean that her "cool" friends aren't quite as "cool" as they think they are?
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New Year, Same Old Shit

Well, hallo everyone, and welcome to the new year. 2009. It's gonna be a good one - isn't that what they always say. The new year is a chance to start afresh, wipe away the mistakes of the last year and get set for a wonderful 12 months. Well, tell that to the thousands of Woolworths employees,, sorry, former employees, who lost their jobs just before Christmas and now face a bleak time looking for work in a shrinking retail sector and worrying about how they pay the mortgage and put food on the table.

Let's face it, 2008 was a pretty dismal year al things considered. Yeah, for Marc Nobbs it was all that bad. Stories published at Ruthie's Club , two novellas published by Phaze and a full length novel accepted for publication next June. But for the real person behind the pen name, it's been tough. My first year as head of the Accounts department has seen falling revenues, a tougher credit climate and a general all round gloomy feeling in the office. Then there was my home life, putting our house on the market at exactly the wrong time, my son going through the terrible twos, taking the house off the market again when it was clear it wouldn't sell.

And I'd guess it's been similar for a lot of people the world over, so maybe we should be hoping for a better year in  2009. But who are we kidding, huh? Every major world leader has warned that 2009 will be bleak for the global economy. So there's a cheery thought.

But what is it about the change of year anyway? Why did countries around the world 'celebrate' the change of year by burning vast sums of money we don't have in fireworks displays? Perhaps they are just happy that the planet made it around the Sun without being smashed into by a comet or other celestial body, or that our civilisation hasn't ended due to sudden planetary climate change or even the collapse of the global banking system. No, wait, the global banking system nearly did collapse. Close one.

But what I mean is, the change of date from 2008 to 2009 is pretty meaningless really. Isn't it? Was anything really different on Jan 1st than on Dec 31st? Israel were still bombing Gaza, the banks still weren't lending to each other, the housing market was still on the slide and Wolves were still top of the Championship.

And where do we get 2009 from? Who decided? We are, of course, supposed to believe that it's the 2009th year since a man named Jesus was born in a town called Bethlehem in a part of the world that has been in dispute ever since. Which is odd given that, from what I understand, most historians believe the evidence points towards this person being born not in 1AD but maybe as early as 7BC. They also think he was born sometime around April. so why then do we celebrate his birthday on December 25th. That's easy. Christmas is simply the Christianisation of an old pagan festival to mark the winter solstice. But that's a whole other issue.

Okay, I'll stop moaning now shall I?

As for 2009, all I can promise is that as I'm a year older, I'll probably be a year grumpier, which should keep readers of this blog happy. Cause we all know when Knobbie is grumpy, his blog entries are just that bit more entertaining. I can also promise that between now and June, you'll be hearing a lot more from me about Kissed by a Rose. I just hope I don't bore you with it.

Yesterday's Tweets

Tweet, Tweet, Here's a list of all my twitter postings in the last 24 hours.
  • 10:48 Right, that's 3 of the day's jobs done. On to number 4. But it has to be time for a cuppa first, doesn't it?
  • 10:59 God, I'm starving! I tell you, coming back to work after a break when you stuff yorself silly isn't easy. Me need more Chocolate.
  • 11:57 nearly lunchtime. God I'm starved.
  • 12:05 BBC acts over light-skinned doll tinyurl.com/9vtgn4 via @ShareThis - what a thing to complain about, huh? Crazy. Just crazy.
  • 14:26 Today is not going the way I planned.
  • 16:20 Okay, I've been on the go all day. I'm going to sneak a half hour's writing time now.
  • 23:08 Worst thing about a shiny new laptop? Coping all you shit over from the old one and installing all you fave apps.
  • 23:31 I've had to get an external enclosure for my old laptop's drive. And I've got 100Gigs of shit to copy over.
  • 08:50 Damn it's cold this morning. It was -5C when I got in the car at 8am. Damn, It's not been that cold in Blighty since before I was a lad.
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