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Author Owen G. Richards was severely
disappointed when his "author copies" were
finally delivered. They were all of different
heights and one of the covers had been
damaged in transit. The collection of seven
books from the COMMONWEALTH series had all been
stuffed inside a flimsy cardboard envelope
which proved inadequate when it came to the
protection of its contents.
This second attempt at delivering the goods as
they were ordered, was due to the fact that
Amazon somehow managed to misplace the original
order. This resulted in a fourteen day delay in
the delivery of the books that had been ordered
to enable Owen to prepare for the release date
of the first book in the series.
Ironically it was this first book that was most
severely damaged when the second delivery was
received.
Having thoroughly discussed the issues with
Amazon.es, Owen was passed to Amazon logistics.
Apparently, this is a separate company, as is
the printer, Amazon Fulfillment, a company
based in Poland. The efforts of the "support"
staff to resolve the problems was underwhelming.
It would appear that they are all "jobsworths"
and it couldn't possibly be their fault as
there was another company involved. The irony
of the company names all being Amazon, totally
having escaped their limited grasp.
Owen has stated that a third order has been
placed with the recalcitrant Amazon.es with
every intention of returning the books if the
same problems occur.
He assures the Chronicle that he will repeat
the order and return process as many times as
proves necessary for the company to realise
exactly what it is costing them both in fiscal
terms and in terms of their failing reputation
with their clients.
If they got it right first time, every time,
the costs incurred by all parties would be
significantly reduced and their fragile
reputation would be dramatically improved.
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Life or Lifestyle?
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Doodles, Sketches and Scribbles
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As so often happens nowadays, I recently faced a crisis of choice.
I had to choose between "lifestyle" and "life" - lifestyle being the
part that we all view as being the joy of choosing what to eat, whether
or not to exercise and how we manage the high levels of stress that
everyday life imposes on us, plus, of course, the wonderous constraints
of the pandemic.
It's at this point I hear you cry (in King Julian's voice) "What
happened?"
I had developed a rather serious deep-vein thrombosis, and had allowed
my blood-sugar levels to increase to the point where I was borderline
diabetic.
Too much sitting around, which included working from home and writing as
well as the resting we all need to do when we get tired, and then there
was my predilection for sweet foods and sweets.
The lifestyle was killing me.
So, I immediately made the choice not to take sugar in my tea, or coffee,
and I avoid eating sweets, chocolates, etc. At first it was difficult
but all I had to do was monitor my blood-sugar level to remind myself it
was an oh so necessary evil.
Then there was the treatment for the thrombosis. Holy shit! I had to
inject anticoagulant into my stomach on a daily basis to quickly reduce
the risk of further clotting and a worsening condition. I will tell you
now, I NEVER want to have to do that again.
That treatment was replaced by a medication called Sintrom. This
continued the process the injections had started, and believe me it is
a far better way to put anti-coagulant into your body.
I also had to take the decision to get off my butt and walk, simply to
exercise the leg that was most at risk. For the first few weeks it was
as painful as it was frustrating to have to force myself into a simple
habit of exercising. After less than one hundred steps, my leg felt like
every muscle was cramping.
I'd had, what I thought was, a cool lifestlye, an easy lifestyle, maybe
even a comfortable lifestyle, but it was killing me.
Despite the ease with which I have discussed it here, making the choice
for life, not lifestyle hasn't been easy. It requires patience by the
ton and perseverence by the truckload. It also helps if you have a
supportive partner, and mine has been a godsend.
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You know exactly what I mean. Those pieces of art we produce when we
allow our minds to wander and the pen, or pencil, takes on a life of
its own and produces images, sketches, scribbles and doodles.
Why is it we have the habit of discarding these things, when some of
them can truly be regarded as art?
It's probably because we've been educated to believe that art is a very
special talent only for those who study the techniques and materials of
drawing, painting, modelling, fabrics and many other miscellaneous items
that are used to produce what is called art.
We may not all be artists, but we do possess an artistic talent which
may not be readily perceivable.
Clothes designers are artists. Chefs are artists. Construction workers
and architects are artists and the list can go on and on. We all have a
talent for something.
My favourite artists - though this is not an exclusive thing - are the
cartoonists who create characters and deliver both humorous and serious
messages to their readers, in some cases simply by observing the way
people behave.
At one time a reviewer of some of my writing accused me of... **big word
alert** ...anthropomorphising my characters. No big deal, you might say
but I got the impression that it wasn't meant as praise. But to hell
with that, I took it as such.
People and animals share many behavioural idiosyncracies, which makes
each group reflect the other at times. People can be as stubborn as
mules, as proud as peacocks, as cheeky as monkeys... and animals can be
far more empathic than many humans.
Just ask my little buddy - Mr Fuzzy.
Well, you could if you were able to get him to take his nose out of the
newspaper. Not very loyal is he? That's not even the Chronicle he's
reading!
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The COMMONWEALTH Series.
The original release date of September 1st was
too close when the books were finally delivered.
Had they arrived in good condition as a result
of the first order, it might have been met.
RESURRECTION, the first book in the series,
will now be released on September 13th.
After a long, and uninspiring drought in terms
of sales, Owen has recently discovered there
has been a resurgence in the sale of his
previous publications.
Neither Here, Nor There, published at least
two years ago, has been purchased twice in
recent weeks.
Neither Here, Nor There.
A review, which has barely passed the Amazon
scrutiny process reads as follows :-
"I love that it's written in the first person,
it feels like you are really in there with
Billy and Digger.
Great book, easy to read, and leaves you
with a warm, fuzzy feeling.
"Can't wait to read more from this author."
The rating?
The other of his previous publications, A
Fool's Errand has also been purchased.
A Fool's Errand.
He has yet to discover if this has as well
received as Neither Here, Nor There.
His enthusiasm is tempered with a degree of
quiet concern - Ok... maybe not so quiet. He's
worried. As all authors are when waiting for a
review.
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Stress.
It doesn't sneak up on you.
It grows.
Sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly but almost
always imperceptibly.
Then your safetly valve blows and you pack away
whatever it is that's driving you nuts and do
something totally different.
Which is exactly what Owen did.
He went fishing on a private charter and spent
from 07:30 to 09:00 on a boat, without a mask,
and he caught his dinner.
Three small, but still good-sized, Bonito were
brought home, and two others, which were
undersized, were returned to the sea.
And by all accounts, dinner was excellent!
As a side project, Owen has developed this
'local rag' as a means of boring the pants
off people. He wanted to disseminate whatever
news he had but didn't want it to be too
plain and uninteresting.
The logo at the top of this page has been
slung together to emulate the wonderful crests
that so many newspapers bear.
It was a fun little project to undertake and
one that I am likely to repeat as I often
tinker with graphics programs as I teach
myself how to make better use of the tools
that are available to me.
For this little gem, I used
Paint.NET,
which
is free graphics software and, as I am
discovering, is very versatile.
And as for the motto of the crest...
"Scribere quid cogitas" - I think it works.
Maybe you will too, when you know what it
means. Who can say?
Despite all the unsettling feelings that I
anticipate when returning to places where I
spent a lot of time, I found this return to
be a pleasant surprise.
The
Online Writing Workshop (OWW)
for SciFi,
Fantasy and Horror writers is a place where I
benefitted from the generosity, patience and
kindness of the majority of those who reviewed
my work for me.
Not only was their advice useful, it was
always delivered in a way that was impartial,
and so, it never left me feeling that they had
mauled, or savaged my work - which was an
impressive feat as my writing in the early
days was - let's just say - not good.
But my learning was not limited to the content
of the reviews I received. I also learned by
reading and reviewing the works of writers that
I considered to be far more accomplished than
I would ever be.
Reviewing the work of your peers allows you to
know what is good and what is bad about your
work, and balances this against what you see
as being good or bad in the work of others.
My latest visit has confirmed that the same
high standards apply today as they did when I
was a regular contributor to that workshop.
HAIKU CORNER
What the young ones know
is nothing of consequence
to those who have lived.
What the old ones know
is nothing of consequence
to those who have not.
MORE NEWS LATER
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