Back issues
Unused Carousel
The once (and future?) Creative's Chronicle
No
Scribere quid cogitas
A CREATOR'S
CHRONICLE
CHRONICLE
Updated: 23rd October 2022 - 1st Edition
________________________________________
The first heading for the Chronicle and, yes, ego got in the way!
Well, it was supposed to be my "whinge sheet" after all.
________________________________________
AMAZON STRIKES AGAIN!
Owen takes a break.
Mask-free fishing.
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 the 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.
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!
NEXT »
Page 1
A Creator's Chronicle
Oct 2022
AMAZON STRIKES AGAIN! (Continued)
The COMMONWEALTH series
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.
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.
Life
or Lifestyle?
or Lifestyle?
Doodles, Sketches & Scribbles
RESURRECTION, the first book in the series, will now be released on September 13th.
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.
(continued...)
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.
(continued...)
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 that 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...
(continued...)
Why is it that 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...
(continued...)
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.
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.
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.
« PREV
Oct 2022
A Creator's Chronicle
Page 2
Life or
Lifestyle? (continued)
Lifestyle? (continued)
My sales pitch... (continued)
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 ohhhh, 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.
My sales pitch... (continued)
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.
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.
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.
When moving from broadsheet to tabloid, you sometimes find some leftover space - oops!
NEXT »
Page 3
A Creator's Chronicle
Oct 2022
Doodles, Sketches & Scribbles (continued)
A Workshop
Revisited
Revisited
...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.
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.
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.
What the Logo...?
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 of this 'newspaper' 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 he is likely to repeat as he often tinkers with graphics programs as he teaches myself how to make better use of the tools that are available to him.
« PREV
Oct 2022
A Creator's Chronicle
Page 4
What the Logo? (continued)
For this little gem, He used Paint.NET, which is free graphics software and, as he is 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?
This was the second edition of the "whinge
sheet" that was to become the "Writer's
Chronicle".
More to come!
More to come!
NEXT »
Page 5
A Creator's Chronicle
Oct 2022
« PREV
...
Select a Carousel
-
Back issues
Unused Carousel -
Back issues
Nov 11th - Jan 16th -
Back issues
Sep 3rd - Oct 31st
In September 2020 two members of the Twitter
writing community had a discussion about
possible prompt words with a murder theme. With
(October) the Halloween month approaching, a group
of writers decided to convert the idea of writing
prompts based on murder words into a month-long
event for the community.
Not too surprisingly, the writing community
embraced the concept of #vssmurder. However,
submissions in October 2020 exceeded expectations
in terms of their volume and quality.
SFWA Calls For Submissions
"What The Book" is a series of interviews with indie
authors about all things related to indie authors.
I work at the Joseph Kavanagh Company.
The Shop, as we call it, began on April 9th, 1866
when my great-grandfather's Uncle Joe (pictured to
the left), who I am named after, opened a
coppersmith's shop in Baltimore.
Like what you've seen here?