author, Social Media, Uncategorized

7 Reasons for Self-Published Authors to Give Thanks This Year

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate it. I don’t, but I saw this rather apt post by Outskirts Press and couldn’t not share it. Yep, it’s true! The internet, despite all its problems, is a gift to us indie authors….

Self-Publishing News for Self Publishing Authors

As Thanksgiving draws near, it’s time to take stock of everything there is to be grateful for. Family, friends, love, laughter … and the rich life of a self-published author! There’s never been a better time to be an independent author. Here are just a few reasons we’re thankful to be self-publishing in these exciting times:

  1. eBooks. Just having the ability to offer books in an easy-to-order format has opened up a massive sales channel for independent authors. As readers move from hardcopy to electronic books, the ability for anyone to get their book in front of these customers is priceless exposure — and offering an ebook is easy.
  2. Social media. When knocking on doors, making phone calls, buying ads and getting media coverage aren’t on your busy holiday calendar, reaching out to large audiences is still achievable, thanks to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram…

View original post 377 more words

film review, movie review, Uncategorized

Popcorn for the ‘Little Grey Cells’

magnifying-2681372_1280.png

So, somehow I missed out on seeing Blade Runner 2049 in the cinemas. Is it me, or was its run in British Cinemas way shorter than usual? Anyway, it’s no bad thing, as it’s been years since I watched the first, and I would’ve liked to have seen it again before watching the new one. I’m sure there’ll be a double box set out sometime in the future. However, with having missed Blade Runner 2049, I was in need of something else to see at the cinema, and urgently, as my mate’s free, Sweet Sunday, tickets were due to expire.

There was Thor: Ragnarok, but as that’d only been out for about a week, I figured it would still be packed, so we (and by ‘we’, I mean ‘I’) opted for Murder on the Orient Express. Mainly because the poster showed it to be a rather star-studded film. Plus, although I think I’ve seen one of the story’s previous incarnations, like Blade Runner, I had no recollection of what transpired, so I could go see the film with my brain a spoiler-free zone.

Looking at the reviews of the film on IMDB, people seem to be pretty bent out of shape over the fact that it was a remake, and harp on about not needing another one. Fair enough, but as there are already several versions out there, what’s one more? There has been one other film (1974), and two TV versions (2001 & 2010) of the story, and if someone hasn’t seen any of these adaptations, or if, like me, can’t remember what happened if they have, then another remake is fine. And let’s be honest, Poirot is one of those series that gets a rehash every few years with a new lead. Moreover, I don’t hear people getting their underwear in a bunch over the various Sherlock remakes that keep getting churned out. So live and let watch I say.

Overall, I found the film quite enjoyable. It was a slow, methodical burner, rather than an epic film, but then that’s what you get from the material, and given that everyone was stuck on a train, it had a somewhat claustrophobic feel to it. Additionally, although I’ve grown up with David Suchet as Poirot, I didn’t find watching Kenneth Branagh in the role too jarring. Plus, his moustache was way more epic than Suchet’s. I did have an inkling as to who the murder could’ve been about halfway through, and as it turned out, my guess was right. Whether that was good ol’ Belgian detective work on my part, or a long-forgotten neuron firing, I’ll never know. So ignore the bar-humbug nay-sayers. If you’re looking for a quiet film to go see on a rainy afternoon, then this will fit the bill nicely.

 

Uncategorized

Winning

I really should enter competitions more, after all, as the old saying goes: you gotta be in it to win it! Last year I won an Open University student union pencil case during freshers week. This year, I won some bespoke vegan ‘food supplements’ after a last-minute entry to a give away that I happened to see on the Vegan Society‘s web page.

I haven’t started using the supplements yet, as I still have a pot of multivitamins to finish, but once they’re done I’ll start on the new stuff. However, my initial thoughts on these vitamins aren’t exactly positive.

The box is rather funky, with the London skyline doodle running around the edge. The contents are ARTEFACT‘s ‘Concept I Immunity & Vitality’, with each capsule containing Vitamin D2 and B12, and extracts of Maca and Goji Berry. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not adverse to vitamin pills. As I said earlier, I take a daily multivitamin, and actually, the reason I take a multivitamin (as opposed to just an iron or calcium supplement), is to also boost my B12 and D intake.  For vegans, getting enough B12 can be an issue, and as I’m an indoorsy, computer person, my D levels are also probably lacking, so I take a multivitamin to cover all my bases.

20170914_150908.jpg

It’s when you get to talking about other supplements that I get a bit reticent, in this case, the added Goji and Maca. Goji berries are supposed to be a ‘superfood’, and are touted as having the ability to improve immunity, cardiovascular disease and life expectancy; aid well-being, brain activity and digestion; and help prevent cancer. However, all these claims are lacking some serious scientific evidence. Maca is claimed to improve libido and fertility, increase your mood and energy levels, help learning and memory, and reduce menopausal symptoms. But again, the scientific evidence to support these claims is extremely minimal and wholly questionable.

Moreover, as a scientist, I’m rather averse to pseudo-scientific claims and meaningless jargon and ho-boy! does the blurb to these pills have that in spades.

20170914_150930

The main ingredients are maca and goji; both emerged as resistant, powerful, and sublime in an adaptation process from their respective regional growth conditions. [ARTEFACT]

Sublime? Really?

…Leaning upon goji’s protective and stabilizing nature as the baseline (e.g., through antioxidants, immunomodulation, antidiabetic, and cardiovascular protective activities as well as anti-aging in folkloric texts) lies the potent and versatile maca as an agent to further improve lifestyle dynamics (mental and physical health) such as sexuality (e.g., libido, reduced menstrual discomforts, fertility in folkloric hearsay), cognitive capacity (e.g., concentration, alertness, memory), and resilience (e.g., immune-booster and strength). [ARTEFACT]

They’re literally saying that some of what they’re claiming this stuff can do is based off unsupported tales, including the setting of the baseline (whatever the hell that baseline is supposed to be). Meanwhile, the other stuff they’re claiming has pretty much no scientific back up. Honestly, I could feel myself getting stupider as I read this, which kinda went against what these pills are allegedly supposed to achieve.

I checked on Amazon as to how much a pot of these “”””lifestyle improving”””” pills cost. £32.32!!!! That’s some extremely expensive waffle right there.

Anyway, I’ll post an update down the road once I’ve taken them for any length of time.

Book Review, Uncategorized

Monthly Reads – August 2017

Bit of a late posting for this one as the last book I read took me into September….

20170908_114714

August kicked off with me reading the novella Social Engineer (Brody Taylor Thrillers #1). I got it free for signing up to the author’s (Ian Sutherland) newsletter, mainly because, as an ICT student and social media fan, I was intrigued by the premise of the book, and who doesn’t love a freebie?

As a novella, it’s a short read, but that being said, it was a very good read. My reading of it happened to coincide nicely with the section in my Open University studies covering online security, and several times I nodded in understanding at the narrative.

The Novella is a pre-cursor to the main Brody Taylor Thrillers series, and introduces the main hero/protagonist; white hat hacker Brody Taylor, who uses a combination of hacking and social engineering to gain entry to companies as a means to ‘pentest*’ them. Ian Sutherland (himself an IT man) name drops the likes of Facebook and LinkedIn, and how important information can be gleaned from them for nefarious (or in the case of Brody, slightly more honourable) purposes. There are certainly some ideas included in the story to bear in mind next time you’re casually making those holiday snapshots public!

Overall, I found the story to be well written, enjoyable, and there was a good twist in it that I didn’t see coming. As an introductory novella, it’s certainly done its job, and I’m seriously considering reading the rest of the series in the future.

*”Penetration testing (also called pen testing) is the practice of testing a computer system, network or Web application to find vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit.” [Definition via WhatIs.com]

Although I had my eye on some other cyberpunk novels, I decided to save some cash this month. Also, allegedly, I get a copy of I Robot with my Open University module on robotics, so I have that to look forward to in September. In the intervening time, I decided to work through my Kindle backlog and read some of the free fantasy books I’d downloaded onto my old 3G.

17696116Using a random number generator gave me Bubba and the Beast (Maven’s Fractured Fairy Tales, #2). I had not read the first book. Turns out, this was even shorter than Social Engineer, and I polished it off in two nights. To be honest, it wasn’t that great. The story basically revolved around a disgraced fairy having to find a troll a boyfriend. The writing was chaotic, I had a hard time following the narrative at times, and it ended rather abruptly. I will not be bothering to read any more of the series.

17406473Next up, the Fates gave me Earthchild, by Allie Bates. This was a full-length novel, and it kept me occupied for the rest of the month and then some. It was fair to say that I didn’t know what I was about to read (again, I had downloaded years ago when it had been free). What I found myself reading was akin to a novel-length wet dream whose every other sentence seemed to focus on hyped-up sexuality and eroticism, specifically with a focus on the two main characters. There was some plot in there, something to do with Scotland, missing lairds, and castles, but the rest was pretty much erotica, and TBH a little bit rapey at times. That being said, it was an ok read, and it kept me gripped enough to finish it, but I’ll be glad when I get my copy of I Robot.

film review, movie review, Uncategorized

Flu and Film Reviews

Despite an encroaching cold, I managed to go to the cinema a couple of times this past week.

giphy-downsized.gifFirst I caught up with Despicable Me 3 (which is probably where I picked the lergy up from). To be honest, the film wasn’t a patch on the previous two films. I laughed, but it was usually at the minions. There was one moment that got me thinking, and not about the story line. [non-spoiler alert]. There’s a moment when Dru and Gru are on a beach, talking, and Dru is sat, playing in the sand. It was just a small action, but the fact that they included this random little detail (who hasn’t sat on the beach and absent-mindedly dug a hole?) and the detailing of the sand itself, made me realise just how far and how intricate animation has become. It was a cool little revelation, but it couldn’t elevate the film above its mediocre delivery.

spider-man-2319337_1280Then, with a scratchy throat, I went and saw Spider-Man: Homecoming. The cinema was packed, which surprised me, considering how long the film’s been out, and I ended up getting a cricked neck in one of the front rows. Thankfully, the film was a hoot and a half, and I hardly noticed the fact I was sat practically horizontal in my seat. Bringing Spider-Man into the MCU’s fold was a good move in my opinion. The action was fast, the dialogue was funny, and there was a much lighter tone to the whole thing (a key ingredient to Marvel’s big-screen appeal over DC). I can’t honestly fault the film, and I’m actually looking forward to more Spidey films. Oh, and the Marvel end credit scene was also incredibly trolley! *Bravo!*

So, to sum up, if you haven’t seen either film, I’d say go see Spider-Man on the big screen, and wait for Despicable Me 3 to come out on DVD … or on the TV.

Uncategorized

Kawaii: Embracing the Cute

calico-cat-1732371_1280Does it have big eyes?
Does its cuteness overwhelm?
That’ll be Kawaii
Kawaii, a haiku, by me.

Following on from my previous Kawaii post, I’ve come across a few more Kawaii pieces to cheer up my existence.

I found a couple of bargain Kawaii-like pieces in Shoe Zone of all places. I’m not sure the bag constitutes Kawaii, I think it’s more pretty than Kawaii (what do you think?), but the owl wallet definitely gets my approval.

Now my ‘Soot Sprite’ has a place to hang.

I got these adorbz stickers from Amazon. They were pretty cheap, so they were just an add on to my main order. What I didn’t realise was they were getting shipped from Asia. It took them nearly a fortnight to turn up!

I also splurged (inadvertently) on a Pusheen reusable bottle. I say inadvertently because I bought it from Claire’s Accessories and there was no price on it. It wasn’t until it got tilled through that I had the “how much???” moment. But hey, if it helps cut my use of disposable plastic bottles to help save the planet then its worth it. And actually, in the end, it pays for itself via tap refills.

That’s pretty much all I’ve collected so far. With university module payments coming up (ugh!), I’m gonna be cutting my expenditure back for a few months … unless I see something I simply can’t live without.

Uncategorized

A Second Life in Second Life

So I’ve recently done a section on virtual worlds in my Open University module (My Digital Life), and a lot of it was about the use of Second Life in the realms of education, business and pleasure. It got me thinking and intrigued about the place again. Many years ago I tried logging in, but my old PC simply couldn’t handle it, and my foray into the world died before it even started.

By the end of the section, I had succumbed to curiosity. Armed with my more powerful Linux laptop, I signed up again, got a new avatar, and I entered the world at the OU’s remaining island (Deep Think).

I didn’t meet anybody while I was there, which was probably a good thing. It gave me a chance to wander round and get a feel of the place undisturbed. But more importantly, I had major problems using the edit avatar menu, and on several occasions I inadvertently ended up butt naked. Being alone certainly saved my avatar’s blushes.

Second Life_001
I’ve called my cat Mor’du

After my wander, I went and visited the International Space Flight Museum, which was actually pretty cool.

Snapshot_005

I went back a couple of times, mainly to tweak my avatar’s look. I also visited another museum, namely the Museum of Natural History of Vienna, where I looked at dinosaurs, and managed to get trapped under the floor. But again, I didn’t see anyone else.

Do I think I’ll be going back to Second Life? Probably not. But it’s handy having an avatar if a get-together is ever on the cards.

Open University, Social Media, Uncategorized

Thanks Doris!

candles-209157_1280

Boy, has it been a fun week weather-wise. Storm Doris hit North Wales, bringing with her rain, gale-force winds, and power cuts. The day of the actual storm wasn’t too bad, with the power going off for only a couple of hours during the day. Admittedly, it cocked my schedule up a bit, as it went off before I had accessed my online university material. As soon as the power came back on, I opened up EVERYTHING in new tabs, just to be on the safe side. Yeah, I get that as it is a section on the internet, it stands to reason to do some of the work online, but having ALL the reading material online ONLY is a bit short-sighted IMHO. Storm Doris a case in point.

The next day was another power cut, this time courtesy of the electricity company. I had literally just finished my OU material, when bam, no power. Time ticked on. I couldn’t do anything with the MARINElife newsletter, as the resources I needed were online. I couldn’t do my social media stuff, cause again, no wifi. Time dragged on. The temperature started to dip. I wrapped myself up in bed and read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on a thankfully recently charged Kindle. I couldn’t do all my fitness training, as the fly-wheel on my cross-trainer needs electricity. It eventually got too dark to read.

My housemate got home to find a distinctly pissed-off me. He was in the process of going and asking the engineers what the hell was going on, when he bumped into a neighbour. Turns out, storm Doris had wrapped a couple of trees round various power poles, and things were being in the process of being repaired. Anyway, long story short, I was without power for four and a half hours, and spent the last few of those hibernating under two duvets. Eventually the power came on, I did my training, late, had dinner, even later, and did my social media stuff, even later still. I was not impressed, specifically because the engineers hadn’t bothered to warn people they were going to cut the power. Extremely thoughtless, but that’s Scottish Power for you. My mate was on hold with them the other day, waiting to speak to them about a cock-up with his account transfer. He was on hold for them for two and a half hours. Eventually their machine just hung up on him. Good times.

A few days later came the annual, try and make flat fried dough things and fail, aka, Pancake Day. Making pancakes is hard enough. Making vegan pancakes is even more of a set up for failure. I chose to make them savoury, to prevent me from eating too much, so I cut out the sugar, and added some fresh and dried herbs to the mix. The mix itself was simple; 1/2 a cup of soya milk, 1/2 a cup of flour, a 1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder, and a dash of water to thin it out. The mix made two, largish, pancakes, and they actually came out quite well, if a little bit anaemic.

I topped them off with sautéed mushrooms and onions, a dollop of Tesco’s roast caramelised hummus, and a sprinkling of good ol’ nooch. And you know what? They tasted pretty nice. It’s times like these I wonder why I don’t make pancakes more often, after all, they’re simple to throw together, an cheap to make. I guess I’ll have to bite the bullet and make some sweet ones later. Though knowing me, later = a year’s time.

coding, Open University, Uncategorized

A Surprising Delivery

coding-1841550_1280

As mentioned in my last post, I’ve decided to do an Open University Degree. After signing up I had several sleepless nights filled with, “Oh my gods what’ve I done,” kinda thoughts. I questioned whether it was truly worth it; Argued that, “why the hell shouldn’t I do it, it’ll give me something to be proud of in six years,” (hopefully); and basically went around and around in my head with an anxiety-filled and stress-filled rhetoric.

My decision for the affirmative got buoyed a bit on Sunday. Then is when I do my usual fruitless search of various job listing emails to see if there’s anything I’m in the least bit qualified to apply for. There wasn’t, as per, but I did see a social media job advertised that listed among its prerequisites a degree in either Journalism, Marketing or…. Creative Writing. Ding, ding, ding, we have a module winner! Unfortunately, I won’t be tackling those particular modules for close to two years yet, but it’s good to know that some employees are looking for qualifications in that area.

Then with Monday came a cube-shaped dose of reality. My course stuff was delivered! This came as a total surprise because a) the course doesn’t start until the end of the month, and b) I wasn’t expecting any material. The OU site is all about how they have online resource material, so I just assumed that’s where all my reading texts would be. Imagine my surprise when a delivery driver turned up at my door (which I opened dressed in just my PJs! Doh!) and handed me a VERY heavy box. Opening it I found several large textbooks, plus some computer parts. There was no escaping the truth, I had officially become a student again.

 

The blurb on the OU’s website relating to the TU100 module, My Digital Life, didn’t make it seem this technically involved. Quite frankly, it’s a good job I know my way around a computer, and have dabbled in free online python programing courses, otherwise on opening that box, and flipping through the material, I would have had a panic attack. To be honest, I’m still bricking it, but just a little less than if I was going into this from a standing start. Apparently this is the last time the course is being run, and it’s being broken down into two parts for future semester enrolments. I’m not surprised!

So now the fun begins, and I don’t just mean the learning part. Now I need to become a Time Management Expert. I have my novel writing to do, which’ll eventually become my novel editing to do. I also do social media, web editing, and newsletter writing on a volunteer basis for MARINElife. Plus I do research writing for the Aquarium Welfare Association (again as a volunteer). Then there’s my fitness training. Then there’s my own social media stuff, across two further accounts, as well as this blog. All of which I need to jigsaw together in such a way that I can do the course, and keep up all the other demands, without going nuts. To be honest, it’s probably a good thing I’m unemployed and have no social life at the moment. Gods help me when/if I ever do find gainful employment again (a social life is overrated anyway).

Final thought: Sherlock makes my brain hurt…but I love it!

doctor who, Festive, food, sci-fi, science fiction, The Doctor, Uncategorized, Whovian

Merry Chrimbo

Well that’s the crazy festivities done for another year. What ever your celebration, I hope it was a good one. Me, I got two days of festivities. First up was the Winter Solstice, my main day, what with me being of pagan faith and all that. Had a chilled day at home. The day before I’d baked a chocolate cake, and on the day I made myself a pizza, then watched the closest thing I had to a season-based film, namely the first Harry Potter film. That’s the fun thing about being a solitary practitioner, you get to make up your own traditions. Usually I watch the adaption of Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather, but that DVD’s still in Amsterdam with all my other stuff.

Once my housemate came home, me headed out to the cinema to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Me rocking my Slytherin pin.

Fantastic Beasts was an OK film. Not really on the par of Harry Potter, but then I suppose we don’t know where the story’s heading. I mean, we ultimately know the films are heading towards the time of Potter, but in of itself, the film didn’t seem to be leading anywhere. It was as is. When more films come out, and we see each in context of the other, then perhaps the film will seem a bit, I don’t know, ‘more’. Anyway, the overall rave reviews that have been bandied about over it don’t seem to fit the reality of the experience. It was an OK film. There was a certain lack of subtly over its ‘treat animals nicely’ message (this coming from a vegan!), and I’m not overly convinced that Depp is the person to be playing Grindlewald, So the jury’s still out.

Anyway, after my solstice indulgences, I pounded the cross-trainer for a couple of days in preparation for the next festivities, namely Xmas. Although I don’t celebrate Xmas, my housemate/friend does. So we had his family over, opened more presents, and ate WAY more food.

I also cooked my first Tofurky for my Xmas meal. However, that nearly ended in disaster before it had even started, as I hadn’t bothered to check the instructions. First thing I read Xmas Morning after digging it out from the bottom of the freezer: Defrost for 24 hours before cooking*. Well bollocks! Gods bless the inventor of the microwave! 42 minutes at Defrost later, and I had a cookable lump of tofu. Its stint in the oven done, I was greeted by something that had the toughest ‘skin’ known to man. No knife in the house could cope properly with it. There was a lot of sawing, a bit of cussing, and I ended up with a lump of Tofurky way bigger than I wanted. But hey, what’s Xmas without a healthy amount of excess? Once I’d piled on the roast potatoes, parsnips, steamed veg, vegan pigs-in-blankets, and slathered it with nearly the entire packet of gravy that came with the Tofurky, I had a serviceable Chrimbo meal.

Actually, all that being said, the Tofurky wasn’t half bad. The ‘flesh’ inside was moist, and the outer layer, despite being road-worthy, was still tasty. It’s several days later, and I’m still having slices of it cold for my lunch. My mate made vegan-suitable mince pies, a vegan Christmas cake, and a non-vegan Christmas cake. However, after the full lunch we had, not much headway was made on them. I haven’t finished my chocolate Yule cake, let alone started on my giant Christmas cake!

Yet, when Doctor Who time came around, I grabbed a mince pie and a box of choccies, before disappearing into my room. No way was I having people disturb my Doctor Who watching with random inane chatter!

So…? What did we think of this year’s Chrimbo Doctor Who? Personally, I enjoyed it, and I think it was probably better than previous festive offerings. At first I wasn’t sure about Matt Lucas being in it, but by the end, I was actually happy to see that he’s going to be in the main series as well. I loved his little moments of humour. Now I just have my fingers crossed that Trump doesn’t start WWIII before spring, and we end up missing the new series.

Best present this year? The Slytherin pen my mate got me. You?

Here’s to 2017, and less celebrity deaths!

 

*I could have cooked it from frozen, but then it wouldn’t have been ready in time for lunch.