Blog

Spines: a modern scam for wannabe authors.

scams, vanity publishing, wannabe authors 4th December 2024 New Books, Other Things

That’s all it is, you know. You should know, by now, what vanity publishing is (and know, of course, never to go anywhere near it) and Spines is such a blatantly obvious vanity-publishing scam that it’s surprising how many publishing-industry … Continued

My Foolish, Bestial, Brilliant Weekend

beasts, cosplay, folk traditions, new books, performance, roleplay 26th October 2024 Musings, New Books

The first time I described my social circle to someone as ‘mainly pagans, perverts and morris dancers‘ was about 20 years ago and, well, not much has changed. Just recently I went to have a bit of fun that involved … Continued

Don’t be afraid of Cartmans…

accountability, apologies, bullies, mockery 24th August 2024 Musings, Other Things

Having always been something of a fan of South Park, I have taken to using ‘Cartman’ or ‘Cartmans’ as a term for a certain tiresome type of person mainly found on social media. There have certainly been a fine crop … Continued

When Agents FOFA*

agents, copyright, stupidity, tropes, writing 25th June 2024 Musings, writing

(Fuck Around & Find Out) This week’s top What Were You Thinking story also falls into a category called Things That I Thought Never Happened… Back in the 90s, in the days of the Guild of Erotic Writers and a … Continued

Too Cool for Old School?

conformism, imagination, nostalgia, vintage 21st May 2024 Other Things

So a little puff piece showed up on the BBC news page about a young couple who like vintage stuff. OK so I am perhaps old enough to know that the internet, particularly Twitter, is full of funsponges who can’t … Continued

I mean, what were you THINKING? #RTD author event

#rtd, author signing event, booklovers, grift, scam, vanity publishing 23rd April 2024 Events, Other Things

And now time for even more Fun in Literary Life… Threads, in particular, has been exploding this week regarding an author signing/book lovers’ event in the USA which seems to have been a bit on the messy side, to say … Continued

Rating and Reviewing Revisited

Amazon, Goodreads, new book, ratings, review 16th April 2024 Musings, writing

Yet another bout of squawking over reviewing practices has erupted, this time mainly on Threads, which I have recently leapt aboard (find me at zak jane keir (@zakjanekeirdsw) on Threads ). I’ve posted about reviews more than once on here … Continued

Cancer, communication and a clusterf*ck

cancer, health, media, Princess of Wales, royalty, rumours 23rd March 2024 Uncategorised

A famous person got cancer. Oh dear, what a shame, etc. Most reasonable people feel the same fleeting moment of sympathy as they do if told a workmate’s cousin got it: that’s sad, sorry to hear that, hope they feel … Continued