Computerized Democracy

The US Government has shut down – ran out of money. Do we think anyone will actually notice? I’m being facetious of course but I am so sick of US politics. Apologies to friends and family who have strong feelings but the Republicans and the Democrats are bankrupt of ideas and have simply managed to create such an ideological gulf between their respective supporters as to make civil unrest a distinct possibility. Unfortunately, this bankruptcy of ideas isn’t just an American phenomenon but affects the entire western world. So here is my proposal for a new system…… I dreamed it up when I was a kid but it might have some merit to it. Since a census is taken every decade, we have a description of each nation. We know

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I Don’t Believe You!

I went to CNN briefly this morning, glanced at the headlines and suddenly realized something. I don’t believe the stuff you write CNN or BBC or any of the other mainstream and controlled outlets. I don’t believe you Mr. Cameron, Mr. Clegg, Mr. Milliband, Mr. Obama. I don’t believe a word you all say. This is a sad development because there was a time that I did. What is published on CNN and BBC isn’t news. Its opinion. It’s spoon feeding the masses what someone wants them to believe. It doesn’t matter much what the story is it will have an angle. Its insidious and its increasingly obvious. Truth be told – and I am shocked by this myself – I would believe the Russian news service before I believed

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School Days

After posting the story of how I was nearly became a member of the rock group The Police, my best friend from those days – Steve – and I compared notes. He pointed out that not only was my memory correct but they also offered him a job as a roadie! And they did too…. However, posting that story got me to thinking. What a hell of a life I have had! Really, very few complaints – well, more money would always be useful but other than that…. So, my next few posts will deal with some events from my life and how I became me…. I couldn’t wait to leave home and Hull. Wolfreton School did me well in that I got a good education – 9 “O” levels,

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Nearly Famous

Today, as I work, I have been listening to older music. The kind of stuff I listened to growing up – Its nostalgic. But it reminded me of another time and place….. The location – Aston University The time – circa 1978 I was stage manager for ACE – Aston Campus Entertainment at the students union. The job involved organizing the social events from a logistics point of view. Making sure sound checks were done, making sure the bands had their contracted for beverages, making sure their equipment was set up and dismantled etc. Frankly, it was super fun. I met a lot of people as you may imagine. There was one local band we rather enjoyed having called Streetband. I think we had them 4-5 times performing at the

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The Self Doubts of the Self Employed

Sometimes, despite my best intentions, I get down in the dumps…. I think today I am shall we say, browned off. Trying to build a small business isn’t easy and I think the realization of the downside of building a business is now beginning to sink in. Firstly, people don’t have time or money and then when you actually do get a consulting gig or a client, they take simply ages to pay your invoice. Plus, right now is slap bang in the middle of the holiday season too (and the fact I should actually be on a beach today doesn’t actually help either). So I am sat at my PC thinking. Who can I talk to? Who might buy what we are offering? Sending out emails and receiving mostly

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Promotion and More Promotion

As I have said before I think, the average book doesn’t sell too many copies. In 2004, 950,000 titles out of the 1.2 million tracked by Nielsen Bookscan sold fewer than 99 copies. Another 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies. Only 25,000 sold more than 5,000 copies. This is pretty old data but I couldn’t find anything more up to date in the 30 seconds that I tried…. It just shows you though. They say – they being my publisher – that you need to promote and promote and promote…. They do some of this work but I do the lion’s share. But, I am feeling guilty. For the next 2 and a bit weeks I will be on vacation and I won’t lift a finger on the book (collective

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Viral Thinking

What if The Last Observer took off? I mean really took off. If it sold, hundreds of thousands of copies. I have been just occasionally letting myself dream such things in the hope that, if I think and believe it, it will happen. Funny though because this thought is always rapidly followed by that other little voice that says ‘You stupid bugger! Who would buy your book?‘ It’s that second little voice that stops us all from dreaming too much but actually, if we listened to it too much, we would never do anything at all. I set myself a goal with The Last Observer. It is this – minimum 3000 copies sold. 3000 isn’t that big of a number is it? Actually, I do think 300,000 would be achievable

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Sex Sells II

One of my first posts here was a tongue-in-cheek discussion of writing and publishing books – I used the title sex sells because it does – just look at that category erotica and you will understand that these books sell. Well, tonight, I posted an article to my Czech Republic travel blog. I thought I would check out the stats while there….. First the good news. The blog is getting a hell of a lot of visits. So all my hard work and photographs of Czech castles and landscapes, witty posts about Czech lifestyle, culture and politics was actually generating interest? Of course not. No. One post was generating 95% of that traffic and the stats tell the entire story. Google is bringing in a lot of that traffic on

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A Non-Smoker

Almost immediately I stood upright getting out of bed this morning, I started to cough. The coughing is usually followed by a dash to the Lav as gravity seems to really play a role in my mornings. I don’t cough as much as I used to though because…. (drum roll)… I QUIT smoking two months ago. Yep, the last bought of pneumonia was the last straw. I quit the bloody things. One tip to help us quit smoking is to calculate our savings. Actually, living in the Czech Republic, this isn’t too effective. Cigs are relatively cheap but nicorette patches are priced beyond the reach of the average earner. The net result was, that by my calculation, quitting smoking cost me about 200USD. Never mind, I have now quit the

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I’m a Total Failure

I was reading an article by my friend and partner in crime in writing the Mystical Hexagram this morning on her blog. I suddenly understood that I am a total and utter failure. It’s true. I am. She has over 800 subscribers to her blog!!!! I have been blogging for years and have never developed any kind of a following at all. Nope. I am a total failure as a blogger. Inept. Asteroth’s Domain – online since 2005 has 4 followers! How damning. I’m sorry though. I’m not quitting. I like failure….. I am used to it. Ever since I can remember I have failed at things or, quite honestly, decided I am crap at stuff. I recall when age 12 playing school soccer with my new glasses on suddenly

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