Authors Electric

Susan Jane Smith B.Sc           When is a Kindle not a Kindle?   When it’s surpassed by a Kobo I’d say.   I’ve been a electric author for a couple of years now and publishing e-books via Kindle Direct Publishing on Amazon.   I have always loved my Kindle.   I think I could love a Kindle Fire even more!           Yet, I’ve been seduced by a Kobo Mini.   It was a decent price I thought and so small that I felt I could justify having it to keep in my handbag.   When I walked past a W H Smith it was in the window gleaming up at me.   Beckoned, I went in and simply could not resist it.             My h usband was not impressed as he could see no reason for a second e-book reader.   My excuse to him and myself is that I have recently paid Matt Horner at ebookpartnership to turn two of my books into epub...

Susan Jane Smith           I’m not just an old woman on my soap box – this is about what you can do to make a difference.           On the 8 th May 2012, in England, a gang of 8 British born Pakistani men and an Afghan man were convicted of sexual abuse.  One of the reporters said that the incidence of gang abuse was rare generally, but that within some cultures, now living in the UK , it is acceptable for men to groom a vulnerable girl, have sex with her (meaning rape) and then pass her along to one or more men.  Those men because they have shared the female then consider themselves to be better friends.           This is not about the colour of a person’s skin – it’s old cultural concepts that a man has a right to dominate a female.            Nevertheless, I do think it significant that the men did ...

Susan Jane Smith           I made a lot of mistakes as a young woman – looking for love in all the wrong places.  I had a lot of male attention but not the kind I wanted!  When I was 23 years old I had long blonde hair, a very short skirt (it was the 60s) and frequently a plunging neckline.  One spring I was photographed by the local newspaper lying on a bank of daffodils and the reporter asked what I wanted most.  My reply: “I just want to be happy.”  I was desperate for a man to love me and I put up with partners who lied and cheated and who put me down for challenging what was going on – all in order to try to keep them.            Finally, after a lot of counselling in my thirties, I started to make better choices in men and I also changed careers.  I then spent 20 years listening to people about their relationships – I was a psychotherapist and later ...

Susan Jane Smith B.Sc           Currently on English television there is an advertisement where a young man watches himself start to rape a young woman – he is outside looking in on the situation.   He is shouting at himself to stop because he has seen it from a different perspective. This is excellent in my opinion and I am so glad to see it on such a popular medium.   Sadly, rape   can occur at any age -   it is a crime of violence.   You can be any age, sex, or social class as either rapist or victim.           Back in the 1980’s, in the USA, I was a Director at a rape and domestic crisis shelter.   I went on to train to become a therapist/counsellor so I have had the privilege of working with some victims and perpetrators.   As you might imagine I have some thoughts on the subject based on that experience.        ...