Authors Electric

          Someone once said that the invention of electric light spelt the end of the ghost story.  And I see what she or he meant.  After all, the invention of the mobile phone has led to a significant increase in the number of fictional locations where you can't get a signal.  Progress seems inimical to fiction.            I used to write a lot of ghost stories.  People actually used to refer to me as 'Ah, Dennis Hamley, the ghost story writer.' It's the genre which taught me how to write short stories.  The light was definitely switched on as I wrote them but then there were no mobiles to make what was a 'present day' story when I wrote it, credible for today's readers.  Even so, I'm making an ebook selection of those of mine which I think may be worth resurrecting. They appeared in a variety of books, starting with a collection The Shirt off a Hanged Man's B...

Susan Jane Smith, B.Sc.           Sometimes people have a ‘life script’ that disables them.   An example might be a student who could not tell her tutors about some horrible problems that she was trying to deal with at home.   People seem to think that others will consider them weak when in fact it takes a lot of courage and inner strength to admit that you are struggling with any aspect of life.        The benefit of counselling that I experienced personally and then witnessed hundreds of my clients experience (before I retired) was that once you do tell someone, the old saying tends to kick in “a problem shared is a problem halved”.   Now I agree, if you tell a friend or family member there is a possibility that they might “hold it against” you or tell your “secret” to another.           That is where counselling/psychotherapy is so useful. ...

Susan Jane Smith           The last day of July saw me posting “Pay it Forward” on www.Goodreads.com as a discussion item because I am curious.   What do you think this phrase means?   What do you do to “pay it forward”?         In April people from Goodreads entered a competition to win 3 copies of my book Emotional Health for EmotionalWealth. The response was overwhelming for me and I had to stick to sending off just 3 of the paperbacks due to the cost of postage.           Now, in order to “pay it forward” I’ve just sent all the other entrants a free e-book copy and told them about the free app on my revised website so that they can read e-books on their computers, phones, iPads etc.   Praise for the book, and great reviews, would be lovely especially if they lead on to mega sales!   No expectations, but lots of hope!  ...