New Book Published

Flitting through to say to anyone still subscribed to here that I have a new book, 'Digging up the Past', now available at Smashwords here.

It's also available at Amazon here but it's cheaper on Smashwords and I get more of the money.

It should also turn up at Sony, Apple etc soon as it has passed the vetting system at Smashwords and will soon be distributed.

I quite like the cover, and Tom made a cover for Forgotten Village to match,

Can I also suggest that you join me over on my new blog Sybil Witters On as I'm still not sure about this blog.  I'm pretty sure it is safe to click on these links (or I wouldn't put them up) but I feel a bit uncomfortable here.  It is the same old witterings on Sybil Witters On but just on a different blog.  All are welcome.

My New Blog - Sybil Witters On

The link to my new blog is - Sybil Witters On

But please be careful about clicking on anything else.  That should be fine, and I am pretty sure I have got rid of any inserted malware, but please be careful!

I hope I can make you all welcome there.

Sybil Witters On - the new blog

I am leaving this blog and starting a new one.  It is called Sybil Witters On and is carrying on where I leave off here.

I've thought about this a lot, but this blog is getting linked to from sites with very adult content.  While it hasn't been trolled and I have avoided a lot of spam, I feel that the whole thing with the malware has put a lid on things.

As far as I can tell the malware was due to a link I had put in to a site which had sort of housewifery stuff.  I removed the post and it all seemed to calm down.  However DON'T CLICK ON ANYTHING just in case.

I have been writing this blog for five years.  There have been 2513 posts (not including this) and over 130,000 page views.  I have been blessed with lovely people reading this and lovely supportive comments, especially when we lost evil cat and I found things so tough.  If those reading this blog carry on following on Sybil Witters On I will feel privileged.

While I have been thinking over the last few days, I thought about where I was when I started writing this, and how I have changed.  Back in 2008 I was a shell of the person I am now.  The support and comments from you lovely people made such a difference.  However perhaps now I am starting a new blog I can start a new page, finding out who I am now.  I don't suppose I will be writing about much different.  Darling father is currently working his way through some serious alcohol while watching Liverpool, darling uncle is causing havoc with neglecting his diabetes, and bear is basking in DH's company after getting a truly wonderful parent's evening report.  We let him choose a reward.  Two Doctor Who magazines and some maths workbooks - and he insisted on the maths!  I don't know where he is getting it from, I fall apart with anything more complicated that simple division and DH isn't much more number friendly.  So normal for here.

Over the weekend, all things permitting, I will get my new blog up and running, get the links in to my favourite blogs, figure out the layout, say some rude words I learned from evil cat and try and make it really welcoming.  I will promise to use tags, to take pictures and to carry on musing about money, housewifery and the family.

There is only one way I can end this blog.  To everyone who has paid me the compliment of reading what I write.

THANK YOU

Investigations continue

I am continuing to check stuff out.  I'm getting an awful lot of referrals from sites that seem a bit odd, or even adult, and I'm not sure why.

Thanks for the hugs.  I'm trying to work out what is best to do.

Closing time

According to Google and Blogspot, malware has been inserted into my blog.

I'm going to try and sort out what is going on.  I will leave this post up until the end of 18 October 2013 GMT then close down until I am sure it is safe.

I am sure I will pop up here and there, and I am sure that the Lyssa Medana blog is safe so may post there occasionally, but if I can't come back then I want to say thank you for visiting, you are all lovely people!  I shall spend a lot of tomorrow making sure I have got the links to the blogs of the wonderful people saved so I can visit.

Hugs to all.

I'm not on Kobo any more!

There has been a bit of a do in the papers when WH Smith found a very racy novel in the ebooks section - self published.  Apparently it was very, very near the knuckle, a bit strong, not what you would expect a young person to read.

This caused something of a stir at WH Smith who closed down all of their ebooks.  Kobo just closed down all the self published ebooks.  To be honest, I can understand.  They have brands to protect and do you want your teenager to browse books containing rape and incest as erotica.  If they are not seen as family friendly then they could lose a lot of business.

The Forgotten Village is one of the casualties.  It has been withdrawn from Kobo, pending the review of all their self published ebooks.  It is really aimed at adults, I suppose, but it is a bit tame compared to a lot of the stuff out there.  I do hope I get back on Kobo soon.

I sort of can see their point.  Every now and then I used to do an ego thing, and went onto the sony ebook store.  I used to cut the list in modern fantasy down to see only books at 99 cents or less and ranked in popularity.  Apparently I was as high as number four out of about 400 at one point, though I haven't had any royalties yet (this is normal, there is often a lag, I have stopped stressing).  While I was doing this I saw a lot of very racy covers, lots of young men with no vests, and a lot of ladies with no vest and not much knicker, and some of the synopses made me blink.  Some of the stories seemed a bit specialised if you see what I mean.  They were not family friendly, but they were not pretending to be family friendly.  I wouldn't like bear to look through them and ask questions.  Apart from anything else, I'm not sure I'd know the answers.

We live in a world where sex sells, where more extreme is better, and where sexualised images are everywhere.  It is not surprising to find all sorts of kinks in unregulated, self published ebooks.  I wouldn't be surprised if the kinky stories added to the profit margin.  It reminds me a little of the Victorians who covered the legs of the tables, though areas like Whitechapel harbored horrific vice.  It's the feeling of 'being seen to be respectable'.

I wish I knew what the answer was, how the line between personal responsibility and protection of the vulnerable should be drawn.  I wish I knew how to draw the line between freedom of expression and expression that could encourage violent attacks.  As it is, Cats in the Bible has been cut as well.  I hope that makes it back as well.

I take comfort that The Forgotten Village is still available at Amazon and Smashwords.  If I ever get a chance to write again I am confident that I will be able to get Digging up the Past out there as well.  I don't think I will take to writing erotica.  It seems far too stressful.

Noisy Disagreement

Father's view of well done does not agree with the smoke alarm.  After standing around under two separate alarms, using all the bad words I learned from evil cat, I decided father would have to settle for lightly carbonised.

It's been a long day and it isn't even noon.