Just some photos to round off the week, and some are from much earlier this year, and some are more recent. No theme, just a random collection from my folder. I have no plans for the weekend, just the usual, but who knows? Anything can happen, and there may be something to talk about by Monday, I might have a thought or two about anything and nothing, I might not. In the meantime, here’s a gallery.
And, if you like historical fiction of all times and types, you might be interested in browsing this collection of 39 titles.
’Twas a very pleasant day yesterday, starting at the desk at 5.30 where, by ten, another chapter had emerged. We took advantage of the water intake and took showers before meeting a godson at 11.45 to head down to Yialos. There, we visited the jewellers to arrange an alteration before heading off on separate missions and side quests. There were a fair few visitors to negotiate as we toured, walking against the tide at times, but being able to use the cut-throughs and avoid the floods. I bought a cap from the hardware shop (€1.00) to cap off a feed tap in an unused bathroom, visited another shop, and met up with Neil at taverna Trata where we had lunch.
After which, we hung out at Pavlis for a drink, watched some of the day trippers rushing back to their boats, enjoyed the view across the harbour through a gap in the moored boats, and caught up on harbour news from our host. When it came time to leave, we knew we had missed the 14.00 bus, and saw there were several people waiting for taxis, of which there were none at the time, so we walked up the steps, said goodbye to the godson, and, as it was time for Neil to go to work, went to work.
The turtle dove was back, though only one of them yesterday. I hope the other is alright. They are so trusting and tame, they practically share your frappé. They fly off to higher ground if anyone comes too near, but otherwise…
That was the closest shot I could get. I have ordered a small, pocket-sized, digital camera for an upcoming trip, so hopefully, I will be able to take better distance shots than my current phone camera allows. Anyway… after the shift and some chat with friends, it was home time after a long day out, an episode of The Crown (again, because it is so easy to watch and well filmed), and off to bed by 20.30. A pleasant way to spend a Wednesday.
(Today’s post is shared with my author website, so sorry about that. There will be random photos of Symi to lighten the mood.)
Here’s a note for anyone else who might have published a book or two, and it’s about the way scummy scammers are using AI to make money. Here’s the start of an email I received this morning:
I recently explored *Snake Hill (The Delamere Files Book 9)*, and I was captivated by the way you weave suspense, rural legends, and complex character dynamics into this installment. The tension around the mysterious disappearances, the fire snake folklore, and the responsibility placed on both Jack and Simeon makes this book an engrossing read for fans of crime and mystery. Even with such a thrilling narrative, it seems this book hasn’t yet reached he wider audience it could captivate…
Do they think I am daft? Explored a book? What, you set out from the Royal Geographical Society with a brief to…? The rest of it is generated by an AI thing using my blurb, the text you can read on Amazon, which I wrote. All the person behind this is doing is generating dodgy text based on a book’s blurb, and having their system send out an email. These things then go with text like: Have you found it challenging to connect *Snake Hill* with readers who would enjoy the depth of your series, the unfolding mysteries, and the suspenseful twists…
This email suggested I contact ‘Mary’ and, like most, it promised promotion leading to untold wealth. It wanted me to reply and beg them to help me publicise the book(s). Then, what they would do is take my money and get AI to send out a few random spams to random email addresses and move onto the next victim.
I am now receiving at least one of these emails every day, But, because I use Mailwasher, I see them before they get to my laptop, not that they are dangerous or anything, but Mailwasher comes with various commands. I can permanently mark and report the email address as spam, and I can also bounce it back, so the person/machine at the other end thinks my email address doesn’t work. Hehe.
I don’t reply because I will only get more spam from the same AI if I do, but I’d love to reply: ‘So, tell me, as you have read the book and see its potential, can you tell me, a) what is the first full sentence on page 213? And b) why you started a series at book nine and not book one?
I bet, for every one of me (who is slightly experienced in this self-publishing game) there is a newbie out there who falls for this trick and parts with money because their book isn’t selling as well as they thought it would – and they thought it would because AI wrote it for them. Believe me, I have published over 40 full-length novels (every word of which I have written myself), and without a massive publisher and their publicity machine, you ain’t going to make a living, so don’t waste your cash on AI generated spammers.
It looks like we are in for a blustery day today. The wind is forecast only to 4 or 5 Bf. Beaufort Force 5 is, apparently, a fresh breeze. The wind will be up to 17 to 21 knots, or 30 to 38 kph or 19 to 24 mph. (I wish it would make up its mind.) Rising westerly Dogger, German Bight. Easterly cyclonic Forties… and all that. Anyway, it means I’ve got my window open, but the door shut so it doesn’t slam, which, in turn, means there will be bits of trees and dried bougainvillea flowers scooting along the floor and taking me by surprise because I will immediately think they are spiders, even though I know they’re not, while out in the courtyard…
Not a lot is happening in that shot, but the chillies are coming along well, and we’ve already had one lot from them. I’ll drop in a photo at some point. Talking of which, I really must get some more. Everything in my folder is currently at least two weeks old. Still, not that much changes around here, only by the seasons or very gradually over time – renovations, more vehicles, businesses change, but the premises remain, the boys who came to dance under the orange trees on my 40th birthday are now getting married and raising families… When did that happen? Oh, and the early morning sunlight on old buildings is still a joy to see.
Wasn’t that a fun weekend. Oh. Why? What did you do? Not a lot, to be frank. Wrote a couple of chapters, watched a bit of TV, used buckets of water to flush the loo, listened to the pump going off every 10 minutes, finally turned it off on Sunday afternoon because we’d run out of water anyway despite not having a shower for two days and using bottled water in the kettle, made an appointment with a plumber to look for a leak this afternoon as long as the boy downstairs remembers to be home at the right time, made a note to ask him (plumber) if it’s possible to add a second water tank to the existing, and how much will it cost, and another note to (again) let the landlord know the issue persists, and went to the bar for a drink.
Also took a photo of the rose.
Happy September, by the way. Already? I know. The weather has been thinking it was September since early August, so that’s been quite pleasant, but it makes me wonder if we are in for an early winter. But hey! At least we are not being misled by a slimy phobe called Farage, we’re not seeing vandals being allowed to spray paint sinister red crosses (badly) and otherwise vandalise the streets with misspelt words and impunity. (I know. I wrote it that way on purpose.)
Friends came for drinks the other night. This makes the courtyard look huge!
Instead, we are looking forward to having lunch with the godson on Wednesday, Neil’s birthday and our anniversary this time next week, and a few other pleasant things for which we may or may not be able to wash. Oh, and I’m also looking forward to the mains water being switched on at eight so I can do just that.
It’s odd, and I must investigate – although I have mentioned this to the landlord. Houses up the road from us are on the mains 24/7, so how come we’re not? How do we get put on? That would save a lot of problems. I must ask Valantis later, or call into the town hall, or send an email and ask. Another job for this week, perhaps.
