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Happy New Year 2016

Out with the Old – In with the New!

 

Happy New Year 2016 to all of my readers no matter where in the world you are. I scheduled this to be published at 2359 hours on New Years Eve local time, so if it’s not yet midnight on December 31, 2015, where you are then it soon will be! I say that as most of you are way behind me in time (literally not metaphorically).

I appreciate you visiting and reading my posts. I’m sure you know by now that they are a veritable potpourri of rants, raves and the occasional meaningful articles.

Most forgive me my diatribes and even my good friend Steve Fleming of Retiring to the Philippines. fame hopefully has stopped trying to change my outlook on life! (He hates exclamation marks!) He also complains that I never name-check him. Well  … there you go,  Steve!

If I feel it, I say it through my writing. It’s me and I am too long in the tooth to ever change.

I hope you are all looking forward to the New Year as much as I am. Real progress is being made on my book Operation Julie: Inside and Undercover and I relish the thought of it being in the non-fiction best sellers list in 2016! Ha!

I am enjoying writing the book immensely. It’s based on my real-life true experiences as an undercover police officer on one of the world’s largest ever drugs busts. The gang we smashed had links going back to the real ‘flower power’ days, Timothy Leary, the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, California Hells Angels, Ken Kesey (author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), the CIA, Mossad and a shadowy mysterious man known as Ronald Stark who no one really knew who he was, but knew who he wasn’t!

It’s a memoir packed full of incident, deception, rock n’ roll, drugs and sex. I enjoyed writing the sex scenes. It was my first attempt at writing erotica and I must confess I am tempted to write an erotica themed fiction series 🙂

happy new year

 

It’s time for thank you’s so I will start with Steve and Jerry in particular. A number of you have paid me compliments on my writing and you are all truly appreciated. I must though single out Steve (Fleming) and Jerry. Writing is a lonely trade. As a writer, you don’t work with anyone. You are by yourself with only the contents of your head and a keyboard to keep you company. So it’s appreciated when people read your stuff and make nice comments.

Two of the best are:

I like your writing as it makes you sound like the bloke from the pub that I would like to have a beer with – Steve Fleming

And –

I can tell through your writing that you have no ego. That is unusual in a writer – Jerry

 

I must also pay homage, and a big thank you also,  to my following top 5 commenters (according to WordPress) in 2015. They are –

Jerry – 8 comments

Adam Lawrence – 5 comments. Please read his blog The Retrospective Reel all about movies and TV shows.

Carol Moulin – 5 comments. Carol was my first guest poster and writes wonderful stuff at Writeful Mind.

Sandy – 2 comments. Sandy writes on her blog at Scribbles and Musings and gave me the idea for #FavFotoFriday.

Carol – 1 comment and she can be found on her blog at Women of Warfare.

I’d love to include all the ‘one-commenters’ in this ‘roll of honor’ but …

One of the best features about starting my blog back as recently as July 2015 has been making new friends in the blogging world. I met most of them through Blogging 201 run by the WordPress Blogging University. I recommend any blogster to enrol on one of their courses.

Most of my blogging friends can be found here at the Facebook Page of Cafe Blog or here at CafeBlogic. In addition to those bloggers I have already mentioned, I would like to thank these peeps for their friendship (apologies if I inadvertently omit anyone) –

Antonio Vereen of Living the Dream

Carlos of Thoughts of a Train Wrecked Pineapple

Robert Doyle of Soundtrack of a Photograph – check it out. It’s amazing!

Jeanette Hall of SaintP Blogging

Danielle Des of The Thought Card

John Steiner of Photo by Johnbo

Maria Holm of Maria Holm 51

Corrine Shields of ACT Made Lyrical

They are all awesome bloggers.

There are so many other people I would like to thank for a memorable 2015  but the list would be endless. I am honored, blessed and grateful to have ‘met’ all of you. I must also thank members of my family who keep in touch through reading my ramblings here. A special further mention for Steve Fleming – a big thank you for all the help and practical support you have given me. Cheers mate!

Finally, I must close by thanking Zabrina  for loving me, understanding my need to write and being my best friend and confidante. Not to forget Macky and Botsy who give me great pleasure and a  constant source of laughter.

Happy New Year Guys!

Like to hear the voice behind the keyboard? Listen here or should that be “Listen Hear”? 🙂

 

 

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5 Comments

  1. Jerry Jerry

    Happy New Year, Steve.

    Keep the fame and throw money 🙂

    Looking forward to reading more of your works.

    I write erotica and the first thing I learned about it (and got my hands slapped over) it’s not porn. It is also very a very difficult genre to write – too many want porn, not good steamy prose. Advice to anyone wanting to write erotica – warn the wife/GF before you start to write it 🙂

    • Thank you Jerry for the greetings. I’m still unsure about the ‘erotica’ bits in my book. They are in the draft but whether they remain is still under review. I will follow your advice about telling the woman in my life 🙂 Erotica is definitely not the same thing as porn.

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