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Category: Writing

Create Stop Creating!

This post first appeared on the Stephen Bentley – Author website. “Don’t create!” Where I come from it means stop making a fuss, stop arguing, even “calm down.” The time has arrived for me to “create stop creating.” I know a comma was missing there. Please excuse that as it was omitted for SEO reasons 🙂 I need to create and crack on with writing both of my works in progress. One a detective novel and the other the “faction” book about my grandfather’s Royal Navy career. Indeed the future is rosy because I have a collaboration in mind for a second fiction novel co-written with an author friend who has previously published a thriller novel. So where does the “stop creating” come into play?…

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Newish Look, New Era, New News

Some of you may have noticed earlier today you were redirected to my author website as this blog was under temporay maintenance. The end result is a slightly newish look. I was trying out a new theme to refresh the look of the site but it didn’t quite look right so back to the old theme but with a different header image. This time showing a scene from the Philippines. A new theme will arrive soon but when, I could not say with any certainty. Anyway the news and the new era is ushered in by announcing the winner of the last and final competition to win my new book: Tralla .. the winner is Tony Bushell! Congrats Tony! And thanks for being a loyal…

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Prince of Wales: WIP Research Progress Report

The previous articles about the sinking of HMS Prince of Wales in 1941 have been met with some interest which is pleasing. In case you missed them they are here and here. A tentative start has been made on the book but only in the sense that I needed to settle on a format or device in order to do the story justice.  What I mean by that is I did not wish to write a straightforward historical non-fiction book. It required a device to let my grandfather “tell his own story.” I have settled on such a ‘writer’s device’ but I’m keeping it under wraps for the time being. It is very much a work in progress (WIP). Prince of Wales Research Progress Report…

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Exciting New Giveaway Competition For All My Loyal Fans

Competition time again folks! Who doesn’t love a competition especially when you can win cash and have a real chance of winning (a better chance than the Lotto). This post is to announce an ‘Exciting New Giveaway Competition For All My Loyal Fans.’ You may have come here directly or through clicking on one of my “Subscribe” links either on this blog or my author website. Welcome! If you are not yet a subscriber but would like to receive my weekly newsletter and have FREE entry into the new competitions then you may subscribe here: [mc4wp_form id=”994″] This post also serves to inform you all of the final stage of my competition to win a FREE signed copy of my new book Undercover: Operation Julie…

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9 Eye-Opening Facts About Getting Older For Young People

Many blog posts are prompted by the writer’s own experiences. I’m no different and there is a reason why I chose to write about the ‘9 Eye-Opening Facts About Getting Older …’ aimed at young people. There is a part of my most recent book in which I describe bumping into a man I hadn’t seen for many years. It happened in London in about 2010; we both knew each other well from forty plus years previously from my Liverpool days. I walked by and thought ‘That looks like Kevin Dooley. Nah! it can’t be. He looks old.’ Stopping in my tracks, I turned and yelled “Kevin!” He turned around, for it was indeed Kevin. Fact #1 Inside your head you remain the same person…

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#1 Pro Tip – Try Before You Buy Social Media Tool (Be Happy)

Twitter is still partly a mystery to me. I say “partly” because the penny is starting to drop. If you want to have a presence on Twitter then you need to engage! It’s no good just shouting about your book, blog, or whatever else you have created and believe is a masterpiece. So, let me tell you about my #1 Pro Tip about social media in general and Twitter in particular. Before I do that, who needs it? If you are a “creative” then I suggest you need it. That applies if you are a writer, blogger or musician. You want to ‘tell’ the world about yourself and your work. This article could go on at length about social media and Twitter. It is such…

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War on Drugs – Beware 1) Misinformation 2) Vested Interests

Disclosure: I have a book to sell and promote ‘Undercover: Operation Julie – The Inside Story.’ It is a true story of my undercover cop days infiltrating one of the world’s largest drug gangs. I make the disclosure in light of the words “vested interests” in the title of this piece. I, unlike some others, have no vested interests in the debate on drugs. As I wrote in my book, “I am   neither pro or anti-drugs.” I am all in favor of an intelligent, fact-based debate. But other than that, I have no vested interest in advocating a view about the so-called ‘War on Drugs.’ It was the BBC who said that Operation Julie was the start of the ‘War on Drugs.’ As I…

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Why Spooky Scary Sixth Sense Should Not Be Sniffed At

Call it a “spooky scary sixth sense” or something similar, I’m sure many of you have experienced those moments. They maybe give you a sense of spirituality, familiarity or even déjà vu . Those moments have been experienced by me and it’s only now that I am able to make any sense of them. Allow me to explain and to do that you need to know I recently wrote about my paternal grandfather. Since I wrote that article I have made some progress in my research for the book. Only today I found and read this passage from an eye witness account of the sinking of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse: Finally, at 1735 hours on December 8, 1941 with all other immediate…

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5 Amazing Expert Tips On Viral Marketing For Authors

It feels like I have hit the jackpot in a Vegas casino! Through my links to the wonderful Books Go Social people and Laurence O’ Bryan, the founder, I have learned more in one day than I did in a whole year about viral marketing for authors. I wish I had found the course earlier. The course is called ‘Master Class in Viral Marketing for Authors.’ It only costs $29  Now $39 at the moment as an introductory offer and massively discounted from its eventual selling price of $290! Click here if you have read enough already and check it out – BGS Viral Marketing Course. What I Learned and the “5 Amazing Expert Tips” on Viral Marketing For Authors How to identify your “readership” and…

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Hands Off Cocks Put On Socks – Wonderful Navy Saying Not Sex

“Hands off cocks put on socks” is an expression I first heard when I was a rookie cop in Kirkby, Liverpool when I was 19 years old. I was learning about the “ways of the world.” An older worldly-wise cop was the source and was fond of saying it. He was maybe 10 years older than me, also a rookie, but had served in the British Royal Navy before joining the police. He explained to me that it was the barked order from the ship’s Petty Officer (PO) at reveille time designed to encourage ratings to get up and stow the hammock. Those words are likely to be the title of my next book. All plans have changed since reading a fellow blogger’s post. I…

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