Tip of the Iceberg: March 2024
I want to start with an inspired quote from one of my favourite writers- Charles Bukowski I don’t think I would have liked him as a man, IMO he led a sad messed-up life choosing that of a degenerate alcoholic, but his writing cuts straight to the heart of what matters most, and it’s the heart that matters..!
"We are all going to die, all of us, what a circus!
That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't.
We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities; we are eaten up by nothing."
I look at BBC news feeds, I always look away feeling bereft. Same as it ever was-Gaza, Ukraine, Yemen, Middle East and African conflicts we are doing what we monkeys still do best, kill kill motherfuckers.
No absolutes anymore, only a truth that is malleable and relative. Nothing to hang your hat on.
Trump trump an orange tirade, a hate filled divided America, a 3rd world UK, a chattering shivering Europe with a Rus war lord waving his fist and roaring through bloodied dentition and a gaping vociferous maw.
Nothing changes and everything changes, but not for the better-why is our human default state seemingly chaos and hate.
Too much tech and still too much monkey building it and running it.
A totalitarian state exists once people can be made to believe craven lies touted by venal men who embrace evil and seek only their own power at any cost. Social media has exacerbated this perilous state of being.
Mark Fuckerberg and his cronies gets richer off it whilst we blithely send cute photos of our pets and families and he mines our scared data, feeds our fears and sick desires, and mostly we don’t care-the sop he offers makes our eventual crucifixion less painful and even to some, worth it. He and his ilk are devouring us, our children, and now he’s going to allow us to transcend our humanity and become virtual, augmented, heaven or hell on earth?
Its already here folks. Trivialities did compound and become paradigm shifts Charles.
Most days the current status quo is overwhelming and brutally skewers my autistic brain. Stop reading it then, you say!
Meanwhile I am tasked by ‘my special interest’ -both as an autist and as an author-to complete my Projects. I live in a sort of controlled mayhem bubble. I remain occupied in my retirement.
It’s Friday today, March 1st and I’ve just had completed the copy-edits and proofing of the first two Volumes of my debut trilogy, that I got back from the editors, and am 75% done writing the first drafts of the manuscript for Vol 3.
Editors’ arrogance to date has astounded me, they seem to forget they too are mere mortal’s technicians and prone to error.
I am doing a lot of remote work with a patient Pakistani guy in Faisalbad-he’s helping me with formatting, publishing, and then SEO, as we will do battle with mista Bezos and his Algo robots.
I’m clumsy and easily confused, making mistakes, working it out daily as I’ve never done this before. It’s been exhausting too, some days I’m just emptied out- but I love the cover designs and moments like that when they were completed are exhilarating.
By the 12th draft of the manuscripts, I don’t even see the words anymore.
I have personal favourites amongst the 30 or so vignettes I have penned. Some stories are soothing, the imagery vibrant, shimmering others are frightening as I delve into deep dark memories that I’ve chosen to box up and file away where they are not easily found. But now, all boxes are connected and form a whole-a life, my life.
It’s been an exhausting sometimes harrowing time writing this trilogy, but also exhilarating and healing, I am blessed to have had the time and support to do this.
The cover designs and proofing are now completed for all three books and ISBNs have been applied.
I have discovered that writing the book is only about 30% of the self- published authors journey, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. All the myriad of other tasks and processes must be completed to finally be able to see your work in eBook or print format and available for purchase at some ludicrously low offer price on Amazon or your own authors website. More on that later. But still, I proceed and am about to embark on Search Engine Optimisation. I console myself that there is a beginning and an end to every Project. Eat the elephant in the room bite by bite.
Conscious kindness is the key in my life-it gives me purpose; it prevents it all becoming a circus Charles. Let’s practise random acts of conscious kindness.
"We are all going to die, all of us, what a circus!