"…it might save your life.":  Never Say I Can't gets 5 stars from M. J. Milner  at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006HSNVO6  (1)

Over the last few weeks, I have received unprecedented interest in all my books from various readers’ clubs, promotion companies and review groups. Most expect some financial contribution in exchange for reviews or services.

To these individuals , clubs and organisations, I would like to make a few things absolutely clear...

1. I DO NOT PAY FOR REVIEWS
2. I DO NOT "EXCHANGE" REVIEWS
3. I DO NOT CONTRIBUTE TO  COFFEE CLUBS OR READERS' GROUPS WHO LEAVE REVIEWS

Yes, I have entered my books for competitions and prestigious awards, and some of these require an entrance or administration  fee, but the purpose of these organisations is to evaluate the quality of the book, its presentation, and editing, which is important to me because I put the "self" into everything from writing, revising, editing, proof-reading, cover designing, formatting, publishing, and promotion. I do not pay for anyone to produce my book so | will not pay anyone to simply review it!

I know reviews help to sell books, and when I get a good, genuine  review, I mention it on my Social Media pages, but I've never rewarded any of those reviewers with a cup of tea! 

As you will have discovered from the numerous articles I have written on the subject, I consider paying for reviews to be unethical.

The Mad Days of March

My latest book has just received the IndieBRAG medallion for quality independent fiction.

This is the daily diary of Terry March whose single act of kindness leads to a month of madness and mayhem. After helping an old guy dispose of a blood-stained carpet at the local tip, Terry rescues his old TV remote and while driving home, he uses it to zap phantom aliens! This leads him to an encounter with Police Sergeant Susan. His new resolution to be helpful leads to his first opportunity to be unfaithful to his wife of nineteen torturous years. A soon-to-be divorced Lauren offers her favours to thank Terry for his kindness, but Terry declines the invitation. Within days, another opportunity arises, and Terry can’t convince himself that those phantom aliens haven’t spirited him away to a parallel universe. 

Before that first week is over, Terry faces redundancy from his mundane job at the local council. In order to tackle the backlog of paperwork, the council employs a temporary typist, Ashley, who closely resembles Terry’s 19-year-old daughter, Megan. Terry’s wife, Brenda disappears and Carol, her twin sister moves in.When a body is found in his garden, Terry is arrested for murder and Carol adds to his torment by accusing him of rape! 

While in a police cell, Terry encounters further problems as Lauren’s police sergeant husband is the custody officer! But all is not lost! Police Sergeant Susan persuades Carol to withdraw the charge and mysteriously, that old guy from the tip makes a deathbed confession to the murder! 

But the mad days of March are not yet over. Ashley disappears. Terry’s daughter Megan suffers traumatic memories from her past. Lauren’s house is set ablaze, and a mysterious detective Dave is concerned that Megan too has disappeared!

All this in a month of the Mad Days of March!

See the Readers' Favorite 5* review at https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/the-mad-days-of-march

Available from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3kjs0yy

AIBA Book of the Day: 3 November, 2021: 246/42438

Posted November 3, 2021 by Awesome Indies Book Awards

The AIBA Book featured today is the  Awesome Indies Approved:

PENNY FOR THEM

by

PHILIP CATSHILL

at http://j.mp/AwesIndBk246 

Follow the author @PhilipCatshill on Twitter.  http://twitter.com/PhilipCatshill

Find the author on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PhilipCatshill 

Visit the author’s Goodreads page. https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5691660-philip-catshill  

International Author Network:https://www.independentauthornetwork.com/philip-catshill.html

Connect with the Author on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipcatshill/ 

Author’s website:   http://www.philipcatshill.com/ 

#AIBA  #AIBk #Books #Writing #Awards #Authors

 Readers' Favourite have just reviewed my latest novel ... 

Thank you Readers' Favourite!

Click here to read the full review.

Click here to buy the ebook from Amazon

Today, my stroke memoir:

Never Say I can't (... after stroke)

has been awarded a 

B.R.A.G. Medallion 

Award-winning Non-Fiction Books

https://www.bragmedallion.com/award-winning-books/non-fiction/never-say-i-cant-after-stroke/

Awesome Indies Book Awards

After the untimely death of the Awesome Indies coordinator, Brian Sfinas, I took over the administration, rebuilt the website at http://awesomeindies.net and relaunched Awesome Indies as Awesome Indies Book Awards. Although we are attracting submissions in various genres, we are struggling to find suitably qualified assessors. In order to receive the Badge of Approval, a self-published book (or independently published book) must meet the editing standards found in traditional publishing and be recommended by two independent assessors.

A third assessor will then decide whether the book is worthy of the prestigious Seal of Excellence.

As Awesome Indies Book Awards does not charge a submission fee but relies on donations to meet expenses, we are not able to pay our assessors. Perhaps it is time to reconsider our submission and award process, so I would welcome any ideas or suggestions you may have. Ideally, this appeal will encourage a plethora of editors, proofreaders, publishing professionals, or readers to join our assessment team!

Lies

and people who believe them.

It is bad enough when what could originally be described as a trivial omission provokes a disagreement, but when one of the parties defends his actions with a lie, it puts a strain on the relationship.

However, when he repeats his lie to others, the strain becomes irreparable damage. When those others believe the lie, the damage spreads.

Honesty could have brought healing and understanding, but to tell a deliberate lie and then, because that lie is believed, to spread that lie further afield is a cruel and callous crime.

My uncle once said if you steal once or a thousand times, you are forever a thief. People do not say "He was a thief because he stole my property." They say "He is a thief, because he stole my property." It is the same with lies. If someone tells one lie or a thousand lies, he will always be a liar. 

Of course, redemption might restore the relationship. The thief could admit his crime and return the property. The liar could restore the relationship by admitting the truth to all concerned.

In the case of the incident I have in mind, the liar has repeated his version so often, I think he believes it himself. One of the people to whom he lied considers he has made a magnanimous gesture towards reconciliation, but the one thing he hasn't done yet is told the truth.

Our "traditional" Boxing Day Dinner 

I received a gift this Christmas Which money could not buy Five generations of our family Joined us on Boxing Day!







Daughter & her husband 
have grandchildren of their own
And I sit in joy wonder, 
to see the family grown

Our Grandson brings his girlfriend
Our Son brings children three
But they are far too big now
To sit on Granddad's knee!


Greats and great great grandads,
Great Grandma's, Mothers & Dads,
Nineteen sat at our table,
Our growing family ...

And Joy abounds in this house,
That day and all year through

Yeah!

What is it like to have a Stroke?

I've had two major and one minor strokes, together with countless TIAs. 

The other day, someone asked me, "What is it like?"

In case you are interested, this is how I describe the long road to recovery ...

Having a stroke is like dropping a dozen jigsaw puzzles down a flight of stairs ...
You still have all the pieces, and hopefully, a few will stay in the boxes, but other pieces scatter on the treads. One or two might be lost forever by slipping through the gap between the carpet and the wall.

Other pieces might land upside down so you can't see the picture at all, just the cardboard on the back.

Pieces like the ability to talk, to walk, to remember faces of friends and family, tastes, smells, your likes and dislikes have to be picked up one piece at a time, and that little fragment of picture studied until you decide in which box it belongs. Sometimes, you will put the piece in the wrong box, and quite often, you have to tip out the box and start again, but in time, with help and support from family, friends and therapists, you will get the majority of pieces back where they belong. 

Some puzzles will never be complete. For example, my right hand has never recovered its ability to hold a pen, and I've lost the upper right quadrant of my eyesight. I guess those pieces are still under the carpet.

Picking up those pieces just takes time, patience, and courage.

Never Say I Can't

I only met my South-African born brother-in-law three times. Twice in 1982 and again in 1986, but in those few visits, our readiness to share a joke and a smile developed a bond that survived throughout the years of separation. We never exchanged mail directly, but he always had a quip or a quote to add to my sister’s replies.

Beneath the façade of humour, he managed to supress some immense tragedies that had occurred in his life. He outlived all three of his children from his first marriage. His two daughters died together when their mother was involved in a car accident. His son, who was also in the car, bore the physical and mental scars for twenty-five years, until one night, burglars broke into his Johannesburg home and shot him dead.

When humour failed him, he found solace in alcohol, and perhaps alcohol caused his death at 73, just a month ago today.

My sister was in her thirties when they married. They never had children.

I live 6,000 miles away from his home, 6000 miles away from my sister and over thirty years have gone by since I last saw either of them, but for some inexplicable reason, his passing has taken something deep and meaningful from my soul. How can I miss a man I barely knew so much? I feel full of grief and mourning coupled with worry for my sister, now very alone in her world, 6000 miles away from our home.

With truth, love endures
But lies often seem stronger
Lies cut wounds even deeper,
In time, the wounds will heal
but scars remain forever.

RELATIONSHIPS ...

I don’t know whether this social phenomenon has ever been documented, but I’ve noticed it happen in playgrounds, in families, in work places, in clubs, even in churches.

It usually involves a controlling personality, let's call him or her Person 'A', and is often triggered by a minor, often insignificant error or omission by Person ‘A’, which causes another person, Person ‘B’ to be inconvenienced, upset or just confused.

Instead of just acknowledging or admitting the minor error, Person ‘A’ becomes aggressive towards Person ‘B’, displays anger, makes counter accusations and generally implies that Person ‘B’ has no right to be in the slightest bit inconvenienced or upset. Person ‘A’ might even claim that Person ‘B’ had, by action or omission, caused or contributed to the error.

Obviously, this causes Person ‘B’ to be more upset or disturbed.

What usually happens is a third person, Person ‘C’, will attempt to calm the situation. Almost always, Person ‘A’ will resent the intervention. With Person 'C' around, Person ‘A’ can no longer bully or subdue Person ‘B’.

Now Person ‘A’ knows he or she can’t bully Person ‘C’, so instead, in this hypothetical but frequently occurring situation, Person ‘A’ will openly denigrate Person ‘C’ to other classmates, friends, family or congregation members and in doing so, Person ‘A’ effectively persuades others that Person ‘C’ is responsible for escalating the minor problem into a major crisis.

To my way of thinking, the only way to resolve a situation like this is when Persons ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ work together on restoring friendships, relationships and trust at the earliest opportunity but that only happens in fairy tales, because in real life, Person 'A' wants to retain his or her dominance over Person 'B' and can't achieve that while Person 'C' is prepared to intervene.

Instead, Person 'A' works towards an understanding or reconciliation with Person 'B', but ensures Person 'C' is excluded from the process. In some (but not all) cases, Person 'B' is persuaded by Person 'A' to abandon the association with  Person 'C', which effectively increases Person 'C's isolation.

Having reached this reconciliation with Person ‘B’, Person ‘A’ switches his or her attention rebuilding a relationship with Person ‘C’.

This puts Person ‘C’ in a dilemma. On the one hand, Person ‘C’ wants to restore harmony in the playground, family, workplace etc so now Person ‘C’ has to choose whether stand aside and accept whatever tactic Person ‘A’ employs to regain his or her control over Person ‘B’, or to walk away, find another corner in the playground, resign from work, join another church congregation.

  

In all the times I’ve witnessed this social phenomenon, I’ve never encountered a Person ‘A’ type who makes any attempt whatsoever to reverse his or her denigration of Person ‘C’, thus Person ‘C’ is still ostracised or shunned by those he or she once counted as friends. Whatever the outcome, the relationship between ‘C’ and everyone else involved is damaged, tarnished and sometimes destroyed.

Such is the damage to these relationships, the ‘C’ type persons will sometimes change schools, resign from jobs, even leave the clubs or church. 

Every dictator or bully in history has succeeded through isolating the stronger while dominating the vulnerable, so this situation is nothing new.

Full marks for Never Say I Can't – Judges Commentary in full ...

Writers' Digest 4th Annual Self-Published e-Book Awards.

“Judge, 4th Annual Self-Published e-Book Awards.”

Entry Title: Never Say I Can't

Author: Philip Catshill

Entry Category: Life Stories

Structure, Organization, and Pacing: 5

Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar: 5

Production Quality and Cover Design: 5

Plot and Story Appeal: 5

Character Appeal and Development: 5

Voice and Writing Style: 5

Judge’s Commentary*: 

Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

Author opens the book with an engaging scene, and we are soon – thanks to the author’s stellar talent in sharing his observations from inside the affected mind – immersed in the disorientation and fear of the post-stroke mindset. ‘Each every’ and the author’s early attempts at speaking are well-shared, and we get plenty of sensory detail such as the feel and temperature of the floor, the vinegar-cleaned windows, and other fascinating details he is able to process. We’re moved by how the author moved through the earliest stages of his recovery when progress has not yet been made. We sense the confusion, the wish to communicate better, the numbness.

Well done.

Author has created a very sensory account here. Very essential to the book’s success. I found the ‘rankings’ of patients in the care center according to whether or not they’ve had a ‘proper stroke’ fascinating. It was amazing to

think that the human race’s need to rank and impose status would ever apply to recovering from stroke.

It was a deep and moving scene when his friends preferred that he not accompany them to the ground floor for their departure, since it felt like they were abandoning him. That’s heart-wrenching, and the author presented this raw interaction with the concerned friends movingly.

‘I will manage’ uses terrific economy of words to show his empowerment and admirable courage. Settings are rich and detailed, and dialogue with caregivers is richly nuanced. We can feel that the caregivers are sticking to scripts that work with patients, but because they care so much for this patient, they show more heart and honesty with him.

Well done.

 We cheer for his progress, and we listen intently to his stellar writing voice.

Engaging and inspiring.

Penny for Them 

receives 

Awesome Indies Approval

Penny for Them at Amazon.com

Penny for Them at Amazon.co.uk

If you were told your country’s secret service needed you to do something you have done a hundred times before, would you hesitate or help? 

Penelope is the privileged stepdaughter of Henry Kendall-Wilkes. News of his death brings her out of hiding, so thirty years after she was told a UK secret service agent needed her help, she is able to recount the story of espionage and deceit that put her life in danger. 

In 1982, Penelope’s stepfather was a Minister in the UK Government. After Penelope threatened to expose his involvement in blackmail, he tried to kill her. However, with the Falklands crisis looming, the British Government needed his expertise, which protected him from prosecution. 

At the same time, IRA terrorism threatened mainland Britain. After introducing himself as an MI5 operative, Jim Pansy asks for Penelope's help to bring her father’s killer, Sean Moran, to justice and prevent an IRA atrocity, However, the simple task quickly escalates into an unforeseen pursuit for which she had neither training nor experience. 

At last, Penny can reveal how the pursuit of a killer led her to romance, danger, and a bag full of diamonds. 

“…you won’t want to stop reading until the last word…” 


Adult content.

Never say I can't 

The story of my stroke has received the IndiePENdents Seal 

Amazon.com      Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk

Here's a game I play when completely bored – usually when I'm in the waiting room at the doctors or dentists – I write a sentence, translate it with an online translator, then another with a different language and so on, until I've circumnavigated the globe and arrived back in good old English ...
This :
The result is never the same as the original, and frequently isn't even similar to the original sentence.
became :
The residue is nowhere indefinable as the first, and often carries no level resemblance to the primary imprisonment.

Digital translation shouldn't be relied on, especially translating from English into another language, because English is notorious for having many words meaning the same thing or the same word having several different meanings. 

What do we mean when we say mean?
Do we mean average, spiteful or signify?
Shabby perhaps, skilful or poor?

The Mike Newman Mystery "Who Else is There?" 

is a finalist in the 

Independent Author Network Awards 2015

Click here for Amazon.com

Click here for Amazon.co.uk

Have you ever walked on broken glass or trodden on hot coals, because I feel that's what I'm doing right now. A couple of weeks ago in another forum, a writer picked up on a comment I made over four months ago and then lambasted me with all sorts of unpleasantness and insults.

Should he see this topic, he might want to bring his sarcasm and innuendoes to this forum.

The reason for this guy's unpleasantness is because he refuses to accept that I not only go it alone in publishing my book, but because I go it alone from the first word right through to publication. Just duck your head in case there is still flak flying around, while I whisper a confession – I edit my own work, and despite the five star reviews my work receives, this guy is not alone in saying it can't be done.

So why do I do it?

I paid a small fortune to have my first book edited and proofread, but when I made changes as suggested by a professional editor, I felt I had lost something. Not in the writing, for the words on the paper were still my words and my voice told the story, but something deep-rooted and personal had been taken away.

I had my first stroke at 30, my second at 42, and both ripped furrows into my brain. The second brought an end to my working life. To fill my time, I studied art at the local college. In order to demonstrate a technique, the tutor took my brush and adjusted the picture on my canvas. This was his way. He would move from student to student, take up the brush or pencil and twiddle with the image, but for me, the painting had become distant, remote and no longer mine. I can only attribute this overwhelming sense of loss to the brain damage caused by the strokes.

It took me a while before I discovered what was missing from my first, professionally edited novel. I had lost the much-needed sense of personal achievement, which until then, had been the driving-force in my post-stroke recovery. Although the editing was excellent in every respect, for me, the book had lost its spirit. The life had gone out of it and it was as limp and useless as my right hand.

Others said the work was brilliant and should win awards, but I grew to despise it for the simple reason that it betrayed not my achievement, but only what I could accomplish with another's input.

I took the decision to withdraw the novel from the market. My first venture into becoming an author was nearly my last, but one characteristic I share with the fictional hero in my books is we do not give up. We never say, “I can’t.”

Just as I did with my painting after my second stroke, after a third stroke came along, I applied myself to studying. I learned editing practices and writing techniques. I focused on developing a system where I could hone my stories through several different stages until it was my best, and not my best enhanced, improved or adjusted by someone else. While I am still determined to achieve against the odds, I am immensely grateful for people who have helped, advised or guided me towards this goal. One such person is the British author and editor, Dorothy Davies. I have never met Dorothy, but her constant encouragement, criticism and advice through our social media connection has inspired me to progress in my ambition, and that is to produce a first class, award-winning novel of my own.

I do not recommend any writer to edit their own work unless of course, like me they only have half a brain and have spent years trying to perfect a system that works, but I have taken on the challenge and enjoyed every step on the way. My books still get amazing reviews and the occasional bad review, but whether it is 5 stars or 1, I feel I have a right to claim every single star as my own.

If you want to see my books, search Amazon for Philip Catshill

My paintings can be viewed at http://www.philipcatshill.com  which also has links to my poetry.

Philip Catshill