My own grandad talked about his time in North Africa and Italy in WW2, not with pride but with humility.
None of these people glorified combat. That's what we need to remember.

gosh what a very interesting thing. Now there's plenty of my memories my mother believed I'd dreamed or made up; I'm convinced they're real. And there's things my daughter remembers that I don't. Possibly because they're hers, not mine, I think.

thank you. That is very kind.

unlike the early days of Twitter (I'll stop dead naming it when Mr Musk stops dead naming his kid) where it was like the Wild West, Blue Sky seems a lot more sane.

the other issue is that these accounts are spoofing email addresses of genuine, actual, real authors, some quite famous, and fooling wannabe authors that well-known figures want to connect and help them. I've had half a dozen purporting to be from real and famous writers.

well, since I am not writing at present (or possibly ever again) it'll have to just sit there.

well, those of us without a publisher don't have that as a buffer.
And a lot of ordinary people now often feel they have to use AI to write a simple email and letter. So looking at tone is not as simple a test.

I am certain 98% of them are AI. I've marked them as spam and that seems to help.
What does bother me is the possibility of genuine attempts at contact being thwarted.
Not to mention the fact that other less savvy authors get scammed.

might sound awful but I am glad that you, as a BIG author, are getting these dreadful things, just as I, as a SMALL (only in terms of fame rather than of the space I take up) author.
They're driving me barmy.

If we don’t fix the climate, pollution, and nature crises, we can’t fix anything. They are already actively amplifying poverty, hunger, and division. They are what stand between all of us, regardless of geography or ideology, and the better future we all seek. That's why I'm convinced that ...

#FlowersOnSunday
Happy Sunday everyone!

Today we have terrible weather 🌧️ – but on yesterday’s walk I found some small pink wildflowers and a beautiful red chrysanthemum in a garden. 🩷♥️