It’s anniversary day in our household today, three of them falling on one day. Other than that, it’s been a quiet weekend with early starts at the desk…

Some writing, some plotting, planning and some research too. This morning’s job is to look into the structure of the City of London police as it was in 1893 and then learn how to tie a noose – it’s best you don’t ask! Some of the things I have to look up online… Eek! Apart from that… there was music in the square last night, the Yialos to Panormitis marathon has been run, the day boats continue to come in, and the weather is cooling down. It’s that time of year already when I have a fan beside me, but I have to wear a shirt because it’s cold, but without the fan, it would be too stuffy. Still, nice early mornings…

One thing I did try to research was the manufacture of my old Louis Vuitton trunk, which has been with me since I was eight. I had a look at the label and tried to find any info I could from the net and found one site that turned out to be inaccurate. It said, LV didn’t open at the Champs-Élysées address until 1925, but I have since found out that it opened in 1914, so I know the trunk is post 1914. The other addresses were in use before that, so they don’t help. There’s something about the placement of the serial number being beside the label, not above or on it, but when I search for info on that, I only get answers about modern serial numbers. Anyway, it’s an ongoing investigation, and talking of which, I must get back to London in 1893, and the nursery rhyme ‘Oranges and Lemons.’

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Just some photos to round off the week, and some are from much earlier this year, and some are more recent. No theme, just a random collection from my folder. I have no plans for the weekend, just the usual, but who knows? Anything can happen, and there may be something to talk about by Monday, I might have a thought or two about anything and nothing, I might not. In the meantime, here’s a gallery.

And, if you like historical fiction of all times and types, you might be interested in browsing this collection of 39 titles.

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’Twas a very pleasant day yesterday, starting at the desk at 5.30 where, by ten, another chapter had emerged. We took advantage of the water intake and took showers before meeting a godson at 11.45 to head down to Yialos. There, we visited the jewellers to arrange an alteration before heading off on separate missions and side quests. There were a fair few visitors to negotiate as we toured, walking against the tide at times, but being able to use the cut-throughs and avoid the floods. I bought a cap from the hardware shop (€1.00) to cap off a feed tap in an unused bathroom, visited another shop, and met up with Neil at taverna Trata where we had lunch.

After which, we hung out at Pavlis for a drink, watched some of the day trippers rushing back to their boats, enjoyed the view across the harbour through a gap in the moored boats, and caught up on harbour news from our host. When it came time to leave, we knew we had missed the 14.00 bus, and saw there were several people waiting for taxis, of which there were none at the time, so we walked up the steps, said goodbye to the godson, and, as it was time for Neil to go to work, went to work.

The turtle dove was back, though only one of them yesterday. I hope the other is alright. They are so trusting and tame, they practically share your frappé. They fly off to higher ground if anyone comes too near, but otherwise…

That was the closest shot I could get. I have ordered a small, pocket-sized, digital camera for an upcoming trip, so hopefully, I will be able to take better distance shots than my current phone camera allows. Anyway… after the shift and some chat with friends, it was home time after a long day out, an episode of The Crown (again, because it is so easy to watch and well filmed), and off to bed by 20.30. A pleasant way to spend a Wednesday.

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(Today’s post is shared with my author website, so sorry about that. There will be random photos of Symi to lighten the mood.)

Here’s a note for anyone else who might have published a book or two, and it’s about the way scummy scammers are using AI to make money. Here’s the start of an email I received this morning:

I recently explored *Snake Hill (The Delamere Files Book 9)*, and I was captivated by the way you weave suspense, rural legends, and complex character dynamics into this installment. The tension around the mysterious disappearances, the fire snake folklore, and the responsibility placed on both Jack and Simeon makes this book an engrossing read for fans of crime and mystery. Even with such a thrilling narrative, it seems this book hasn’t yet reached he wider audience it could captivate…

Do they think I am daft? Explored a book? What, you set out from the Royal Geographical Society with a brief to…? The rest of it is generated by an AI thing using my blurb, the text you can read on Amazon, which I wrote. All the person behind this is doing is generating dodgy text based on a book’s blurb, and having their system send out an email. These things then go with text like: Have you found it challenging to connect *Snake Hill* with readers who would enjoy the depth of your series, the unfolding mysteries, and the suspenseful twists…

This email suggested I contact ‘Mary’ and, like most, it promised promotion leading to untold wealth. It wanted me to reply and beg them to help me publicise the book(s). Then, what they would do is take my money and get AI to send out a few random spams to random email addresses and move onto the next victim.

I am now receiving at least one of these emails every day, But, because I use Mailwasher, I see them before they get to my laptop, not that they are dangerous or anything, but Mailwasher comes with various commands. I can permanently mark and report the email address as spam, and I can also bounce it back, so the person/machine at the other end thinks my email address doesn’t work. Hehe.

I don’t reply because I will only get more spam from the same AI if I do, but I’d love to reply: ‘So, tell me, as you have read the book and see its potential, can you tell me, a) what is the first full sentence on page 213? And b) why you started a series at book nine and not book one?

I bet, for every one of me (who is slightly experienced in this self-publishing game) there is a newbie out there who falls for this trick and parts with money because their book isn’t selling as well as they thought it would – and they thought it would because AI wrote it for them. Believe me, I have published over 40 full-length novels (every word of which I have written myself), and without a massive publisher and their publicity machine, you ain’t going to make a living, so don’t waste your cash on AI generated spammers.

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It looks like we are in for a blustery day today. The wind is forecast only to 4 or 5 Bf. Beaufort Force 5 is, apparently, a fresh breeze. The wind will be up to 17 to 21 knots, or 30 to 38 kph or 19 to 24 mph. (I wish it would make up its mind.) Rising westerly Dogger, German Bight. Easterly cyclonic Forties… and all that. Anyway, it means I’ve got my window open, but the door shut so it doesn’t slam, which, in turn, means there will be bits of trees and dried bougainvillea flowers scooting along the floor and taking me by surprise because I will immediately think they are spiders, even though I know they’re not, while out in the courtyard…

Not a lot is happening in that shot, but the chillies are coming along well, and we’ve already had one lot from them. I’ll drop in a photo at some point. Talking of which, I really must get some more. Everything in my folder is currently at least two weeks old. Still, not that much changes around here, only by the seasons or very gradually over time – renovations, more vehicles, businesses change, but the premises remain, the boys who came to dance under the orange trees on my 40th birthday are now getting married and raising families… When did that happen? Oh, and the early morning sunlight on old buildings is still a joy to see.

Have a good day now, y’hear?

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