A BIG thankyou for the Likes, Comments, Purchasing the Books and leaving Reviews.

Posted on by Opher

I thought it was time to thank all the people who go to the trouble, not only of reading the posts and leaving likes and comments but of purchasing the books and leaving reviews.

It is nice to know there are so many like-minded people out there!

Leaving a like, comment or a review is so uplifting. Otherwise, you feel as if you are writing into a vacuum.

Blogging is all about communicating. I have made so many good friends all across the world. It is great to touch base with other cultures and share!

Thank you.

Please keep them coming!

The Corona Diaries – Day 25

Posted on by Opher

Life goes on much the same in this isolated world. We make contact over the phone and internet with friends and family. Our lives have fallen into a pattern.

Last night Boris Johnson was taken into intensive care and his mate Trump sent a planeload of pharmaceuticals over. We’ll see.

So now we have Dominic Raab looking like a rabbit in the headlights – but nothing changes. Not enough testing. Not enough ventilators and not enough protective gear.

Today I did a bit of painting. I did a third coat over the walls in Dylan’s room.

I then finished the fifth edit of my new novel – ‘Farm 703 -The Human Project’ and decided there was little more I can do for it. I had a look on the web for public domain pictures of bacteria that I can use for the cover and found a few. I will check to ensure they are free to use. It seems hard to ascertain.

So I will publish and be damned!

My eager readership will be waiting expectantly!! It is a very apt story. Humans are being farmed by bacteria. There is debate whether to terminate the human project as we are being far too destructive.

It is a beautiful day so I went for a long two hour walk. There wasn’t a soul around. The countryside was blooming; the houses were shut up. I felt like I was a character in some post-apocalyptic story – Stephen King’s ‘The Standing’. It was almost eerie.

It is so great to see nature at play. I do hope that after this is all over we will cherish it more. We have abused it so much.

I am now off to begin the process of publishing! Stay safe and wish me luck!

The Corona Diaries – Day 19

Posted on by Opher

Late yesterday our isolation was disrupted by two guys delivering fourteen sacks of wood for our wood burner. As the days are still chilly we are having a fire every evening. Apart from the warmth it is cheery to have the flickering flames of a real fire.

This morning we had a few visits – a volunteer dropped off Liz’s asthma prescription, a council worker dropped off a new bin and the postman delivered a few parcels.

This afternoon we are expecting a delivery of food. That is good because we are out of milk and tea without milk is crap.

You see – even in isolation one is never alone! We exchange words at a distance and human contact is made.

It was bubble and squeak with a fried egg for lunch.

My writing has been interrupted today. Liz wants to decorate the house. Today was the back bedroom. She wanted me to move furniture, fill holes and sort out all the decorating material. So I lugged, mixed and filled.

She is doing all the fiddly bits around the lights and doors and skirting. Tomorrow I shall be donning my old clothes and painting ceilings and walls.

It keeps us both busy and gives us a purpose, I suppose. I’d rather be writing.

Yesterday I finished the third rewrite of Farm 703. Today I am starting the final read through and corrections.

It will be finished in a few days time!

Schizoid is out there and has received attention. Unfortunately I think the Amazon ordering is on a slow. My copy won’t arrive until halfway through May. So I presume that other people purchasing it are having the same problem. Very frustrating. This virus has a lot to answer for.

Today’s music is Bob Dylan. I’m having to play it more softly than I would have liked because I’m listening out for the food delivery – and the promise of a cup of tea!!

After the delivery I’m off for a walk. I will do my customary 10,000 steps. Trying to keep my fitness levels up!!

We’re talking to friends and rellies on the phone and face to face – but it’s not the same!

Outside there is still not enough testing and following up. The pandemic is building with increased deaths and cases. The full impact of social isolation is a way off yet! We’re expecting the peak at the end of May/beginning of June.

That seems a long way off. We have another three to six months of this!

Keep safe everyone! Thanks for buying my books, for the likes, responses and reviews! Keep ’em coming!

The Corona Diaries – Day 10

Posted on by Opher

Well you can feel the tectonic plates shifting and the mood not lifting. The conspiracy theories, fake news and real news all confused.

I’m not sure what to believe anymore. I’m really not sure.

I write prose that rhymes all the time but that’s no crime.

I didn’t mean to press that publish button – I was just doodling!

I’ll update.

We had fish and chips yesterday – I’m not sure how long we’ll be able to do that. There is talk of it lasting a year. There is talk of a drug cure.

I think it is going to get very bad very quickly – in a few weeks. Then everyone will panic and disappear. Then we will come out and it will come back!

But that’s just me.

I quite like this routine I’m in – but I miss friends and family already. What’s that going to be like in three months? I suspect we shall drift into a new reality.

On a positive note – among all the selfish Zombie Apocalypse at the supermarket – we have had offers of support from all manner of people. Society lives!!

Opher wishes you well! Stay connected!

Posted on by Opher

These are difficult times with much fear and anxiety for our family, friends and ourselves.

I would just like to wish all of you well.

Whatever your views on Trump, Brexit or even Tommy Robinson I hope you and all of yours stay healthy during this corona virus crisis.

I hope that even if we are isolated at home we can still reach out and communicate in this on-line community. Because that connection brings life and comfort.

Stay safe everyone – I wish you well! Keep up the reading, the likes and the comments! Community is strength!

Spam and deception. What makes people do these things?

Posted on by Opher

Spam and deception. What makes people do these things?

Every day I have to empty a number of messages out of my spam boxes. They are irritating and annoying.

I cannot for the life of me think why people send this stuff. They fall into a number of categories.

  1. There are adverts for all manner of goods. Would any sane person click on one of these products and buy them? Even if you wanted the thing you’re not going to purchase it off a cold call.
  2. Right now I have someone who is leaving weighty medical tracts on my blog – about 10 a day. I’ve had to block their IP so that they all go directly into trash.
  3. There are all manner of sex services, products and relationship organisations. Likewise – if you wanted to purchase sex, products, operations or join a partnership scheme would you do so from one of these? I doubt it.
  4. There are scams which want you to put in your bank details. Is anyone that stupid?
  5. The one that I can’t figure out are the others leaving meaningless messages saying they like your blog, or want to set up their own or like the layout, or just a big section of gobbledegook. What is that all about?
  6. Then there are the people who pretend to be friends just so that they can deceive you with flattery and try to make a fool of you. They don’t like what you say or stand for but pretend to. Why go to all that trouble?

People are strange.

This minority of anti-social or destructive people create huge problems for the rest of us. Just think how nice and simple the world would be if we didn’t have to put in expensive police, security checks and all the anti-theft paraphernalia. It would all be so much quicker, cheaper, faster and better.

The tiny percentage of criminals, psychologically disturbed, violent and malicious people create disproportionate problems for the rest of us.

What we need is a Love Gun that puts their brains right!

If you would like to purchase a book visit my Amazon page:

In the UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Opher-Goodwin/e/B00MSHUX6Y/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1477841671&sr=1-2-ent

In the USA:

https://www.amazon.com/Opher-Goodwin/e/B00MSHUX6Y/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1477841800&sr=1-2-ent

How to write the most Popular Blog – the definitive answer.

Posted on by Opher

How to write the most Popular Blog – the definitive answer.

IMG_0504

Having been blogging for two years now and had the opportunity to look at a great number of highly successful sites I think I now have a handle on what it is that makes a blog popular or unpopular.

Here are my observations:

  • Do not write anything controversial
  • Avoid Religion and Politics
  • Write about celebrity trivia
  • Write about food, the latest fashion, make-up, shopping and what you had to eat last night.
  • Write about hanging out with your mates at the shopping mall.
  • Write about buying stuff.
  • Write about love.
  • Write about fate that always finds a way through – with happy endings.
  • Do not write about war, starvation, inequality or environmental destruction.
  • Write about heart-warming stories of good prevailing over evil.
  • Write about comedy films, soap operas, strictly,  light reading and TV soaps.
  • Avoid heavy literature, Arty films or anything with depth.
  • Write upbeat poems – full of humour.
  • Put in cartoons.
  • Have lots of humour – slapstick and silliness.
  • Write about current Pop Music.
  • Do not mention viruses, guns, rape, terrorism, Brexit, Trump or scary stuff.
  • Write about winning lots of money – and how to win lots of money.
  • Write about style, make-up and being trendy.
  • Do not mention illness, disability or misery.
  • Avoid swearing and real sex.
  • Do not write about cruelty, the extermination of animals or the climate crisis.
  • Write about sexy boyfriends/girlfriends and stars – but in a ‘nice’ way.
  • Write about nice homes and fast cars.
  • Do not mention death.
  • Be aware that most people want to live in a bubble that is nice, shallow and shared, where everything is pleasant, fun and romantic. They are happy being entertained and consuming. They do not want the real world to intrude.

Well that’s me done for! Can’t say that I do anything right in terms of gaining popularity.

But then I can’t see the point of blogging if all you ever do is trivial and pointless.

Who cares about popularity!!!

If you ain’t got PASSION and PURPOSE you’re wasting your life!!

TUNE IN TO OPHER’S WORLD FOR A DOSE OF REALITY!!!!

Junk mail tells a story.

Posted on by Opher

Junk mail tells a story.

I have just emptied my junk mail box. I found the contents fascinating.

Seemingly I have lots of Asian and Latino girls who can’t wait to get their hands on me. I am wanted by model agencies and people want to sell me penis enlargement and Viagra.

I have hundreds of free spins on lots of casinos, free bets and enticing odds.

I am offered lots of wonderful credit card deals and payday loans are exorbitant prices (Presumably so that I can pay off the debts from the bets I have been putting down).

Supermarkets want me to set up accounts, take out cards and arrange home delivery – with various enticements.

Then there’s the gentleman from Ghana who wants to transfer $12 million into my account.

Well obviously I was highly tempted but there was only one I was interested in. I eagerly await my 50% of that $12 million.

What is this all telling us about the world we live in?

Blogging – why bother? What is it all about?

Posted on by Opher

Blogging – why bother? What is it all about?

galaxy-xray-hmed230p_grid-4x2

I was quite taken with the article on blogging that a reblogged earlier today because it contained a truth. It was a truth that was much deeper than it first appeared. The blog was humorous and yet it revealed a basic inescapable fact:- most people do not like to be made to think; they do not like depth; they like trivia.

I had been blogging for nearly a year when I read a post from a fellow blogger. He was a young lad, still living at home, who was thanking his followers. He had been blogging for a year and had amassed 50,000 followers. Now, as I had been blogging for nearly as long and had gained 547 people who found my writing of some remote interest, I thought I’d have a look at what this guy was doing that was making him so incredibly successful. His blog was unceasing trivia. It was just as described in that earlier post I reblogged – his blog was about what he was wearing, what he’d eaten, where he was hanging out, what he was watching on TV, what music he was listening to. It wasn’t as if he was doing anything, or any of it was interesting. It was ordinary and mundane. Yet 50,000 people found it essential viewing.

I went back and looked at my ranting, raving, social comment, ecological despair, diatribes, and general pieces of Rock commentary, poetry, my books, photos and religious antitheism and could see exactly why I only had 547 people who were interested. I was probably pissing off anyone who was interested in one aspect with what I was writing about with the others.

No matter.

I was told that if you want to keep your followers you don’t do politics and religion.

Well who cares?

I couldn’t do it any other way. What you get is the unadulterated honesty of Opher.

Why else would anybody want to blog?

This blog is a sharing of the mind. This is who I am. I’m not interested in trivia. There’s no time to do trivia (incidentally I had porridge for breakfast!)!

My 547 followers  have become 4765. That seems a lot. Though I know most of that 4765 don’t really give a hoot, I’m not sure that matters. Even if I’m only talking to a few people out there. Thanks for sharing with me. I value our time. I love hearing from you and the ‘likes’ give me encouragement. We may be a small band but we share things on a different level.

Thank you – both of you!

Opher’s World Blog is coming to an end!!

Posted on by Opher

Dear friends,

I have been running this blog for 5 years now and built up quite a following. Unfortunately I am running out of space. I have bought as much extra space as they will allow and have nearly filled it all. I am currently well over 99% with no opportunity to purchase extra capacity.

It looks like I’ve run out of space and options.

My only option is to take out a business plan and I don’t think I can afford that.

If anybody has any other suggestions I would be interested to hear. Any suggestions?