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Unsocial Media

10/31/2015

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The telly was on, but it was more like moving wallpaper than anything. There were four of us in the lounge.

So were we deep in conversation? Course we weren’t – we all had our phones in our hands. My wife was playing an online word game with some random stranger. I was answering a journalist’s questions about In Shadows Waiting, via email. My daughter was on Facebook. Our friend was….. well, you get the picture.  Unsocial media reigning supreme!

MSN was probably the first step in how modern communication has evolved – who remembers that, eh? My kids were always on it, using the old fashioned desktop computer. Nowadays there’s a plethora of communication channels, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Tumblr, Pinterest and Instagram. But it’s not just those channels that have affected how we get in touch with each other. It’s the medium too – smart phones and tablets.

That combination of channel and medium has changed the civilised world (and don’t say into an uncivilised world, although you’d have no argument from me on that score).

I readily accept that many aspects of social media are used for good. It can be a tremendous boon for many, keeping families in touch from one side of the globe to the other. It can even be a lifeline, re-igniting hope and confidence for those suffering from mental illnesses, for example.

But as there is light, so is there dark. I have seen how social media is used by online trolls for bullying and harassment. I think you already know my views on that…my outrage at those keyboard cowards led to me setting up an anti-online bullying campaign, and writing my acclaimed short story The Twitter Bully, which has just been re-released in a new anthology, containing the works of almost 50 authors.   
    
 Oh…and by the way, the subject for this column was suggested by two people I have never met in the real world. Thank you to my Twitter friends @_SeaofCowards and @Waitingirl13 for tweeting the idea to me.

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For A Good Night's Sleep -- Ditch The Tech!

10/19/2015

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My sleep pattern had been completely shot to pieces. Information overload. My brain was being bombarded from all corners of the ethersphere (yes, I know, that’s another word I’ve just made up).

In the olden days I’d switch off the computer, and that’d be it for the day. But oh dear me no, not nowadays, not with this constant 24-hours-a-day stream of information. The laptop’s on from around 8.15 a.m. until 6.15 p.m. Then as soon as that’s off, the iPhone starts pinging with emails coming in, largely from the United States.

And when else am I supposed to fulfil my part of my publisher’s marketing plan? My new publisher is based in Seattle, eight hours behind the UK. Their big thing at the moment is book blog tours, and requiring me to give interviews to a number of online book specialists. Oh, and don’t forget the ubiquitous Twitter and specialist groups on Facebook. They play an absolutely essential role in book marketing in this electronic age. 

The author’s role in promoting our books is almost as time-consuming nowadays as writing the masterpiece in the first place. And all this e-work was interspersed with playing chess online against a variety of opponents around the world. 

The upshot was that I was using electronic media every day, including weekends, until just before going to bed. So was it any wonder that my mind was still highly active and unable to switch off? A few weeks ago I decided a major change was needed. Somehow I’ve managed to squeeze my evening work of marketing my book through Twitter and Facebook into a much shorter time. Some of the more fun side of those two social media outlets has been sacrificed, and reluctantly I’ve had to put the electronic chess pieces back into their virtual box.

I now make a point of not looking at any electronic screen (other than the TV, of course!) after 8.30 p.m. And only trashy and escapism TV at that. Just slap me if you catch me watching anything intellectual. And my sleep pattern has reasserted itself as good as gold. 

Zzzzzzzzz.
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Fabulous New Anthology Coming On Sunday

10/14/2015

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Coming on Sunday from the worldwide #Awethors group -- a fantastic collection of short stories, some dark, some light.  More details to follow after publication. 

My powerful, moralistic tale, The Twitter Bully, is included. As it's a fantasy/horror it's found a spot in the Dark side! 

What punishment will the dead girl's avatar (pictured, right), inflict on The Twitter Bully, who caused her suicide?

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In Prisons Across Britain, Inmates Fight To The Death -- While The Nation Cheers Them On

10/14/2015

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Cover Reveal for The Phoenix Project, by D.M. Cain 
​

It's here -- the new cover for D.M. Cain's dark, gritty, psychological thriller The Phoenix Project.  This fascinating tale undergoes a makeover in the forthcoming new Booktrope edition. Completely re-edited and re-designed, it also sports this stunning new cover from the talented Amalia Chitulescu.

The book will be available to buy soon from a wide range of digital and paperback distributors.
Author: D.M. Cain
Title: The Phoenix Project
Genre: Psychological thriller / dark thrill / dystopian
Content: Occasional adult language, graphic violence and mild sexual content.




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Synopsis: 

How can you fight to the death, when you’ve given up on life?

 
A thought provoking and compelling dystopian world that will change the way you view justice...
 
A man fights for life—and redemption—in D. M. Cain’s riveting re-released novel, The Phoenix Project.
 
Britain has descended into chaos as violence and terrorist attacks seethe across this once-peaceful country. Outraged by the steady stream of lawlessness, citizens demand a harsher penal system, and the Phoenix Project is born.
 
In prisons across the country, inmates fight to the death in a weekly bloodbath while the nation cheers them on.
 
Raven Kennedy, a prisoner who has never forgiven himself for his unspeakable crime, struggles against his own guilt and self-loathing. But even as the real war wages on within himself, Raven is forced to battle some of the prison’s most ruthless killing machines. Can he survive long enough to unravel the anger and regret that shackle him—and one day find the forgiveness he seeks?
D.M. Cain Biography

D.M. Cain is a dystopian and fantasy author working for US publisher Booktrope. She has released two full length novels: The Phoenix Project - a psychological thriller set in a dystopian future, and A Chronicle of Chaos – the first in a dark fantasy series. She is currently working on the next novel in the series – 'The Shield of Soren' and a novella to accompany it.
 
D.M. Cain is also a member of the International Thriller Writers and is one of the creators and administrators of the online author group #Awethors.
 
Cain lives in Leicestershire, UK with her husband and young son, and spends her time reading, writing and reviewing books, playing RPGs and listening to symphonic metal. 
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Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/DMCainauthor
Twitter:       https://twitter.com/DMCain84
Mailing List:  http://eepurl.com/XevZH
Website:  www.dmcain84.com
Google+:  https://plus.google.com/+DMCain/posts
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7888430.D_M_Cain
Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzt_E8st1pyfkoTiA4E5jNg
                                                                                -----------

"The Phoenix Project, by D.M. Cain, is a superbly written debut, soaked in tension and intrigue"
                                                                                                           -- Jack Croxall, author of the 'Tethers' trilogy.
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No Smoke Without Idiots

10/4/2015

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How much common sense do you need to understand that smoking kills?

Seriously…how much? I would say just a tad should do the trick.

So why, oh why, oh why, are some people still either too thick or too inconsiderate to merit a new law having to be passed to stop them from killing children?

I have no problem with anyone who wants to smoke, as long as I don’t have to be contaminated by the cancerous air around them. If they want to deliberately kill themselves, then be my guest. And yes, they do know they’re killing themselves with those cosy white little cancer sticks.

Smoking was already banned in taxis, buses and vans, because of smokers’ thoughtlessness. But from Thursday October 1 a new law came into effect in the UK, preventing morons and idiots from smoking in a private car that has passengers in it under the age of 18.

So come on, those of you who smoke in cars with children in, tell me why you do that. More than 80 per cent of so-called secondhand smoke is invisible and odourless, so no matter how careful you think you’re being, your family still breathes in its harmful poisons, putting them at risk of meningitis, bronchitis and pneumonia, as well as cancer.

But, really, wouldn’t you think that knowing the harm secondhand smoke has on non-smokers who are unlucky enough to be in the vicinity of these carcinogenic-spreading dipsticks (my definition of dipsticks: those who smoke cancer sticks, not the cancer sticks themselves), would be enough?

This new law shouldn’t really be necessary, because the smoker should have more common sense and decency than to inflict cancer on their own children.

But many don’t. Do they?
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    Stewart Bint supports mental health charity Lamp Advocacy.

    Click here to donate
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    Author

    Stewart Bint is a novelist, magazine columnist and PR writer. 

    He lives with his wife, Sue, in Leicestershire in the UK, and has two children, Christopher and Charlotte, and a budgie called Bertie.

    Usually goes barefoot.

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