rjnello

[rjnello]

Here, 80 Years Ago

A moment of historical solemnity. I took this video a few weeks ago. I was standing on Slapton Sands beach, a few miles from where we live here in Dartmouth, Devon: [Slapton Sands beach, Devon. Video by me, April 1, 2024.] Slapton Sands, with its shingle surface, and the fact that behind it, just a few yards inland, is a lagoon… [Looking toward Slapton Sands beach, just inland, across part of…

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#anniversary #authors #books #D-Day #Exercise Tiger #France #history #military #photography #Slapton Sands #travel #Utah Beach #World War II #writers

[rjnello]

“Franklin” On Screen

I have seen somewhere that Apple TV is working toward not just merely churning out programming. It is aiming to produce “quality” and “prestige” programs. If that is accurate, some recent releases certainly indicate that. Having just finished Manhunt, which is about the tracking down and capture of Abraham Lincoln’s assassin and his co-conspirators, and which we had enjoyed (I thought its “star”…

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#authors #Benjamin Franklin #books #entertainment #fiction #historical fiction #history #novels #photography #politics #social media #USA #writers #writing

[rjnello]

The Illusion

How weird social media can be. I see lots of people on Instagram in particular endlessly complaining that their “reach” has “fallen.” They feel that “few” followers even see their posts. Also even “non-followers” seem no longer to see them in the numbers they once did. They have no idea what has happened and they are NOT happy about it: [From Threads, April 11, 2024.] They tend to blame…

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#authors #books #fiction #Instagram #photography #readers #relationships #social media #travel #writers #writing

[rjnello]

Out Of Time And Place

I saw someone (who I follow, so I don’t want to identify them – even though they will probably not see this) on Threads the other day refer to binge-re-watching the first year of Bridgerton on Netflix. Relatedly, I also saw this on Friday: [From Threads, April 11, 2024.] Personally, I could think of far better things to do with my time. (Like ripping out the bindweed in the front garden.) To…

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#authors #books #English #feminism #fiction #historical fiction #history #novels #photography #reading #romance #social media #travel #writing

[rjnello]

On This Rainy Devon Morning

I was in the town center along the water early this morning. I still love to take photographs. There is always something “new” to see… [Boat Float, Dartmouth, Devon. Photo by me, April 2024.] There’s a certain warmth to the town early in the day… even in the rain. Continue reading On This Rainy Devon Morning

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#authors #books #Daphne du Maurier #Exercise Tiger #expats #fiction #history #novels #photography #politics #romance #travel #writers

[rjnello]

The Age Of "Old"

Saw this recently and I could only laugh – and even in laughing as hard as I did, despite my increasingly “older” age somehow I managed not to tear anything or cause myself injury: [From Threads.] It is not an “unpopular” opinion. However, to be serious, if at “age 36” suddenly you feel “90 percent” of the books you own have teens to young adult main characters, that merely reflects that you…

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#authors #books #expats #fiction #historical fiction #novels #photography #reading #romance #social media #travel #writers #writing #young adult

[rjnello]

In The Face Of Demands

There was a time it was not easy to get the attention of an author. Perhaps we could write a fan letter to their publisher in the hope the author would see it; or, very occasionally, maybe we could meet the author for a few moments at a book-signing among lots of other people. Mostly, though, we just had to accept that the author was not accessible to us and simply enjoyed the books they wrote…

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#authors #blog #blogging #books #censorship #fiction #historical fiction #Nora Roberts #novels #photography #romance #social media #writers #writing

[rjnello]

How She Is Surviving During This War…

While the Mrs. has been convalescing here at home, I have had a tough time concentrating on my new manuscript. I have, however, in downtime at least been doing lots of reading. One book I have just finished this morning is this one: [Anzhelika Shalahina, Ukrainian Diary: How I’m Surviving During This War. Photo by me, March 24, 2024.] That memoir by Anzhelika Shalahina (@angelica.shalagina on…

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#authors #book review #books #diary #history #memoirs #politics #reading #social media #Ukraine #war #writers #writing

[rjnello]

What Do You Love To See?

My previous post was extremely serious and maybe depressing. Can’t have two of those in a row! And certainly not on a Saturday! (Especially also not with some of what we are seeing “out there” in the world.) To start for this one, how about a seal pic: [Seal on a pontoon. Dartmouth, Devon. Photo by me, March 21, 2024.] On the River Dart, Thursday about 2pm, a local was seen taking the sun. If…

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#authors #books #England #fiction #historial fiction #novels #photography #romance #seals #social media #travel #writers #writing

[rjnello]

After The Lives Of All Of Us

I drafted some of this post about a month ago, but I was not sure I would ever use it. (I do write posts that are never posted.) My wife’s sudden near-fatal health issue brought it back to my mind with a ferocity. I decided to finish it and share it – so here it is… Back in December, a girlfriend’s father died at 91 essentially of old age, but likely helped along, sadly, by Covid he had caught…

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#authors #expats #fiction #health #historical fiction #history #memory #novels #photography #religion #social media #travel #writers #writing

[rjnello]

My Cornerstone

We should be, this morning, flying to the Canary Islands, to stay in the Tenerife town of Vilaflor for a week. That is not happening, of course. A holiday can be rebooked and is the last thing I care about right now anyway. [Street scene. Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. Photo by me, 2016.] My Mrs was in the hospital last week and she is now home resting and is also pretty much housebound for…

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#authors #books #expats #fiction #health #historical fiction #novels #photography #readers #romance #social media #writers #writing

[rjnello]

In A 1990s University Office

It is remarkable how much has changed in workplaces in some ways in just a relatively short period of time. Let’s call it “one generation.” In that sense, I mean about 20-30 years… [From Instagram.] Considering that, a bit lighthearted for today, here’s a workplace recollection from late in the last century. In the 1990s, when I was in my 20s/30s, I taught history and political science and also…

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#1990s #authors #fiction #history #humor #memory #photography #social media #technology #twentieth century #university #workplace #writers

[rjnello]

(Some Recent) Threads Of Thinking

We have had personal stuff going on since last weekend. It is too much to go into in detail. In short, my Mrs was in the hospital for three days, is now home again, and needs to rest, but she is (thankfully) fine. [Dartmouth, Devon. Photo by me, March 7, 2024.] That’s why I have not posted for a week. So things are now back more or less to (what at least I guess passes for) “normal.” However, I…

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#authors #books #expats #fiction #Literature #novelists #photography #reading #romance #social media #Threads #tourism #travel #writers #writing

[rjnello]

A Lifetime Of Effort

Everyone follows their own path as an author. I started out in the (now increasingly long ago) autumn of 2012, often sitting in front of the television, my laptop in my, uh, lap, secretly (I didn’t want anyone to know about it in case it all came to nothing) outlining and tapping away, as I began writing what I wanted to be novel set in the 1990s that would be part-memoir, part-fiction, and…

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#authors #books #expats #fiction #historical fiction #novels #photography #romance #social media #Threads #travel #writers #writing

[rjnello]

The “Book A Month” Club

You may know I am not all that fond of so-called “micro-blogging” social media such as the former Twitter (I deleted my account there in 2023; I had not signed up for an “X”) and now Meta’s new Threads (which is a lot like the old Twitter). I use such a platform only under duress due to the reality an author is almost expected now to have a presence on them. One major reason for such dislike is…

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#authors #books #fiction #historical fiction #novelists #novels #photography #readers #romance #social media #Threads #writers #writing

[rjnello]

“When the streets are largely quiet”

If you know Daphne Du Maurier’s books, you know she loved Cornwall – the county just west of here in Devon. At around her age 20, in 1926, her parents – the family was from London – bought a (in need of repair) river house just across from the town of Fowey (pronounced “foy”). Fowey is about an hour and a half drive southwest of Dartmouth; I haven’t been to Fowey yet, but I intend to get down…

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#authors #books #Daphne du Maurier #Dartmouth #England #expats #fiction #novels #photography #romance #travel #writers #writing

[rjnello]

The Matter Of Time

Sometimes, on social media, you see things said and think: “Ooh, maybe you should have written that differently… or not at all.” That said, such may also provide a prompt into a necessary and useful discussion. This is one example: [From Threads, February 20, 2024.] Many of those disagreeing have been pointing out that the size of the U.S. means Americans don’t have to travel abroad for…

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#authors #education #expats #novelists #photography #politics #romance #social media #tourism #tourists #travel #USA #writers