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Two ways your Amazon affiliate links could get you in trouble

frustrated

As serendipity would have it, I picked up not one but two golden nuggets this week related to Amazon affiliate links, which I felt compelled to share here. Trust me, they are small and insignificant things that you’re probably unaware of, but could get you in trouble unless you take remedial action at once.

Obviously, this post is mostly of interest to those who are Amazon affiliates. That is to say, people who embed affiliate tags in their links to Amazon products (in order to gain a small commission from any purchases incurred). Still, even if you are not an Amazon affiliate, the information may still be of use to you if you’re an author so you can warn your reviewers. Stick with me and it’ll all soon make sense.

GOLDEN NUGGET NUMBER 1

You’ve all heard that Amazon deletes reviews (sometimes hundreds in one go!) of people that they suspect know the authors personally. In my post, How to not lose your reviews on Amazon, I discuss some of the ways Amazon finds out when a reviewer and an author know each other. Also, in this post by Gwendolyn Kiste, you will be shown clearly how Amazon sees who knows whom via the use of Super URLs that many authors share without knowing the risks.

Now, to the nitty-gritty of this post – this tip has been shared recently in my writer’s group, eNovel Authors at Work:

Amazon now deletes the reviews of those who use affiliate links to connect to a book on Amazon from a book review post (on a site or blog).

Think about it: You’ve read a book, you post your review on Amazon (so far so good), and then you blog the review on your site but you don’t just link up to the book on Amazon, you add your affiliate tag to the link. Bam! Wham! You just gave yourself a financial benefit from your review! Big mistake… As you know, the Amazon TOS forbids reviewers to receive payment. And yes, you guessed it, Amazon considers the addition of your affiliate tag as payment, even if no purchase is ever made!

We can all continue to blog our reviews, of course, but, without using affiliate tags in the review posts.

GOLDEN NUGGET NUMBER 2

There I was yesterday, browsing through my timeline on Twitter, no care in the world, when this post by Meron Bareket on Social Quant drew my attention like a magnet: “7 Ways Using Twitter Can Leave You in Need of a Lawyer”. Seeing that I use Twitter heavily, I couldn’t ignore that! I am always careful not to step on any toes, especially where plagiarism or image copyright infringement are concerned. This means I breezed through the article, feeling quite safe, until I got to number 3: “Failing to Disclose Affiliate Links/Paid Endorsements”. I’d never heard of The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) before. I live in Greece and don’t even know if, being a Greek citizen, I am within their scope of supervision, but being as careful and law-abiding as I am, my immediate decision was to comply anyway. Read the whole article, it’s well worth your time! I made sure to amend all my automated tweets so I can disclose the use of affiliate links. Phew! Another bullet dodged as I roam the obscure paths of Cyberspace! Thank you Meron Bareket!

I know the title of this post refers to two ways… but having discovered the aforementioned tidbits this week my apprehension hit the red part of the scale. I felt compelled to research further and stumbled upon this terrific article by Al-Amin Kabir on Marketever. It lists the various ways Amazon could ban you as an affiliate for using your tags in ways you’re not supposed to. I mean, who would have thought you could get banned for using them on email for example? Phew! More bullets dodged there.

And with that, I’ll let you go. Hope this helps, folks!

Two ways your Amazon affiliate links could get you in trouble #ASMSG #authors Share on X

 

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Author promo & services on Effrosyni Writes

Those who follow my two blogs regularly may have noticed that I’ve been quieter than normal for a couple of months. The reason is I’ve been researching and experimenting like a mad thing. Late last year it hit me all of a sudden that I wasn’t happy at all with a few things on my site and general set up. So I sat down and wrote a list of what I wanted to do and, to my dismay, realized that most of what I needed would require the services of a professional web designer.

My heart sank. My already tight budget  didn’t allow me to consider that possibility. I live and get taxed in Greece, after all, and if you don’t know what that means these days, oh – how blessed you are!

So, knowing I had no other choice, I put on my virtual student hat and got to work. Other than learning a lot online, I also had the assistance of my wonderful author friend, MM Jaye, who imparted information with generosity of spirit and gave huge amounts of her time brainstorming with me as well. Before I knew it, I was learning new tricks fast and effortlessly.

The result? All the things I wanted to do I’ve now begun to implement at zero cost, other than heaps of my time, of course. I began with adding to my site a couple of plugins to solve some commenting and sharing issues I had.

I feel compelled to add here a little tip just for the sake of those who, like me, set up their site using Simon Whistler’s online tutorial: check out the plugins ‘Postmatic’ and ‘Better Click to Tweet’. The former now allows my visitors to subscribe to follow up comments (before, they were never notified their comments had received replies). The latter plugin now allows me to set up scripts for people to share my posts on Twitter (like the one you see at the bottom of this post). As you know, the set up we wound up with via the tutorial doesn’t allow custom scripts when sharing a post. Now, at least, I can create the tweet of my choice so people can share it.

Anyway, I am still working on a couple more projects, and hope to finish sometime this spring. I won’t disclose all my big plans today, but will announce the first big change that is now underway:

Author services on EffrosyniWrites

There is now a new page on my site called, FOR AUTHORS. There, I invite any fellow writers needing help with copy-editing or proofreading to give me a try. Many bestselling authors swear by my services and you can see testimonials here.

Furthermore:

My professional background of 20 years, other than involving administrative and secretarial work, also involved translations to/from Greek, so that’s also on offer. Although I can think of many ways I can help authors with their promotion, I will highlight here my suggestion for you to use copyright-free, eye-catching memes to accompany your social media posts. If you need help with making those let me know. I can make you eyecatching memes and banners anytime!

It is a known fact that images encourage engagement on the social media. If in doubt, check the infographics online or simply see this Twitter tip. It clearly states adding an image to your tweet will increase engagement by 313% !

 

Author promo & services on Effrosyni Writes. Please retweet #ASMSG #IARTG Share on X

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Saint Spyridon, patron saint of Corfu: his life and miracles

Today, December 12, The Greek Orthodox Church commemorates and honors St Spyridon. In Corfu, it is a special day of joyous celebration, seeing that St Spyridon is the patron saint of the island. As you may know, Greeks don’t just have birthdays; they also celebrate their name days with parties, offering sweets and receiving gifts. If I tell you that every Corfiot family has at least one member called Spyridon (Spyros) or Spyridoula (Loula), you can imagine how much partying goes on around the island on December 12!

My family always had my granddad, Spyros Vassilakis, to honor on this day, and so, it’s always been a special day for me, and even more so now that Granddad has passed away. I thought I’d blog about St Spyridon this year and share a few facts and legends surrounding his name…

Who is St Spyridon?

SPYRIDON

St Spyridon was born circa 270 A.C. in Askeia, Cyprus. He was a pious man and a shepherd. When his wife died, he entered a monastery and, later in life, became Bishop of Trimythous. He died peacefully of old age in 348 A.C. It doesn’t sound like much, I know, but what if I tell you about the miracles performed by this legendary  man, both when he was alive and centuries after his death? In his life, he performed many miracles and even brought people back from the dead with the fervor of his prayers!

St Spyridon was present in the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea (325 A.C.) where he took an active role. It is said that he converted a pagan philosopher into a Christian there and, according to legend, he performed a miracle in the process. While talking with this man, he took hold of a potshard to make a point that one thing can be three things at the same time (like The Holy Trinity can be Father, Son and the Holy Ghost). As he held the potshard, it is said that it burst into a flame, water dripping down his hand. It is said that all that was left from the shard of pottery in his hand was dust (while others say he held a brick). It is because of the specific account that St Spyridon is regarded the patron saint of potters (as well as Corfu).

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This story is just one of many that testify for this pious man’s sanctity; some of them date from when the saint was still alive and others began whole centuries after his death.

For example, when the Arabs took Cyprus (648 A.C.), St Spyridon’s remains were disinterred with the purpose of taking the sacred bones to Constantinople. However, to their surprise, the Cypriots saw that the relic was intact, and a scent of basil emanated from the grave. They took this as a sign of St Spyridon’s sanctity. The relic was taken to Constantinople and when the Turks took the city in 1453, a Corfiot monk called Kaloheraitis took the relic to Corfu and that is where it is still held today, in St Spyridon church.

The Corfiots adore their saint, and that is no surprise, seeing that he has saved their island and its people many times. For example, when a plague swept through the village of Marathias in the 1600s, it is believed that St Spyridon was sighted there and performed a miracle to drive out the plague. There is a big mark like a cross on the ancient walls of the Old Venetian Fortress and, legend has it, that the plague made this mark out of spite for being made to leave the island. The locals know where this mark is and point it out to tourists, although nowadays it’s not as clearly visible.

Another legend related to the plague has it that St Spyridon was sighted in the air dressed as a monk. He was chasing the plague that looked like a cross between a lion and a monkey with bat-like wings. The saint chased her away while beating her with a cross. When they reached the Old Fortress (Capo Sidero), St Spyridon made the plague scratch the sign of the cross on the wall and swear she’d never return.

The Old Venetian Fortress in Corfu Town that is said to carry the mark the plague made on its way out of the island…

This miracle is commemorated on Palm Sunday. The church procession stops in Corfu Town on high ground, faces the south towards Marathias and sends a blessing as a thank you to the saint.

This is the side of the fortress that bears the plague’s mark…

 

I asked Gran Antigoni about it the other day; she said the mark is visible on the wall under the cross from the Mouragia side (Mouragia is the picturesque coastal way lined with ancient Venetian buildings that leads to the old port). The other interesting bit Gran said is that the plague killed all but one man in the village of Marathias. In time, he had children with many different women, spreading his name across the village over the generations. She couldn’t recall the name but says many people in Marathias still carry this man’s surname today.

More annually celebrated miracles of St Spyridon:

During the second siege of Corfu by the Turkish fleet in July 1716, the Turks managed to take over a couple of forts on the island, including the ones in Mandouki and Garitsa. At the time, the island was under Venetian rule and fights between the rulers and the invaders went on for a month while the Corfiots prayed to their saint to save them from the Ottomans. On August 9, a terrible storm (highly unlikely in the Greek midsummer!) destroyed a great part of the Turkish fleet while several Muslims reported that they saw St Spyridon in the form of a monk rush out of his church, a torch in hand, threatening them. This sighting, along with the freak storm in midsummer and the damage to the fleet, caused panic among the Turks. It spread up the ranks and finally resulted in them leaving the island two days later.

This miracle is commemorated annually on August the 11th. A grand procession takes place in Corfu town and at night brass bands play music in Spianada square by Liston. All over the island, several varkarola (boat processions) take place too, with fireworks and singing, while the locals treat the visitors to fried sardines in many cases. Paleokastritsa and Petriti are two of the places that annually organize a varkarola.

On another occasion, St Spyridon is said to have saved the island from famine. How? He created a storm that caused three Italian boats filled to the brim with a cargo of wheat to change course and come to Corfu to save themselves. The precious cargo saved the people of Corfu from starvation and everyone knew it was a miracle because the men on board reported they saw a monk in a vision speaking in a booming voice, urging them to drop anchor at Corfu. This miracle is commemorated annually, again around Easter, this one on Holy Saturday – perhaps the  most greatly sought after day for a Corfu holiday because of the pot-breaking custom that follows the procession.

cfutown2

And this is where the legends about St Spyridon end.

The following are actual events that happened without a doubt, some in my lifetime, and which were relayed to me. They are well-known all over the island:

  • A man was working on the top of the steeple of St Spyridon church once… He lost his balance and fell to the ground but stood back up, unscathed. I’ve heard this so many times that every time I look at the steeple I can almost see that poor man fall and I cringe 😀
  • Corfu airport is situated very near the sea. As the planes approach to land, if you look out the window, it almost feels like you’re about to land on water – it’s that near to the runway. Back in the 80s, this was out in the papers: a plane was having a hard time landing on Corfu airport (weather or technical trouble, cannot remember) and it was so scary and such a near miss that when the passengers landed safely they headed straight to St Spyridon church to light a candle and thank the saint for saving them. It was also reported that when they next opened his casket in the church, they found seaweed inside…
stspyridoncasket

This is the private place in the church where people are periodically allowed to come in and pay their respects to the saint. Most of the time you leave a kiss on the casket, but I’ve actually kissed his velvet slippers many times too – a rare occasion where the priests actually open the casket and let you get that close to the saint!

 

  • A little girl who couldn’t walk was taken to St Spyridon’s church to attend Mass. Her parents had brought her from afar, hoping for a miracle. All of a sudden, the girl stood in a trance and began to walk. Her parents were overjoyed and after their excitement had subsided they asked their girl what had happened. She said a monk had come to her in the church and asked her to stand up and walk…
  • Back in the 40s, Corfu town was bombarded numerous times by German planes. My grandmother Antigoni was a teenager then, and she and her loved ones ran to St Spyridon church for protection one fateful morning. It was daytime. Gran said to me the Germans used to drop bombs in the day and fire at night… That morning, as the bombs dropped, the church was full. The people were huddled together, terrified, their eyes pinned to the ceiling as they listened to the bombs dropping and exploding. All at once, they saw the ceiling open up, down its whole length. They saw the blue sky for split seconds and then… just like that… the ceiling was restored. The locals still talk about it in Corfu town. My grandmother, at 91, still remembers it vividly as if it were yesterday.

The Corfiots think of St Spyridon as a living being who walks among them, listening to their troubles, protecting them, providing for them. This is why many jump at the chance to own a tiny piece of his velvet slippers… Periodically, the church replaces the slippers placed at the saint’s feet and the fabric of the old ones is fragmented and offered to the people as a ‘fylakto’ – i.e. a protective charm, if you like. It’s the tiniest bit of red velvet inside a paper envelope with a drawing of St Spyridon on it.

The remains of St Spyridon are carried out of the church and taken around town during many religious processions throughout the year. The most famous perhaps is the one on Holy Saturday just before The First Resurrection (of Christ) at midday – a joyful pot-breaking celebration all over Corfu town.

I hope some of you will leave this page feeling a little enchanted today. If this is so, then my work is done. I feel lucky to have experienced this kind of magic all my life and still can’t get enough of it. I love St Spyridon with all my heart, and like every Corfiot, I speak his name every day. “Agie Spyridona!” is something I tend to say when surprised, annoyed, amused, but especially when needing comfort.

To any of you who have a Spyros or a Spyridoula in your lives, Chronia Polla! I’ll be lighting a candle for my beloved granddad today.

cfutowngrands

Gran Antigoni and Granddad Spyros Vassilakis photographed in Mandouki (a picturesque area of Corfu Town near the new port) back in the late 80s

 

For me, it’s no surprise I wrote about St Spyridon and his miracles via my character Mrs Sofia, in my debut novel, The Necklace of Goddess Athena. Below, you will find a short, exclusive excerpt from the book that was originally included when the book was first published but was edited out in the second edition. I thought it was apt to publish it here today for posterity.

I hope you will enjoy it.

Mrs. Sofia’s face brightened. “Spyros? Your christian name is Spyridon? Oh, psyche mou, what a beautiful name you have!” She was ecstatic to hear the boy was named after her protector saint. It was a name that had followed her all her life, like every other inhabitant of Corfu.

Everyone on the island has a bunch of family members called Spyridon or the female equivalent, Spyridoula. As baby names in Greece are carried from grandparents to grandchildren, they’re always reminiscent of precious members of one’s family, some of them—as in the case of Mrs. Sofia—no longer living. In Athens, the name is not as common, so it was a special treat for her to hear it, and to be able to savor its sound again, so far away from home. She didn’t let the chance go wasted. She loved to talk about her beloved saint, and when she offered the boy information about him, both he and his mother stood eagerly to listen. Soon, she was telling them about the two miracles he’s mostly revered for on the island: the one where he saved the city from the plague, and the other where he turned his cane into a snake. She told them he still appeared through apparitions to cripples and other patients who prayed to him, curing them beyond any logical explanation. She looked into their eyes, saw wonder, and so she carried on, telling them this time about the miracles she’d witnessed herself in the town of Corfu.

She relayed the story of the worker who’d lost his balance while on the steeple of St Spyridon’s church. He fell to the ground and stood again, unharmed. Then, she recounted the story of that terrible day during the bombarding of the city by enemy planes in the 40’s. She and many others had rushed to St Spyridon’s church for refuge, praying to him to save their lives, their eyes pinned to the ceiling, brimming over with terror. For one terrible moment, they all saw the roof of the church blow up. They saw the sky, and then, miraculously, the roof closed in again within split seconds. Shocked, they asked each other and, to their amazement, they’d all seen the same thing.

The little boy’s mouth was now gaping open, and his mother seemed equally fascinated, her eyes huge and glazed over. Mrs. Sofia had a melodic voice and the unique talent of storytelling. It charmed her listeners and her two new guests couldn’t have been an exception.

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Why suffer bullies and haters?

A few days ago, I turned on the TV during my lunch break at home and came across a very upsetting interview. The hostess of a  popular daytime show had a Greek female author as a guest but, unlike the run-of-the-mill chat that I expected, the author, whom I choose not to name, spoke about the cyber-bullying she’s been subjected to for the past few years.

This author is one of very few in Greece who are very prolific, very popular, and who sell books like hot cakes. Note: this is a country where people don’t read and it’s very difficult to make a decent living as a writer. This lady was in tatters and visibly upset as she relayed her story. Her bullies seem to act as a group, pouncing on every single post of her books on any Greek site that hosts her work, filling the comments with obscene lies about her and trashing her work with vulgar words. But that’s not all. Her bullies have also been threatening to hurt her physically unless she stops writing, something that caused this poor woman a terrible sense of insecurity, enough to block her from writing completely. At the moment, she is in the middle of writing a novel but is unable to continue, saying the bullies have won and lamenting she has to stop writing all together. The moment she rests her hands on the keyboard, they start to shake, the fear induced in her by her bullies paralyzing her.

I won’t talk about this any more, because to watch her talk about all this has upset me a lot. I’ll only say the good news, i.e. that she’s found the courage to talk to a lawyer and is associating with the Greek police authorities (the all-singing-and-dancing Electronic Crime Division that is working miracles every day here, be it catching child pornographers, bullies, and even saving the lives of teenagers who plan to commit suicide). I sincerely hope they catch her bullies soon and that they get prosecuted and punished severely, so that this author can continue to share her gift with the world and live her life as she has chosen.

This shocking interview came to my attention, as serendipity would have it, at a time when I experienced a couple of hits of bullying towards me on Twitter and Facebook. Of course, by comparison, these are laughable accounts, but still, they always manage to leave a very bitter taste in my mouth.

Let me tell you something: bullies come in all forms and grades of nastiness. They don’t have to threaten to hurt you physically. It’s still bullying if they call you a nasty name, or if they disagree with you on a tweet or FB post and tell you so in a tactless, disrespectful or rude way. Some people may call them trolls, others haters, but I like to squeeze them all into the category of ‘bully,’ simply because I think they all have the same darkness inside and the same motives when they do it.

Whether we like it or not, these people love the internet. Every indie author will have to deal with some type of nasty comment sooner or later. Having been bullied in school at the tender age of 10 and having found the courage to speak up and get rid of the problem, I know first hand that bullies are cowards. They hide behind a front of bravado or act like they are the cat’s whiskers, but they have problems in their lives you wouldn’t imagine, their sense of self suffering from all sorts of problems.

In my 30s, I got bullied by a Greek young man online. We became email friends having met in a forum. At first, I didn’t know he hated Greece and the Greeks with passion although he was one! When he started to talk offensively about Greece and its people, saying he was ashamed to be Greek, of course I told him I didn’t agree with him and that’s when he started to threaten to hurt me. I stopped emailing at once and he got over it eventually and stopped writing too, but it was pretty scary for a while. He erupted with so much demon-like hate, just because I had a different opinion to his… Can you wrap your head around that? I bet you can’t and that’s okay because normal people can’t.

The guy’s profile? a single guy in his 20s living with a very oppressive mother. Pent-up anger was his number one problem because he couldn’t stand up to her. He dreamed of moving abroad but suffered from panic attacks so he was nervous to leave his house, let alone the country he despised. That’s right. A coward AND an antihuman in need of psychiatric help. He lived in misery so he hated everybody. If only Hitchcock were alive today, another Psycho could be given to the world! I laugh… but it’s anything but laughable.

Anyway, where was I? Yes. My experience with bullies. I even made reference to this worldwide phenomenon in my debut novel, The Necklace of Goddess Athena, portraying a schoolboy who was an introvert having been bullied for years (but, of course I gave that story a satisfying ending!). I’ve included this theme in my book hoping it may inspire someone one day, even one suffering schoolchild, to find the courage and to believe in themselves enough to fight back.

So, what do I do when a bully/hater takes a shine on me? This happens only online, of course, and in this case, I have a single, and very effective strategy, which I’d like to share with you today:

First step: if someone comes across as simply awkward, be kind and give them the benefit of the doubt, even if it means acting stupid, like you didn’t perceive the offense.

Second step: If they send you a second negative remark that is awkward/tactless/demeaning/rude (either in reply to your comment or at any other time in future), then that’s strike two and this is as far as I am willing to put up with it. This is also where I press the blessed BLOCK button. Whether it’s on Twitter or Facebook, it’s a couple of clicks away and then they’re out of your life like magic. Never hesitate to use the block button.

If someone uses obscene language, whatever you do, don’t answer, not even once. Simply block them. If you answer, they’ll feed off that like a starved jackal being thrown a t-bone steak and will only follow you around for more.

For some reason, most of my unfortunate encounters with rude people who disrespect the opinion of others happen on Facebook, so I’d like to share with you my own understanding of what the Facebook wall (private page) is:

I see so many people put up with ‘friends’ who comment on their posts against everyone else’s opinion in a demeaning, rude and patronizing way. Why does the owner of that Facebook wall put up with it? By humoring that one friend, aren’t they allowing them to harass everyone else? What I do with friends like that is–you guessed it–block them. Mind you, it’s never happened with someone I know from my personal life, like a family member or a friend or ex colleague. It only happens with people I’ve never met and hardly know anything about. Yes. I am an author so I have swung the gates open to my Facebook private page. I allow anyone to be my friend as to spread myself thin and market my books. The only cautionary measure I take is to only friend: a) authors b) people who I have mutual friends with c) people I meet in FB groups I frequent. Never hesitate to block ‘friends’ who you don’t know personally. Friending them on Facebook is not a lifetime commitment. If they misbehave, throw them out and protect your decent friends from the nastiness they brought in with them.

Think of it this way: your Facebook wall is not a public playground for anyone to come in and speak their mind tactlessly or rudely. Your Facebook wall is like your HOME. People can walk into it because you have allowed them to. It’s a private place, so whoever enters must enter with courtesy, otherwise they should be thrown out the door.

Have you noticed, I wonder, that on your Facebook wall you can actually delete other people’s comments?

YES! Why? Because it’s yours and you can do whatever you want with it. It means you own people’s comments under your own posts. It means YOU decide if they should be getting away with rudeness inside your house.

Sadly, a few of my Facebook friends let their rude buddies run wild. It’s happened to me four times now, which has stopped me from commenting in these people’s posts again, just in case I find myself the target of their ill-mannered friends. Do you see the problem they have here? I am not commenting on their posts any more, so they miss that extra bit of oomph when it comes to their message reaching that bit further. If these people are authors, won’t they be missing out if a few of their FB friends get put off enough to do the same?

Life is too short, folks. We should have no tolerance for any awkwardness or nastiness from others. As Robert Pattinson recently called the haters who trash his girlfriend with racist remarks, ‘They are demons who live in basements.’ What a wonderful way to portray them and I couldn’t agree more.

Make no mistake. It takes nothing to attract the attention of a hater. The other day, all I did is RT an author friend’s tweet about their book and this Greek young man replied to me and my friend with a tweet in Greek that referred to my mother’s female anatomy. That’s right. It’s nothing but the mindless, random response of an amoeba. These people are sub-humans, thriving on nastiness and ugliness and craving it, like vampires crave blood (sorry, couldn’t avoid the association after mentioning Rob!) Don’t waste time trying to suss them out. Decent human beings like you and me simply cannot. Just steer clear from them and let them be. The universe will eventually catch them to bite them where the sun don’t shine and that’s all we need to know.

If anyone’s bullying you or just being rude online, I hope this post inspires you enough to use the block button (or to seek help with the authorities if it’s gone too far.)

Take it from me: birds sing more happily after you press the block button. Enjoy the heavenly chirping and keep the demons out!

 

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A journey through time to the Brighton seafront

Today, I will be taking you all with me on a virtual journey through time to one of my favorite places: the seafront at Brighton, England – the infamous seaside town where the legendary West Pier once stood. The Pier, that was opened in 1866, has always fascinated me; hence, it’s no surprise that I wound up writing a romantic trilogy, The Lady of the Pier, telling its story while utilizing the Pier itself as the ultimate symbol of wistfulness,  nostalgia, and lost opportunities.

But, don’t let me get all misty. We have an exciting journey ahead of us and time is pressing for us all. For our first stop, let me take you to April 1997 . . . this is when I made my first trip to Brighton on a weekend break (at the time, I was working in Northamptonshire, England). Back then, albeit derelict and out of reach, the West Pier still stood and so, these photos, the only ones I have of the Pier and me in the same frame are precious to me like gold.

(Click on any image to enlarge)

Here are more pictures from that short break I had in Brighton; except for the one picture of the Royal Pavilion and its sublime minarets, all the rest are from the seafront. I hardly wandered away from there throughout my stay in town. You can also see the Brighton Pier, which still stands today, being more recent than the West Pier, and which back then was called Palace Pier.

(Click on any image to enlarge)

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The West Pier in 1997: at the pier head, you can see the theatre (the Pavilion) and to the right, the Concert Hall.

I took the following photo with two takes on an old film camera and then glued them together, so excuse the ugly seam (and poor resolution for that matter!). Still, I hope it gives you a good idea of how the seafront looked from the site of the West Pier back in 1997. You can see the Brighton Pier in the distance and the historical Metropole Hotel (big brown building) in the foreground.

 

Brighton-a1

I was lucky to return once more to Brighton, in New Year’s Eve in 1999, to see The West Pier, more or less, in the same condition. Sadly, I never returned after that. Since the arson attacks and the devastating storms that took place between then and now, all that remains of the West Pier today (as I write this in 2015) is a skeletal ruin of its once magnificent theatre (the Pavilion) at the pier head.

 

(Below image provided courtesy of Ben Nuttall)

The remnant of the theatre is commonly referred to now by the locals as The Old Lady of Brighton, or The Grand Old Lady of Brighton. When I first heard the names a few months ago on Twitter, they brought shivers down my spine since my trilogy is about a spirit attached to the Pier, called The Lady of the Pier. This peculiar coincidence made the story in my head become more real, somehow.

But, let’s forget the past and return to the present time for a while, before I propel us all into the future, shall we?

As I said earlier, the last time I visited Brighton was in 1999, so I was a bit stuck trying to find free images of Brighton’s seafront to post on this site. On the spur of the moment, I visited Twitter and searched for the hashtags #WestPier and #Brighton. I spoke to a few amateur photographers who posted stunning photos of the seafront, and two of them were happy to let me present them on this blog and post their images. One of them is a local of Brighton, Ben Nuttall, the other, as chance would have it, is a fellow Greek called Barbara Mama, visiting Brighton on a holiday break.

Without further ado, I’m delighted to present to you Barbara Mama, an engineer from Athens, and the wonderful photos she took of Brighton’s seafront during her recent holiday in this historical, British town.

(Click on any image to enlarge – following images provided courtesy of Barbara Mama)

Stunning huh? I was delighted to see the Brighton Pier is as popular as ever and that there’s also a big ferris wheel standing on the seafront now. Fantastic!

Before I press my magic buttons to offer you all a glimpse of the future, I must tell you this: the West Pier, or rather what’s left of it, is owned by the West Pier Trust, which nowadays looks to the future with bright hopes. Why? Well, an exciting landmark is being constructed as I write these lines in the same place where the entrance to the West Pier once stood. It’s a revolving, observation tower called i360. Its architects are the same people who brought the world the infamous London Eye. The purpose of the i360 is to give tourists a bird’s eye view of Brighton’s seafront while celebrating the West Pier and keeping its memory alive. The i360 opens in 2016 – not long now!

Here follows a short introduction of Ben Nuttall in his own words. Ben has been kind enough to include in the photos he sent me, a few from the construction of the i360. You’ll be amazed to know that when Ben doesn’t get approached by weird Greek authors pestering him for his photos, he has the BBC itself emailing him to ask for his latest video of Brighton’s extreme weather! No kidding!

Ben Nuttall

My name is Ben Nuttall. I’m 26 years old and live in Hove with my partner and our two cats Chester and Maggie. I moved here 4 years ago for work from Canterbury in Kent and love the vibrancy of Brighton & Hove. Everyone is very chilled out and there’s always something to do. I’m very much an amateur photographer. All the pictures you see here were taken on my iPhone 6 Plus, while out and about during my daily life. I use an app called VSCOcam to capture most of these pictures and add slight edits to them. You can view more of my photos on my Instagram page: Instagram.com/irbenji or on my Twitter: twitter.com/irbenji

And now, here are Ben Nuttall’s amazing photos! Check out that artistic black & white one of the stormy sea. Is it me, or does it resemble a painting? Stunning!

(All images provided courtesy of Ben Nuttall)

 

Before I go, to say I’ve had a bit of exciting news from Brighton recently. The Chief Executive of the West Pier Trust, Rachel Clark, bought a copy of The Ebb, book 1 in The Lady of the Pier trilogy, and posted about it on the news page of the West Pier Trust website, recommending it to its members! Yippee! You should have seen me bouncing about like a kangaroo the day she emailed me to let me know. To find out more about the West Pier’s history, to see old photos of its heyday, and to hear the latest on the i360, visit the West Pier Trust site. If you love stories about the past, it will fascinate you! To keep up with the progress of the i360, follow these great Twitter accounts or check out these hashtags:

 

twitterwpt twitteri360

#Brightoni360 #i360 #westpier #Brightonbeach #Brightonpier #Brightonwheel #Brighton

Last but not least, here is a shout out, with heaps of gratitude on my part for the two amazing photographers who made this post possible today. Thank you, Ben and Barbara, Barbara and Ben!

#SO #WW These wonderful tweeps!

bmama bnuttall

Do you love Brighton? Would you enjoy reading about the West Pier’s history through WWII?

Check out my compelling paranormal romance trilogy, The Lady of the Pier!

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A post about summertime!

Hello All! Today, I’m on a holiday mood, seeing that I’m off to Corfu for a week soon, so before I go, I thought I’d write a little post about my favorite season… Every year, I tend to hibernate during the winter and start coming alive in the spring. But, I love the summer more than any other time of year, and this is no surprise, seeing that I’ve spent most of the summers of my earlier life in an earthly paradise.

This is a a photo from the old quarter of Moraitika, my grandparents’ village on Corfu; this very tree and the lanes around it were my stamping ground where I played dodgeball, hide-and-seek, and a few games of cards with my cousins and friends as a child and teenager. Mind you, I even hung up my gran’s sheets from that very tree one year–couldn’t have been older than thirteen–to create a scene and a curtain as to produce a little play that I wrote. The other kids and I never advertized it and only did the show for our own pleasure. One of the village boys, Pakis, offered to participate as spectator. Before the show, I asked Pakis to pay his ticket. He reached inside his shorts pockets and handed me all its contents: 11 drachmas. After the show, we all went to the shop at the square and I used that money to buy everyone sweets. I believe Pakis had the most! That is just one of the myriad sweet memories I have from my childhood in the village, a place I love so much that I had to write a book or two set in it.

cfu 1

And, after showing you my favorite village corner, on the right in this picture, you can see my beloved pyramid-shaped mountain that is mentioned in The Ebb (book 1 in my trilogy). The locals call this mountain Mataouna. You can also see the sports pier on the beach at Moraitika – now you know what Sofia’s pier looks like in the book!

I will spend a week there as of this Friday, and hope to catch up with lots of people I love, but most of all, with my beloved 91-year-old grandmother, Antigone. She called me yesterday to say my aunt Danda brought her a cabbage from her garden knowing grandma would love to treat me to my favorite meal, Lahanodolmades (cabbage leaves stuffed with mince and rice in egg and lemon sauce). If you haven’t tasted this meal, take it from me, you haven’t lived! If you’re ever in Greece, try to find a restaurant that serves it… your taste buds will be grateful.

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Speaking of food, I’d love to share another of my favorite Greek summer recipes that I recently posted on Effrosyni’s blog: GEMISTA (peppers and tomatoes stuffed with rice). Another yummy Greek meal I can’t get enough of!

Well, this is it from me! If you’re going on holiday this summer, whether it’s the sea or the mountain you’re headed for, make sure to relax and unwind, connect with family and friends and not so much to the internet! Our lives are always so hectic, we deserve to unplug from the greater world every now and then, if anything, for old times sake.

Till we speak again, have fun this summer whatever you get up to!

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NEW! Clean Christmas romance. Single mother Cathy Roussos gave up on love long ago, and veterinarian Alex Rallis doesn’t believe in it, but one magical Christmas on a Santorini farm might just change everything…
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A clean romantic suspense short read with an unreliable narrator that’ll keep you guessing! Vera is losing her mind over famous actor Yannnis Ksenos, except, she isn’t just a fan… Now, she plucks up the courage to ring his doorbell… Visit Amazon

 

For my delicious Greek recipes, go here. 
 
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How to add an RSS feed to your site nice and easy

Have you created a site but having trouble adding an RSS feed to it? Are you looking for a way to prompt people to follow your blog but don’t know anything about code as to set this up as a widget? Fear not, for today I’m blogging about all this in full detail. I promise to set you up nice and easy in just a few minutes! What’s more, it’s all been tried and tested already by yours truly and it works like a charm!

As mentioned in the very first post on this blog, How to create your own website as if you were a pro, the tutorial I had followed to build this site did not include instructions on how to get people to follow the blog. Plus, I knew nothing about RSS feed. However, by watching a couple of helpful YouTube videos and with a bit of tweaking, I set up my RSS feed and the widgets without any problems within an hour. So this is me today, paying it forward and showing you how to do it too!

For my RSS feed set up, I chose Feedburner. Why? Because it’s a Google company and in my universe, it being the indie one, I go for Google every chance I get, simply because I feel it’s the best search engine in the world for a reason. This is why I didn’t use Mailchimp to set up a campaign instead. Some may find it easier to simply set up a Mailchimp campaign as to get their subscribers to receive notifications for their posts too. This is a personal choice. As I said I wanted to go for Google, plus I realize many people use RSS feeds to read posts so I wanted this option to be available.

Ok, here we go!

So the first thing I did, is set up the RSS feed. You do that, by going to https://feedburner.google.com

Now, I presume you already have a gmail account, i.e. the one you use on Google+ and Youtube. If you don’t have one, go to https://gmail.com and set one up.

Use your gmail account to sign on Feedburner.

Click on ‘Burn a feed right this instant’. Put in the link to your website followed by ‘/feed’ without spaces. For my site, it was http://effrosyniwrites.com/feed

It will say ‘complete’ and it will show you the link to your new feed. Copy it somewhere safe. You may need it for your Author Central Page for example as to insert your RSS feed there.

Click ‘next’.

‘Clickthroughs’. Tick it.

‘I want more’. Tick it.

‘Next’.

(Now, you’re going to add a few helpful free services.)

Make sure you’re on the ‘optimize’ tab and click on ‘edit feeds’.

‘Smartfeed’. Activate.

‘Feedflare’. Tick all the boxes on the left column. Activate.

Click on the ‘publicize’ tab.

‘Headline animator’.

(This is where we give your visitors the option to subscribe to the feed).

The oblong theme it shows by default (468×60) won’t fit on the right sidebar if you’ve used the same tutorial to build it as I have! This is where I did the tweaking. Change the theme by clicking on the drop down arrow. Choose 180×100 (choose white or black). Activate.

Scroll down to ‘Add to…’

Choose ‘Other – just give me the code’. Next. Copy the HTML.

Keep that screen open and create a new tab on your browser.

Go to the dashboard on your WP site. Go to Appearance, widgets. Add a new text widget to your right sidebar. Add a title e.g. ‘Subscribe to the feed’ and paste the HTML.   SAVE.    If you view your site now, you should see the widget for the feed showing (yay!)

Go back to the Feedburner screen.

‘Buzzboost’. ‘Display link to the feed’. Activate.

‘Email subscriptions’.

(This is where we give your visitors the option to follow the blog by email notification).

Activate. Copy the HTML.

Go to your WP dashboard again.

Create a new text widget for your right sidebar. Add a title e.g. ‘Follow this blog by email’ and paste the HTML in it.      SAVE.   Again, if you view the site, this too should be showing now!

Back to the Feedburner screen:

‘Pingshot’. Activate.

‘Feedcount’. Activate. Save.

‘Socialize’. Activate this service only if you want Feedburner to automatically publicize your new posts on the social media.

A note from me about publicizing your posts: I have not taken this option as I prefer to do this manually. It takes me seconds to go around Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Facebook after I publish a new post. Create the message you want and just copy paste with minor differences, i.e. I use more hashtags on Twitter, I don’t use Twitter handles in other social media and I tag people on Facebook too. I recommend you do this manually as well. The benefits are far greater than the measly seconds you will save by using the ‘Socialize’ service via Feedburner.

At this point, you are done and you’re all set up. Your visitors can now follow the blog either by email or by directly subscribing to the feed.

One last bit of tweaking that I’ve done… and you may benefit from this too.

Make sure to follow your own blog with one of your email addresses. The email notification can take up to a day to reach the mailbox but you can play around with the delivery time in Feedburner to adjust that. For me, it is not such a big problem that the notification is not instant. However, I did have an issue with the formatting of my posts the way they showed within the email notification message. All the images were on the very left even though on the blog everything is nicely centered. Feedburner says the styling for this is not compatible with all internet browsers. I use Mozilla Firefox and it looked all wrong. I didn’t want a single one among my blog followers to see such an unprofessional presentation again, therefore I went back to Feedburner and investigated, looking for a fix. In the end, it was a compromise:

Under the Optimize tab, I found the service ‘Summary burner’.

Basically, you go in there and add a teaser phrase such as ‘this is a short excerpt only. Click on the title of this post to read it on the blog in its entirety’.

Once you activate this service, the email notifications no longer display the whole post. They list the first couple of lines only and not even the image that you may have included before the text starts. This means there are no styling issues, and I don’t think the readers will have a problem to click on the title and visit your trusted site. After all, they’ve already chosen to follow the blog and they should be interested enough to read what you have to say, right?

Make sure to revisit Feedburner frequently and check on your stats. Among other things, Feedburner provides you with a list of the actual email addresses of your blog followers (subscribers).

Good luck! If you try this and get stuck, just ask. Leave a comment if you’ve been successful and kindly let me know. It would make my day!

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NEW! Clean Christmas romance. Single mother Cathy Roussos gave up on love long ago, and veterinarian Alex Rallis doesn’t believe in it, but one magical Christmas on a Santorini farm might just change everything…
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