twopenny post   ⁄   By Joseph Heck

This is a new addition to my website where I will offer my thoughts on a range of subjects. My expertise on any discourse written here is strictly from my own personal experiences – feel free to disagree.

I have inserted Kala and Kode in place of my mugshot, figuring they would be much more pleasant for you to look at.

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In the Beginning . . .

April 20, 2024

Being a writer, I felt compelled to come up with a spiffy title for this section of my site. I considered The Write Words, which was the name of the free-lance writing service I had for several years. But no, not quite what I was looking for. Writer’s Block I suspect has been overly used. So again, no. My Two Cents came to mind. Again, too common of a phrase. Or, at least it used to be when pennies still had a value.

Considering that those who read what I write here may not find much value in it, the phrase my two cents did strike a chord with me. While trying to come up with idea that would transform the phrase into something with a bit more pizzaz, I naturally turned to the Internet (doesn’t everyone?). And Wikipedia came to my rescue with an article on my two cents.

Towards the middle of the article there was a reference to the cost of postage in England way back when. According to the article the phrase "twopenny post" came about at that time. So, in the end, I decided twopenny post was spiffy enough for me and that became the title for this section of my website. If you want to read about the actual history of the English postage system and the twopenny post (and I don’t know why anyone would) click here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_two_cents.

Now to move on to other things.

When I first published SHIAM Conspiracy I was very excited. The world of Amaco Loch had revolved around my brain for a good part of my life, although this particular story took years to evolve. Once it was finished and I self-published the book, it didn’t take long for me to realize that publishing a book doesn’t necessarily mean that anyone is going to read it. Sure, there were a handful of people who did – mostly from free handouts in order for me to get some initial book reviews. I don’t know what I really expected to happen, but it became quite obvious that I wasn’t going to support myself and my family on the proceeds from book sales any time soon.

I admit that I never put myself out there, as it were, in order to promote it. Sure, I have a Facebook page, but have rarely gone on it, and my Linked In page doesn’t say much at all about anything. I did fill out the interview questionnaires for Smashwords and Kobo when I first joined. But that was it.

No one has ever refered to me as a social butterfly. Even in my youth I was mostly reclusive and found school far more socializing than was necessary. And so, I never promoted myself as an author, which resulted in SHIAM Conspiracy to become quickly buried under the volumes of competitive books being released onto the internet.

Although the book hinted at another being released, it has never come about. In my disillusionment and my need to eat, I instead concentrated on earning a living and spending time on techie things rather than continue chronicling the events taking place on Amaco Loch.

But alas, the writer bug has bitten again and the world of Amaco Loch calls to me. The question remains, will I answer that call?

I have removed the retail version of SHIAM Conspiracy for the time being, as I need to consider what I want to do and devise a strategy for doing it. Perhaps, rather than offer my publications through Amazon and all the other ebook sellers out there, I will offer them exclusively on my website. You can still obtain a free copy of the first part of SHIAM Conspiracy (referred to as book one) from Smashwords, if you so choose.

In the mean time I will try to put some interesting tidbits here upon occassion. Whether you read them or not is up to you.