Lis Paice

I have Issues with the concept of writers block, such that I wrote a post on it. kjcharleswriter.com/2019/11/13/w...

There are a ton of things you can do if you're struggling to write, and none of them require using the theft-based environment-ruining plagiarism machine.

Billions squandered on asylum accommodation by Home Office mismanagement – Home Affairs Committee report finds - Committees - UK Parliament Flawed contract design and incompetent delivery left the Home Office unable to cope with the surge in demand for asylum accommodation, a report by the Home Affairs Committee has found.

Here is a link to the report itself

It points to upcoming break clauses in the contracts in 2026 and the end of the contracts in 2029 providing an opportunity to make better decisions -& better contracts

If those were 10 year contracts that points to 2019

committees.parliament.uk/committee/83...

Note that it's the Conservative Mismanagement of the asylum system that has been revealed in the report. BBC news don't seem to have mentioned this...

When we came home from holiday one year and discovered we had a very dead bird in the water tank my husband decided it was my job to fish it out. 'You are a doctor, you are used to that kind of thing.'

One of the first metaphors Dickens throws out in "Bleak House" is "a Megalosaurus... waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn Hill."

WEIRDLY specific... Unless you know Bleak House was originally a public oral performance, and the Crystal Palace dinosaur exhibit had just opened that year.

When I studied Medicine at Trinity College Dublin, in the sixties,one had to do a concurrent BA in English, French or History. I chose English. We had set books to read , a weekly lecture and essays to write. This element of my education played an important role in shaping me as a doctor.

All the Tabloid Telegraph does nowadays is publish sensationalist pro right ring headlines, and utter BS.. and then quietly do a correction afterwards, once the damage is done👇🏼

See the article pinned on my profile, that was a complete lie, which the telegraph subsequently went onto “correct”❗️😡

The government want more coercive powers for the state against protests, and the main opposition party wants more coercive powers for the state against migrants.

Our political-media culture continues in a loop where the response to every perceived problem is yet more coercive powers for the state.

Authors, look up your name and file your claim for settlement money here.

I have no means to answer questions except for this one:

Q: "But didn't I do this last month?"

A: "DO THIS ONE NOW."

secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com

This ought to be engraved somewhere.

While the training did the job that was intended, I see it as part of the pernicious normalisation of the use of gen AI in higher education. The case studies imply that the best way to e.g. update course materials is to use gen AI. Why not just use your knowledge and experience? Major ethical issues are passed over e.g. gen AI's training on stolen data and its reliance on exploitative labour practices. Gen AI has many negatives and few positives. It is antithetical to the critical thinking that should be central to working and studying at university. It is inherently unsafe, unethical, and irresponsible. We should be discouraging its use.

Did some mandatory gen AI training. Unfortunately, I was given an opportunity to provide feedback.

Farage vows to scrap indefinite leave to remain, placing thousands at risk of deportation Reform UK plans to force non-citizens to apply for visas with high salary thresholds and no access to NHS services

Thousands of Londoners have indefinite leave to remain.

They have legal rights and are our friends, neighbours and colleagues, contributing hugely to our city.

Threatening to deport people living and working here legally is unacceptable.

Nan’s not bankrupting Britain (but politicians might be) Pensions, productivity and the myth of the migrant “drain” – why Britain’s real crisis is ageing, not immigration

Pensions, productivity and the myth of the migrant “drain” – why Britain’s real crisis is ageing, not immigration.

Another cracker from the Bear.

@eastangliabylines.co.uk @bearlypolitics.co.uk

Frightening and important piece for any Brit looking at the US collapse and thinking it couldn't happen here. It could, and there are people out there right now who want it to.

"...in the same way that my historical work is energized by detail, I think my paranormal work has to be energized by detail and place and by history. [...] Any old place, old country has got old myths and old history and a whole accretion of people's ideas around it. And London's absolutely stinking with it. So a lot of that just sort of comes together very nicely to drive the paranormal engine.” KJ Charles

It was an absolute pleasure to interview @kjcharleswriter.com. We talked about world-building in historical fiction, genre promises, odysseys in self- and trad publishing, and kitchen hedgehogs (!). Read our conversation here: www.patreon.com/posts/interv...

This is a marvellous deconstruction of the Scene That Makes You Cry Uncontrollably. Happy Bastille Day.

I'm old enough to have got the Narnia books as presents as they came out. My mother and sisters would discuss the Meaning and I would be enraged and shout 'Stop it! He's a Lion! She's a Witch! It's a Wardrobe!'

Promo image for Copper Script. Centres on the cover, with 1920s styling, London skyline, copper and dark blue colours, the faint outline of a pen nib, and two figures in copper: a taller man in raincoat and smart hat, shorter one in flat cap. Title in elegant handwriting font. The image is annotated with notes of what the book offers: '1920s London', Conflicted policeman', Chronic Piner vs Chronic Flirter', 'Spot of murder', 'Stroppy graphologist', and 'Some really nice meals out'.

I have a book out today! 1920s m/m romantic suspense with flirting / pining / murder / curry.

books2read.com/u/4NE2KG

Good. Let's.

Autocoprophagy?

Dedication of KJ Charles’ New Book Auction item 'Dedication of KJ Charles’ New Book' hosted online at 32auctions.

Last minute addition to the amazing Genre Creators for Trans Rights auction!

I'm offering to dedicate ALL OF US MURDERERS (Sourcebooks, Oct, Gothic romance) to you, and will send you a signed print copy to prove it. :) Bid quick, it only runs to 2 May...

"This is a blatant infringement of the Author’s copyright"

Thank you to @carolynharris.bsky.social for raising awareness in Parliament of our petition with over 50,000 signatures calling for action following Meta’s use of 7.5 million pirated books.

#MetaBookThieves #MakeItFair #DoTheWriteThing

Check out how the anchors of CBS Evening News ended their broadcast tonight:

Alexandra Almond's review of Copper Script Did I stay up half the night to glom this in one sitting? Yep, and I regret nothing 😊 London, 1920s. Aaron is an upstanding policeman caught up in shenanigans with Joel, who scrapes a living interpre...

The latest from @kjcharleswriter.com is an absolute delight.

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Read and weep.

The UK Parliament’s Culture, Media & Sport Committee sent a strong message to the government on AI training today:

“The Government should abandon its preference for a data mining exception for AI training with rights reservation model…”

🧵

Also:

The government does not have the right to give away my copyright. Mark Zuckerberg does not have the right to take my property.

AJ West called AI the largest copyright theft in history, and he was spot on. The ultra rich tech bros are stealing from us all and it has to stop.

OpenAI, Google reject UK’s AI copyright plan The U.K. government’s AI copyright plans can’t seem to please anyone.

So even the govt's craven plan to weaken copyright and suck up to the tech bros isn't enough for them. Open AI and Google think they just ought to have all our work for free, always, because...they want it, that's why. #MetaBookThieves

www.politico.eu/article/open...

Amazing. #MetaBookThieves refusing to accept the @societyofauthors.bsky.social letter.

Society of Authors flyer reading 'Compensation for Creators. Meta must Do The Write Thing.'

Hi @davidpintod.bsky.social, are you aware that Meta has stolen literally millions of books to train their generative AI?

Please stand up for the intellectual property rights of British (Hendon!) authors, share our protest, and ask META to #DoTheWriteThing and pay for our work.

#MetaBookThieves