Sam Redlark

image generated by Craiyon The Guardian closed the comments on this week's Notes & Queries , before I could add my well-researched, rigorously fact-checked voice to a debate, regarding what one should say to a friend who is planning on sending their child to a private school. Hence the appearance of my response here on this blog. For the record I failed my 11+ and attended an hilariously violent comprehensive school, from which I emerged with three A Levels and a lasting contempt for the education system. I sat two additional A levels at a fee paying school in London. Some of my friends attended fee paying schools almost from the get go. We all turned out alright. What’s the right response to a friend who says they are sending their child to private school? What’s the appropriate response to a friend who tells you they are sending their child to private school?  Anthony Huxley, Dunfermline It would depend very much on the private school. By way of example, if my friend wa...

  If everything goes according to plan and there are no hiccups, then my novella, The Missionary Dune, will be available as an eBook on the Amazon Kindle store, on Wednesday, 30 th June.  I regard it as a success in the sense that it is representative of the kind of story that I want to write. It has been constructed from ideas and concepts that are designed to appear as though they may have some grounding in reality, even though they don't and it's all made up. It is a work of almost pure fiction and imagination, containing only trace elements of research. It goes its own way and doesn't pander to any current literary trends. A few weeks ago, I designed a cover for the book. I am not even remotely competent as an artist, nor could I afford to engage one; in any case the point of this project is that I do everything myself. To accommodate my low level of artistic talent, the image had to be a photograph; one taken on my ancient digital camera, which was built by the Maya...

  I am preparing a novella for self-publication through Kindle Direct Publishing. It is called The Missionary Dune and, if all goes well, it will be available on June 30 th , 2021. Regardless of whether anybody wants to read the book, I have very much enjoyed the process of getting it ready, and have plans for it to be the first of many. There is something very satisfying about seeing a project through from beginning to end, and being involved in every step. The way has not been without its share of obstacles. Below are some of the challenges that I have faced so far. Two-step authentication This is really only a problem for people like myself, who don't own a mobile phone, or any kind of tablet device. Publishing on Amazon requires sharing very confidential information – things like tax identification numbers that could be used to commit identity theft. Consequently, logging in requires both a traditional password and a one-time password (OTP). The latter is either texted to ...