I've been Phished

Last week I received an e-mail from Halifax Plc, one of the UK’s leading banks. It looked very official, even had the company number and registered office listed. The gist of the message was :

Halifax Online Banking Security Department has been receiving complaints from our customers for unauthorised uses of the Halifax Online Banking accounts. As a result we are temporarily shutting down some selected Halifax Online Banking Accounts perceived vulnerable to this, pending till the time we carry out proper verification by the account owner. Halifax Online Banking is committed to ensure the safeguard of each customer personal information, making sure only authorised individuals have access to their accounts

There was a link to click on to reactivate my account. Interestingly, this came to one of my Marc Nobbs e-mail addresses, which I wouldn’t consider using for online banking since it would be very difficult for Marc Nobbs to provide ID to open an account (what with not being real and everything). Added to that, the man behind the nym has never so much as set foot in a Halifax branch, let alone had an account with them.

Here is my, rather restrained, reply :

Dear Halifax,
Not only is Marc Nobbs a pseudonym used by myself to write erotic fiction - I don't even back with Halifax under my real name. In fact, I've never had an account with Halifax, or indeed with any of your subsidiaries.
If you are going to Phish, at least check you're doing it to,
a)real people and
b) Halifax customers.
I expect an apology forthwith,

Many Thanks,
Marc Nobbs.
www.marcnobbs.com

Funnily enough, I haven’t had a reply yet.

Google Ads

I’ve been using Googlemail and the message system at myspace for a while now and something just struck me. They scan the contents of the messages to place ‘appropriate’ adverts. And it’s unnerving sometimes how accurate they are to what you’re talking about.

Does anyone else find this disconerting? Or is it just me? Is Big Googrther really watching our every move? If I type, “Google is the bastard child of the devil”, will they send the thought police after me?

Gotta go, I think I hear someone trying to break down the door…

Clueless Men

This morning I jotted down a ‘roadmap’ for a new story idea. I wanted to capture it before is ran away out of reach. And after I’d finished, I thought, hmmm, the twins are a bit devious and scheming, but my male character is a little bit clueless.

That got me thinking – I’ve written a lot of ‘clueless’ men in recent years. Go back to “Reunion”. In that story, Matt was just sort of swept along with events. He reacts to things going on around him rather than being in control. Even in the sex parts it’s Kelly who seems to dominate (not the right word). She’s the one who decides when, where and how they ‘do it’.

In the first “Ladz”story, Gavin is utterly clueless. He shoots off in his pants when Laura strips in front of him for Christ’s sake. And in the second “Ladz”story, Jake is just out for a day in London and is bewitched by this girl on the train.

“Charlotte’s Secret” is perhaps the exception that proves the ‘rule’. In that story, David appears at first to be weak willed and reactionary, but he’s actually as cold and calculating and controlling as his wife. Though ultimately his is proven not to know everything and events get away from him.

In “Lost and Found”, Chris is swept along on Beth’s ride. He’s very much the passenger on this journey.

And so it is with stories I’ve recently finished or am in the process of writing. In “Public Performance”, Kenny is quite frankly, a bit of a moron. Harry, from “Six-thirty sleeper to Paris” is similarly bewitched by a beautiful woman until he no longer has any control of his situation. In “The Method”, the main conflict in the story comes from the germ of doubt in the reader’s mind that Chloe is deceiving Adam.

So, the question has to be – is it me? What does my portrayal of male characters say about me, if anything? Or is it my portrayal of strong, confident yet vulnerable women that says more? I not entirely sure I want answers to those questions to be honest.

Submissions Update

Over the weekend I received back the edits for “Six-Thirty Sleeper to Paris” from Nat at Ruthie’s. I’ve got to say that I’m impressed – that’s about the quickest I’ve ever had a set of edits back. And they’re not to shabby either. I was expecting some issues with the French in the story, but for the most part it’s been fine. There have been two notes from Nat about the French and one translation from French to English – but most of his notes were about the plot or slight inconsistencies with the characters. All good if it makes the story better.

The issues with the French are the interesting ones to me. He asked to change “Faites-vous aiment?” to “Do you like it?”, which I can understand. It’s not ‘common’ French, by which I mean it’s not something I’d expect most English speakers to know and it’s also an important point in the story. Second, “Les chaussures du merde.” Literally this is “The Shoes of Shit” although my wife tells me this is how the French would say “Shit shoes.” In fact, she says that in French pretty much anything can be “Du merde.” Either way, I’ve changed it to “J’ai mal à mes pieds. Les chaussures sont merde” meaning “My feet ache. These shoes are shit.” Which I think reads better anyway.

The final one is my use of the word “pluke”, which doesn’t show up in the on-line dictionaries, but which my wife uses all the time. It refers to the lowest of the low, the real dregs of society. I asked her about it and it turns out it’s a regional thing – used a lot in the north of France but not so much elsewhere. My character is a Parisian, so I’ve switched to con, meaning idiot but equally derogatory.

I don’t have a date for the publication of the story yet, but when I do, I’ll be sure to post it here.

Also this weekend I heard from Alessia Brio over at Phaze. She’s editing an anthology that I’d submitted “Charlotte’s Secret” to. It was “coming together for the cure” with all proceeds going to breast cancer research. I knew I was pushing it when I submitted, because “Charlotte’s Secret” is at the very top of the word limit for the anotho (just over it in fact). A few weeks ago, when I followed up the sub, Alessia asked if I’d mind submitting the story for regular publication at Phaze if she passed it over for the antho. I said that of course I wouldn’t mind. In fact, I’d be delighted. This weekend she confirmed that she is passing over the story, in favour a greater number of shorter stories – which makes sense to me – and that she has put the story forward for regular publication. I’ve no idea how long it will take to get a decision either way, but I’ll keep you informed here.

Website

I’ve made a few changes to my websitethat you may like to look at. I’ve added details of all my published stories and works in progress. I’ve not been able to add links to them all yet – that’s next on the list – but it does look nice.

I’ve also changed the colour of the linked text from a dark purple to a light blue. It was hard to read before on my dark background.

I had hoped to add links to other authors etc this weekend, but ran out of time – my son just won’t seem to leave me alone at weekends, not that I’m complaining.

Take a look. Let me know what you think.

Oh, and I’m still on the lookout for any other authors who’d like their website/myspace linked to. Just drop me a message and I’ll add you when I get around to doing that page.