Clearly this lass hasn’t watched Adolescence
Last Friday, Lady Laura and I took Liam to the park. It was a rare, beautiful blue day in the UK, so we took full advantage of it. Among the parkgoers was a woman and her daughter, who couldn't have been older than two. The girl ran around trying all the swings and slides available, […]
What a crocodile and my books have in common
Pre-pandemic times, my sister-in-law wanted to celebrate her birthday with a trip to a London theatre. So, we did. We ended up watching The School of Rock, and it didn't disappoint. Whatever happened to Jack Black? 🤔 Anyway, no trip to London is complete without dinner, and after a series of, "Um, I don't mind […]
The day I told my manager to f**k off
True story: Many moons ago, when your Overlord and Savior was a scrawny, waxy 19/20-year-old student, I held down a job at a popular electronics department store. For the most part, it was a fun gig. I liked my co-workers, the yearly dinners out to TGI Fridays never got old, and the pay funded the […]
I’m quitting
I’ll get straight to the point on this one: I will no longer be writing daily. It’s a decision I’ve been wrestling with since the FrankenFlu I caught in late February for several reasons — the most important being how much time it eats into other tasks. Fun fact: these broadcasts can take 1-2 hours […]
I don’t buy $0.99 books anymore
A few months back, I decided to quell my OCD ways by painstakingly categorising my Kindle library into its respective genres. And let me tell you, it was SWIMMING with books. All said and done, it took me the best part of an hour to complete. … An hour I’d have much preferred to spend […]
Am I bipolar?
One more question… ========== Hi DJJ, I’ve been a part of the Legion for the last two weeks and love getting your emails. (WAY different to every other author newsletter I’m subscribed to!) It might just be me , but over these past few days your emails seem different. Almost like someone else wrote them. […]
And breathe
🧘♂️ 🧘 It’s one thing to subscribe to this daily email list, and quite another to partake on the last day of a promotion, right? (I told you the Legion is unlike any “author newsletter” you’ve invited into your inbox.) To all the Patrons who took advantage of the deal and nabbed not only my […]
[🚨1h] LAST CALL for audiobooks
Time is almost up: This is officially the last call to get any (or all) of my current digitally narrated audiobooks AND the upgraded versions upon their re-release for free. In coin terms, the prices currently stand at: + $4.99 for the chilling supernatural thriller duology, The Curse of Abbey Ruins. + $7.99 per title […]
[🚨5h] How much will the new audiobooks be?
A question I’m receiving a lot more as we edge within a Dachshund’s length of tonight’s deadline is: How much will the new audiobooks be? The short answer: I’m not sure yet. The slightly longer answer: More than what they are now. You can currently bag yourself any The Divided Region titles for $7.99 per […]
Why I’m rejecting Amazon’s “private” offer
Amazon HQ: 🔔 DING DING DING "D.J.J. Watson has returned,” the comms crackle in the commander’s ear. “I repeat, D.J.J. Watson has returned, and he's brought all of his books with him.” The KDP commander shoves the intern from his computer and furiously plugs my name into the database. The screen flashes green. 🟢 "It's […]
My thoughts on the recent Amazon boycott
There's a lot of panic in the author groups I lurk in. People are genuinely losing their hairlines over the boycott that's supposedly "ravaging" their business. Who knows, perhaps it is. Personally, I'm not seeing much of a difference, as the bulk of my book sales come through my Storehouse, and I very much intend […]
What Ozempic and AI have in common
Last week, I was chinwagging with family about this weight loss “miracle”, Ozempic. (I’ll concede, I only learned about this on a recent Joe Rogan podcast.) Just a few short years ago (pre-pandemic times), I used to lament people who’d take shortcuts in life — be it with health, work, whatever. Nowadays, my militant ways […]
You should always have a backup
Last Friday, a fire broke out at an electricity substation in Hayes, causing Heathrow Airport to go dark. Some 1,300 flights were affected, leaving thousands of people stranded around the world or having to cancel holidays over the weekend. Talk about a calamity. But here’s where it gets embarrassing (and why Heathrow bosses are sweating)… […]
Why I’m taking down my audiobooks after 2 weeks
After Saturday’s little bombshell where I revealed I’ll be taking down my digitally narrated audiobooks after just two weeks of them going live, I knew some of you would have questions like… “Why would you do that?” “Is there something wrong with the audiobooks?” “Are you running some sort of elaborate scheme?” Questions that, quite […]
A question for you
I’m doing something radical in this Sunday segment of #AskWatson. Instead of scooping up and answering the Legion’s burning questions (don’t worry, I’ll get to them one by one over the week — the show is not, and will never be, “cancelled” cancelled), it’s my turn to spin the bottle and ask YOU a question. […]
Our vacation from hell
Lady Laura and I have just got back from a week-long break away to a holiday park we frequent 2-3 times per year. It’s nothing fancy, but it offers all of the peace, quiet, and activities a young family needs. And let me tell you… It was nothing short of hell this time. You see, […]
The 6-word story that choked me up
I've long been a fan of short fiction, be it flash fiction or, in more recent years… Microfiction. This craze came about in the social media age (with some accounts growing to 100,000+ followers), and it seems demand for these bitesize tales continues to grow. So much so that, for several months last year, I […]
My uncensored fiction prediction for the coming decade
It seems you cannot go to the loo these days without AI being stuffed into it. Case in point: New iPhones are now becoming pre-stocked with ChatGPT as your virtual assistant. More and more cars now have AI assistants pre-installed as standard. Even Hollywood and video game developers are jumping on the technology to reduce […]
“What if this doesn’t work out?”
“What if this doesn’t work out?” “What if I look like an idiot?” “What if it proves I know nothing about X?” For a long time, I was hampered by thoughts like this, and something tells me I'm not alone in this. (We may be members of the Legion, but we’re still plagued with a […]
My second ghost encounter
Given the flood of replies to yesterday’s email about my first ghost encounter, I figured I’d share my second disturbing encounter with the supernatural. This one occurred in my mother-in-law’s house many moons ago. There was a brief period when I had my computer set up in the garage, which, given the lack of insulation, […]