Tuesday, August 25, 2009

"Blue Smoke and Whispers" by Mick Herron

When a body is hauled from the River Tyne, Sarah Tucker heads to Newcastle for a closer look. She identifies the dead woman as private detective Zoë Boehm, but putting a name to the corpse only raises further questions. Did Zoë kill herself, or did one of her old cases come back to haunt her? Why was she wearing a jacket a murderer had stolen years before? And what's brought Sarah's sparring partner, Gerard Inchon, to the same broken down hotel? Coincidence is an excuse that soon looks pretty unconvincing. Sarah can't leave until she's found the answers to her questions, however dangerous they might turn out to be. Link

An unusual read for me, since I have problem identifying with female lead characters, but the author managed to not only maintain my interest, but enjoy Sarah as she unravils her friends "death". The location of the novel is Newcastle , England, a place I only vaguly remembered as a manufcturing center of dirty factories, but found out it is the home of the author. These facts increase the interest for me, minor as they maybe. I'd recommend this book to nyone who enjoys the genre of "Mystery"

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

How To Write Articles That Generate Clicks

by: Eric Ouellette


The main reason why people gets into article marketing, is to get more traffic to their website, squeeze page or affiliate offer. It's no secret that the best way to achieve great results is by having optimized articles.

When I say optimized, I don't mean just keyword optimized, I mean, well written and well formatted articles. In the next paragraph, I will show you what to do to best optimized your articles.

I will break this section into each part of the anatomy of an article so that, it's easier for you to grab all the information.

The title:
1- Must Grab the interest or pick the curiosity of the reader.
2- Must contain your keyword in the beginning.
3- Must be very specific about your topic in the second part.

The introductory paragraph:
1- Write 1-3 sentences introducing your topic.
2- Write 1-2 sentences explaining what the article will cover.
3- Write a sentence that leads to the body of the article.

The body of the article:
1- You must pick 3-4 key points related to your title or topic.
2- Either write paragraph for each key point or list each idea in a numbered or bulleted list.
3- To make your article keyword rich, begin each point with your keyword.

Concluding paragraph:
One of the best way to get the reader wanting for more, is to exclude to concluding paragraph. where the reader is expecting the conclusion, instead, he/she gets your bio box that you can start with something like this:

If you found this article useful, check out my new report. You can get it for free here: put your link here.

Author Bio Box:

Immediately after the body of the article, while the reader is still fresh from reading your article, give him/her a good reason to go to your website or squeeze page.

Example:

To download my new free report on (your topic here), click here:
To take a look at more articles just like this one, click here:
To read my free ebook (name of your ebook), click here:
To subscribe to my free mini-course (name of your mini-course), click here:

Writing and formatting:

It's usually easier to write the introduction, if you write the body of the article first, because you can be more specific when explaining what will be covered in the article.

Formatting is also very important, because it can highly improve the readability of the article. What you can do is break paragraphs after 4 lines of text. it makes it a lot easier to read.

To learn more about how to write articles that generate clicks and to grab my free report "How To Write Your Own Expert Articles"here: http://easyprofitexplained.com

Monday, August 17, 2009

"The Sign", My Current Read

I am currently reading "The Sign" by Raymond Khoury, a novel of religious dogma, global warming, and political conspiracy! Different than the dust jacket described, but still a viable read. I am about 75% finished. Will add my review here.

08-18-09 I finished it last night. I thought the last 100 pages was a "sellout" to the reader and a chance for a great ending, missed. Like many books, it sometimes feels as though the author got bored and quickly ended the book for some mysterious deadline. His other two books were OK, but I'll bet the imaginative reader can arrive at a better ending than the author did, in "The Sign". The editor also missed a few glaring misprints on automobile makes, engines, and design. Chrysler does not make the Navigator, nor does it come with a "Northstar" engine!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Reading Memoiers

Well, I finished reading my first memoriers/journal. It was a new reading style for me and one I will probably avoid in the future. I found it boring. Just because your life is interesting to you, doesn't mean it will interest anyone else. Perhaps it was the author's style? Perhaps the subject matter? I know I have thoughts and feelings to share, but does anyone care? Is my life on the streets interesting to anyone? Maybe the length threw me off....120 pages, when 40 would have accomplished the same intent? Probably. I know several people that tell a tale, only to include the names, birth dates, clothing styles, feelings, thoughts, and food consumption of people you don't know and will never meet, as part of their "story". Such details are boring and irrelevant. Telling the information in 500 words when 50 will do, is ridiculous and annoying!

Now that I've freed up some time, I'll try a biography and autobiography. How bad can they be?

Monday, August 10, 2009

Learn to Write Articles in 5 Simple Steps

by: TJ Philpott

I recently added three "Article Writing" web sites to my Writer's Corner section on the sidebar. I plan of doing research on various subjects at the college library nearby, and submit them at these sites. Here is a helpful article that suggest the basics of such writings.


No matter what reasons you may have for writing articles if you do this with any consistency at all it is to your benefit to learn to write in the most efficient manner possible.

With so many businesses now using the internet article marketing has become very popular as a means to advertise goods and services. The need to produce fresh content, and often, can be very challenging if you write articles to generate traffic.

In order to make this type of online advertising work effectively you need approach the writing process in a way that maximizes your efforts while minimizing your time.

Although everybody has different preferences, strengths, and schedules to contend with the writing process will essentially be the same. It's a matter of tailoring what works best for you and your particular situation to get the most out of your article writing.

With that in mind view the 5 step process put forth here today as a starting point for you to consider when organizing your article writing efforts.

Establish Your Topic

The first thing you obviously have to do is to establish the subject upon which you are going to write. I like to do this ahead of time perhaps even the day before. Once you've chosen your topic go ahead and rough out an outline of the main points you want to address.

Maybe you have some direction in which you may want to take your points, if so make notes, brainstorm if you will and then move on to the next step.

Article Research

Now that you've established your topic and a rough outline you have now given your article research some direction. Again like establishing the topic, I like to pull together my research before I sit down to write articles. The advantage to doing these 2 steps before hand is that it gives me a chance think about the content and how I want to present it. When I do actually sit down to write I find my mind more focused on the material and usually bristling with ideas. The longer I think about the content before I actually begin to compose it the more ideas I have and the easier it is to write.

Get an Early Start

After a good nights rest I prefer to make my article writing the first task of the day. My mind is fresher, more focused, and it is usually more peaceful in the morning resulting in less distractions.

Speaking of Focus

As stated previously I prefer the early morning to begin my writing for the quiet and focus morning hours bring. One thing I do not do is get sidetracked by phone calls, web surfing, or checking emails. These are things that can all wait till later in the day. Take advantage of your focus, energy level, and the quiet to be the most productive.

Begin with Opening and Closing Paragraphs

This may sound strange at first to actually write your closing paragraph before the body of your article but here's why. More 'creativity' will go into the opening and closing paragraphs of your article so tap into your fresh mind to get these done first.

Often the opening paragraph is the most challenging aspect of any article. You already know what you want to write about so just create a brief intro and then a concluding paragraph first. Doing it this way will make your writing seem a heck of a lot easier. With this out of the way you can now simply refer to the research material you've already accumulated to compose the body of the article itself.

Writing articles is a terrific way to gain some free online advertising for your business or other projects or interests. The key is learn to write during a time that you find you're the most productive and least distracted. By doing so you'll be increasing the efficiency with which you writes article allowing yourself additional time to focus on other areas of your business or life.

Friday, August 7, 2009

"Frozen Fire", a recent read

From Publishers Weekly

Evans and Jameson follow their bestselling debut, Category 7, about an evil scientist and his manmade hurricanes, with an eco-thriller with an even more imaginative premise. Deep beneath the seabed in the eastern Caribbean near the island of Taino lies a massive bed of methane hydrate, the only truly clean-burning fuel on earth. Megabusinessman Dennis Cavendish, Taino's owner, has built an undersea habitat, Atlantis, from which he plans to mine the methane hydrate, a complicated operation that, if bungled, could imperil the planet. Out to sabotage the process is charismatic Garner Blaylock, Earth activist, unsung genius and Dennis Cavendish's worst nightmare. Blaylock and his team of sex-enslaved women are prepared to die destroying all human life if it means cleansing the globe of pollutants. Readers will race right along with Dr. Sam Briscoe, a methane specialist, and the novel's other good guys as they feverishly strive to save the world. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

rebirth

darkness fades into light
brighter than all the twinkling stars
captured energy ignites long dormant emotions
from a long restless slumber
the soul awakes

awareness flows through emotional channels
like a fresh mountain stream cascading down a hillside
covered with wildflowers in the spring
growing as it makes it’s way to the primordial sea

consciousness flows electron by electron
recharging once dead feelings
kept in check
a glow of hope almost visible
hints of itself in a smile
a sparkle in the eye
feelings grow

sparks of life rekindled by a kind word
a gentle touch of someone just met
that yearning of feeling
the soul is reborn