I really slept in late this morning. By late, I mean well past 12:00–noon. But then, I was up well past 2:00am finishing two more chapters in my book. Many 2s and wells there. Synchronicity?

Once I am writing “in the zone” it’s difficult to break my concentration and stop typing.

“Leave the rest for tomorrow,” is not in my vocabulary. By mid-chapter, I am driven. Forget food and water.

I’m quite content in my self-inflicted jail cell.

This driven feeling is more than work ethic or time restraint. It is emotionally based. Painful memories must be dragged out of hibernation, (often kicking and screaming,) from behind locked mental doors, convert them into word and sew them to page before they can snap back into the dark bowels of my mind like a bungee cord. It is much like reluctantly remembering a nightmare months after having had it–a struggle on many levels.

So why would I inflict such masochism on myself?

How does that saying go? “Those who forget the past are destined to repeat it.”
Your journal can become the skeleton for your book. My notes from my first battle with breast cancer helped me live through stage 4 the second time. Those journals and memories became my emotionally packed book.

My story is unconventional, but not unique. It must be told. I won't give up.

Doctors are human. Scientific tests are only as accurate as the people who perform and read them. Life is not infallible. But Inner-guidance from dreams validated in the waking world just might be.

My second book is more than halfway complete because I have my own style of cutting out my literary pattern and sewing it together with a running stitch that can be removed to make adjustments.

I write the beginning and ending of my book–then fill in the middle. This also works for blogs and articles.

By using this technique, I always know where I am and where I’m going with a story that is filled with impassioned twists and turns. It gives me a mental edge–no floundering around in the dark while retrieving dark memories. I never feel like I have wandered off the books path. Rather than holding one tread of the story’s line in my mind, I have two. This extra balance anchors my writing so I can interject humor yet not wander away from the serious nature of the main theme.

Writing a book is much like sewing a garment. 

Somewhere between the beginning and the end product, areas no longer fit. Some seams must be let out, others taken in, and extra material trimmed.

But, I always save my scraps because they could be the collar of another adventure.

Kathleen (Kat) O’Keefe-Kanavos is a TV/Radio Producer/Host of Wicked Housewives On Cape Cod™ and Author/Lecturer of the International award winning bestseller, Surviving Cancerland: Intuitive Aspects of Healing which promotes patient advocacy and connecting with inner guidance for success in health, wealth, and love, contributing author to Chicken Soup for the Soul: Dreams & Premonitions, PATHEOS Blogger and Columnist to Women Voices Magazine: SOUL and HOME, Kat taught Special Education and Psychology. She has been featured in newspapers, on CBS News, in American Express Open, and published in medical journals. Learn more @ www.AccessYourInnerGuide.com
PATHEOS http://www.patheos.com/blogs/aboveandbeyondthe5senses/
https://twitter.com/KathleenKanavos https://www.facebook.com/SurvivingCancerlandtheintuitiveaspectsofhealing

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Dark Lady is a mystery novel written by Richard North Patterson. 

 It is a complex story that talks about politics, political corruption, organized crime, big construction  projects,  misappropriation of public money and influential people with some of their darkest secrets exposed.

 Dark Lady is a 'dark' novel. I was particularly disturbed by the masochistic love making scenes and by the vivid description of the mutilation of bodies by a cold blooded killer.

 Patterson's characters are complex, believable individuals with their own secrets that the author exposes to move the story along. By following their life stories, the characters seem real. Their dialogues , both spoken and in thoughts, allow us to see into their soul and understand their motivations.

 The protagonist of the story is a young, ambitious Assistant County Prosecutor, Stella Marz (Marzewski) who was given the nickname Dark Lady by a courtroom deputy due to her "ruthless" cross-examination practices. She has lived in Steelton, a city divided by Onondaga river into the West and East sides beside lake Erie, all her life. 

 Stella was a daughter of the West Side - known as Warszawa - where a wave of Polish immigrants "poor, hardworking, Roman Catholic and largely illiterate" settled in the late 19th century. 

Among those newcomers was Stella's grandfather, Carol Marzewski. He too was offered a job in America by Amasa Hall, a wealthy owner of steel mills, who paid his workers as little as possible and became rich in the process.  

This is how Stella remembers stories about the early settlers and her ancestors.

 At twenty-three, Stella Marz,  decided to leave her parent's home, unwilling to accept a life of poverty and enduring abuses by her old-fashioned father (Armin Marz), whose loss of job left him "unemployed and bitter." 

She landed a job at the Jack Novaks's law firm in Steelton city. Wealthy, influential, attractive at his thirty eight years of age, Novak offered Stella a refuge from poverty and family unhappiness and supported her law-school studies.  Nothing was given to Stella. As an honor student Stella had worked diligently through college and law school.

 She fell in love with Jack Novak. Her boss. Stella believed she had found a partner at law, a lover who could understand her, only to learn with time that Jack was a troubled man. 

 Not only was Jack Novak the lawyer of the ruthless Mafia head Vincent Moro, who paid Jack well to bribe whoever could be bought in the Police and the justice department in Steelton county, but Moro practically owned Jack. That and Jack's strange sexual fantasies aided by use of drugs and third party either watching or part-taking in sexual orgies, made Stella decide to leave Jack Novak and his firm.

 As his gesture of good will, Novak offered Stella his help in getting her a job as the Assistant County Prosecutor working for Arthur Bright. Stella proved to be a great lawyer and having passed the Bar exam, her ambitions grew as well.

 Arthur Bright was the first African-American ever elected Prosecutor of Erie County. It was he who had eventually made Stella Head of the prosecutor's homicide unit.  Bright aspired to become the Mayor of Steelton city, which was the reason he entered the 2000 Mayoral race. Stella's ambition to become the first woman elected Prosecutor of Erie County depended on how successful Bright would be in defeating the current Mayor, Thomas Krajak, who was running for re-election.

 To replace Bright, Stella needed his endorsement. Bright, on the other hand needed Stella to campaign for him in the Warszawa among predominantly white and racially biased voters. Both have devoted much of their professional life to a fight against drugs, demanding and enforcing tougher, stiffer sentences, more education and better treatment facilities. 

 Thomas Krajak, the current Steelton's Mayor, believed that his ticket to re-election was to build the baseball stadium. The $ 275 million project that he named "Steelton 2000" would benefit not only the biggest local developer, Peter Hall and his company Hall Development, but also every other contractor, as well as the city itself.  According to the agreement, Hall Development would share any savings in construction with the city. The city will benefit from new tax revenues from jobs created as well as sales of baseball and concert tickets, All-Star games and other events. That was Krajak's pitch in "selling" the Steelton 2000 project to the voters.

 Krajak needed Peter Hall on this project. Peter unlike his heartless, former steel baron grandfather Amasa, was very respected in the business community and popular in the county. He was a graduate of prep school and Princeton and with guaranteed career in business and the fourth generation of inherited wealth, Peter Hall entered the Steelton 2000 project not only to earn more money and have the stadium for his "Blues" baseball team but also to attract more businesses to the city and create more needed jobs.

 To coordinate the business and to overlook the payments to contractors and subcontractors, Peter Hall hired Thomas Fielding as the project supervisor for Steelton 2000. 

Thomas Fielding was totally devoted to his job of checking and certifying that the compliance goals are being met.  The agreement between Hall Development and the City guaranteed Steelton 2000 thirty percent of the work performed by the workers of minorities. The minority general contractor was a company called the Alliance Company.

 After thirteen months working on the project Steelton 2000, Thomas Fielding was found dead. His Maid found his naked body in the bedroom of his townhouse next to a dead black prostitute, named Tina Welch. He died of an overdose of heroin. 

 Only a few days later another dead body was discovered. The Chief of Detectives, Nathaniel Dance informed Stella Marz of a homicide - "a big one". A unanimous caller alerted the police. Jack Novak was found hanging from his closet door. He wore a garter belt, stockings, and a pair of black high heels lay where they had fallen from his feet.

 In search for motives and subsequently for the killer or killers of Thomas Fielding and Jack Novak, Stella discovers a dark secret of the County Prosecutor's Arthur Bright. A hidden tape in Jack Novak's home, discovered by Stella, showed a drugged Arthur Bright wearing a garter belt , stockings and a pair of black high heels while being pleasured by a prostitute.  The tape also showed another person killing the prostitute after the act.

  Arthur Bright was blackmailed by the mafia head Vincent Moro to support Steelton 2000.  Moro ordered Jack Novak to do the "convincing" part. Jack Novak understood the consequence of failing to get Bright to comply. Bright did not agree and consequently Novak was executed. The way Novak's body was mutilated was a warning to Bright.

 Stella suspected that Moro was involved in the Fielding's murder as well. Only this time it was Mayor Krajak who demanded of Peter Hall that Fielding continue signing the performance reviews of the Alliance Company's subcontractors. Fielding refused to sign the bills and review performances when he realized that there was no Alliance Company; that it existed only on paper and that the city was robbed of millions of dollars. Fielding was convinced that the money was going to someone with whom Mayor Krajak had an agreement with. Krajak informed Moro of Fielding's refusal to cooperate. Fielding was found dead soon after.

 The killer of Fielding and Novak was the man who was seen killing the prostitute on the tape, an old school buddy of Vincent Moro, a senior police officer Johnny Curran. Moro gave the execution orders personally to Curran, who in turn completed them.

 The only killing that police was able to pin to Moro, was his killing of Johnny Curran during the last secret meeting between them.  Curran was wearing wiretap.

 As for Arthur Bright, the County Prosecutor... Unable to cope with the prospect of having his dark secret exposed and the shame he would bring onto his family, Bright commits suicide. 

 Dark Lady is not Richard Patterson's the most acclaimed novel. But it is well written and makes one think about social and moral issues connected to political decision-making in our daily lives.

 Richard North Patterson has written fourteen bestselling and critically acclaimed novels. Formerly a trial lawyer, Patterson served as the SEC’s liaison to the Watergate special prosecutor and has served on the boards of several Washington advocacy groups dealing with gun violence, political reform, and women’s rights. 

Dark Lady (424 pages) was published by The Ballantine Publishing Group in 2000.

Children love to spend time with meaningful adults in their lives. As a matter of fact, spending time with your children could be the most important thing you do, to help your children reach their maximum potential. According to the January 2015 National Geographic Magazine article: The First Year, a baby's brain is affected by the amount of love that they receive.

People who researched babies brains went to the child's environment, their home, with a checklist. One of the questions was, do you have at least 10 books at home. Children who are given positive attention may be more prone to higher IQs.

The article further discusses: do you hug and kiss your children, answer their questions, praise them, have an affectionate voice? Your children's physical brains are being wired according to your direct interactions with them.

Love is the most powerful gift that you can give your children. If you, as a parent, did not receive love as a child, it might be hard for you to give love to your child. Do not fear. There is hope for all parents. "God is love," 1 John 4:8. Turn to the lover of all our souls, and seek His face. He is infinitely interested in every aspect of your life. He can and will change you and your children to be all that He created you and your children to be.

Kimberly Yoghourtjian

Author of "Emily Explores the ABC's of Salvation

Swan Morrison is the pen name of Brian Huggett.
Brian lives with his wife and a cat named Blackie in Hampshire, England.
He has been publishing work on the Internet and in print since 2001.

In 2006, he created the Short Humour Site at http://www.short-humour.org.uk for comedy writing of around 500 words.

He has published three books of his own Short Humour - each containing one hundred stories, dialogues, poems, letters, spoof news reports, articles and songs.
These books are called:
A Man of Few Words,
A Man of a Few More Words,
A Man of Yet a Few More Words.

In addition, ten comic songs which were published in A Man of a Few More Words are also available in The Swan Morrison Songbook.

Swan published his first novel, Judgement Day, in September 2014 and a novella, Deep Black, in September 2015.
He is currently working on the sequel to Judgement Day called Until the End of Time.

In addition to his own writing, Swan Morrison has published five other books - each of which contains Short Humour by fifty different contributors to the Short Humour Site.
These books are called:
People of Few Words,
People of Few Words - Volume 2,
People of Few Words - Volume 3,
People of Few Words - Volume 4,
People of Few Words - Volume 5.

All profits from the writings of Swan Morrison are currently donated to the UK registered charity supported by the Short Humour Site Site, Friends of Teso (Uganda) - http://www.friends-of-teso-uganda.org.uk/.

I’ll bet the first question you asked yourself was who the Hell is Nick Burton ? I don’t blame you and it’s not a bad question all things considered.

You see not so very long ago I was nothing more than a shadow in the imagination of an obscure Scottish author called Merlin Fraser, a faint voice in his head that wouldn’t shut up. I had a story to tell and no other way to tell it than to trick him into thinking the whole thing was his idea and getting him to write it down and get it published.

Now thanks to the glorious digital world of the Internet I can at last reach out directly and fill in any of the missing pieces and respond to the many questions my stories raised.

He’s a funny guy this Merlin Fraser, he called his books the INNER SPACE trilogy, you see the irony here? Inner Space… the space between his ears the inner space of his mind with me in it steering him this way and that until I was a spent force, or so he thought, but just like ‘Arnie’ I’m B-a-c-k !

However I am getting way ahead of myself here because it is more than possible you have never heard of Merlin Fraser or his Inner Space trilogy of Murder Mystery stories as dictated by yours truly so I suppose I had better introduce myself properly.

I am Nicholas Burton, Nick to everyone who knows me. I am, or should say was, a serving Detective Inspector in the British Police Force and according to my critics becoming something of a dinosaur because, in their opinion, I was being left behind by all the modern day technology. I am what they call an old fashioned flatfoot bobby, a plodder, someone who uses brain power and traditional police methods of detection rather than sitting at a bloody computer all day and listening to criminologists and criminal profilers and their like.

In hindsight I don’t suppose they were that wrong, after all most of the officers senior to me are also younger than me. University degrees sticking out of every orifice, fast tracked into senior positions with little or no time in the real world of crime, little or no actual common sense but up on all the latest politically correct speak and methodology. I think it’s what used to be referred to in the old days as ‘ass kissers,’ only these days it seems you can get a University Degree in it and it is becoming almost compulsory.

It’s mostly my own fault, I know, I was in a rut and cruising towards an early retirement, as the song goes, a policeman’s lot is not a happy one. My wife divorced me for all the usual reasons I was never at home married to the job….. You’ve heard it all before I’m sure, blessing was there were no children involved and as far as I know no other man, she just wanted out.

OK I admit it, career on the slide, no family and no life outside the job I was in a sinkhole of self pity and if events hadn’t taken a dramatic turn I might well have just faded away into obscurity, just another burned out copper.

In our small town police station I worked for a great guy, not only a good boss but a great friend, he saw how things were going for me but didn’t rub it in. Plus I am fairly sure that like many others around me he was at a loss to know what to do about my situation after all I did my job, kept my misery to myself and tried to keep out of their way as best I could.

That is until ‘That Day!’ There’s always one, a day that when you look back you say ‘that’s when it all changed.’

Only in my case it was actually the day before ‘That Day,’ because it was then that my leader, Chief Superintendant Daniel Davis, decided to send me on a three hundred mile wild goose chase to Wales to check out evidence held by another police force, a job that took me out of town and away for most of the following day.

By the time I got back to my own station all hell had broken loose and the chaos I found as I went through the doors did little to improve my health, temper or the headache that pounded in my temples.

It looked like a riot everyone yelling and as far as could see no one listening but the strange thing about it all was that the yelling was coming from my own colleagues. It looked to me as if both the day and evening shifts were involved. Strange as that was I was in no mood for such behaviour and I tried to restore some order by demanding to know what the hell was going on.

The Sergeant on the desk, who seemed to be the target of the shouting, took the slight lull in the uproar to tell me they had arrested Dapper. To explain, Dapper Dan, was the affection nickname they had for Chief Superintendent Davies because of his dress code, he was always immaculately turned out and always dressed like the perfect gentleman he was.

In the roar of confusion he had to give me the message three times before it sunk in and of course then my head exploded. “WHAT ?” Arrested CS Davies… the boss…my friend… probably my best friend… for what for Christ’s sake ? “ Murder!” Was the reply.

Once I managed to get my head round this piece of information and the serious side of my detective knowledge and experience kicked in and I started to take charge of the situation. “What Utter Bollocks is this…Who said so ?”

OK! Not my finest hour or the best opening statement I have ever made but you have to remember I was in shock.

True, after I went for a walk in the fresh air and calmed down a bit I reviewed the facts as I knew them, and arrived at pretty much the same conclusion that it was still Utter Bollocks. It had to be a mistake or even worse something of a frame up. After all, over the years he and I had crossed paths with some right royal villains many of whom had sworn on their Granny’s grave that they would get us back one day.

It had to be something like that, there is no way in hell that Dan would break the laws he had sworn to uphold and as for ‘Murder’ for God’s sake… give me a break !

I stormed into Police Head Quarters and made a complete Prat of myself, demanding to see him, like that was going to happen, but I needed answers and who better to give them to me ? Instead I was shown into the duty officer’s office and when I again settled down she confirmed the fact that not only had he been arrested for murder but had also confessed to the crime.

The following day they did let me see him, albeit very briefly, a meeting made all the more brief when he threw me out of his cell telling me not to get involved.
Then there was the final bombshell of the day after that when Dan was found dead in his police cell apparently having committed suicide.

Now I knew there was something wrong, the whole thing stunk like a barrel load of rotting fish.

I will concede that given the right set of circumstances we are all capable of committing a crime, even have murderous thoughts but this ridiculous suicide suggestion….No way ! Not the Dan Davies I knew, if he had committed murder, which I seriously doubted, he was man enough to face up to it and would take the full consequences of his actions.

Right there, right then, I knew I would not rest until I knew the truth of it and clear my friend’s name.

Of course, when things like this happen within the Police Force we are not allowed to conduct our own investigations. That goes doubly so for friends and close colleagues and I was duly warned to keep myself as far away as it was possible to get and ordered to cooperate fully with any inquiry.

Stay out of it ! I’d resign first ! And they knew it.

The old me was back, no longer in the self dug pit of despair, my friend needed me and I’d be buggered if I was going to let him down or allow the PC driven white wash to trample his good name into the mud.

Have you ever asked yourself the question; ‘how well do I know my best friend?’

Over the many weeks and months that followed I asked myself that question several times and didn’t like the answers I was getting. In truth I came to realise I didn’t know him at all. I knew nothing of his past prior to me being assigned to his division and his Criminal Investigating Department (CID) as a Detective Inspector. Me Watson to his Holmes as it were, he brains me running behind taking notes but he was a damn fine teacher.

Remember right at the beginning of this piece I said I was a plodder, takes me a while but I get there in the end?

I got there and what a tale it was. It challenged everything in life I thought was true, it made me a believer in things I had never previously considered, or thought possible, if I did think of them at all I had dismissed them as rubbish.

Then came my true dilemma, no one was ever going hear my story, not in an open court of law that was for sure. What I had discovered was beyond the comprehension of most people and would raise issues and ideas that many would rather not even think about. I had no hard evidence or proof that would stand up in court so what had it all been for, what exactly had I achieved ?

Conventionally I knew the real story would never see the light of day, not now that it had been covered up and buried in the many ways government bureaucracies have of dealing with things they think it’s best for the general public not to know.

So I came up with a cunning plan, if the story and all the facts of the cases will never see the light in reality how about as a work of fiction ?
All I needed was the right mind to make my plan work.

Was I right to take over the mind of another human being in this way? Only you can judge by reading the stories for yourself, only then will you come to realise what I did and why.

You see there is more….and it hits at the very highest level of what we laughing accept as democracy again the real powers that be will stop at nothing to prevent the real truth from coming out but, of course, I now know a way.

For the time being I am leaving dear Merlin’s mind in peace but if you decide you want more then you have to tell him … You will find him and my stories in Amazon.

I will be watching and will know your feelings.

Recording achievement bubbles, diligent work, creative energies, and enthusiasm — after that, more diligent work. iUniverse Publishing starts up your inventive soul with 20 composting tips from 12 top rated fiction creators.
Utilize these tips as a helpful guide—or even better, print a duplicate to put around your work area, home office, fridge entryway, or elsewhere detectable so you can be continually reminded not to give your story thoughts a chance to shrink away by putting off your composition.

• Tip1: "My first govern was given to me by TH White, writer of The Sword in the Stone and other Arthurian dreams and was: Read. Perused all that you can lay hands on. I generally exhort individuals who need to compose a dream or sci-fi or sentiment to quit perusing everything in those kinds and begin perusing everything else from Bunyan to Byatt." — Michael Moorcock

• Tip 2: "Secure the time and space in which you compose. Keep everyone far from it, even the general population who are most imperative to you." — Zadie Smith

• Tip 3: "Present your principle characters and subjects in the main third of your novel. On the off chance that you are composing a plot-driven kind novel ensure all your real subjects/plot components are presented in the primary third, which you can call the presentation. Add to your subjects and characters in your second third, the advancement. Resolve your topics, lottery game puzzles thus on in the last third, the determination." — Michael Moorcock 

• Tip 4: "In the arranging phase of a book, don't arrangement the consummation. It must be earned by all that will go before it." — Rose Tremain 

• Tip 5: "Dependably convey a scratch pad. What's more, I mean dependably. The fleeting memory just holds data for three minutes; unless it is resolved to paper you can lose a thought for ever." — Will Self 

• Tip 6: "It's far fetched that anybody with a web association at his working environment is composing great fiction." — Jonathan Franzen. "Take a shot at a PC that is detached from the web." — Zadie Smith 

• Tip 7: "Fascinating verbs are from time to time exceptionally intriguing." — Jonathan Franzen 

• Tip 8: "Read it so anyone might hear to yourself since that is the best way to make sure the rhythms of the sentences are OK (writing rhythms are excessively mind boggling and inconspicuous, making it impossible to be thoroughly considered—they can be got right just by ear)." — Diana Athill 

• Tip 9: "Don't let me know the moon is sparkling; demonstrat to me the gleam of light on broken glass." – Anton Chekhov 

• Tip 10: "Listen to the reactions and inclinations of your trusted 'first perusers.'" — Rose Tremain

In writing your screenplay or novel or play, you must have a star. This is the person who fascinates you enough to write all those countless words.  When we have a tightly written manuscript, it means we have become fascinated with a certain person in such a way that we actually live through that character.

What do we mean by “live?”

To live in a fictitious or real word our daily bread is “conflict” or in the writing jargon, what we call plot. This simply means that two people are at odds over a certain situation. It can be little or big—but a battle is there nonetheless. The two people can argue over which movie to go see or which restaurant to visit or maybe your landlord wants his rent and you don’t have the money to pay him.

You can climb higher on the conflict ladder and that’s where two people are in a life and death struggle or clash. You certainly don’t want to go to see a film or read a book where everyone is in complete harmony and peace with one another. How boring that would be.  Even Walt Disney films have tons of conflict in them. The wolf versus the three little pigs, for example. He wants to eat them and to do that he has to blow their houses down.

Conflict, as I have mentioned, is just another name for plot. Thus in a sense, we could go further by saying that the word plot is called “entertainment.” It is why we spend our money. We love nothing more than dissention. The higher the dissention, the more interested we become.  We have names for each of the two opposing people involved: Protagonist or our hero, who generally represents the one of the two we’re rooting for; Antagonist who is the rival or the one we call the villain or heavy.

The battle these two wage against one another is based on a series of choices. In dealing with the bad guy, the good guy has to always come up with a series of choices: diplomacy, logic or as a last resort war  The bad guy also has a choice of dealing with the good guy: shooting him, throwing him off a cliff, tying him up. Choices on both sides and carrying them out make up your storyline. The more difficult the choices, the more you get involved in the story. You proceed like this for most of your tale until you tease us by making it look like the bad guy is about to win. Then all of a sudden due to some ingenious choice, the good guy wins and vanquishes the bad guy. The end.

So, there you have the writing profession in a nutshell.  This brings us to the specific category known as a “good writer.” This is a person who can hold you on the edge of your seat via interesting choices. You can’t put the book down or you are completely enthralled by the film. This means you’ve done your job well. Your characters have had to deal with a ton of conflict in their personal lives and have had to make many interesting choices for good or bad.

Writers who have lived lives full of choices are able to pass those moments along to us in a realistic way. In other words, they have the “life experience” to pass them along in a meaningful way. These are writers who are thought of as gifted. More than likely though, life has been a big hors d’oeuvre tray to them.  They have actually tasted life. Bad writers dream of life and philosophize about it. Boring. They are trying to impress you by using big, rarely-used words and long, complicated sentences. They are snobs and intellectuals who are peddling more sizzle than steak.  These people hang out more in writer’s workshops than in life’s alleyways. Conflict to them is something to avoid at all cost.  Unfortunately tons of them are out there clogging the works for real writers.

Most good writers don’t have “writer’s block.”  They realize that if their project becomes sluggish , they should just add some more conflict. Agatha Christie said that in her writing if things slowed down, she always introduced another murder.

Bad writers in the first place are not friends with conflict and, therefore, always seem to be experiencing writer’s block. Now, you see why. They haven’t had enough conflict in their lives to be able realistically to relate it to others.

I heartedly recommend you “live” a lot if you intend to write. It will not only fill up your years with fun but could even fill up your pocketbook. Cheers!

Writers need opportunities. We give feedback. 

WriterAdvice seeks flash fiction, memoir, and creative non-fiction running 750 words or less. Enlighten, dazzle, and delight us. Finalists receive responses from all judges. First prize is $200. Submit to the 10^th WriterAdvice Flash Prose Contest by April 21, 2015. Complete details at www.writeradvice.com. 

Questions? Please ask. 

Announcing EMSA Publishing’s very first ever Fabulous First Lines Competition!

The first line of a novel is incredibly important in that it sets the tone of a novel, establishes point of view, and hooks the reader. Here’s your chance to see how your novel’s first line stacks up.

The Rules:

• The Fabulous First Lines Competition will be open to thirty (30) self-published and indie-published authors.
• The competition will run throughout the month of August 2015 as follows:
  • August 2 – 8 => voting will take place for the first group of 10 authors
  • August 9 – 15 => voting will take place for the second group of 10 authors
  • August 16 – 22 => voting will take place for the third group of 10 authors
  • August 21 – 29 => voting will take place for the top three winners from each week, with a winner being declared on 30 August 2015
• The prizes:
  • bragging rights
  • a badge you can proudly display on your website
  • your book featured on EMSA Publishing’s homepage slider for the month of September 2015
  • posts to social media (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, and Storify) directing readers to a blog post featuring your novel’s cover, book blurb, and author bio

For more information, visit the Fabulous First Lines Competition page.

How to market to multiple book review websites at once

The K-Instant Dashboard is a powerful online tool that every writer / publisher need to acquire for themselves. It is a do-it-yourself website application that can instantly promote your Amazon books to thousands of readers every time it is used. This web server was developed by Rachal Rofe, a U.C Berkeley graduate with degrees in English Literature and Software Engineering. The playing video above explains everything you need to know about this program.

Even though the K-Instant application is now closed to new buyers, writers who are still interested in this program can take of advantage of it through the Indie Writers Support initiative, which allows any author to apply for the mass promotion with a $10 payment. The I.W.S. staff member will handle the rest, including setting up your book details (the book cover, keywords, synopsis, sample reads, and even your contact email if you choose to) for submission to the associated book-review websites.

Your book(s) will be submitted to these 16 appealing websites immediately every time it is used:

• E-reader News to Day
• The E-reader Cafe
• Pixel of ink
• Indie Book of the day
• Frugal Free Bies
• Free Digital Reads
• Kindle book Promos
• Digital Books Today
• Get Free Books
• Book Deal Hunter
• Its Write Now
• E Reader Perks
• Book Goodies
• Free Book Dude
• Erotica Everyday
• E-Books Habit

Apply for the program at, http://j.mp/1o7wZuA

The video below was illustrated by the owner of the program herself, and it will show you how you can run your book promotions with this program..

That's not all. In addition to having your book added to these great websites, this application also let you promote your book to the twenty-two Facebook groups listed below with one push of button. That's right. All you'll have to do is compose a message about your book that you want posted to these Facebook groups (each with an average of 5,000 members or more) and press send. The book message will post on the Facebook groups' walls instantly.

These are the Facebook groups that you will be able to promotion to anytime and every time:

Facebook -> (https://www.facebook.com/paradonbookspublishing)
Twitter -> (https://twitter.com/ParaDonBooks)
LinkedIn -> (lnkd.in/iNedWZ)

Impress us. Tell us the most intriguing things about you, and your novel.

At ParaDon Books Publishing, we take care of our customers with high quality professional services personalized for their unique needs. Our staff members are professional, courteous and efficient. 

We are currently accepting submissions.

ParaDon Books Publishing welcome writers of all style willing to publish with us. If you are already an accomplished writer, we welcome your writing as well. We accept Fictions and Non-Fictions; horror, sci-fi, adventure, mystery, suspense-thriller, hard-boiled, erotica, romance, regional, poetry-chapbook, fantasy, espionage, urban fiction, chick-lit, western, African topic, short-stories, experimental, young adult, graphic novel, children book, memoir, cook-book, how-to, travel, religion, history, and true crimes.

All proposal package should include your contact info, a query letter, synopsis, bio, and the first 50 pages of the finished manuscript.

We accept multiple submissions.
Agent submitted manuscripts are accepted as well.

All manuscripts must be typed, well formatted, have a good story/subject line, edited, and be at least 150 pages long (except for children books, poetry chap-books, and graphic novels).

Once a manuscript passes our reading test and is accepted, the material will be quickly edited by one of our editorial staffs and then converted in an e-Book and Audiobook. The title will be made available through ALL of our distributing channels (Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Audible, iPad, iPod, iPhone, Android, etc.) for a regulatory of six months, and the rating of how well your e-Book and audio-book sells within this period will determine the Advance Payment that will be offer for the Paperback and Hardcover production of your title.

You may submit to us electronically by visiting our website www.ParaDonBooks.com. Our Acquisition Editor, Celina Marka ( lnkd.in/iNedWZ), will contact immediately afterward. She may also be contacted directly via LinkedIn.

We are currently looking for a lot of quality stories to catalog.

'Welcome to the Future of Publishing'

Here are the great advantages of publishing with ParaDon Books Publishing:
1) We offer high royalty pay. 
2) We'll assign you your very own editor, to collaborate with.
3) We'll design a stunning book cover for your title. 
4) We'll send out PR newsletter to all our email subscribers/followers/friends and connections about your title once it is published. 
5) We will distribute your title to all of the available e-Book webstores. 
6) Your paperback title will be available nation-wide, including Amazon and Barnes&Noble. 
7) We will promote your book on Google Search, Yahoo, Bing and every other search engine databases on a regular bases.
8) We will promote your book (as a coupon printout with your book cover) at Walgreens, Walmart, Target, Food4Less, Albertson, etc.
9) We will schedule you for book-signing appearances (if you are up to it) on a regular bases. 
10) We will convert your title to an audio-book, and make it available at all audio-book webstores. 
11) You will be regularly mentioned on our social media websites. 
12) We will design a full-length book trailer for your title. 
13) We will assign you a permanent phone number with an extension number to our public office line, so that we, and your customers, can contact you about business matters. 
14) We will give you 500 business cards to advertise yourself. 
15) We will issue you your own customizable debit card so you can receive your royalty payments via wire transfers. 
16) We will even give you your own customizable email address (YourFirst&LastName)@paradonbooks.com

ParaDon Books Publishing is a privately-owned establishment, with distribution deals that reach all over the globe.
We are a B2B - B2C company, and we offer great services that comes with a professional touches. We have a fine team of qualified editors, the best book cover graphic artists in the industry, affordable book prices, great stories, great promotions, world-wide distribution, high-royalty pay, and we publish our books in all six formats (Hardcover, paperback, e-Book, Mp3 Downloads, CD and Audiotape).

We publish fiction and nonfictional literatures, and provide these services to our authors: 

• e-Book Publishing
• Book Publishing
• Audiobook Publishing
• Book Marketing
• e-Book Distribution/Conversion
• Video Production 
• Social Media Marketing
• Press-Release Advertisement
• B2B Consulting
• B2C Marketing

We encourage all writers to submit their work to us.

A full list of our signed authors will be release on March 19, 2016. 
Any writer willing to join this authors' list can still do so. 
Read our submission guideline above before sending your proposal to us.
We do not charge to publish Authors.
Let us become your publisher.
Welcome to the most engaging publisher in the world.
Welcome to the Future of Publishing.

www.ParaDonBooks.com

‘Here they come,’ shouted Raoul. ‘There are hundreds of the bastards.’

Peter looked behind and could see Bonaparte sat impassively astride his horse. Next to him on a handsome grey mare was Citizen Barras. But whereas Bonaparte looked confident, Barras was clearly apprehensive.

‘Hold your fire men,’ bellowed Bonaparte. ‘Let the Royalists fire the first shot. But when Citizen Barras gives the command, don’t hold back. Gun crews; stand to!’

‘Only fire blank case to begin with,’ said Barras nervously. ‘That should drive them off.’

‘The guns are already charged with canisters of grapeshot,’ replied Bonaparte. ‘We haven’t time to reload them now. Anyway, people aren’t that easily fooled Citizen Barras. If we fire blanks, the moment they see there’s no blood, they’ll become twice as bold and I’ll be forced to kill ten times as many. Now; get ready to give the order.’

The mob, meanwhile, continued to advance; slow, sullen and menacing.

‘I can’t,’ exclaimed Barras as his face blanched and his mouth was suddenly dry.

‘Fortune’s a fickle citizen,’ said Bonaparte curtly, ‘just like a woman. Lose the moment and she’s gone. The mob’s almost upon us. Get ready to give the order.’

‘I-I cannot give it…’

‘Then let me give the order,’ said Bonaparte coldly.

Barras gave a hesitant nod.

The rebels were now within musket-shot range. Suddenly a booming voice erupted from within the ranks of the troops facing the Royalists.

‘Disperse in the name of the Convention.’

The answer was a stabbing of flame and puffs of smoke as a ragged volley of musket shots was fired off by the rebels. Peter and Raoul ducked behind the barricades, but several troops weren’t quick enough and spun backwards as musket balls struck home. Moments later, Peter and Raoul sighted their weapons and waited for the command.

‘Fire!’ barked Bonaparte.

Peter’s carbine spat flame and smoke, and he saw his target fall to the ground as a ball caught the rebel full in the chest.

All along the Convention’s defence line, a murderous rolling volley of muskets and carbines delivered a scything blow into the Royalist ranks. Then there were three virtually simultaneous and deafening roars.

Hidden behind a wall of musket smoke, neither Peter nor Raoul had seen the slaughter inflicted by the cannon, but when the thick bank of smoke cleared, they could see the devastation delivered by the eight-pounders. It had been instantaneous and decisive.

Bonaparte’s guns had shredded the tightly packed ranks of the mob. In one dreadful moment, dozens of rebels had been mowed down by cones of deadly shot. The carnage had been swift and brutal. Scores of dead and mangled figures lay sprawled on the cobbles.

Wide-eyed rebels stood behind their dead and wounded compatriots stunned; their charge instantly halted. Then some desperate individuals tried to rally the mob. But as they surged forward again, their rain-sodden Bourbon banners held high, a commanding voice could be heard above the agonized cries of the wounded and dying rebels. In a strident voice, Bonaparte coolly ordered his gunners to load another volley of grapeshot.

‘Fire!’ he yelled.

Cannon erupted once again and men tumbled to the ground like lifeless marionettes. The crowd recoiled in disbelief at the death and destruction delivered by the deadly guns. The cobbles, only seconds earlier slick with rain, were now slick with blood.

Some of the first things new writers are told is to write what you know, and to show, and not tell. Russian playwright and author Anton Checkhov is credited with having said “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass,” underscoring the latter. Showing can be a powerful tool when used with discretion, but all too often new authors forget to do this, preferring instead to paint their word pictures with broad strokes rather than choose a finer brush.

I’ve often written about how writing is a construct, something artificial made to seem real. Everything authors do, from creating and recreating setting, penning plot, and/or developing character and dialogue is not real. Everything about any given scene is there for a purpose; the trick is to add them subtly so they seem happenstance.

To read more, see http://eliseabram.com/glints-of-light-on-broken-glass-the-art-of-showing-in-writing/

Before I self published I did approach some small publishing houses, I even toyed with the idea of Vanity Publishers. Having received the usual rejections letters or no response at all, which I did half expect, albeit the rejections were not of a negative, saying they liked the story, it just wasn't for them. This set me off in search of selfpublishing options as I really I wanted to get my story out there in the big wide world. I initially looked at Amazons createspace for my paperback version and smashwords for the ebook version but after weeks of deliberation and Internet searching I came across http://completelynovel.com, a Print-on-demand platform, who offer a free and paid packages to publish with.

The free allows you to publish and sell through there site and the paid packages allow you to sell through booksellers world wide, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, waterstones etc.

I started out with the free version but soon went up to the mid package and I have to say how I was pleased I am with their service and with the final product once my book landed on the doormat.

My book is now featured on the above mentioned sites and I have recently signed up with Amazons KDP program, of too which I am very pleased as and my book sales, are slowly but surly increasing. And promoting my product has certainly helped, by using the various social media platforms, I feel Twitter has given me the greatest following, although I do have an author page on Facebook, of which I advise anyone to do and in particular get an author page on Amazon if you use it, as this will give your fan base more info on you as an author. As does my webpage and blog site. I have also joined varying communities for self promotion and use some paid services to promote my work too. And off of the back of this, I now have a literary agent currently reading my book, so hopefully if she feels I have something and everything crossed we can work together to further expand my presence. I will keep you posted on how this fairs.

I have one question for anyone that care to answer, now my book is selfpublished can I still approach a main stream publisher?

Academy of American Poets

A price of $5,000 is given annually for a second book of poetry by a U.S. poet that will be published in the forthcoming year. The winner also receives an all-expense-paid weeklong residency at the Betsy Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. Copies of the winning book are purchased and distributed to approximately 1,000 members of the Academy of American Poets. U.S. publishers may submit a manuscript of at least 48 pages that has come under contract and will be published in 2016 by May 15. There is no entry fee. Visit www.poets.org/awards for more details.

Arrowhead Regional Arts Council - Fellowships and Grants

Individual Artist Fellowships of $5,000 each are given annually to Minnesota writers, and Career Development Grants of up to $3,000 each are given twice a year to Minnesota writers to persue a specific arts opportunity. Poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers who are U.S. citizens, at least 18 years of age, and have lived in Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, or St. Louis counties in northeastern Minnesota for at least six months are eligible. Using the online submission system, submit up to 10 pages of poetry or 15 pages prose, a description of the work sample, an application, a project description and budget, and a resume of up to two pages by April 30. There is no entry fee. Visit www.aracouncil.info for more details.

Bird Runner Wildlife Refuge

A prize of $1,000 will be given annually for a book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction published in the previous year that "illuminates the heritage of America's mid-continental prairies." Authors and publishers may submit two copies of a poetry collection, a short story or essay collection, a novel, or a memoir published in 2014 by April 30. There is no entry fee. Visit www.praireheritage.org for more details.

Loft Literary Center

Grants of up to $10,000 each are given annually to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers who have lived in the state of Minnesota for at least one year. Writers who have published no more than two books in any genre are eligible to apply. Using the online submission system, submit 15 to 20 pages of poetry or 20 to 30 pages of prose, an artist proposal, a biographical statement, a preliminary budget, and a resume by April 3. There is no entry fee. Visit www.loft.org for more details.

Passaic County Community College - Paterson Fiction Prize

A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a novel or short story collection published in the previous year. Publishers may submit books published in 2014 by April 1. There is no entry fee. Visit www.pccc.edu/poetry for more details. 

Ploughshares - Emerging Writer's Contest

Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Ploughshares are given annually for a poem or group of poems, a short story, and an essay. Writers who have not published a book or chapbook are eligible. Submit three to five pages of poetry or up to 6,000 words of prose by May 15. There is no entry fee FOR CURRENT PLOUGHSHARES SUBSCRIBERS. Visit www.pshares.org for more details.

Poetry Foundation

Five fellowships of $28,000 each are given annually to emerging poets. Writers who are U.S. citizens between the ages of 21 and 31 as of April 30 are eligible. Using the online submission system, submit 10 pages of poetry, a one-page writer's statement, and a list of publications by April 30. There is no entry fee. Visit www.poetryfoundation.org/foundation/prizes_fellowship for more details.

St. Francis College - Literary Prize

A prize of $50,000 is given biennially for a third, fourth, or fifth published book of fiction. Self-published books and English translations are eligible. Submit five copies of a short story collection or novel published between June 1, 2013, and May 31, 2015, by May 1. There is no entry fee. Visit www.sfc.edu/literaryprize for more details.

Visit us at www.indiewritersupport.com for more updated News.

Register to be a member of this lucrative Indie Writers Support Network at http://indiewritersupport.com/?xgi=5L8oWKMvg5p6f5

If you are already a member, Sign in from here, http://indiewritersupport.com/main/authorization/signIn?target=http://indiewritersupport.com

Invite your Friends and Colleagues to join us by using this link, http://indiewritersupport.com/main/invitation/new?xg_source=tab

http://ianmooremorrans.com

Yesterday our community in Vernon, British Columbia, observed a Walk for Alzheimer Research and for those who are living with Alzheimer Disease and their families. The Ukeleles for Fun band for which I usually play percussion performed for the walkers as they rounded the arena track. I wasn’t able to participate this year as I had an important commitment at my church, but I was there in spirit. I also contribute regularly to the Alzheimer Society’s research campaign and have been doing so for many years. I urge everyone to consider regular donations of whatever they can afford to Alzheimer research. The main reason I am so committed to this worthy cause is that my late husband, Gus Johannesson, had early onset AD, was diagnosed at age 58 and died four years later. At the time of his diagnosis our children were 12 and 17 years’ old. Now my present husband, has been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and is getting some help from an Alzheimer drug that wasn’t available when Gus needed it back in 1992. It is not a cure, but can hold off many of the complications from AD for a length of time. I’m hoping and praying that a cure may be found in the near future. In remembrance of Gus, I am sharing a copy of the letter that Alzheimer Manitoba asked me to write for their 1994 campaign.

Gayle Moore-Morrans

Alzheimer   _Manitoba     

And they didn’t live Happily ever after . . .

November 7, 1994

Dear Friends,

This September my husband Gus turned sixty. We wanted to celebrate as many families do, but the plans for our party were a bit different. His 60^th “Toast and Roast” became the retirement party he never had and an affirmation of what he has meant to his family and friends while he is still able to appreciate it.

On the day of festivities we presented him with a book of remembrances gathered from friends and relatives around the world. This book is a tribute to Gus’s life as well as a tool for memory as he copes with his illness.

Two years ago Gus was diagnosed with Alzheimer Disease. I can’t say that our lives immediately changed. The disease doesn’t change your life overnight, but has over a number of years changed every aspect of our lives. To date, the cause of AD is unknown, there is neither cure nor definite treatment; it is progressive and will eventually be terminal.

It is incredible the emotional upheaval we all have been through these past years. All four of us have had counselling and hope that it remains available whenever we need it. The family has found comfort, relief, professional information and fellowship in support groups for adult caregivers, a children’s support group, the early stage support group, numerous educational sessions, and from Alzheimer staff and volunteers.

The Alzheimer Society of Manitoba has been able to provide these services because of people like you. I am happy to have this opportunity to personally thank you and let you hear firsthand how meaningful your help is for my family and many others.

It took a long time to really recognize that something serious was happening as Gus has always been a bit of the “absent-mined professor” type and we just figured he was getting more-so with age. This is not the situation. A man admired for his keen mind, having studied at the doctoral level in systematic theology has now forgotten how to tie a tie or manage the simple task of handling a sandwich. In happier days Gus was a Lutheran pastor giving support and guidance to others. Today he is on the receiving end.

Alzheimer Disease attacks the whole family. We are all hurting, angry, frustrated, scared; dealing with a tremendous loss.

Your roles change. I have had to become in as many ways as possible mother and father to my children and husband, directing all my energies outside of the workplace to the family. The children and I have become caregivers, not easy for an adult, let alone a twelve-year-old and seventeen-year-old. A caregiver’s day is often referred to as the “36-hour day.” That is how we live, each and every day.

As is typical with early AD, symptoms come and go resulting in good and bad days. So far Gus’s skills that are totally gone are writing, public speaking, driving, anything mathematical, and many deductive reasoning processes.

We thank God for the good days, for the patience that we are learning, for on-going medical research, for the help offered by the Alzheimer Society and most of all, for the prayers, love, help and support of family and friends.

Our family includes you when we say “Friends.” You probably don’t know us personally, but as a supporter of the Alzheimer Society you help make each and every day a little bit brighter, a little bit easier.

Once again, thank you for making our lives happier. Please continue your needed support. It is your caring and generosity that makes the difference!

With our sincere appreciation,

Gayle Johannesson

P.S. The number of families coping with the devastating reality of Alzheimer Disease is expected to at least double in the next decade.