I thought of self-promotion as a base act of the desperate, then publicity self-flagellation. Worse, they wanted me to do things that went against my grain

I’ve recently become a master in Goki Feng Ho, the ancient Chinese art of decoding license plates. It has, you can imagine, changed my life for the better.

Winters were great when we were kids. Massive snow falls every year, snow ball fights, snowmen – it was the best! Nowadays it’s pretty paltry by comparison. In my house we had a living room that stretched from the front of the house to the back. Just in front of our house was a street lamp that glowed orange. When it snowed, the fun I had running from the front of the house watching the flakes fall against the backdrop of the orange light, before running to the back window and staring out into the black night where the snowflakes appeared to be falling even heavier! Our house was perfectly placed for the winter joys. Only a few hundred yards away at the end of our street was a field with a great big, long hill. It made the perfect winter slope. Every year we would spend hours playing on those slopes without a care in the world how cold it was. My stepdad worked at a plastic material factory. Because we didn’t have much money, my mum made me and my sister matching waterproof outfits, from coat with hood, to trousers and even gloves. We were the driest, warmest,…

Sometimes—maybe a lot of times—things that don’t seem so pleasant when they happen are pivotal turning points when we look back on them

When I tell people that I write a parenting column and host a radio show about parenting, relationships, and other “emotional” reactions, I often get a surprised reaction as if men shouldn’t or can’t address these issues. How ironic in our so-called progressive and PC times. The reality is actually that things are far from equal between men and women. In so many ways, women have more advantages today since they are finally allowed to choose work and/or being a mom. Sadly, dads are still disparaged in real life if they choose not to work or to be a SAHD (Stay-At-Home-Dad). I learned this the hard way: by living and experiencing it. As with so many of life’s experiences, it wasn’t the way I’d planned it. I love the saying, “You make plans and God laughs” as that, describes very well, the last ten years of my life. The second chapter of my life began, in a nutshell and without all the gory and self-pitying sounding details, when my marriage ended about eight years ago and my wife, the mother of my two boys, left. I mean, “Left.” She saw the boys briefly the first year of our separation but…

It’s the Summer of Gomez! Get free books and win a Kindle or iPod. As reviewers have been calling “No Hope for Gomez!” the perfect summer read – light, fast, fun – I decided to give this summer’s Gomez readers some exclusive content and the chance to win prizes. About No Hope for Gomez! It’s the age-old tale: – Boy meets girl. – Boy stalks girl. – Girl already has a stalker. – Boy becomes her stalker-stalker.We’ve seen it all before, many times, but this time it’s different. If only slightly.When Gomez Porter becomes a test subject in an experimental drug trial, he is asked to keep track of any strange experiences through a blog. What Gomez isn’t ready for, is so many of his experiences suddenly seeming strange; the antiques dealer trying to buy his old tax papers, the phone-sex salesman who hounds him day and night, the super sexy lab assistant who falls for him but is unable to express herself in terms outside the realm of science. But when one of the trial participants turns up dead and another goes missing, Gomez begins to fear for his life. No longer sure who he can trust…

For free books and win a Kindle or iPod see the end of the post. As you probably know, to become an internationally best-selling author, you need to sell three books. This is not an easy task, but once you’ve managed to rack up these three sales, the rest is more or less a done deal. Now, these sales themselves will not put you on the best-seller lists. They won’t even put you within a million spots of the bottom of the lists, but what they will do, and what they do every time, is spark a slowly growing buying frenzy that will get you there. These three people will love your book, they will tell another five people, who in turn tell another seven. Within roughly four-and-a-half weeks, you finally make your first million. That’s how it happens. Every single time. But, how does an author tackle this monumental task? Where does he find these three readers? I myself was quite lucky. When my novel appeared on Amazon I already knew over five people! What’s more, some of these people even liked me… somewhat. So I set out to become an internationally best-selling author by convincing at least three…

Just in time for Mother’s day, the pub­lisher has made avail­able one (1) copy of “Times Two” AND an unreleased advance MP3s of two of Antigone Rising’s new singles – Borrowed Time and Everywhere is Home to be given out– enter at the end of the post.As the Oscar-nominated film The Kids are Alright reflects, gay parenting, sperm donors, and alternative families are no longer a rarity in our culture. But if you can imagine Annette Benning and Julianne Moore’s characters finding out they are pregnant at the same time, with the same donor, with due dates only three days apart, you might get a sense of the real life story of Kristen Henderson and Sarah Kate Ellis (website), who document their funny and heartwarming path to parenthood in Times Two: Two Women in Love and the Happy Family They Made Sarah, a high-powered magazine executive, and Kristen, a laid-back rock star, fell madly in love and decided to start a family. After determining that Sarah had the better shot at pregnancy, they headed to the fertility doctor. But month after month of drug treatments, miscarriages, and heartbreak left them desperate, and they decided they’d both try at the same time. …

5 Essential Ingredients for Romance by Kameron Lo who also writes for online accounting degrees and sonogram tech among other fine sites I love a good romance novel: it’s a great escape from the troubles and boredom of everyday life to fantasize about exciting, romantic adventures worlds away. Having read so many of these exciting detours from reality, I’ve boiled down 5 essential ingredients for romance. This is what every romantic novel needs to be tantalizing, riveting, and give me butteflies. DIK ladies read on and compare notes! A “spark” moment: Towards the beginning of the novel, there needs to be some kind of happening to spark the romance, to lay the foundation for the love, heartbreak, and (hopefully) happy ending waiting at the end where the lovers drift off in the sunset, content in each others’ arms. There needs to be something to create the romantic tension and see the possibility of romance between two often opposite characters. Conflict to keep the lovers apart: Love is not easy, we all know that, and so the characters in these fantasies shouldn’t have it easy either! Plus, if they were ever to live happily ever after right off the bat, it…

5 Reasons You’re Not Writing Your Novel This post was written by Jessica Stilling who also writes for buy adderall now and medical assistant So you’ve always wanted to be a writer. Maybe you got that fancy MFA, or you sit in your room during all hours of the night typing away, or maybe you fantasize about what it would be like to be a best selling author at your day job. Whatever the case, you know it’s time to write that novel and yet you’re waiting. Why? Here are a few reasons you might be waiting, and a few reasons why putting it off would be the worst mistake of your life. #1. You don’t have time. Make time. Yes, you have a job, a family, a social life. There are bills to pay and a girlfriend to keep happy. You don’t need to give up your life, or your income, to write, just set aside some time. Wake up an hour earlier and write a few pages every day, set aside a few hours on the weekend when you would otherwise be breezing through an entire season of Dexter. Evaluate how you’re using your time and see where…