Remember this phrase, “It’s a win-win proposition.” Editors love that term. It means it is a deal whereby both ends wind up happy. I remember the first time I used that term.

I had learned that the American Legion’s upcoming 75th Anniversary Edition was in preparation, and their national office was only a few miles from me. However, when I went to apply for the job, the editor told me he had no positions available.

Somewhere on the path of life, I had heard not to take no for an answer, so I called him again the next day and again asked for a job. He said, “As I told you yesterday, I have no positions available. Thank you for calling.” *dial tone*

I had no idea where to go from there. I laid in bed all night devising a plan whereby he would have to hire me. By morning, I was ready with my new approach. I called him yet a third time and said, “This is Deborah Owen again. I understand you don’t have any openings available, but I have a win-win proposition that is sure to interest you.” (He asked what my proposition was.) “It’s too complex to talk about over the phone,” I replied, “but I would be happy to take you out for lunch one day this week and we can discuss it then.”

The man tried everything in his power to niggle my proposition out of me, but I knew if I told him on the phone, my boat would be sunk, so I repeatedly offered to buy his lunch. Finally, he gave in. We met on Friday and we walked two blocks to the restaurant. Even as we walked, he tried to get me to tell him my proposition. For once in my life, I knew when to be quiet, and I repeated that I would tell him when we were eating.”

At lunch, he asked me about this great proposition again. I could tell he was intensely curious. I said, “It’s a fantastic win-win deal for both of us. I know you said you don’t have any openings, but your 75th edition is a huge undertaking and I’m sure you can use all the help you can get. I happen to live close by and I’m thirsty for knowledge. This is a great opportunity for both of us. I’m a hard working perfectionist with both writing and office experience. I will work for The American Legion free of charge if you will only give me the opportunity to learn. That’s a win-win proposition.”

About that time, he finished eating, and he said, “I’ll see you Monday morning at 8 am, and, Mrs. Owen – never offer your services free of charge. It makes your employer think your services aren’t worth much – and everyone is worth something. I’m going to mentor you myself – and – I will pay you a salary. Do you know why I came to meet you today, Deborah? Because of your persistence. That’s a good quality.”

I ended up ghost writing 37 articles for that landmark edition. Writers, when the doors don’t open easily, sometimes you have to pry them open any way you can. Just know what you are going to say, practice saying it out loud (alone), and then go for it. What do you have to lose?

Click here to see the first fully mentored writing school on the Internet!
http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com. Ms. Deb is the CEO & Founder of Creative Writing Institute. If you would like to receive The Writer’s Choice newsletter, or a FREE analysis of your short story or article, write to deborahowen@cwinst.com for details.

Writers seem to think that finding a job as a reporter is hard. Granted, it may be in some areas, but reporter jobs are more abundant than you may think. Maybe you’re just setting your sights too high.

When some people hear the word “reporter”, they picture someone trotting in and out of a major news conglomerate and spilling the beans on an adulterous President, unveiling “Watergate”, or changing into Superman in a phone booth. Reporting is not a glorious job. In fact, it’s hard work. A reporter is defined as “a person who investigates and reports or edits news stories.” That title brings it down to the common person doing a mundane job – that will someday get them somewhere.

If you live in the city or suburbs, the chances are good that there is a reporter’s job waiting on you less than 20 miles from your house.

Almost every local newspaper is hard up to find a sports reporter, and/or someone to cover PTA or political meetings, as they pertain to the local government. And if, by chance, there are no openings there, you can make your way into print by covering traffic accidents in the area and finding odd news.

For example, I once saw a man skiing. What made it a newsy article was that his skis had wheels on them, and he was skiing on dry pavement in the middle of town! On another occasion I saw road equipment sitting in front of someone’s bedroom window, bulldozer tracks across the yard, and a broken fence where it had entered. That was a story! On a third occasion, I saw a sheriff’s car flip upside down as it tried to round a corner too fast. All of these things were news items that no newspaper would turn down.

In addition, there is always a place for articles on unusual hobbies and crafts. For example, while on vacation in the Rocky Mountains, I saw awesome statues that were made out of iron and wood. It blew my mind to think of a genius who lived in the boonies and sold intricate merchandise to tourists in his spare time. What a story that would have made. (Hubby wouldn’t wait on me and it was a long walk home.)

The main thing you need to know about being a reporter is that most reporting is time-sensitive. If you report on a car accident, or PTA meetings, you have to work the story up that night and have it at the news office in the morning. (And, btw, call the newspaper ahead of time and ask them how they want pictures submitted. Digital pictures taken on a 35 mm camera are usually acceptable. Always submit pictures. The newspaper will pay you at least $5 per picture, and more often than not, a picture will get your story on the front page.) No, you won’t get rich selling to small town newspapers, but that’s how most people break into print their first time.

When you write for a newspaper, always have a notepad, pen, camera, and tape recorder in the back seat. Finding a reporter’s job isn’t that hard, but living up to the expectations of a reporter is.

Click here to see the first fully mentored writing school on the Internet! http://www.creativewritinginstitute.com. Ms. Deb is the CEO & Founder of Creative Writing Institute. If you would like to receive The Writer’s Choice newsletter, or a FREE analysis of your short story or article, write to deborahowen@cwinst.com for details.

Every webmaster–even those who have been writing for the web for awhile–can benefit from a good writing tip. The following 10 tips are guaranteed to improve your copy and make writing for the web easier. Although most of the tips are geared toward the average webmaster, they can be implemented by anyone who is writing for the web.

Webmaster Writing Tip #1: Write What You Know

Although every webmaster has already heard this writing tip, it is worth mentioning. Writing what you know is always the best policy when writing for the web. There’s a lot of bad info online already–no sense in adding more.

Webmaster Writing Tip #2: Research What You Write

Since writing what you know isn’t always practical when you’re writing for the web, you should at least research what you write. This will help you turn fuzzy knowledge into viable facts.

Webmaster Writing Tip #3: Use Correct Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation

Using correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation is really important when you’re writing for the web. When in doubt, look it up.

Webmaster Writing Tip #4: Try to Answer Questions

Writing for the web is a lot like writing for a newspaper. You need to answer all of the essential questions that a user might have. Think who, what, when, where, and why.

Webmaster Writing Tip #5: Pick a Keyword

When you’re writing for the web, you should pick at least one keyword or key phrase to stick with from the beginning of the article to the end. This tells search engines and human readers what your article is about.

Webmaster Writing Tip #6: Use Lots of White Space

Writing for the web is not like writing a book or a column. You should have lots of white space in between text. It makes your article appear cleaner and more appealing to readers who like to scan information.

Webmaster Writing Tip #7: Keep It Short

When it comes to writing for the web, shorter is better. Internet users have limited time and short attention spans–they don’t want to sift through lengthy text. The ideal word count for a web article is between 250 and 500 words.

Webmaster Writing Tip #8: Choose a Good Title

A good title is important when you’re writing for the web. Titles tell readers and search engines what articles are about. The best titles pique curiosity or give readers something they want.

Webmaster Writing Tip #9: Edit What You Write

It is easy to fall in love with what you have written, but you need to learn how to cut the fluff. This is especially true when you are writing for the web. As stated earlier, Internet users have limited time and short attention spans. In other words, they have no patience for a chatty webmaster.

Webmaster Writing Tip #10: Proofread What You Write

Writing for the web is no different than writing for any other media. You must proofread what you write. If you forget every writing tip you heard today, remember that one. It is probably the best writing tip you will ever get.

Cliff Posey, owner of CRP Marketing, owns and operates http://www.webbusinesstoolsonline.com/ . Cliff has also operated several other successful web businesses including Love Song Cards and Radio Career Consultants.

Books with terrorism as a plot line seem to be the favored genre of the 00’s. Certainly much has been made by the press of the concept that terrorists could attempt to detonate a dirty bomb in some densely populated place like New York. The consequences of such an action would be unthinkable.

Bernard Steele’s Jihadists in Death In Small Doses have radiation as their central weapon, but it is not for a bomb, their plot is much more insidious, to put it into a vapor and expose rush hour subway commuters. The effects would not start to be seen for days. The number of deaths might only be in the hundreds, but the destabilizing effect on the government would be incalculable.

Of course a major problem is how to smuggle radioactive material into the country? You can hardly stroll though customs with a tub of it in your carry on luggage. Who are the most effective smugglers? Well the drug trade clearly are the experts. While we watch CNN reporting about law enforcement intercepting a $10 million drug cache at the border, how many of those $10 million loads do make it to the market? The answer unfortunately is most of them.

Bernard Steele has created a very intricate plot in this book. He needed to create a segway whereby the authorities could discover the terrorists scheme, sure he could have had the NSA discovering some covert phone call, or email conversation, but this has been done to death in other novels. Instead he takes us into an interesting sub-plot, indeed it is drug smugglers that import the radioactive material, albeit probably unknowingly, and in the process they inadvertently contaminate a load of cocaine. When users and dealers start dieing the game is revealed.

One of the facets that I enjoyed was Steele’s Jihadists, yes they were as dedicated as the animals that pulled off 911, but they were also long term US residents who have become an accepted and mostly respected part of the local community. These are no AK47 toting thugs, but well dressed and well educated business men. There is also an interesting twist at the end of the book that certainly leaves Bernard Steele the option to reuse some of his characters in a future work. If he does take that road I hope that in book two he fleshes out the characters a little. I liked what I saw and think that someone like ‘Sammy the butcher’ (as in meat!) could become a great focal point for a future story.

I enjoyed this book, it is fast paced and written from several viewpoints. The different viewpoint style though, is one that has to be managed carefully in order not to confuse the reader. There are two aspects in particular, length of time spent with a character, if you hop from character to character every couple of pages, the book becomes choppy. Conversely if you spend too much time with a single character the reader loses the thread of what is going on elsewhere.

The second issue is how and when you segway into the change.

I think Death In Small Doses could have withstood a slightly heavier handed editor to smooth out the ride for the reader. But please do not be put off by that comment, it is still a very fine book, and for a first time effort Bernard Steele deserves kudos.

There is a web site that has more information about the book and the author, you can also order it through Amazon.

Simon Barrett is an adult educator in Calgary, Alberta. With the 11 months a year of winter, he reads a lot of books! He is also a contributing editor for Blogger News and maintains a personal blog at Simon B.

Have you every thought what your feelings would be if you found yourself in a life and death situation and saw somebody shot to death before your eyes?

Would you freeze and be transfixed to the spot? Would the whole scene flash before your eyes? Or would you see this horror as if in slow motion? What does it feel like to lift up a lifeless body? What does it feel like to see a human being’s life ebbing away, with blood oozing from a wound?

In Bear Any Burden, I tried to imagine these feelings as these traumatic events unfolded.

___________________________________

The officer, clearly surprised that Keller had spoken in Polish, turned his gun towards him.

Alex, looked on in horror. His shoulder was throbbing. Was it the cold or just tension? He turned to Anna, thinking she would respond. But then, Anna pulled out her pistol with silencer attached, from inside her overcoat, and shot the officer in the chest. The shot made a “plop” noise. He crumpled into the snow and didn’t move. Blood from the wound started to stain the snow. Alex was completely transfixed. Christ, he thought. What the hell’s going on!

The Kellers had wide-eyed looks of terror on their faces. Suddenly Alex was aware that the other soldier was taking his Kalashnikov off his shoulder and pointing it in Anna’s direction. As if in slow motion, he instinctively sprang forward, trying to grab the barrel of the rifle. At the same time, Keller lunged at the officer’s back and had his arms around his neck. The weight of Keller’s assault pushed the soldier towards the ground. A shot went off, and the bullet whizzed by Alex’s shoulder as he fell in the snow, with the wind knocked out of him. He saw Keller had his left hand on the soldier’s left side of his face, and his right arm round the front and back of his head. There was a muffled crack as Keller twisted the soldier’s head forcefully, as he fell to the ground in a heap. But as they both started to pick themselves up, Alex saw a look of complete horror on Keller’s face.

He looked to his right, to see Krystyna Keller lying face down, shot by the stray bullet, in her right temple. A small trickle of blood was oozing into the snow.

“Oh, my God, oh my God,” said Keller, as he jumped to his feet. “Krysta! Krysta!” They all ran over to her, but Alex instantly recognized that she was dead. Keller dropped to his knees, by his wife. Anna was standing over her, with her pistol at her side. She looked at Alex, her eyes glazed and unseeing, as she started to shake from the shock of what she had done. Alex was just as traumatized, looking from Anna to Keller to the two dead soldiers in the snow, and for a moment or two, totally paralyzed. Keller started sobbing uncontrollably. Alex leaned down and gently said, “Come on Professor. There’s nothing we can do.”

Anna, still shaking, at last found her voice. “I’m so sorry… I had to shoot,” she said, defensively, with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Keller wasn’t listening. He was sobbing, and holding Krystyna’s body to his. After a moment or two, Alex took Keller gently by the arm, helped him up and led him back to the car.

“No, no, no,” said Keller. “No, I can’t leave her.””

“I’m sorry, Professor,” Alex responded, slowly recovering from the trauma. “But there’s nothing to be done here. If we are to save our lives, we’ve got to get away immediately.”

He left Keller sobbing in the car while he returned to Anna. Three bodies lay on the ground.

Alex looked around, his head starting to clear. “We need to get the bodies behind that structure, and cover them with snow,” he said to Anna, who nodded. “C’mon, give me a hand,” Alex continued. They picked up the officer first. They both staggered under the weight of the lifeless body. Alex noted that the officer’s hands were still warm, and his dead eyes seemed to be staring right at him.

Fortunately, I’ve never had death stare me in the face, nor have I ever seen somebody shot and killed before my very eyes. It would be interesting to know how near to the truth is my description of these events.

Ellis M. Goodman is a Chicago based businessman who came to the U.S. in 1982 from London England. He is the author of CORONA: THE INSIDE STORY OF AMERICA

A minute or two later, however, the traffic slowed to a crawl. “This is unusual,” said Karol. “Maybe there’s been an accident.” Anna didn’t respond. But her stomach was knotting up. She was certain she knew what was happening. A hundred meters further on, they came across a roadblock set up by an armored personnel carrier with police and armed soldiers directing traffic into a single file. A police officer with a mega horn was shouting, “Keep to the right, keep to the right,” forcing all the vehicles into a single lane as they eased their way past the roadblock. There were cones in the middle of the road to ensure that they stayed in lane, and they crawled on towards the border. Within a couple of minutes, they were brought to a total stop by another armored personnel carrier with armed guards standing either side of the road, and police directing vehicles in batches of ten to pull over to the border plaza and park diagonally. Instructions were being shouted, “Pull over and park for inspection.”

“Christ,” Karol exclaimed. “What the hell’s going on here! It’s nothing to do with you lot, is it?” he looked at Anna quizzically.

“You just make sure you keep to your end of the bargain,” Anna said coldly. Suddenly, Karol felt something pushing into the side of his jacket. He looked down at the pistol in Anna’s hand.

“Holy shit, who are you?” he said, fearful and wide-eyed.

“Now, Karol,” Anna said calmly, “There’s nothing for you to worry about. Just follow the plan, and you won’t get hurt, and you will be 80,000 Szlotys richer.” Karol did not look nearly as confident as he’d been a few minutes earlier. When their turn came, they took up their position in a diagonal parking space. Karol lowered the window as a border guard came towards them.

“What the hell is going on, Hans?” he said, clearly familiar with the guard.

“Ah, there’s a big flap on at the moment,” Hans responded. “We’re going to have to work double shift,” he complained. “Nobody’s been allowed to go. They’re looking for a husband and wife traveling under Austrian passports,” he continued. “I think they’re Polish or Hungarian or something. Anyway, apparently, all the border crossings have been sealed, and every vehicle’s got to be inspected.” With that, Hans suddenly noticed Anna. “Hello, Karol,” he said, clearly impressed with this beautiful woman. “Who do we have here?”

“This is my little Fraulein from Vienna,” Karol responded, calmer now. “She’s been with me the last few days in Katowice,” he said. “I’ve been fixing her up with some work.”

“Really?” replied Hans. “What does she do?” giving a toothy smile.

“Oh, she was a well known singer with a jazz band in Vienna, but she ran into some problems.”

Anna was impressed. Karol was going along with the plan, and doing very well.

“Really?”

“Yeah, she snorted a little too much coke,” replied Karol, “and got busted. Hasn’t been able to find any work since, although she’s clean right now. So she’s been performing for me,” he said lewdly. “Isn’t that so, Vera?” he said, leaning in towards her and stroking her hair and face.

Anna smiled and blew Karol a little kiss.

“It’s all right for some,” said Hans, looking at this beautiful blonde’s smiling face.

“Hey, Hans, I’ve got some good news for you,” Karol said.

“What’s that, then?”

“Vera’s got a sister in Vienna, Claudia. She looks like Vera,” he went on, “but even sexier.”

“You’re kidding,” responded Hans.

“Nope, and she wants to come to Poland with me. So maybe I’ll bring her back next time, Hans, and we can have a night out together again.”

This wouldn’t be the first time that Karol had arranged some young, fresh meat for the border guards to smooth the way for his smuggling.

“She’s got tits like large ripe melons,” Karol went on enthusiastically. “You’d love her.”

“I love the taste of melon,” responded Hans with a laugh. “When are you coming back?”

“Tuesday,” replied Karol.

“What time?”

“About six. Is that any good for you?” Karol went on.

“Yeah, I get off at five on Tuesday. So I’ll hang around, and we’ll have a good time. We’ll go into Znojmo.”

“All right, that’s a date,” Karol said.

“Okay,” Hans said, getting more serious. “Now, let’s see your passports.” Karol handed them over. He took two seconds to look at Karol’s passport and then looked at the Austrian passport. “This is a bit of a mess,” he said out loud.

“I know,” responded Karol. “She dropped coffee on it.” Hans leafed through the contents. “Wow, this girl’s been around,” he said.

“I told you, she’s was a well-known singer.”

“What was the name of the jazz band?” Hans asked suddenly.

Karol hesitated. “Um, Tremblekids, I think,” he said.

“Oh,” replied Hans disinterestedly. “She came into Czechoslovakia with you on Tuesday?” noting the border stamp in the passport.

“Yup,” responded Karol. “That’s right.”

Hans then studied the photograph inside the passport. “This doesn’t look much like her,” he said aloud.

“I know,” said Karol. “That’s when she was strung out.”

“Christ, that dope can certainly make you look old,” responded Hans.

“Well, she looks good now that she’s off it, doesn’t she?” replied Karol.

Throughout this conversation, Anna sat and smiled, occasionally holding Karol by the arm and cuddling up to him a bit, not really understanding the conversation, which was in Czech. Both Alex and Keller could hear the exchange going on and knew that the truck was being delayed for some reason. Alex felt himself starting to get cold and clammy again as he thought they might be discovered.

“Okay,” said Hans, handing back the passports. “I’ve got to check the back.”

“Fine,” said Karol, opening the door and jumping down from the cab. “Be my guest, but don’t pee in the pots,” he said with a laugh. He brought down the tailgate and ran up the shutter. He climbed into the rear interior of the truck and hauled Hans up behind him. Hans looked around and started to kick a few of the crates. “Sorry, Karol, I know it’s a pisser, but I’m going to have to inspect.”

“Not a problem,” said Karol nonchalantly.

Alex could hear this and, even though he couldn’t understand Czech, he just knew that the crates were going to have to be opened. “Open up this one,” Hans said to Karol - kicking the one that Alex was in. He jumped with the thud of the boot hitting the crate not more than three inches from his face.

“Okay,” said Karol, getting his hammer and chisel and starting to bang at the crate right next to Alex’s ear. “This one’s a real bastard,” he said to Hans after a moment. “It’s bunged real tight.” How about that one?” He pointed to the crate lying next to Alex.

“Yeah, okay that’ll do,” replied Hans. Karol started pounding away at the crate, prying the top open for Hans to look inside. He moved a bit of the straw to look at the shell of the two baths sitting in the crate and then said, “Okay, Karol,” who then battened down the crate again. Hans was satisfied. They climbed down from the truck. Karol pulled the shutter down and banged up the tailgate just as an officer came walking along. “Anything?” he queried Hans.

“No, Sir, not yet.”

“Okay,” said the officer walking onto the next van being inspected.

“Right,” said Hans, handing over a white card to Karol with a figure 8 stenciled in black on it. “Put this in your windscreen. The border guard will wave you through, and hand it over to the Austrians down the road when you go through their immigration.”

“Thanks,” responded Karol.

With that, Karol got back into his cab, and Hans signaled for him to reverse back onto the plaza.

They gave each other a wave, and Hans shouted, “Looking forward to Tuesday,” as the truck moved off towards the border crossing.

Anna put her gun back into her purse as they were waved through the border crossing and moved slowly towards the Austrian officials.

(Excerpt from the novel Bear Any Burden and reprinted with permission of the author, Ellis M. Goodman).

Ellis M. Goodman is a Chicago based businessman who came to the U.S. in 1982 from London England. He is the author of CORONA: THE INSIDE STORY OF AMERICA

Can a tsunami strike the coast of New Jersey, North Carolina, or Florida? The question crossed my mind as I was doing research for my action/adventure novel TSUNAMI, even though the book is set in the Pacific.

The answer is yes, a tsunami hitting the Atlantic Coast is possible, but much less likely than one striking Alaska, Hawaii, or the Pacific Northwest. When it comes to the kinds of natural events that start tsunamis — undersea earthquakes, submarine landslides, and volcano eruptions — the Atlantic is a much tamer ocean than the Pacific. The Pacific basin is encircled by the notorious Ring of Fire with its hundreds of active volcanoes and dozens of dangerous, earthquake-prone subduction zones. The Atlantic has far fewer geological areas capable of posing a genuine tsunami threat. But there are some, and they should be taken seriously.

The one most talked about is the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the Canary Islands, 3000 miles from Boston and 3700 miles from Miami. In 1949, a flank of the volcano split off, creating a 3-ft. rift, the flank sliding down 3 feet toward the ocean before it stabilized. Earthquakes and a buildup of pressure inside the volcano were associated with the event. The concern is that another earthquake or eruption could dislodge the entire flank and send as much as 300 cubic miles of debris plunging into the ocean. One school of thought suggests that such a monster landslide would start a tsunami capable of reaching the eastern seaboard of the United States 5 or 6 hours later.

Even if such an event were to happen, many geologists dispute the notion that it would send a killer tsunami smashing into the East Coast of the U.S. The height of the initial wave would be enormous, but the length between waves would be relatively short, meaning its ability to maintain its energy while travelling long distances would be minimized. Undersea earthquake-generated tsunamis typically have long wavelengths, or distance between waves in the train, and can travel long distances without significant loss of energy. In contrast, landslide-initiated tsunamis tend to have short wavelengths and are usually confined to local areas where they can be highly destructive. In 1883, the Krakatau eruption dumped millions of tons of debris into the ocean and started a 135-ft. tsunami that did incredible damage to Sumatra and neighboring islands but did not affect other areas.

To sum it up, there are two points of view. One maintains the collapse of a chunk of Cumbre Vieja into the ocean could endanger the Atlantic Coast of the U.S. with a major tsunami, while the other view holds that the dynamics of wave formation make such a result unlikely.

The only true subduction zone close to the East Coast is the Puerto Rico Trench, which runs for 1000 miles from Puerto Rico eastward past the Lesser Antilles and out into the Atlantic Ocean. The deepest point in the Atlantic at 28,200 feet lies in The Puerto Rico Trench. Along this trench, the Caribbean tectonic plate is subducting, or sliding under, the North American Plate. This is not as large or active a subduction zone as most of those in the Pacific, but undersea earthquakes have occurred there, resulting in tsunamis that affected the islands in the Caribbean. The last tsunami in the area happened in 1918 when 32 people died in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Mt. Pelee on Martinique is one of several active volcanoes in the Lesser Antilles arc. The 1902 eruption of Mt. Pelee is one of the largest on record. It is possible that volcanic debris from future eruptions could crash into the ocean and start a localized tsunami.

Submarine landslides at the edge of the continental shelf along the Atlantic Seaboard might also start tsunamis that could impact coastal cities. In 1929, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake off Newfoundland started an undersea landslide down the continental shelf. The resulting tsunami swept ashore and killed 8 people.

The Atlantic Tsunami Warning System was installed in 2006, comprising five Deep Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (acronym DART) buoy stations. Single stations are located off Charleston, Miami, and New Orleans. Two are positioned off Puerto Rico near the Puerto Rico Trench. All provide real time detection of undersea disturbances capable of starting tsunamis that could impact the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf Coasts. Plans call for the addition of at least two more DART stations.

If you live in a low-lying area on the Atlantic Coast, be aware that a tsunami is always a possibility, and be prepared to evacuate on a moment’s notice as directed by local authorities.

Gordon Gumpertz, author of TSUNAMI, is a working novelist who writes suspense-packed adventure novels featuring believable characters caught up in the dynamic forces of natural and man-made disasters. His books achieve a sense of immediacy and realism through extensive background research. For more, visit Tsunami.

Many people remember the Western Movie starring John Wayne, TRUE GRIT. This article explores Writing with True Grit. Am I talking genre, language, characters? The truth is the gentlest, emotional story, even one with a religious theme, can be written with grit. Though many of you equate this to the suspense and horror genres. The word grit in my mind equals strength. That can mean character, language and plot. Genre is a moot point where this is concerned. Sometimes even the title can contain grit. How about THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY? In that famous Clint Eastwood movie the characters, the title and the plot all had the quality of grit. Even my own new book, which I hope to see released soon, is called PERDITION, meaning Eternal Hell. Gritty? You bet. Or how about my thriller, NIGHT FREEZE?

In THE PLIGHT OF MATTIE GORDON by Jeanne Marie Leach, the female character must face learning her son is a wanted outlaw. To save her son’s soul, she is faced with throwing in her lot with the bounty hunter bent on catching her son to make sure he gets punished. This lady has true grit in big way.

But enough said about that. Let’s first explore some characterization comparisons.

Strong female character: This woman perseveres despite every possible effort by persons or circumstances to reach her goal. She is not often given to tears, though sometimes, especially in private circumstances, she will let go with the water works. She wouldn’t be human, if she didn’t. (I especially dislike female characters who are veritable watering pots; they bore the liver out of me.) On the other hand, I hate a shrew. That’s not strength; it’s a weakness.

The strong female is intelligent, full of determination and is independent (sometimes to a fault). She is clever and resourceful, rarely leaning on anyone for help unless her situation is hopeless and life threatening. In religious works, she is allowed to rely on her Higher Power, but rarely other human beings. We humans are desperately flawed, you see.

This woman often toils to the point of exhaustion for whatever her cause. She possesses larger than life integrity and morality, at least by the end of the story. When faced with a fork in the road as to whether or not to do what is right as opposed to what her dark side urges her to do, she will always opt on the side of right.

A strong woman will be able to overcome the worst situations life has to offer, instead of wallowing in self-pity and becoming nauseously neurotic over it all, clinging to the negative instead of creating ways to turn her life around to the positive. There are endless examples of such things. Here are just a couple. In Sally Hickey’s book, EMPTY SHOES, a ballet dancer ends up in a wheelchair. The female character must overcome this devastation and turn her life toward the positive. In my thriller, NIGHT FREEZE, my medical examiner must endure tragedy after tragedy and loss. What she does in the end to turn her life around might surprise you, but it makes logical sense. The point is the female character will have a choice of sinking or swimming in the end. And her decision must come from inner strength and revelation, not from another character telling her this is how it has to be.

A weak female character: She can’t make a mature decision, she can’t do this and she can’t do that. She sits on her pity pot and agonizes over her lot in life or her losses. This woman often slides into hypochondria or severe depression that never goes away. Instead, she wallows in this depression until it becomes her comfort zone and there’s no other place in her situation to be comfortable. Often she will turn to drugs (prescribed or not) or alcohol to ease her pain and thereby make matters worse for herself.

Often a weak female is so passive as to become seriously irksome to a reader. You want to scream at her, “Get a life, lady!” She allows herself to be abused; she is convinced there is no way out. Thus she becomes as sick and as cowardly as the abuser.

Strong male character: By this I don’t mean some guy who looks like Hercules on steroids. Nor do I mean a guy who uses filthy profanity every other word. That just shows how stupid he is and lacking in vocabulary. A strong male character is many things, and a number of the same items mentioned in the female character apply. Remember, though, real life men operate from a different plane of thought and emotions than women, so subsequently there must be some major differences. Remember the MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS books.

This guy often exhibits leadership skills, is able to call a spade a spade, and is not afraid to dish out discipline or punishment when the situation requires it. This does not equate to abuse. Understand that completely. They are not the same things.

A strong character never makes inappropriate jokes that tend to put others down. This is neither funny nor heroic. He never abuses anyone, but neither does he mollycoddle them. Mostly these characters who consider themselves strong and who indulge in the aforementioned jokes, often hide a very weak character or terrible insecurity underneath all that muscle and bluster.

Consider this example. Could be our big strong guy is only five foot seven inches tall and suffers from a dread disease, but he will demonstrate his perseverance to overcome the odds, his integrity shines; his behavior toward others is not fraught with taking out his problems on everyone else. He does not self destruct via drugs and alcohol.

The ideal or larger than life male respects women and their abilities. He will be willing to work with them to solve a problem or reach a goal. He will take charge when the situation calls for it, and will give no quarter in that area. He acts like a man, not a pussycat. Consequently, his ego may be a bit larger than we ladies like, but through trial and error, he learns enough humility to appear heroic in the eyes of others.

Here again the character, whether male or female, often reaches a point where he/she must decide between right and wrong or desire versus what is right and moral.

A man who says things jokingly to others is often hurtful to the recipient. In other words, they’re not funny. If your male character does this in the beginning of your story, you’d better make sure he shows a good deal of growth by the end of the story. Again, he must arrive at the knowledge his former behavior was akin to being a jerk, a bully or whatever, on his own. The decision to change and strengthen his character must come from inside him.

A strong man has lots of emotions and inner thoughts. He does not often exhibit them to his male friends or his female counterparts. There are exceptions, of course, but to be true to the male character he does not often indulge this practice.

Can a strong man cry? You bet he can, and it’s unrealistic to think a man shouldn’t if he’s deeply hurt by a loss of someone he loves. He can’t be a watering pot, either, and his tears are often, though not always, private. Tears for joy or pain come to most strong male characters rarely, but don’t discount this when the situation calls for it. It is appropriate to their character.

Exercise (Use any name you choose.)

Sarah

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

John

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

List as many as you can in each category, just enough to make them real to the reader, not super-human. When done, make a list of those same strengths and weaknesses at the end of your story. Are they the same? They probably shouldn’t be. Not entirely. What I mean is there should be a few add-on strengths by the end of the book. Caution. Make sure these characters have not become perfect by the end or they won’t seem real. Some personality traits are there to stay with the character for life. The point is they can improve. Show their new strength through their actions and deeds. Don’t tell us.

Make us all sigh with satisfaction by the time we read THE END.

Lee Emory will be teaching a workshop on this subject, WRITING WITH TRUE GRIT, at the 22nd annual Florida Christian Writers Conference February 28 - March 1, 2009.

Lee Emory is an author of ten novels, numerous short stories and articles, who is also a professional editor for 40 years. She is the owner of/Senior Editor for Treble Heart Books Publishing. Lee teaches writing workshops and speaks at numerous writers’ conferences. Visit Treble Heart Books or email leeemory@earthlink.net to learn more.

One of the great joys of being a book reviewer is that you never know what is going to turn up in your mail box. There are so many great new writers out there. In fact I have a confession to make, did you know that you could take me to a bookstore and I can pretty much guarantee that I would not be able to find a book that I wanted to read! Book stores sell the NYT best sellers and little else. Well I don’t like the Clancy’s and Stephen King’s of the world, I like new authors, ones that have some heart in what they write.

Which brings me to Richard Ide and his new book 3 Aces. I read the synopsis, and I have to admit that I was not sure that as a plot line it would work. Ex Vietnam vet with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) turned long distance truck driver meets a depressed alcoholic poker playing young lady and they attempt to rehabilitate each other with the help of a three legged dog!

Well I was wrong! The plot line works splendidly. Richard Ide pulls it off with aplomb.

Abner Weaver is a man who has lost his ambition, a truck driver who has become fed up with the world and who is little by little heading down a very dark path. His trucks are becoming less appealing as are the loads he hauls. But does he care? No, the solace of the cab is all that matters. Abner has found his nirvana behind a bug covered windshield and an old and tired diesel engine thumping beneath him.

A chance encounter with what Abner at first thinks of as a ‘lot lizard’ begins to change his opinions. Dawn Carlisle is no hooker, she is just a rather sad young lady, running from a failed marriage, and an ugly custody battle. A battle that she cannot find a way to win, with no job she stands no chance of getting her young daughter back. She has no skills, other than a natural penchant of math, but her only use for that is in playing Poker. That will hardly endear her to any judge.

So with this as the backdrop Richard Ide takes us on an interesting voyage of discovery. I have to admit that the one person that I do feel sorry for having read this book is the editor. He or she must have had some sleepless nights with the trucking and poker lingo! It took me a little while to pick it up. I certainly learned a few new terms, I really like ‘lot lizard’ - what a great description of the low-end hookers that hang out at truck stops.

I was also impressed with the research that Richard Ide has done both in his use of locations and also the historical vignettes that he inserts from time to time. 3 Aces covers a lot of ground, literally and metaphorically.The book ends with the best synopsis of the Vietnam war I think I have ever read. Short and to the point.

Great book, I loved it, and you can get your copy from Amazon.

Simon Barrett is an adult educator in Calgary, Alberta. With the 11 months a year of winter, he reads a lot of books! He is also a contributing editor for Blogger News and maintains a personal blog at Simon B.

Some purists will try and tell you that writing is an art form and that all artists should work only for the love and fulfilment that their talent brings them.

But I say that’s rubbish. If you want to be a successful and wealthy writer, then you need to write for money. You can pursue a dream of becoming a starving writer living in a garret if you want to, but it’s much better to earn a large salary for your work and live comfortably.

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t enjoy writing. On the contrary, writing should be your passion in life. Your writing should be what gets up early in the morning and keeps you up late at night. But you should also be earning a respectable living from your writing.

Being a successful and wealthy writer sounds great but how and where should you begin?

If you don’t know what kind of writer you want to be then you can start by trying out all the different kinds of writing. You can try writing short stories, poetry, comedy, scripts, articles, books, novels, copy writing, ghost writing and more.

And you can send your work out to many different magazines, web sites, publishers and other markets. You’ll probably receive back a huge avalanche of rejections, but in amongst them all you’ll have a few successes.

From these successes you’ll be able to see what pays the best and what you enjoy writing.

From this you can figure out your hourly rate.

For instance, say you were paid a fee of $100 for writing a 1,000-word article. Now that $100 may seem like a lot, but if it took you 4 hours to research and write the article, then your hourly rate is only $25.

Now you could improve that rate by rewriting the article from anther angle and submitting it to other markets. So if you get paid another $100 and it only took you 1 hour to rewrite it, that means that altogether you’ve been paid $200 for 5 hours work which brings your rate up to $40 an hour.

But on the other hand, you may love writing fiction and find that you can write a 1,000-word short story in only an hour. So if your story is published and you’re paid $100, your hourly rate has now more than doubled to $100 an hour.

But it’s not always as simple as adding up the figures. What you can write and get paid for also depends on the needs of the market. Or you may want to write novels but you need to write articles as well to keep the money coming in while you finish your first book.

You may also decide to write for less money to get your foot in the door of a prestigeous magazine or because you have developed a good relationship with an editor and you don’t want to jeapodise it. Or you write for less money because you’re trying to notch up an impressive credit for your port folio.

So while money isn’t always everything, it’s important to keep your eye on the bottom line. That way you’ll always be aware of the most lucrative path for your writing career. Because without the money, you won’t have a writing career. You’ll just be a person who writes in their spare time.

If you want to be a successful and wealthy writer but don’t know where to begin, take a look at http://writeaholics.net/quickcash.html. This is a brilliant course that helps you explore different avenues and genres of Quick Cash Writing. You can also go to http://writeaholics.net, sign up for the free monthly newsletter and receive a free writers’ eBook.