Monthly Archives: April 2011

April 20, 2011

Book Review: The King Whisperers

Niccolo Machiavelli is a character many have heard of, but few really know much about. The name itself conjures up images of power-hungry politicians, behind-the-scenes maneuvering, and deceitful, diabolical acts. But we forget that Machiavelli was a real, flesh-and-blood person. As a general rule most of us are taught about the men and women who ruled our country and occasionally we learn something about the rulers of other countries both modern and historical.  One thing that is rarely talked about is the people who put the ruler in that position, helped them hold the position or made their legacy something worth remembering.   Dr. Kerwin Swint's book, The King Whisperers, tells us about the people who stood behind the throne, for better or worse, giving examples from across the globe and throughout time of the people who influenced the course of power like no others. Continue reading →


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April 15, 2011

100 Word Challenge

Writing

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So a couple of years ago I was reading a book about about being a better writer (I'll hunt it down and let you know what it is later) and one of the chapters was about forcing yourself to write.  Now I have been pretty good since about October with writing consistantly even if my ADD keeps me from writing on only one project at a time and so I bounce around all over the place and though I am currently behind on my word count for April I'm hoping that I can make up some of that ground in the last half of the month.  Anyhow, the point of this bit of rambling is that one of the exercises in the book was to work on your story 100 words at a time.  Just sit down and write 100 words.  Whether it takes you five minutes or two hours, just get 100 words down on paper (or on the screen I suppose).  I tried doing this for a while and felt good about doing it, but the challenge, like the rest of my writing, fell to the wayside as work and school dominated my life.  I was re-reading the beginnings of the story I had already done for the challenge and I thought it might be fun to re-visit the story, if for no other reason to force myself to write on the days where I get busy and fail to produce more.  So here I go again...back on the 100 word challenge wagon.  I am going to post my 100 word tidbits on here, starting with the orginal posts, so in about a month and a half you'll be reading the newer parts of the exercise. Do you do little challenges like this to motivate yourself or do you have any other little tricks you'd like to share?
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April 11, 2011

Winners of the March Writer's Challenge!

So I'm sure you've all taken a look at the the entries for my March Writer's Challenge and voted right?  Well if you haven't voted it is too late now, but you can still give the  entries a read. Continue reading →


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Filed under Blogs, Contests