Here is another good article about writing books, from one of four authors that post weekly about the writing process and getting published.

This one is from Misty Massey:

Writing to the Writer

As a writer, I’ve always ever had one true hope for my work, and that was that it might someday make a reader feel the way my favorite author’s books always made me feel. I wanted my readers to come away from my stories breathing a satisfied sigh of time well spent.

When I was a child, I used to write letters to authors whose work impressed me, people like E L Konigsberg, Elizabeth Enright (and was broken-hearted to learn she had died some years before my letter arrived), and Marguerite Henry. Most of the time the only response was a form letter of some kind from the publisher, thanking me for my interest.

When I was 10 or 11, I wrote a letter to my favorite author (at the time), Alexander Key. I’d just finished his fantastic novel Flight to the Lonesome Place, and I had a question about one of the characters. Everyone told me not to expect a personal response, since he was a famous author and I was just a kid who read his book. Imagine my excitement when a letter arrived a few weeks later, with “A. Key” in the return address corner. I read his charming, thoughtful, personal response to my question at least one hundred times. My favorite author had taken the time to write to me, a mere reader. How amazing was that?

These days I’m the one getting correspondence from readers. It’s a good deal easier here in the 21st century, what with email and blog lines. No one has to search very diligently before they find a way to contact me, which is nice for both of us. Yesterday, for example, I opened my email and found a delightful note from a young woman who had just finished reading Mad Kestrel, and wanted to tell me how she felt about it. As I read her gushing email, I began to cry, because I realized that I’d done what I wanted to do. I had given at least one person a story that became real, a cast of characters she could care about, and a world she didn’t want to leave behind. As writers, we all hope for award nominations and bestseller status and seven figure advances, but honestly, when it all comes down, what we really want is to touch someone else’s soul with our work. That’s what being an artist is all about.

Being a mortgage broker in these precarious financial times could be a bit of a worry. For 12 years they’ve had it better than most but many companies now have been feeling the pain for a good while. They are the ones who are aware of these problems before the masses.

Finding a remortgage quote can be particularly tricky. Financial institutions are erasing deals from the marketplace as regular as clockwork. More often than not it is a race against time to get a remortgage application put forward before the lender eliminates the offer.

Simon Pritchard-Jones, head of the stockbroking service WH Ireland, said: “There’s so much more running around to get mortgages put in on time before they’re no more”

The banks have gone very cold when it comes to lending funds between themselves. As a side effect of this interest rates have been going up on many products and thousands of mortgages have been eliminated because it just costs too much for the lender to raise the moolah.

Many people’s fixed rate mortgage ceased in 2008 and many more will stop in 2009. The problems associated with securing a re-mortgage now means that consumers simply don’t have the choice they had 20 short months ago. To stop a house repossession by remortgaging now can be really tough.

It’s likely that we’re in for at least another 1 to 2 years of this so strap yourself in because we are in for a rough ride.

–This article is brought to you by the content team at Data Entry At Home. A busy site dedicated to ferreting out the real online jobs for freelance workers.–

If you’re shopping for a diamond engagement ring, a proposal to your special someone must be on the horizon. First off - Congrats! Getting engaged is an exciting time in anyone’s live and is something that every girl has dreamed of since she was a young girl.

Most guys get nervous about one thing - hunting for an engagement ring! Many guys think that this is the hardest part of proposing. We all know that women love their diamonds! Unfortunately, most men have never shopped for a diamond so they have no idea what to look for.

It’s easy to get a little intimidated when you first walk into a jewelry store. You see all these shiny diamonds and some very big pricetags! And as you can probably guess, the jewelry store employee is going to show you the most expensive ones first!

Don’t panic! With a little research, you will find a fantastic diamond ring at a fantastic price. Don’t pay attention to the first prices that you see in the stores - the costs are NOT set in stone. There’s a lot of wiggle room and more importantly, there are ways to look for a diamond with particular characteristics so you get the most bang for your buck.

One of the most important parts of hunting for an engagement ring is to be educated about how diamonds are graded. Find a good diamond buying guide to help you out here. Understand the “4 C’s” and how the labs grade diamonds.

Once you understand the 4 C’s, you will also know what goes into pricing a diamond. With this knowledge, it’s up to you to select which grading characteristics are important to you and your special someone in purchasing a diamond.

It’s important to decide how much you are willing to spend, and try to stay in that pricerange. The size of the diamond you choose can go up simply by going down a notch in one of the . As an example, by going from a “F” color diamond down to an “I”, you will conserve lots of cash or be able to bump up the size of the rock significantly.

Best of luck during this exciting time!

Air is very eminent for our survival but the kind of air newly has been quite polluted. One scheme to come to these airborne irritants is to use a high quality air purifier to clean the contaminated air first so that we can breathe in the fresh, unsullied air into our lungs. With a little research, you can decide on what are the first air purifiers for homes ready that are recommended for your needs and look after you and your family.

When you examine purchasing an air purifier, it’s high-ranking to know which type of air purifier is fitted for you. Your choice of air purifier will depend on several factors including your family’s health, your budget and your lifestyle. If you suffer from allergies, a HEPA filter is a necessary requirement for an air purifier as HEPA air purifiers represent the best way of removing common allergens. The higher the CADR rating, the more moving the air purifier is against that pollutant. Since most Hepa air purifiers come with reliable HEPA filter, you can be rest assured that they can help omit particles that are toxic for us to breathe in.

It is significant to note that some air purifiers can only shed a portion of these particles to restrict allergic-type responses and that means they cannot carry away odors, chemicals or gasses. Regardless, some air purifiers such as rainbow air purifier can suck up odors and chemicals. UV air purifier leave out biologicals bacteria, viruses, mold while removing toxic chemicals and particulates. Electrostatic purifiers are beneficial for removing a number of pollutants from the air including odors, mildew and mold, bacteria and even microorganisms. Before you fix to purchase any air purifiers, make sure that you ask of your doctor to guarantee that the model you’re buying is mild.

Isn’t it a mystery that iPod is so popular? The answer is very simple; Apple iPod is portable, very easy to use, well designed, and it uses the best technology around. Because it is so handy, music lovers wants to take it everywhere. Who doesn’t love free downloading iPod music on their little machines!

Listening to the music is not all you can do with Apple iPod. Apart of enjoying music or videos, Apple Company introduced Apple iPhone cellular phone where music delights combine with phone connections and human interaction.

There are no complications when you use the Apple iPhone, easy tapping of the name or the phone number is all what you need. iPhone is an excellent gadget for creating a conference place to talk to all your business associates at ones. Of course, they can be just your friends of family members; it does not matter, as long as everybody can stay in touch at the same time. What would be a cellular phone without SMS feature? iPhone has got a QWERTY keypad that makes it easy to type resulting in less misspelling errors. Also there is voicemail feature on the Apple iPhone that allows choosing the messages you wanted to hear. If you want share pictures with your iPhone, you’ll find out that this can go quicker than on other phones. Furthermore, using a 2-megapixel camera helps transfer the photos to a Mac notebook in no time.

There are many treats for the iPod cellular user. There is of course 3.5 inches screen monitor with safari browser. If you want to find directions, you will be able access Google maps on that browser. If you think this is it, you’re wrong. What about the TV shows or movies? Having a iPhone solves the problem. You don’t have to rush home any more.

If you like it or not, Apple is in and it looks like it will stay for a while. It’s great for entertainment, especially for entertainment “to go”. If you want an iPod because you want to store everything: from your darling songs to your movies or your pictures, think first if you can afford one. For that reason don’t push yourself to have one because everybody else has it. It is still a WANT not a NEED.

Have you been shopping for top quality neem products but could not figure out where to begin? Neem-oil products are slowly becoming more widely available, but right now are mostly only found on the internet or in health shops and specialty stores. Since these are hard to find items it is easy to grab the first thing you stumble upon just because it says neem on the bottle. So here are some tips that will help you make an educated choice before purchasing the wrong stuff.

Know How The Neem Oil Was Extracted There are a lot of methods used to extract the oil from the seeds of the neem tree. As you might have already concluded, not all extraction process were created equally. The best extraction method that produces the most desirable neem oil is called cold pressing. Cold pressed neem oil is the best, as the majority of the active compounds remain intact. It is also the first and most accepted method of extraction. It utilizes a mechanical device that squeezes the oil out of the seeds. Always opt for cold pressed neem oil where possible.

A second extraction technique uses superheated water and extreme temperatures. Though this method retrieves a larger quantity of oil from the neem seeds than using a mechanical press, a lot of the active compounds in the neem oil may be ruined because of the heat used in the process.

The third technique is the one that most manufacturers use because it yields the most oil. It is called chemical solvent extraction, and usually hexane (which is also called “white gasoline”) is the solvent of choice. Even though this technique extracts nearly all of the oil from the neem seeds, the chemicals destroy most of the active compounds in the neem seed oil. To add to this and the fact that the chemical being used is poisonous, it is preferable to look for items that do not contain solvent extracted neem oil.

Watch Out For Additives Almost all bath and beauty items these days contain added substances to “enhance” the products performance. At the same time, some of these additives are known to likely cause adverse side effects. Two of the most common additives that may be in a lot of bath bath products are Lauryl Sulfates (SLS) and Parabens. Lauryl Sulfates are often used as foamers, because they are inexpensive and work particularly well. A lot of inexpensive neem shampoo and soap products contain these additives too. But, these chemicals are known to have some side effects. In fact, the USFDA encourages manufacturers not to use them.

Parabens are often used for preserving, and though there has been no scientific evidence that they are harmful, they are starting to be avoided by many. Some organizations feel they should be avoided for the sake of precaution.

Be Sure To Look For Certified Organic Ingredients For obvious reasons, organic ingredients are preferred over non-organic ingredients. These are natural substances, and have not been exposed to man-made chemicals, fertilizers, plant growth regulators, pesticides or similar chemicals. Look for labels that list only organic ingredients. If a manufacturer uses these ingredients, they will almost always state this (it’s a selling point) on the label.

A backyard garden is a certain way to enjoy a nice summers evening or a nice warm summers nighttime. You will relish the setting alot more, even so, if your terrace is decorated with a nice, wooden garden furniture set. Patio furniture enhances the appeal of any patio by making seating, dining, and amusement practicable options—all while enjoying a view of the beautiful open air.

Buying garden furniture can be daunting since there is many varied kinds to select from. While it might seem like making this choice is merely a matter of personal taste, one must only consider the facts before determining that wooden garden furniture is the best decision to make. Choosing wooden garden furniture is the first step to creating the garden of your dreams.

The Wonder Of Luxury Wooden Garden Furniture

Wooden quality garden furniture is particularly known for its durability. Compared to wicker furniture and plastic furniture, wooden furniture has the potential to last for years without becoming worn or decayed. The two kinds of wooden furniture that are the most hard-wearing are Iroko and teak. In addition to being durable, quality wooden garden furniture is relatively lightweight and easy to rearrange if that is what you desire.

Wooden garden furniture is easier to maintain than many other types of patio furniture. As long as the furniture has been treated with an exterior-grade varnish, it can be easily cleaned using soapy water. During the winter, high quality luxury wooden garden furniture such as teak and cedar do not need to be stored indoors or under cover. However, other types of luxury wooden garden furniture should either be stored in a garage or loosely covered with plastic.

See Our Gardening tips Blog.

Exercise is obviously extremely important for youngsters from an early age. It’s quite simple to turn that into something to can enjoy as it’s fun. There are many kinds of play ground equipment for them to play on. Parks and school playgrounds offer a varied choice of them. Common ones to be found there include the wood swing set, playground slides, merry go rounds, and the outdoor frame for climbing.

Sometimes schools hold fund raising events in order to be able to buy extra exercise equipment for the schoolchildren. It can be disheartening if there are insufficient swings available or there is a very long line for the playground slides. It could be the case that some of the exercise equipement they have for youngsters is outdated and old.

Sometimes parents encourage their children to play outdoors more often by having exercise equipment in their own backyard. There is plenty of choice and youngsters will gain a huge benefit from it. You will also like the fact that your kids are not playing on the street with the associated risk of cars on the road.

Many parents believe that playground equipment is too expensive to purchase. Yet if you take some time to look around you will find it costs considerably less than you probably expected. It’s important to ensure that you acquire quality playground equipment which will last a very long time.

You will find a good selection of wood swing sets, playground slides, climbing frames and other kids’ play equipment at play supplies. I don’t know if you have considered for the smaller child a spring rider, or an outdoor trampoline as an alternative, or complement to swing sets and slides.

Shaving is one of those activities that men endure, rather than enjoy. And for hundreds of years a metal blade scraped across the face has been the way it was done.

Things have moved on since then, of course, and you can now find a new line of electric shavers which comes with an improved facial cream emulsion that makes shaving even more comfortable. When you have less irritation on your skin, you feel better. You look better too.

One range of electric shavers offers a Flex Tracker System. It automatically traces the curves of your face and helps to protect against skin irritation. For those hard to reach curved areas of the face you want optimum skin contact and flex tracker offers just that. The flexing mechanism gives the head section of the shaver the ability to tilt forward and backward. That grips the hair firmly by the roots, which gives a closer shave.
 
Glide Rings

Glide Rings help the shaver move smoothly over your face. With a reduced friction while moving over your skin, the glide rings truly help the cutting surface to glide smoothly over your face. The Philips HS8060 Nivea Moisturizing Rotary Shaving System’s offers a glide ring system that moves smoothly over the contours of your face.

The Philips HS8060 also has an integrated cartridge refill system. Just by pumping the shaving conditioner from the refill can you can ensure a continuous supply of moisturizing, smooth shave producing coverage.

Philips HS8060 Nivea Moisturizing Rotary Shaving System saves you time and energy - you don’t have to apply any moisturiser on you face prior to the shave. Wet your and press the shaving conditioner button. The shaver’s cutting surface will then glide smoothly across your skin.

There are many sites online where you can read HS8060 reviews which explain how this special system actually works.

Salcombe is one of the most popular holiday resorts in the UK. We went there last year for a family holiday staying in a wonderful holiday cottage.

The town of Salcombe is quite small but there are loads of good restaurants, pubs and clothes shops as well as a good little bookshop, a newsagent, a Post Office and some art galleries. One of our favourite restaurants is called Captain Flint’s. This is a very busy totally child-friendly pizza, spaghetti and ice cream restaurant where families with young children can relax after long days on the beaches or on the water. Captain Flint’s is so popular that there is usually a queue to get in and the owners steadfastly refuse to open at lunchtime! So if you want to go you have to go in the evening. It opens usually at 5:30 but check the sign outside Flint’s if you want to be first in the queue.

Another appealing aspect of Salcombe is the hustle and bustle of yachts, dinghies,motor-boats and launches that make a wonderful moving backdrop to the town. There’s always something to watch going on whether it’s a dinghy race, a powerboat training session or day trippers struggling to master the process of coming alongside in a boat they hired for the day.

For the serious walkers of the world Salcombe is also on the South West Coastal path and it’s only a short hike out of town towards the estuary mouth. You can go West towards Bolberry, Hope Cove and the beaches of Bantham and Bigbury, or East towards Gara and eventually on to Dartmouth.

And then there’s shopping. There do seem to be an inordinate number of clothes shops and until recently there were also too many estate agents. But there’s also a wonderful proper sweet shop called Cranch’s where children queue to buy rock and fudge.

You’ll also find a first class butcher, a newsagent, two delicatessens, a bakery, a sandwich shop, a Post Office, a friendly and packed toy shop, a museum, a small park with swings and slides, a health centre, and several gift shops.

But where to stay?

There are many holiday cottages in Salcombe and you can rent them either directly from the owners or by registering with one or more of the letting agents.

Some cottages are right on the water front and many are bang in the middle of the town which is great for access to restaurants, pubs and so on but it has to be said that in the summer evenings Salcombe is not the quietest place on earth!  Try looking slightly further afield in Batson, a quiet creek just 10 minute’s walk from Salcombe centre where you can find character-rich cottages to rent.

We found that the best Salcombe self-catering holiday accommodation gets booked up early for the peak holiday season. But the South Hams area has a lot to offer too if you are looking for a weekend break in Salcombe instead.

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