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  • Article Check - Voice in Narrative and Dialogue - A Contrast of Writing Styles

    How to Accept Online Payments - the Easy Way
    If you’re selling anything online, you’ll need to be able to accept online payments.There are many ways you can do this, but let’s simplify it down to the hard way and the easy way.The hard way requires you set up a merchant bank account and then sign up, at quite some considerable expense, to accept online payments on your account. Not only will you have to pay a percentage of each payment you receive, but there is often a monthly charge for running the account too. If you start getting into big figures, you may even find that the bank holds back a sum of money due to you for chargebacks.A chargeback is where a buyer asks for their money back – either due to fraud or because they are unhappy with the product you have supplied. There are stories of some companies holding back large sums of money to cover the cost of chargebacks.That’s the hard way!Now for the easy way.Unless you've been living under a rock for the past five years, you'll have heard of Paypal. It's easy to set up and account to take payment for goods, downloadable Ebooks and subscriptions without the need to set up a merchant account.This online payment system is the quickest and easiest way to accept payment online with cards such as Visa, Mastercard and Maestro on your site. It's easy to open a Paypal account and start accepting payment online immediately.
    . For romance (not my genre), you can probably use lots more adjectives (swollen, heaving, throbbing, etc.) than you'd normally dare.

    When I wrote RISING FROM THE ASHES, the true story of Mom raising my brother and me alone, I tried to adopt a "childlike voice" early in the narrative. As the character of Michael the storyteller grew older, I abandoned that childlike quality. (An enti

    New Home Mortgage? Preparing for the Mortgage Loan Process
    Two common mishaps that are associated with deciding on a mortgage lender are:1) Not Being Prepared2) Not Shopping Around - If you have decided to take the mortgage plunge, it is in your best interest to be as prepared and knowledgeable as possible. Do research on different types of lenders, such as banks, mortgage companies and brokers, and savings and loan associations. Know what items you will need to have available for the lender and shop around for the best deal. It may take a bit more time in the beginning, but in the end, it can save you immeasurable time and money.Once you have a few lenders in mind for your loan, do research on the companies to obtain references, make sure they have a happy clientele base and a great reputation, and don't forget to find out what their success rate is. You may want to look elsewhere if more than ten percent of their loans are denied.Mortgage Loan PaperworkYour prospective lenders will look at many facets of your life to decide your loan terms, such as job history, income, as well as home and credit history. Be prepared to prove your financial stability and responsible nature by having the appropriate documents ready in advance.A few items you will need are: W-2's and income tax papers, past landlord information including addresses and phone numbers, current pay stubs, and your bank account information. You will also want to prove your identity, so have your driver's license, social security number, and just in case, your birth certificate ready for inspection.Common Mistakes to Avoid During the Mortgage Loan ProcessThere are many mistakes to avoid when securing a mortgage loan. Many are common sense such as: making large credit purchases pri
    One of the nice things about being an author is that we can break any rule we want. (I just did.) It's part of our job description. Language changes through usage -- definitions, spelling, grammar -- and authors can help it do this. But on the other hand, we have to have some sort of agreement on the language or we won't be able to talk to each other.

    When we as authors break a rule or two, it's not because we're ignorant. It's because we have reasons to break them. That's one of the joys of writing.

    Having said that, now I'm going to explain some rules. There are two types of writing in your novel. There is your narrative and there is your dialogue. The rules for the two are not the same.

    For example, comma use. In dialogue, it's not so difficult. Put in a comma wherever your speaker pauses in his/her speaking. In narrative, you have to consult the style guides and hope that you and your editor, working as a team, can sort it all out.

    NARRATIVE

    A cop thriller like my VIGILANTE JUSTICE has a simple set of rules for the narrative portion. Third-person, straightforward writing, light on adjectives and adverbs, easy to read and grammatically correct. Sentence fragments are acceptable if communication is achieved, and you'll note that I use them often in this article. Why? Simply because it's more effective that way.

    To a degree the genre will help you identify what's appropriate. For a cop drama, write in the dry style of a journalist. For horror, a bit of hyperbole may be acceptable in the most dramatic sections. For romance (not my genre), you can probably use lots more adjectives (swollen, heaving, throbbing, etc.) than you'd normally dare.

    When I wrote RISING FROM THE ASHES, the true story of Mom raising my brother and me alone, I tried to adopt a "childlike voice" early in the narrative. As the character of Michael the storyteller grew older, I abandoned that childlike quality. (An enti

    Server Uptimes Revealed: The Hidden Cost of Cheap Hosting
    We often see server uptime statistics when looking for hosting providers, for example 99.8%, 99%, or 99.99% server uptime guaranteed. Though 99% server uptime may sound good, but is it really and what does it mean?99% server uptime means that in a year of 365 days, your server will be up 99% of the time, which is 361.35 days (365 days x 99%). This is not really good, because even with 99% uptime your site could be down for 4 days. It would be disastrous if you owned an online store because even an hour's downtime would cost you. Imagine, not only lost revenues, but also customers who switched to your competitors while your site was down.Here are some server uptime examples with calculations showing what the percentages mean.100% server uptime Up = 365 days Down = 0 days = 0 hours = 0 minutes99.999% server uptime Up = 364.9964 days Down = 0.0036 days = 0.0876 hours = 5.256 minutes99.99% server uptime Up = 364.9635 days Down = 0.0365 days = 0.876 hours = 52.56 minutes99.9% server uptime Up = 364.635 days Down = 0.365 days = 8.76 hours = 525.6 minutes99.8% server uptime Up = 364.27 days Down = 0.73 days = 17.52 hours = 1051.2 minutes99% server uptime Up = 361.35 days Down = 3.65 days = 87.6 hours = 5256 minutesYou can use other tools like ping and traceroute to measure server response times and hops required to reach your server.Initial hosting offerings of very low prices bundled with a lot of disk space and server features may be lucrative, but when it comes to server uptime, you could be paying a heavy price. If you are just starting off with your own website, then a lower server uptime like 99% may no
    r two, it's not because we're ignorant. It's because we have reasons to break them. That's one of the joys of writing.

    Having said that, now I'm going to explain some rules. There are two types of writing in your novel. There is your narrative and there is your dialogue. The rules for the two are not the same.

    For example, comma use. In dialogue, it's not so difficult. Put in a comma wherever your speaker pauses in his/her speaking. In narrative, you have to consult the style guides and hope that you and your editor, working as a team, can sort it all out.

    NARRATIVE

    A cop thriller like my VIGILANTE JUSTICE has a simple set of rules for the narrative portion. Third-person, straightforward writing, light on adjectives and adverbs, easy to read and grammatically correct. Sentence fragments are acceptable if communication is achieved, and you'll note that I use them often in this article. Why? Simply because it's more effective that way.

    To a degree the genre will help you identify what's appropriate. For a cop drama, write in the dry style of a journalist. For horror, a bit of hyperbole may be acceptable in the most dramatic sections. For romance (not my genre), you can probably use lots more adjectives (swollen, heaving, throbbing, etc.) than you'd normally dare.

    When I wrote RISING FROM THE ASHES, the true story of Mom raising my brother and me alone, I tried to adopt a "childlike voice" early in the narrative. As the character of Michael the storyteller grew older, I abandoned that childlike quality. (An enti

    A good logo vs. a FABULOUS logo
    If you had a choice, which one would you choose, a good logo or a fabulous logo? Think about it for a second here, although I know the answer is crystal clear. Because many of us settle for a good logo created by a credible logo designer just because he or she is a credible logo designer who charges low prices. For example, I had a client who paid $500 for a normal-looking logo which looked like something anyone else can come up with. A couple of color changes to the logo, alteration of the logo text is inevitable and then maybe changing the alignment of the logo here and there….THAT’S IT! $500 per pop!!??There are lots of reasons why we settle for a normal-looking or good looking logo apart from price. One, it’s easy to change. Two, it’s uncomplicated. Three, the logo is simple enough. But let me tell you something about logos. You need a FABULOUS logo….an OUT OF THIS WORLD logo, not just any logo, ok?The size, the precision, the text, the symbol, the color, the font, etc all counts towards bringing the attention of your potential customers towards your company, your image and your branding. Granted, most of the large International companies have pretty simple logos and you’re thinking to yourself….that’s VERDANA font sent at size 12 and that logo is set at Myriad set at size 14……but every single one of those Internationally renowned brands and logos have their own specific fonts and size, specific and exclusive color combinations and every single symbol and icons that are is used together with the logo has a meaning.Whether you’re in a competitive industry or not, it doesn’t matter. Whether your market is small or big, it doesn’t matter! The fact of the matter is that your customers DO remember you when they see your logo, regar
    comma wherever your speaker pauses in his/her speaking. In narrative, you have to consult the style guides and hope that you and your editor, working as a team, can sort it all out.

    NARRATIVE

    A cop thriller like my VIGILANTE JUSTICE has a simple set of rules for the narrative portion. Third-person, straightforward writing, light on adjectives and adverbs, easy to read and grammatically correct. Sentence fragments are acceptable if communication is achieved, and you'll note that I use them often in this article. Why? Simply because it's more effective that way.

    To a degree the genre will help you identify what's appropriate. For a cop drama, write in the dry style of a journalist. For horror, a bit of hyperbole may be acceptable in the most dramatic sections. For romance (not my genre), you can probably use lots more adjectives (swollen, heaving, throbbing, etc.) than you'd normally dare.

    When I wrote RISING FROM THE ASHES, the true story of Mom raising my brother and me alone, I tried to adopt a "childlike voice" early in the narrative. As the character of Michael the storyteller grew older, I abandoned that childlike quality. (An enti

    Important Information You Should Read Before Doing .Info Domain Name Registration
    The info domain name registration process is aim in this article. The perception and physical terms of it can be a little confusing to the people and layman and all the other web design veterans.A simple numeric label which has an IP address on the internet of a server is known a domain name. The goal of info domain name registration is to provide the users their own address which will be easier to remember despite all the domain names in the world. The address should be aesthetically pleasing than the physical IP of the server that it has.An example is websamples.com vs 203.534.739.36. The websamples.com is easier to remember that the IP address. A distinguishing name for the users to remember was given by it. The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) are responsible for the domain names that the users get and who also handles all the hundreds and thousands of labels.ICANN makes sure that there are no duplicates when it comes to the domain names. It is through their system known as Domain Name System (DNS). It is managed by ICANN which certifies the unique distribution of the appropriate domain names and their IP addresses as well through the different registry version. They differ from .com and .net or the .or, .info, .biz and more.Registries have different functions and organizations who essentially keep up the Top Level Domains. Domain Name Registrar is a company that is verified and accredited by the ICANN who record or register domain names. It has full authority to register the domains which is on behalf of the common end user...tically correct. Sentence fragments are acceptable if communication is achieved, and you'll note that I use them often in this article. Why? Simply because it's more effective that way.

    To a degree the genre will help you identify what's appropriate. For a cop drama, write in the dry style of a journalist. For horror, a bit of hyperbole may be acceptable in the most dramatic sections. For romance (not my genre), you can probably use lots more adjectives (swollen, heaving, throbbing, etc.) than you'd normally dare.

    When I wrote RISING FROM THE ASHES, the true story of Mom raising my brother and me alone, I tried to adopt a "childlike voice" early in the narrative. As the character of Michael the storyteller grew older, I abandoned that childlike quality. (An enti

    Maximizing Your Trading Years
    I discovered Adam Hamilton in late 2002 and since have read his weekly essays without fail every week. I have incorporated his theory on market cycles into my trading strategy. His research has shown that throughout history markets tend to move in great cycles, long bulls followed by long bears. These cycles are around 34 years long - resulting in a 17 year up cycle followed by a 17 year down cycle. Obviously no market goes straight up or down, so within those major cycles are minor counter-cycles to keep everyone on their toes. Our last major up cycle ran from 1982 to 2000. So, we are now 7 years into the down cycle. If you entered the market in 2003 - it doesn’t feel like a down cycle. However, if you bought tech stocks in 2000 you are still down 50%.Why am I mentioned this? If the average investor gets serious about investing around 30 and retires at 65, they only have 35 years to really put their money to work. So, if you buy into Wall Street’s buy and hold mantra and time it right at the end of 35 years you will have absolutely nothing to show for your efforts. All of the gains of the first 17 years will be given away in the next 17.I have said all of that to say if you have any desire to become financial free - independent thinking is a requirement. It’s time to throw out many of the truism you have readily accepted especially if it was recommended by Wall Street. Like buy and hold for the long run. Or if you bought a stock at $30 and now it’s trading at $20 buy more. Obviously if you liked it at $30 - you must really like it at $20. Or I’m too busy to manage my finances - I will turn it over to a professional. That one drives me nuts. Number 2 of my

    When I wrote AN AMERICAN REDNECK IN HONG KONG, the humorous sequel, I once again used first person narrative. But the narrative of RISING is first person only in that it uses "I" instead of "Michael." Michael is only a camera. It still follows all the rules of "conventional" narrative. In REDNECK, I threw most of the rules out the window.

    I used what one author referred to my as "conversational" tone to maximum effect in REDNECK. This fellow author felt like he wasn't so much reading my book as just listening to me tell some stories over a few beers. That's exactly what I wanted.

    When I wrote the sequel to REDNECK, another bit of humor called WHO MOVED MY RICE?, I chose to keep that same narrative style, which I'd spent three years perfecting in my newsletter.

    In RISING, while I was the "first person" character, I wasn't really the book's focus. In REDNECK and RICE, I am. Center stage, in the spotlight. Using more of a "dialogue" style in what should have been "narrative" allowed me to focus the reader's attention on the first person to a greater degree than simply describing him ever could. You may love me or you may hate me, but you'll know me and you'll laugh at me. Or, in the case of RICE, you'll feel my frequent confusion. I had to write that from "my perspective" because it was often the only one I understood.

    If you want to see such a technique used to maximum effect, I recommend A MONK SWIMMING by Malachy McCourt. (I read it after writing REDNECK, by the way.) It's

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