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Today my guest is mystery writer and good friend, Marilyn Meredith. We met at a writers' conference several years ago and have since become good friends. We also discovered we share the same birthday! (Maybe that's why we are so compatible!) So I'm delighted to welcome Marilyn today.
And I'm delighted to be here. Lorna and I have a lot in common besides our birthdays.
We know each other pretty well, but I never asked where you grew up.
I was born in Glendale but lived my whole growing up years in Eagle Rock which is located between Glendale and Pasadena. During my childhood we actually had lots of vacant lots and a hill behind us with no houses. (A freeway is there now.) Streetcars were plentiful and as a kid and teen I utilized that transportation a lot to go downtown to the main library, shopping, and sometimes, making transfers, all the way to the beach.
I'm a bit younger, but I remember the old 'red cars'. They brought them back at Disney's California Adventure. And we took them to my grandmother's once or twice.
What kind of childhood did you have? Were there siblings?
What kind of childhood did you have? Were there siblings?
I had a great childhood. That was back in the day where we could do whatever we wanted as long as we were back home by 5. (That's when my dad got home and we had dinner.) Mom never had a clue where I was all the rest of the time. Of course we walked to school and back. Junior High we walked sometimes and sometimes took the bus part way. I suspect it was about four miles each way. High School was a long walk, a bus, transfer to the streetcar and another long walk. There was another way, up over the hill behind out house but that really wasn't safe—but we did do it once in a while.
My sister was five years younger than me and looked like Margaret O'Brien, the child star. It was during the war and I told everyone that she was a princess from Europe who had been sent here for her safety. The one who believed the story the longest was my sister and she truly thought our parents ended up adopting her. See, I was a big story teller back then too.
My dad always thought I could do anything, and I think that probably affected me more than anything. I've always felt like I could do anything I set out to do.
You sound like a great storyteller, indeed! When did you first realize you could write? Did you always enjoy it?
I started creating stories before I could write—drawing pictures that told a story. I always wrote stories while I was growing up. I wrote plays for the neighborhood kids to perform during the long summers. I knew I was a good writer and when I grew up I always volunteered for writing jobs like the PTA newsletter as an adult. I also wrote plays for my Camp Fire Girls to star in. Because I had five children and a husband who was often gone (he was a career Seabee) I didn't have much spare time for writing, though I always had a book to read. I attempted writing books without much success until most of my kids were grown.
What other jobs have you done during your life? Did they influence your writing?
Babysitter from the time I was 10 (crazy people leaving a kid with their babies), did inventory for a big department store, worked at filing for the phone company, telephone operator including information off and on for years, 10 years as a teacher in a pre-school for developmentally disabled kids, 3 years as a day care center teacher, twenty plus years as an owner and administrator of a licensed care home for six developmentally disabled women.
Everything influences my writing. All the people I've met along the way, of course, are a part of characters I've created. Experiences I've had help me to create experiences for my characters and to know how they feel when things happen to them.
What was your first book? Was it published? Is it still in print?
My first full length book I wrote I sent out to a publisher, it was rejected and I gave up and threw the whole thing away. (Dumb.) The first full length book I wrote that was accepted was called Trail to Glory. It was a family saga based on my own family's genealogy. I wrote and rewrote it many times. It was rejected nearly 30 times before it was accepted by a New York publisher. No, it's not still in print. I hope to redo it for Kindle one of these days.
You should! I'd enjoy reading it.
Many of us (yours truly included) have a stash of unfinished or simply older manuscripts sitting around. Do you?
I used to, but no longer. I got rid of them—recycled the paper and they are no longer on my computer.
I keep hoping to get back to at least one of mine.
As you know, I love your Tempe Crabtree series. How did you come up with her, or did she come to you and demand to be written? (My characters frequently do this.)
Tempe evolved from three women I met after I moved to the foothill community where I live now. The first was a female police officer I did a ride-along with who literally poured her heart out to me about being the only woman on that department. The second was the resident deputy of our area who I interviewed for a newspaper article. She told me a lot about her experience as a female in a male dominated job—plus what kind of things she was called upon to do. The third was a Native American woman I met at an event where we had a lot of time to talk. I based Tempe's looks on her.
How did you come up with her name? It's unusual and memorable without being weird—and that's the trick
Tempe Crabtree was my great-grandmother's name. Unfortunately I never had the opportunity to meet her, but she grew up and lived in the area where I live now. I loved the name and it fit the character I created.
Wow! What a great gift! You didn't even have to go looking for the name.
Tempe lives in a locale similar to your own. Does that make it easier to write about the place?
Bear Creek has a strong resemblance to Springville. The big difference is I moved Bear Creek into the mountains a 1000 feet mainly to have better trees. Springville has the Tule River running through it; the town of Bear Creek is named after the river running through it. Springville has an Inn like Bear Creek and some of the same restaurants and stores. I don't use the actual places because unfortunately, businesses have a hard time making it here. I can see Bear Creek in my head and though it's similar there are some big differences.
I know that your son-in-law was in law enforcement. Did that spark your interest in that profession, or were you interested before?
When we lived in Oxnard we had a lot of neighbors who were police officers. We partied with them and the wives and I became friends. This gave me a lot of insight into how the job affected the families and vice versa. I didn't become interested in writing about law enforcement until my son-in-law became a police officer and stopped at our house every morning for coffee and told me his tales about what he did on his shift. I also went on my first ride-along with him.
Which came first, the Rocky Bluff series or the Tempe Crabtree one?
The Rocky Bluff P.D. series came first, though it wasn't long before I was writing one and then the other.
You told me that the same son-in-law was the inspiration for your EPIC eBook Award winner, Lingering Sprit. Do you ever draw inspiration from other family members or friends?
I've never written another book that was inspired by something that actually happened in our family. I have been inspired by many true events. And I must confess, I put a lot of people I know or have met into my books, fortunately they never recognize themselves.
Speaking of family, we couldn't leave out your darling husband, Hap. Does he ever inspire your characters?
Hubby has never been an inspiration for a character, however many of his attributes show up in Hutch. Though Pastor Hutch, Tempe's husband, is not based on my husband, many of Hutch's beliefs and convictions are a lot like my hubby's.
Before you leave, tell us a little about your new Tempe Crabtree mystery, Raging Water.
Deputy Tempe Crabtree's investigation of the murder of two close friends is complicated when relentless rain turns Bear Creek into a raging river. Homes are inundated and a mud slide blocks the only road out of Bear Creek stranding many—including the murderer.
Can't wait to read it!
Thank you for stopping by today. We look forward to seeing you in person soon.
Thank you for this opportunity. I'm looking forward to spending time with the both of you in the near future also.
Contest: The person who leaves comments on the most blogs will have his/her name used for a character in my next book—can choose if you want it in a Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery or a Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel.
Marilyn Meredith is the author of over thirty published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, the latest Raging Water from Mundania Press. Writing as F. M. Meredith, her latest Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel us No Bells, the forth from Oak Tree Press. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com and follow her blog at http://marilymeredith.blogspot.com/
I know there are some people who like to read a series in order, but let me reassure you that every book is complete. Though the characters grow through each book, the crime is always solved. Here is the order of the books for anyone who wants to know: Deadly Trail, Deadly Omen, Unequally Yoked, Intervention, Wing Beat, Calling the Dead, Judgment Fire, Kindred Spirits, Dispel the Mist, Invisible Path, Bears With Us, Raging Water.


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Practical information
Monday 1 October 2018, Arrival of participants. Welcome Cocktail and Dinner at Chateau Frontenac.
Tuesday 2 October 2018, 9:00 - 18:00: 1st day of the conference/one-to-one meetings. Conference with keynotes and panel in the morning and one-to-one meetings during the afternoon. Lunch for all participants. Free evening.
Wednesday 3 October 2018, 9:00 - 16:40: 2nd day of the conference/one-to-one meetings. Lunch for all participants. 16:40: Cocktail during which the Cartoon Connection Awards are given. Dinner and entertaining at Videotron Center with a Hockey Match.
Thursday 4 October 2018, Morning: Departure of all participants
The conference will be held at the Centre des Congrès de Québec
1000, boul. René-Lévesque Est
Québec (Québec) G1R 5T8
The European delegation is staying at Delta Hotel Québec ****, which is very close to the conference venue.
690 Boulevard René-Lévesque Est
Ville de Québec, G1R 5A8 Canada
Tel: +1 418-647 17 17
The accommodation booking will be directly done by Cartoon for all European participants. The number of rooms booked in this hotel is limited.
We kindly remind you that hotel rooms will be allocated according to availability and time of registration.
Other hotels in Québec City
As we only have a limited number of rooms at the Delta Hotel Quebec, please also check the following hotels which are in the vicinity.
- Hotel Hilton Québec ****
- Hotel Le Concorde ****
- PUR Hotel ****
- Hotel Auberge du Trésor ***
- Hotel Jardin Sainte Anne ***
- Hotel Hippocampe ***
- Hotel Ermitage **
- B&B L'heure Douce **
As we will only make reservation for the Delta Hotel Quebec, please proceed with your own booking should you pick a different hotel.
The Québec City international Jean-Lesage airport (YQB) is located 15 km away from downtown (20 minutes by car).
From the Québec City Jean-Lesage International Airport, public transit services are within easy reach to access downtown or any other location in town.
The taxi rate between aiport and downtown is baout 35CAD.
More information on the airport's website.
You can also arrive at Québec by train (if you travel from Montreal for instance). The train station is very close from Delta Hotel and the conference venue (15-minutes walking or 5 minutes by car).
You can find more information or book your train tickets on the national rail service company's website: VIA Rail Canada.
Should you need to book a taxi, you can contact one of the following companies:
- Taxi Coop Québec: +1 418 525 5191
- Taxi Laurier: +1 418 651 2727
Language used
The conference will be in English only. Please pay attention that there will be no translation service during the one-to-one meetings neither.
For information please contact: email@example.com
or Yolanda Alonso: (32) (2) 242 93 53
Our host town - Québec City
Quebec is a province in East-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level.
A remarkable cultural and geographic crossroads - the city of Québec could be called a bridge of sorts between Europe and the Americas - Québec has a unique and special role to play internationally.
Known worldwide for its rich history and heritage, it is also a modern and dynamic city. Its economic and cultural strength has fostered ties with major cities around the world, through the promotion of partnerships. Its ties abroad help attract many international events.
Its status as a world heritage city also contributes to its international renown.
For more information, please visite Quebec tourist website.


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Every year for our family Christmas party we choose a different cuisine. We've done Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Traditional Christmas dinner... anyway, this year we chose Chinese/Asian cuisine. I usually make my Hot & Sour Soup but this year I wanted to try something different. Beef Bulgogi. It is AMAZING.
1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup dark soy sauce 1/2 can pear halves, mashed
1lb sirloin (use your favorite cut of steak) thinly sliced 2 tbsp ginger, minced 3 tbsp garlic, minced 3 tbsp sesame oil
1lb sirloin (use your favorite cut of steak) thinly sliced 2 tbsp ginger, minced 3 tbsp garlic, minced 3 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp Siriacha hot sauce
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Garnish with sliced green onions & sesame seeds
Combine the sugar, soy sauce, mashed pears, onion, ginger, garlic, Sriracha, and cilantro in a large zip-close bag. Add the beef to the bag. Push out any air and zip close. Gently massage the beef with the marinade. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight. Saute beef in batches over med-high heat... if you add it to the pan all at once the meat will "sweat" and you don't want that. Cook until the beef is cooked through and the edges are crispy and deep golden brown. Sprinkle with green onions & sesame seeds. Delicious served with rice. ENJOY the deliciousness!!


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FULL TEXT: Granville, S. C.. July 25. – Virginia Hudson, aged seven years, a negro child, was jailed here to-day for murder. She killed a child one year old on Saturday [Jul. 23], and threw the body in the well. She struck her victim over the head with a board until it was dead. This is the youngest murderess ever known in the section. Her imprisonment is merely a matter of form.
["A Seven-Year-Old Murderess," The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.), Jul. 26, 1887, p. 1]
More cases: Youthful Borgias: Girls Who Commit Murder
More cases: Youthful Borgias: Girls Who Commit Murder


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Future university held its Annual Employment Fair on Monday, April 13th 2014 at FUE campus .More than 50 multinational and local companies in different sectors participated in the Fair, offering summer internships and recruitment opportunities for FUE students and graduates.
The fair is part of the University's overall effort to help in better serving the students not only academically but also future and career path wise , through direct exposure with companies and real life interviews, business challenges and direct contacts with companies representatives.
FUE vision will always be focused on how to get our students prepared all over their academic years and after graduation in order to be ready and updating all market needs and real life demands.
University President Professor Ebada Sarhan and Cairo Governor, along with Vice President Professor Ossama Salama and FUE Faculty Deans, inaugurated the Fair. All FUE Alumni and FUE Senior students enjoyed meeting global and local companies' representatives.
At Future University, "the people make the place." We strive to attract, select, and develop people that are talented, passionate, and driven by our mission.
Starting a new job can be one of the most exciting yet demanding experiences you will ever take on.


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LeBron James took a page out of the Lavar Ball handbook when he coached his son's youth team over the weekend. Bronny James' AAU squad, the North Coast Blue Chips, won the seventh grade championship under LeBron Sr.'s tutelage.
The recently-signed Laker also helped cool some jets during the heated competition. What can't this guy do…besides show up to Blaze Pizza in Culver City?
Noah Syndergaard learned the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished after Mets ace contracted hand, foot and mouth disease after hosting a baseball camp for kid's during the All-Star break. Syndergaard noticed blisters on his hands, which is a telltale symptom of the virus that is common amongst young children. He's expected to miss one start while he recovers.
Apparently, kids are a nuisance across the pond as well! The Open Championship was not immune to the antics of little rascals as Xander Schauffele had a tough time concentrating on the 18th green, thanks to a baby in her stroller. Check out the video to watch this young lassie steal the spotlight on one of golf's biggest stages.


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Climbing School in the Dolomites
One day climbing tuition
A whole day dedicated to climb: you will learn the basics of climbing bound to safety and get some theory tuitions on this fascinating sport activity. We do the climbing scool at the city of rocks(Cittá dei Sassi), Passo Sella.
€ 160 per person
Days: every day on request
Included: Alpine Guide, technical equipment
Climbing school
Do you want to improve your technical knowledge? Practice? Go for first climb?
Every afternoon a mountain guide is reachable on appointment from 4 to 8pm, in the indoor or outdoor practice wall area in any weather conditions.
€ 50 per hour / 1-2 people
€ 55 - 3 people
Included: technical equipment, mountain guide
Family climbing course - FAMILY DAY
Enjoy the mountains in the family: a day climbing course for families.
Days: every day one request
Group size: Family 4/5 people
Price: € 320
Time: from 9.00 am to 3.00 pm
Includes: Mountain Guide, rent of tecnical equipment
Climbing course Dolomites-Val Gardena 5 days:
Period 2019: 27.05-02.06 17.06-23.06 29.09-05.10.
Price: 1.450 Euro, Hotel Passo Sella,
1.200 Euro, Overnight in the "mountain house"
Included : 6 days in double rooms with HB, 5 days climbing course
Participants: min. 2 px


text: Dec 10th 2014Instagram Photo Home sweet hotel  Goodnight, munchkins. Excited for my first show in LA!!! Thanks for selling it out for meeee. Comments Body * More information about text formats Text format Medium MediumImages with a data-picture-mapping attribute will be responsive, with a file size appropriate for the browser width. Post Image Add a new file Files must be less than 96 KB.Allowed file types: gif jpg jpeg. Leave this field blank


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Montana Rustic Furniture and Décor
Following age old traditions and using salvaged wood products I create spectacular custom furniture and décor for your home or work place. Each piece has a soul of its own and evokes memories of twisted old trees and distressed forms from nature itself. Our beautiful rustic décor pieces allow you to bring a little of that nature into your home in the form of useful furniture and art.
Home of Rustic Country Style Decor
Discover the beauty of our rustic furniture and décor for yourself by browsing through our gallery or visiting our company store and find that special one of a kind rustic furniture piece you have been looking for. The Bitterroot Valley in western Montana is home to many great artists making everything from rustic log furniture, rustic lighting fixtures, log cabin décor and luxury cabin furnishings. From time to time I am lucky enough to grace the pages of our company store with some of their work also. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments. I will also work with you on custom design ideas or special request you may have.
Why Rustic Furniture
In this high speed high tech world we live in, the demand for rustic furniture becomes greater every day. Every, log furniture or slab wood furniture piece I make presents the unique appearance of handmade free form art, built to last for generations to come. Unlike some rustic furniture makers that mass produce log furniture in the same way conventional furniture is produced, I still hand peel and hand fit every piece so no two are the same. My rustic furniture and Décor brings us back to a time when things weren't moving quite as fast and we could enjoy the beauty around us.
Rustic Furniture and Our Environment
Talk to any rustic log furniture maker and listen to how they pride themselves in the fact that all of their lumber is harvested from standing dead trees or how they salvage the lumber from old barns to make barn wood furniture. Rustic furniture, slab wood furniture, log furniture and barn wood furniture is truly the most Eco friendly furniture on the market today. Our fore fathers built this style of rustic furniture out of necessity using the material at hand. We continue to build it in the same manner to preserve its bold simple elegance, its history and its natural beauty for all to enjoy. Art is defined as "the use of skill and imagination to create things of beauty". A rustic furniture maker only needs the skill and imagination required to uncover the beauty that is already there.
Thank you,
Tim White


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White Chocolate - Cherry Shortbread Cookies
Labels: Christmas cookies, cookies
1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and finely chopped
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
12 ounces white chocolate baking squares with cocoa butter, finely chopped*
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 to 3 drops red food coloring (optional)
2 tsp shortening
nonpareils/edible glitter/sanding sugar (optional)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Spread cherries on paper towels to drain well. Chop finely; set aside.
In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in drained cherries and 4 ounces (2/3 cup) of the chopped chocolate. Stir in almond extract and, if desired, food coloring. Knead mixture with your hands until it forms a smooth ball.
Shape dough into 1/4-inch balls. Place balls 2-inches apart on lined cookie sheets. Using the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in water and then sugar, flatten balls to 1-1/2-inch rounds.
Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until centers are set. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool.
Place remaining chocolate and shortening in a pyrex bowl or measuring cup. Heat and stir in 30 second intervals in the microwave until melted and smooth. Dip half of each cookie into chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. If desired, roll dipped edge in nonpareils/edible glitter/sanding sugar. Place cookies on waxed paper until chocolate is set.
* I use a 4 oz. Ghirardelli white chocolate bar within the cookie, and Wilton's vanilla disks (available at Michaels) for the dipping.
To store: Layer cookies between waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
This recipe has also been linked to...
Sweet Indulgences Sundays
Crazy Sweet Tuesdays
Sweet Treats Thursdays
Sweets for a Saturday
4 comments:
- Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust said...
I love all shortbread, especially if it is dipped in white chocolate! Thanks for sharing on Crazy Sweet Tuesday. :)
- Wednesday, December 07, 2011
- Kim McCallie said...
These are so pretty! I love the pink peeking out under the white chocolate. Thanks for sharing on Sweet Indulgences Sunday.
- Sunday, December 11, 2011
- Angie said...
Oh my goodness....I think I'm in love! I love anything cherry, and these cookies are so holiday looking. Yummmy!!
- Sunday, December 18, 2011
- Sarah E. said...
These look incredible!
Stopping by from Sweet Indulgences Sunday
- Monday, December 19, 2011
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We may not be 100 percent sure of his current relationship status, but we can confirm that Justin Timberlake is getting very serious with Elton John.
We think. In response to John's claims that Timberlake is "#1 on my wish list" to portray the singer in an upcoming biopic — he told the Los Angeles Times that JT's portrayal of him in the David LaChapelle-directed "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore" video was "superb" — Timberlake is apparently "seriously" weighing the role, according to E! Online.
"Justin is taking it very seriously," a source "close to the singer" told E!'s Ted Casablanca. "He's working with his people to figure out exactly how to respond."
Casablanca also writes that "a very official response will be coming from Camp Timberlake momentarily," though, at press time, that response had yet to materialize.
In his Times interview, John said the film version of his life is "very much in the works," with a script penned by Lee Hall ("Billy Elliot") and an unnamed director "onboard." He also said that the biopic would be far different from the average Hollywood fare, which, given John's larger-than-life existence, shouldn't really be all that shocking.
"It's going to be a surreal look at my life, and not just a factual look at my life, more in the manner of a 'Moulin Rouge!' " John said. "I just don't want it to be a normal biopic because my life hasn't been like that. And it only goes up to when I go into rehab in 1990. It starts with me going into rehab and ends when I come out."
Do you think Justin should play Elton John in a biopic? Sound off on our Facebook page or in the comments below!


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Home >
> Item 3
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Whip it up in the kitchen with the help of the Oster® 7-Speed Clean Start™ Hand Mixer with Storage Case powered by 270-Watt/320 peak watts to turn out delicious meals and desserts effortlessly.


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Current Opportunities:
Experienced HVAC Residential Installer
HVAC Maintenance Technician
Customer Service Representative
As part of Discount heating and Cooling, you'll see a difference.
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- Submit to a criminal background check
- Submit to new-hire and ongoing random drug testing.


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Bachelors (BS) in Applied Science
This major offers a 60-semester-hour course of study, enabling students to pursue engineering in a discipline other than those currently offered at George Fox University. This dual-degree 3/2 program is offered for students interested in pursuing engineering in a discipline such as chemical*, environmental or aerospace engineering.
Students attend George Fox for three years, taking most of their general education, mathematics, science and lower-division engineering courses. They may then qualify to transfer to any other engineering school where they spend two more years completing their engineering degree. Students completing this five-year program will receive two bachelor of science degrees: a degree in applied science from George Fox University after their fourth year, and a degree in engineering from the cooperating engineering school after their fifth year.
Degree Outcomes
Graduates with a BS in applied science will:
- Apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and applied sciences to their work
- Design and conduct experiments and analyze and interpret data
- Design systems, processes and programs to meet specified needs of the discipline
- Function effectively on multidisciplinary teams
- Identify and solve applied science problems using the techniques, skills and modern scientific tools necessary for professional practice
- Understand and act according to the field's professional and ethical standards
- Communicate effectively
- Use their broad education to impact solutions in global and societal contexts
- Understand contemporary issues in the field
Major Requirements (60 hours)
CHEM 211 General Chemistry I (4)
CHEM 212 General Chemistry II (4)
ENGE 250 Electric Circuit Analysis (4)
ENGM 211 Statics (3)
ENGM 212 Dynamics (3)
ENGM 311 Engineering Thermodynamics (3)
ENGR 151 Engineering Principles I (2)
ENGR 152 Engineering Principles II (2)
ENGR 250 Principles of Materials Science (3)
MATH 201 Calculus I (4)
MATH 202 Calculus II (4)
MATH 301 Calculus III (3)
MATH 311 Differential Equations with Linear Algebra (4)
PHYS 211 General Physics with Calculus I (4)
PHYS 212 General Physics with Calculus II (4)
Students must choose at least 3-semester hours from the following:
ENGE 220 Digital Logic Design (4)
ENGE 311 Electronic Devices and Circuits (4)
ENGE 330 Electrical Signals and Networks (3)
ENGM 312 Applications of Engineering Thermodynamics (2)
ENGM 320 Mechanics of Materials (3)
ENGM 330 Fluid Mechanics (3)
Students must choose 6-semester hours from the following:
MATH 312 Numerical Methods (3)
MATH 331 Probability (3)
MATH 411 Advanced Linear Algebra (3)
Students must transfer 12 additional semester hours in engineering courses from the cooperating engineering school.
The remainder of the engineering curriculum will be taken in two years at the cooperating engineering school. For a complete list of required courses, consult the engineering advisor or the registrar. General education requirements are substantially different for 3/2 engineering students. Details are available from the engineering advisor or the registrar.
*It is strongly recommended that students interested in pursuing the 3/2 option in chemical engineering also enroll in CHEM 331 Organic Chemistry (4), CHEM 332 Organic Chemistry (4), CHEM 440 Thermodynamics (4) and CHEM 450 Quantum Chemistry (3) during their three years at George Fox University.


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Jessica Capshaw
Jessica Capshaw wallpapers for your PC, Android Device, Iphone or Tablet PC. If you want to download Jessica Capshaw High Quality wallpapers for your desktop, please download this wallpapers above and click «set as desktop background». You can share this wallpaper in social networks, we will be very grateful to you.
Jessica Capshaw – American actress, best known for the main roles in the film "Valentine's Day" Jamie Blanks, "hypnotist" Gil Cates and the TV series "Grey's Anatomy."
Jessica Capshaw was born August 9, 1976 in Missouri. The actress grew up in a creative environment. She is the stepdaughter of Steven Spielberg, and her mother, Kate Capshaw – actress and producer. Jessica good education: She graduated from Harvard-Westlake School and Brown University, which received a bachelor's degree in English literature. While studying at the university, she has actively participated in various theater productions. Capshaw also took acting classes at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
In 1997, Jessica, along with her mother, Kate Capshaw played in the drama "locusts" by John Patrick Kelly – it was one of the first actresses roles. Then Capshaw had a chance to play in the movie "Valentine's Day" horror Jamie Blanks. Immediately after the release of the film came out comedy "The Hypnotist" Gil Cates Jr., which Jessica starred in Daisy. In 2007, the actress starred in the thriller "blind trust". In the story, the heroine of her own attempts to find the murderer of her lover and friend until her murder did not hang itself. One of the most notable role was the role of Dr. Jessica Robbins Arizona in the TV series "Grey's Anatomy." Starting from the sixth season, she started acting in the show regularly.
The actress is married to Christopher Geviganom. He has been General Director of the non-profit organization and has no relation to the film industry. The couple has three children: a son and two daughters.
Jessica itself made its way into an acting career, despite the fact that she is quite famous and influential parents. Starting with a small bit parts, she came to the main roles in major film productions. Capshaw – a talented actress, mother of many children, and just a beautiful and charming woman. She continues to act on the moment, and to please their fans.


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Information Technology is essential to the day-to-day operations and long-term growth of all businesses. Because of this, there is rising demand for a range of IT professionals—including Network Systems Analysts, Computer Systems Analysts, Computer Support Specialists and Database Administrators.
Jobs in the IT field are growing substantially faster than average. For example, Computer Systems Analyst jobs are predicted to grow 22% from 2010 to 2020; employment of Database Administrators is expected to grow 31% from 2010 to 2020; and Network Systems Analyst jobs are projected to grow 53% from 2010 to 2020.
There is a continuing and growing need for skilled, certified people in several areas of IT. For instance, Software Developers with strong computer programming skills will meet the increasing demand for computer software. Several industries require expert Database Administrators to optimize their data collection efforts. And companies with an ever greater need to keep their data safe from cyber attacks will require qualified Information Security Analysts.
Companies in a wide range of fields are increasing their demand for highly skilled technology experts, so salary growth looks healthy across a wide range of IT job fields. As a sample, Mobile Application Developer salaries are predicted to rise 9% in 2013; Database Portal Administrator salaries are predicted to increase 7.5%; E-Commerce Web Developer salaries are predicted to surge 7.3%; Network Engineer salaries are predicted to grow 7.8%; and Network Security Administrator salaries are predicted to go up 5.7%.
New Horizons provides highly focused and relevant in-demand IT training and certification preparation for a variety of IT career paths—typically with a shorter time and smaller financial commitment than a two- or four-year degree.
New Horizons IT training students have a number of funding options, including government funding, Veterans Administration programs and private bank loans.
Your New Horizons Education Consultant is specially trained to guide you in your IT career path and will work with you to assess your skills and career goals. Based on that assessment your consultant will recommend the path that's right for you.


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BERLIN (Reuters) - Siegfried Lenz, one of Germany's most significant post-war writers whose novels explored individuals' culpability for the horrors of Nazism and the struggle to shape a new national identity, died on Tuesday at the age of 88, his publishers said.
Lenz, whose work has been translated into more than 30 languages, is best known for The German Lesson (Deutschstunde), in which a boy watches his policeman father doggedly follow orders to prevent their artist neighbor, branded "degenerate" by the Nazis, from painting in the remote German-Danish borderlands.
Born in 1926 in a city known today as Elk in eastern Poland but which was then in Germany, Lenz served in the German navy from the age of 18 in the last year of World War Two and spent time as a prisoner of war before eventually settling in Hamburg.
He became part of Gruppe 47, a group of post-war writers including Heinrich Boell, Guenther Grass and Ingeborg Bachmann who felt duty-bound to engage with the legacy of German fascism in their work, exposing and disrupting society's urge to forget.
"Part of Germany has died today with Siegfried Lenz," said Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in a statement.
"Like no other, Siegfried Lenz observed German society and shaped it with his work. His love of his country, his connection to both his home towns - one in Poland, the other in the north of Germany - are literary foundations for our own sense of self," he said.
Reporting by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Stephen Brown and Gareth Jones


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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45102853428214022842018-09-17T03:52:16.074-05:00Geek To AuthorThe journey of a career IT Security expert into the world of writing. Follow along as a geek learns what it means and what it takes to be a email@example.com://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-1750766079317980162016-04-30T11:55:00.000-05:002016-04-30T11:55:03.926-05:00Daily Writing - Posting My Work

Write everyday. That is the one lesson you need to hammer into your brain if you want to be writer. It does not matter what type of write you are or need to be, writing everyday is how you get better. No writer will tell you different.

I write, almost everyday, and keep those activities private. But who does that help? No one. I am writing sure, but am I doing properly. Are my ideas any good. Are my flows working. Are my grammar good? (see what I did there?)

Nothing in my daily prompts are secret, insightful to me, I try to take whatever prompts I use and turn them into 1,000+ word stories. I start with the prompt and go with it. No planning, no idea where I will end up, just let it flow. Break out of the over-analytical mind and teach my self to be free creatively.

I have decided to start to post my prompts in a Wattled collection of mine. Raw, unedited dumps. Why not? If I get any feedback it's more than I would get by keeping it in my Scrivener binder, never to see the eyes of anyone but myself.

I will use this blog more to update when I add to that collection. It may not be every singe day but will contain my daily prompts when I do.

Feedback is welcome and maybe a bigger story will come out of these. Who knows?

Time to turn the page.

email@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2016/04/daily-writing-posting-my-work.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-69553920191640515262016-04-09T23:19:00.000-05:002016-04-09T23:19:00.208-05:00This Is Getting Humorous....

A writer. What does that mean?

I write everyday, emails, blog posts, white papers, summaries, reports... my career is reading and writing. If I don't do either I don't make a living.

Geek to Author was not intended to be the career side of my writing but the transition into fiction writing. Storytelling. Expanding beyond my realm of comfort. The biggest challenge has always been the balance between career, home life and the pursuit of which is categorized as luxury.

I don't need to write. I do have an inner spark that is telling me to. Although I have not been writing and putting out works as regularly as I want to, I still have been studying on the practice. Ironically and against everything I have read it's easier to read and study for 30 minutes than to get quiet time for that amount.

Now that the career has calmed down. Kids are older, less 24/7 focus. I have more free time to work. Acquired new tools and a new approach to writing will change things for the better as well. As a career technologist, when you have a dynamic and mobile life as mine you need to have writing tools that are as dynamic and mobile as you. Pen and paper are fine, if you like to write that way, but I don't. Now I have tools, mobile, laptop, desktop that are all the same, interconnected for collaboration and synchronization. I can work on one, pick it up on another and continue on.

The prove it I will talk about the next big short I want to write called Fear of God. It's a story of a newly haloed angel visiting New York and meeting Satan who proceeds to tell him the true power of God.

Write everyday. I now know that. Reading about writing is fine, but not if you write. Everything put on paper doesn't need to see the light of day, in fact, most shouldn't.

Time to turn the page.

email@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2016/04/this-is-getting-humorous.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-15533911448843092902015-10-07T15:38:00.000-05:002015-10-07T15:38:39.387-05:00New Story - Chance Encounter

I'm on a roll. I added a new story called Chance Encounter to my Wattpad collection. Go check it out and let me know what you think.

I have been writing more fringe sci-fi or at least those are the ideas that have been brewing the most. Not quite futuristic but not quite modern either. Trying to wrap the plausible into the reality you know. It's something and I am writing almost everyday. 500 words a day is the goal and if I go more I write more. If I hit a block and I hit my goal I stop and sleep on it. Usually I can pick right up where I left off without skipping a beat and without banging my head on the desk for an hour trying to get to the next step.

Let the brain work, don't work your brain.

Time to turn the page.

firstname.lastname@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2015/10/new-story-chance-encounter.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-6126779370105289162015-09-30T15:15:00.002-05:002015-09-30T15:15:20.755-05:00New Story Published - The Buddy Well

I have a collection of stories that are more on the horror side, disturbing maybe, I hope I build them with the right twists to catch the readers off guard. It's over on my Wattpad profile and I call it Creepy Spine Tinglers. In there am putting my short stories that fit this genre. The stories run from a 500 words up to 5,000. Short to short-ish.

My latest I call The Buddy Well. This one is one of the more morbid ones I have put on paper, it definitely could have been more graphic but I left it to the readers to fill in the gaps. I am still working on writing and creating suspense, but that's how you learn. You write many things that suck to get the good stuff out.

Go check it out, leave feedback, enjoy it either way.

Time to turn the page.

Wattpad profile.

firstname.lastname@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2015/09/new-story-published-buddy-well.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-30068811153490382062015-09-28T15:56:00.002-05:002015-09-28T15:56:42.100-05:00Back In The Writing Swing

I am begging to find my writing groove again. I am writing every day trying to focus mainly on fiction, creative works but also blogging meaningful posts on my other blogs that are more aligned with my career works.

I am using Wattpad as my posting place and where I write the most. Here's my profile.

All the little ideas I have I am putting into collections or writing them as stand along short stories. My goal this year, like last, is to ramp up and participate in the NaNoWriMo this year. Either complete my Emerald Event novel or start a new one. I may trash and re-write The Emerald Event but between now and then I may get motiviated on something else in my journals of ideas.

Either way I am getting my routine and loving it again. I have finally figured out how to let go and stop over analyzing my works to an impossible goal of 'perfection'. Create, mold, then let it go.

WOOT!

Time to turn the page.

email@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2015/09/back-in-writing-swing.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-35478958704760416582015-04-07T10:28:00.001-05:002015-04-07T10:28:14.929-05:00Writing While Living, Blog Break Time

Who am I kidding? I am having a hard enough time trying to get 500 or 1,000 words a day written that doesn't include this blog. With a full job, family, extracurricular activities, exercise, staying active, and other unexpected challenges of life something has to give.

This blog will pause for a while until I reclaim my writing habits. My ope was to make significant progress on my main Perspectives project but I just haven't had the passion to get into it. I allowed emotion to get into the writing process and fell into the abyss of failure. That's what happens. Stephen King said that you need to write always, your mood or emotion is irrelevant. (or something to that).

Instead of writing posts here for the sake of writing posts I am going to step back and see how other successful do-it-yourself writers are doing it. Maybe this will be less about 'posts' and more journal or diary based.

If I am blogging more than I am writing creatively then I am missing the point. Sure I could write 500 words in a blog everyday, that's easy but that is not going to help the creative style and practice to put a well constructed story together.

I will be back, few weeks, not months.

End of Line.

firstname.lastname@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2015/04/writing-while-living-blog-break-time.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-39998884976925926932015-01-01T21:28:00.005-06:002015-01-01T21:28:59.244-06:00Hello 2015, Not starting New But Readjusting Focus

Happy New Year! Are you pumped? Are you ready to tackle your resolutions for the new year and feel regret around Feb. that you failed them the 2nd week of Jan? Resolutions like goals are worthless unless you have a plan to get to them. Just saying I am going to write more, drink less, make more friends are valueless without an idea on how you are going to do it.

I didn't make resolutions I made plans.

Plans to write 500 words a day. Instead of locking myself into 500 words of fiction or 500 words of my projects, open it up to 500 words in general. Everything I write can be counted except for emails, texts or other communications. Journals, blogs, stories, brain dumps, or just free writing with absolutely no purpose all count. The only sub-rule is that my writing style or approach is slightly new each time. Whether I use alternative language, rely on a thesaurus for new ways to say the same thing or change the tone. That's the only way you can grow, stick to the same and you will remain the same. How do you know if another way is better for you unless you try it?

That's my year. Rebuilding my routine but opening my walls to a less restrictive approach and that may sharpen my other focuses on the things I do want to get really good at. Fiction writing.

You don't know unless you experiment. You really don't know unless you actually do it.

Time to turn the page.

firstname.lastname@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2015/01/hello-2015-not-starting-new-but.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-76705816223796103522014-11-26T09:47:00.001-06:002014-11-26T09:47:27.944-06:00NaNoWriMo Is Almost Over And I Failed

EPIC FAIL. That's me. Terrible, awful, no excuses although I did my best to make them up. Last year I completed the NaNoWriMo with my project Perspectives. Almost 60,000 words and looking back on it the draft is crap, but it has a shell of a story. Long and drawn out but a story nonetheless.

This year I have nothing to show for it. Nothing structured anyway and no where near 50,000 words. Only myself to blame, words ain't going to write themselves.

However there is a bright, white light. I had an epiphany that may be my gateway to getting something solid and perfected and I owe it to my 6 year old son. He has taken to reading like a duck out of water. He's reading at a 3rd and 4th grade level with near photographic memory comprehension... he's in 1st grade. He is bored with the books his age, refuses to read 'picture' books and only chapter books yet we haven't found a series he likes yet. He has read two American Chillers books which are not really horror genre because the 'horror' is a setup joke to take away the real horror. They are about 150-180 pages and he'll read them about 5 chapters at a setting. He' reading who cares, right?

Anyway out of the blue he asked me to write him a book and he will read that. What a great idea! His 6 year old mind of absolute insane imagination and processing would be a great source of material and flow for a story. Tell me what you want to read about and I will fill in the blanks. I have even began to record him in the morning to describe his dreams from the night before, sometime they are the scariest things I have heard. To him it's as real as life but to me it's a starting point to wrap a world around and aim it to a sub-10 year old mind.

Yes! Exciting.

I don't need NaNoWriMo, I just needed my purpose. I think I found it.

Time to turn the page.

email@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/11/nanowrimo-is-almost-over-and-i-failed.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-61611506293652365842014-10-19T18:48:00.001-05:002014-10-19T18:48:27.537-05:00Writing About Writing

NaNoWriMo 2014 is approaching and I have no idea what novel idea I am going to tackle. Last year I wrote, or began to, write my Perspectives book idea. I was successful and completed the NaNoWriMo goal but after that I looked at it and realized what a pile of disorganized crap it was and left it. I haven't touched it since.

What to do now? Do I go back and re-write Perspectives with a straight storyline approach or continue with it on the compilation of novellas? Episodic or novel. Even though I did produce 50,000 words toward the project am I better off abandoning it altogether and starting with a new idea. Learning from the lessons of the past and pressing forward with something new to maybe someday coming back to finish the first real work I have created. The more I think about it it is becoming more and more clear that I start anew. Fresh and clean.

Nov. 1 is right around the corner and in my writing thought journal I have lots of good ideas for stories that could be built to novel length most require significant research to get the details right. This then pulls me back into the struggle I have been wrestling with for years. An over analytical mind trying to be creative. I have a passion for writing, I hate doing it but I absolutely love it and I don't do enough it of it. There's a fire inside of me to do this and I don't know where it's coming from, all I know is I have to quench it.

Geek to Author was supposed to have a published book by now. Something. Instead I have short stories I am not happy with, continue to re-write and nit-pick, I am afraid to show them to anyone or post them to any site for critique even though I am members to the major ones. Struggle after struggle and it all resides in my own mind.

Time to get public, get the support, find the others who are in my position and work together to get our work out there. I write for myself but if one person come back and says that my story was good then it all was worth it.

Write to write. Write everyday. Write without borders or obstacles and no matter what anyone says about your efforts, like all arts, opinions are subjective and matter very little.

Time to turn the page.

email@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/10/writing-about-writing.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-88844184928778480232014-10-13T09:56:00.000-05:002014-10-13T09:56:12.423-05:00Writing Is Fun Even Though It Isn't

Writing is fun. It is, believe me. Sitting down and painting your thoughts with words is a liberating experience. Once you let go and allow your mind to go where it wants the results can be amazing. Shocking perhaps.

I used to write thousands of lines of code, computer programming, hours and hours of pumping out creativity using computer logic. There are many times when I go back and see what I built and I am amazed that I came up with that a built it. Writing is no different.

You can plot, plan, sketch, flow, chart, diagram all you want around a story or idea but until you put words on paper it will never be realized. That's the fun part.

Writing is also one of the the most frustrating, complicated and confusing abilities humans can do. One moment you can be on a roll then your creative processing center shuts off. Disappears. This could happen for any number of reasons, emotions, overthinking, it's raining outside or it's too sunny out, the baby's crying or you're hungry. Mind over body, creativity over analysis, free-flowing or planned. Writing is a battle.

That's why every book, author, blog, speech, class everywhere tells you to write everyday. A writer writes, always. Write daily. Don't stop writing. Keep the mind going, leave it free, create with your words, paint that picture, introduce new worlds and people, express yourself. If you don't write, you can't do anything.

Accept frustration, anger, obstacles. Accept success, creation and accomplishment. Regardless on how 'good' your stories are, at least you wrote a story. Then next one will be a little better and the one after than better than the first. That's the enjoyment and also the hatred of the process. If you are like me nothing will ever be good enough, you just need to learn to love creating and let it go when you are done.

Time to turn the page.

email@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/10/writing-is-fun-even-though-it-isnt.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-6702897604712263632014-10-04T22:25:00.002-05:002014-10-04T22:25:36.781-05:00My 500 Words Commitment, 31 Days

I'm back. I have been around just not blogging here on my writing progress. I am writing and enjoying it, expanding on my craft, but the chronicling my journey for others to share in have fallen to the side.

No more.

I am announcing my commitment to 500 Words A Day for the next 31 days. This will be the lead in to the NaNoWriMo which I completed last year but this year my goal is to have a more substantial piece of work to take closer to an end. last year I did it to do it. Now that I know I have it in me to do it I want to create a functional novel flow toward a more planned out structure.

500 words is nothing, simple, easy. I talk more than I should anyway, writing more than I should comes easy. Making it efficient and meaningful is the hard part of the writing art. That's why you need to practice every day, write everyday, and no matter what don't stop.

Time to turn the page.

firstname.lastname@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/10/my-500-words-commitment-31-days.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-45299022485691927132014-08-08T08:10:00.002-05:002014-08-08T08:10:41.907-05:00Book Review - The 5th Wave

Originally posted on my other blog - Binary Blogger.

I love to read and do it any chance I can get. Whether it's short stories delivered via email daily, books about the latest in IT Security or Management to fiction novels, reading is a fantastic activity that everyone should do when they can. I use Goodreads regularly to find new books to read, authors to follow and skim other people's reviews and I find it to be very helpful. However, every book I read I don't write a review for, some just aren't worthy of my time to give my thoughts on, others are either really good and deserve support or are on the other end of the spectrum and need to be called out. The 5th Wave falls into the latter category.

The 5th Wave is categorized as young adult (YA) fiction and seen as in the same class of style as The Hunger Games, Divergent and the The Maze Runner but that's only because of the style and target audience. After I read The Hunger Games, a series I was consumed by and read all three books in a week, I have kept my eye on the young adult genre as it shows from time to time it's not as young as they claim. The 5th Wave I saw sitting on bookstore shelves for a while now and started to see more hype about it. After I went back in time and started reading older books I haven't before and got worn out by my mass consumption of political thrillers I decided to give The 5th Wave a chance.

The 5th Wave is about an alien invasion of Earth. A large spacecraft arrives in orbit, no contact can be made, and extinction level attacks start to happen that the society on Earth call waves. The 5th Wave is the assumed final wave where the remaining population is wiped out. It has aliens, invasions, fight for survival what could go wrong?

SPOILERS AHEAD

As I got into the book about 50 pages in or so the plot started to seem awfully familiar. I could place it at first but then as the waves were being described and talked about by the characters it became clear to me why I recognized it. The alien arrival and attacks or waves are a rip-off from a Discovery Channel series called When Aliens Attack. A TV series I was greatly interested in and watched whenever it was on. The series was exactly this book, how aliens could arrive on Earth and take us out without ever stepping foot on the planet. From the Manhattan sized craft approaching and entering orbit, sending down non-explosive massive mile-long rods to destroy cities with using kinetic energy and leaving no radioactive residue. The book even had a radical idea from the TV show about burying nukes and drilling huge pillars filled with water to super heat the water to steam and sending metal caps into space at the ship. All lifted from the show. The show and book went on to talk about using the birds to spread disease and and so on… This was a big disappointment when the pieces came together for me. Young adults would never catch it, unless they watched Discovery as much as I do.

The next major downfall of this book was a clear case of blatant plagiarism. I will use this term freely and loudly because anyone cannot deny this. There is a scene where the children and teenagers are going through a boot camp situation. The Drill Sargent and the dialogue is almost a 100% word for word ripoff from the movie Full Metal Jacket and the Gunnery Sargent Hartman. This was more apparent than the TV show plot lines.

Aside from the plot the writing style of this book was tough to follow. It would switch from 1st person to 3rd person back to 1st person and at times you weren't sure which first person you were reading. You'd have to remember the scenario or location to put the pieces together whether it was Cassie or Ben you were following. The other supporting character Evan was never 1st person perspective. Stick to one throughout, don't hop around.

By the time I got 3/4 of the way through I stuck with it to just finish it. I rarely abandon any book I read once I start and this wasn't that bad to quit on it but it was close. The end was loose, non-climatic and attempted to leave you on a cliffhanger but I never saw the cliff.

There's a sequel coming for this book but I don't think I will rush out and get it. When I get around to it maybe, and that's a big maybe, which means probably not. I have a 100 other books I want to read and this didn't make itself worthy to stick with through any kind of long series.

firstname.lastname@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/08/book-review-5th-wave.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-58580415754273676862014-05-08T10:30:00.000-05:002014-05-08T10:30:01.088-05:00Keeping Your Writing Organized Across Many Devices And Mediums

The world is full of devices. Phones, laptops, desktops, tablets, notebooks of all shapes and sizes filling out bags and our desks. Write everyday, that's the goal. But like me, a full career, family, babies having the time to write let alone writing in the same place is hard to come by. So I use many methods to write but I have made my life far more complicated trying to keep it all straight.

I started out and still have a leather bound notebook where I put my story and character ideas into. I have a whole shelf of other notebooks standing by as I fill this one up. I also write a significant amount on my iPad using a few different apps that all sync/save to Dropbox. For the finalization I use Scrivener on my Mac. In Scrivener is where I pull in my Dropbox files and transcribe my scribbles from my notebooks and scrap papers into various project binders within the application.

However, it's inefficient now. The ideal method to use one computer, one app for all the writing doesn't work for me. I don't know where or when I will get a change to put down a few hundred words.

The other problem is if I am not working on a solid project, I may be starting to drafting out ideas for a few others. Some ideas look good in a summary but until you get into the flow you as a writer won't know if you can 'feel' it or not.

Get a central location for consolidating your work, for me that's Scrivener. Use templates for character development and expand the templates as you expand your skills of character building. The same goes for settings and plot flows.

No one can tell you how to do it, your brain works differently than mine. What I can suggest is whatever system of creative organization you adopt, be consistent. Because you may end up doing what I did and am still trying to shake off. You'll spend more time trying to organize your creations and realize that you aren't spending enough time to create to use your system.

Write, organize, produce.

Time to turn the page.

firstname.lastname@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/05/keeping-your-writing-organized-across.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-67145321753177677352014-05-07T21:46:00.004-05:002014-05-07T21:46:45.476-05:00Writing Everyday Exercise - Remembering Smells

WRITING EXERCISE -
Remembered smells. What's your earliest memory? How old were you? Try to remember the smells around that memory. Describe it and why you remember it.

=========================

Here's another exercise that will get your mind working overtime. Try to describe something intangible that's subjective to each person. Then recall it from your past.

They do say that the olfactory memory humans are capable of is the strongest, most reliable connection to past memories when there's a smell attached to it.

If I ask you to remember your grandmother's house on a random Saturday afternoon from your childhood, chances are you recall the smell. The very distinct association with that memory.

Have fun with it.

Time to turn the page.

firstname.lastname@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/05/writing-everyday-exercise-remembering.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-79050200288073433352014-04-29T18:26:00.000-05:002014-04-29T18:26:09.939-05:00Writing Everyday Exercise - Write about RedWRITING EXERCISE - Write about the color red without using the word 'red'. Describe it to someone.

=======================

This exercise will really push your mind to the limits. How do you describe something that no one else knows how the other sees it. How do you know that your color red is the same as what other's see? We assume but that's it. Perhaps in our brains the shades are identical but the actual color processed is blue for you where it's red for me.

Another twist on this exercise is thinking about try to explain a car to someone from the 1600s.

This exercise was a good one and from the challenge was the lowest word count productivity that I have done with these 10 minute sessions.

How will you do?

Time to turn the page.

email@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/04/writing-everyday-exercise-write-about.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-85809647807714385442014-04-27T06:21:00.002-05:002014-04-27T06:22:05.761-05:00Writing Everyday Exercise - Headline

WRITING EXERCISE - Daily Headlines. Read the first word of the first story headline in today's newspaper/website. Write that word at the top and go for 10 minutes from there.

===============
The first story I saw on the Star Tribune website was Caught In A Dark Cult's Embrace. The story was about a nationwide manhunt of a Minnesota native who was a leader of a religious cult. Messed up. For the exercise I used the word caught.

Thinking of the word caught the only logical connection was to catch something that target must be moving, running or doing something to avoid capture. I wrote about a woman on the run. What she was running from or why I didn't get into the details. I eluded to her overall purpose of running, to free someone she knew that was captured by the same group years ago, but never said why.

In 10 minutes you can get the cloudy form of what you were going for but not the details. As I do these exercises I find myself writing about common themes, political thriller, escape, action, which is all fine and good but as you do these exercises I think you also need to change your topics and genres as well. Do these in styles and forms you don't normally write about, truly exercise yourself, go outside whatever box you have built for yourself and you will find more value in doing things like this.

My two cents on the matter, it's working for me, it may not for you but unless you try you will never know.

Time to turn the page.

email@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/04/writing-exercise-headline.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-58796701947765019262014-04-25T08:30:00.000-05:002014-04-25T08:30:01.579-05:00Writing Everyday Exercise - What time is it?WRITING EXERCISE - What time is it right now? Take the time and write it down at the top of the page. Create a story around the time. 10 to 20 minutes.

===================

1:35 PM was my time. I started off with a story of a guy called Wally Plugman being asked for the time. From there I spun out of control and the short turned into a pair of terrorists ready to attack a train station.

I am currently back into political, military thrillers so I had that on the brain. Either way I started off with one idea and I freestyled myself into something completely different. That's the point of these exercises. Break the analytical mind from the creative side and let your creative processing take over before you stop and analyze if it makes sense or not. These exercises aren't supposed to make sense. They are designed to get your brain out of the processing ditch of normality to work in new and fast ways.

Don't think, just write. Your brain will figure out the rest as you go.

Time to turn the page.

firstname.lastname@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/04/writing-everyday-exercise-what-time-is.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-51189606510151693752014-04-24T08:00:00.000-05:002014-04-24T08:00:04.748-05:00Writing With A Hectic Life

What the hell am I doing? I am trying to expand a creative hobby that is one of the most time consuming and lonely. I have posted many times about false starts, lack of this, not doing that. Life getting in the way. Excuses upon excuses.

I have broken the cycle. Ironically the birth of my second child, that's right a newborn in the house on top of all the rest, her arrival has helped me focus. Routine, structure, scheduling, rinse and repeat.

When you have a baby you suddenly lose all the enjoyments of being lazy anyway. TV, video games, going out with friends, all of that is restricted. So run with it. When the older child is off to bed and the baby is close to winding down before she goes to sleep, write. If she's in the swing or bouncy chair, have her do it in the office while you write. Don't sacrifice cuddle time but you can't and shouldn't hold a baby 24x7 anyway. That's when I write.

Generally I can get a good 30 minutes of hard writing done, if I am lucky an hour. If the baby wakes me up after 4am I get up for the day. Get her back to sleep, the wife is up getting ready for work. I slide downstairs, make a quick cup of coffee from my Kuerig, and write in the silent dark of the pre-dawn morning.

Now I am working in writing sessions at the office. Instead of eating lunch at my desk and browsing the web I will sneak off to a conference room and pound out a few hundred words. You know what? I am writing. I have several stories completed that I have set aside as I create new ones, then I go back and edit.

This blog I am putting out the exercises and tips that I have been told or read about for the rest to see and maybe use in your journey. I wish I could get 4 or 5 straight hours to pound out a few thousand words toward a novel but with a career, family, and everything else that comes with it that is very, very hard to come by. I am just making sure those are no longer excuses and it's working.

My goal is to bump up my daily targets to close to 1,000 words a day, no matter what it is. Although I am not sure blog entries should count, but putting words down in any format is still putting words down.

Now go write something.

Time to turn the page.

firstname.lastname@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/04/writing-with-hectic-life.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-18726547300084787822014-04-23T15:06:00.002-05:002014-04-23T15:06:59.236-05:00Write Everyday Exercise - How Does It Taste?WRITING EXERCISE: How does it taste? Look around the room you are in right now. Take an object that may or may not be edible and describe how it tastes. Good or bad be as descriptive as you can in 10 minutes.

==============

This one I had some fun with and grossed myself out writing it. I was in a conference room at work and the only object that was in there worth trying to eat was the whiteboard eraser.

This exercise is more challenging the less edible the object is. Flex your brain, stretch your imagination and put those into words.

This probably won't spawn into your life's work but who cares, you are writing.

Time to turn the page.

email@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/04/write-everyday-exercise-how-does-it.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-18615151511756025742014-04-18T09:30:00.000-05:002014-04-18T09:30:02.587-05:00Write Everyday - Nearby Streets Exercise

WRITING EXERCISE

Fun with addresses. What are the three streets that border your neighborhood? List them. Take the there names only, numbers for streets, and write something silly with them. Keep writing.

==================

Writing is writing and not every exercise has to make sense. Let go from your norm and have fun. This one is designed for just that. Take the streets around you and go nuts with silliness.

The streets around me are full names, not numbers, so I created three characters and made a goofy short about them meeting in a universal fate angle. At the end, in the 20 minutes I spent on it, I tried to build up that their meeting was for a reason. At the end they bumped into each other on a street corner, said excuse me and went about their day. The silliness was with the characters I created. The first was an accountant that collected bottle caps but only ones that have been removed, dented, by a bottle opener. The second guy was a pierced out bike mechanic in his mid 20s that dreamed of having children running around his house one day. But when he hangs around the Children's Museum staring at the boys you could see he is not getting a family through marriage, a little morbid but I blame the news tonight from that idea. The third guy is a monster of a man, Russian circus performer, that is currently the bearded woman but looks forward to his promotion to dwarf tosser.

Silly enough? If you are going to go silly, might as well go silly.

Time to turn the page.

firstname.lastname@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/04/write-everyday-nearby-streets-exercise.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-64314246415056518212014-04-17T08:35:00.000-05:002014-04-17T08:35:00.476-05:00Write Everyday - Through The Window Exercise

WRITING EXERCISE

What's out your window?

Write about the weather, sky, buildings, treetops. Let your writing take you wherever, place and time. Write for 10 minutes.

====================

For the next several posts, about 20 or so, the exercises are designed for the busy, career laden writer. 10 minutes is what's required but the longer the better. No planning, no thinking, no editing. Just write, let the mistakes flow, write as you think. The point of these exercises is to break your mind from analytical overthinking and let the subconscious creativity take over.

My output for this exercise I wrote while I was working at home and in between meetings. I got about 15 minutes of silence and what I wrote started out to be what i saw out my office window but turned into having mysterious undertones of a single man who was in the middle of this suburban neighborhood surrounded by families. Working on something secret where during the day the streets were silent as everyone was at work, kids were at school, but soon they would all return to make noise. I think the character came from one of my neighbors who is just like that. A single guy, no one knows, someone that we rarely ever see, his house is always dark and everyone in the neighborhood is a young family. What is he doing here? Who could he be?

Anyway, that's where this exercise went for me. You let your mind take you on your own journey.

Time to turn the page.

firstname.lastname@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/04/write-everyday-through-window-exercise.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-21684288858889976952014-04-16T21:39:00.001-05:002014-04-16T21:39:45.152-05:00Book Review: Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
Here's a book review I wrote over on my other blog, Binaryblogger.com. I copied it here because it's a book review and is relevant to the art of writing.

=========================

Here are my thoughts around the book The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. That's right, after 30 years I finally got around and read the darn thing. I succumbed to the hype, the praise, the massive cult following. This book somehow became the entry book to geekdom or something. I was reading so many political thrillers, reference books on IT Security practices and non-fiction I needed a break before I tackled the 1000+ page Shift Omnibus. I opened it up on my Nook GlowLight eBook Reader and began. Spoilers ahead, don't worry, you aren't missing out on much.

A little background, I have started this book many times since I was a kid. I always seemed to make it to the destruction of Earth to where Ford and Arthur make it to the ship and then I stop. Reading it this time, determined to finish it, I understood why I gave up so many times before. The book isn't that funny. It has promises of humor and in some places it is witty, but the English (England) style quips and short bursts of quasi-intellectual banter gets old really fast. Reading this book was like watching a child play jacks. Focused on the jacks laying on the ground then out of the blue comes a bouncing ball distracting you for a little while then back to the jacks. At times I wonder if Douglas Adams made this book up as he went along and yes I know it was a radio show before the book. That might explain the transition to novel form wasn't as smooth as it could have been.

I can understand why some people would like this style of books and stories but not me. I will give it credit though, if you take away the characters and attempt at humor, the underlying story is not bad. Planetary destruction, political turmoil, an all powerful hyper-intelligent computer, and a very powerful spacecraft. But unfortunately it wasn't that way. By the end of the book I wished all the characters did what Marvin made the computer do. Every character was annoying, whiny complainers, shallow and one-dimensional. The only character I found that had some promise was Trillian and that was because she spoke the least and when she did she was all business.

I seriously doubt I will continue and finish the self-proclaimed 5 book trilogy (so witty).

Like anything I am only one person with my opinion and I didn't care for it. If others love it, great. We are both right.

End of Line.

=========================

email@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/04/book-review-hitchhikers-guide-to-galaxy.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-89382444443603548132014-04-16T06:21:00.002-05:002014-04-16T06:21:28.799-05:00Everyday Writing Exercises

Writers write always. Whether it's a blog post, journal entry, a letter to mom. As long as words are being put on paper it's writing. Now, I say that if you are trying to be a fiction writer then you need to be writing fiction everyday on top of the other compositions you may do but that's me.

Geek to Author is a slow go. Finding time to write is very difficult, especially with a full career, wife and 2 kids, coaching baseball, etc... but I see people do it all the time and they are writing books! Why can't I? Why can't you? I know the answer, commitment. Dedication. Failure to build a structured routine.

I came across a resources, several actually, that is specifically targeted for writing with a career. The common thread is ease into the routine but build into your day that you sit down and write. Period. I am going to share these writing exercises for everyone else as well as give an insight to my methods.

I haven't been blogging here much, but that's because I have been writing. Not putting anything out there for consumption yet, but I am writing. Short stories mostly but I have a very rough draft of 50,000 words toward a book. So I am doing it. The second part, editing my work, is where my analytical OCD is battling me. Tweaking the stories, expanding them, changing the dialogue instead of fixing the grammar and flows.

Each exercise I do I will start to publish them here. They are not ground breaking and most of them I tweak around to make them more creative and challenging for me. You don't have to follow them verbatim but use them in your own way for your daily writing. I have found it's very liberating and frees the mind to break away from your stories and structures and freestyle write about nonsensical topics as creative and in styles you may never use again. Experiment.

We only learn from failures.

Time to turn the page.

Geek To Author - Wattpad

firstname.lastname@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/04/everyday-writing-exercises.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-60090714495216270522014-03-17T22:03:00.001-05:002014-03-17T22:03:30.026-05:00I'm still here...Still here. Still writing. However a newborn and 5 year old in the home with an exploding career workload makes the writing very, very difficult. It pains me to say that especially when I focused and completed the 50,000 word National Novel Writing Month challenge in November. But that was pre-birth.

I am working on getting my stuff over on Wattpad. I feel that of all the writing sites that one seems to be the most promising and productive when it comes to feedback from readers. I put a bunch of stories out there but pulled them all off after I studied the art of story editing and realized that things could use more work.

I am beginning to see that I am not a very good writer but a great planner and editor. Writing is just filler.

1,000 words a day is the goal and if I focus and I know exactly what I want to paint with words I can get 1,000 words out in about an hour. If I only have 30 minutes, 500 words. Etc... You don't need to get the 1,000 words in one sitting.

As a computer programmer of very large, complex systems writing a few good lines of code a day, in the bank of tens of thousands, can go down as a very productive day. Writing is no different.

I see this now.

email@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/03/im-still-here.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4510285342821402284.post-44695710639350780762014-01-24T08:07:00.001-06:002014-01-24T08:07:35.246-06:00I Blog To Update Not To Create A Diary

My blog has always been to chronicle a journey of a middle aged guy, sick and tired of BS from the American Corporate world, work toward honing his creative craft of fiction writing. For a long time I have struggled with this blog and figuring out how much to write and what to write about. Do I post every time I have an idea? Do I update when I get 1,500 words written in a day? What's interesting, what's boring, and what's coming across as egocentric?

Since the NaNoWriMo my second child was born so that has been the focus of a majority of my time and the drain on my energy to keep up the pace that I did during the NaNoWriMo. I have a 50,000 word draft of a novel sitting in my Scrivener binder ready to be continued. I am working on finishing another short story called Chance Encounter, actually I will finish it today.

I am writing more and more I am just not blogging about it as much. The main reason is that blogging takes time, time that I could be spending writing. Blog writing is very different than fiction writing and I want to craft the latter. Blogging is just a nice way to stay connected to whatever regular readers are curious enough to read my posts.

During the NaNoWriMo there was a website that I was introduced to called Wattpad. If you are a serious writing either by hobby or trade you are probably familiar with it. Instead of sharing my stories on my own blog I will be using Wattpad to share to the community. There are a few other writing websites that attempt to do the same thing but not as nearly as popular and I will be pulling out of those and going all in with Wattpad. Here's a link to my profile.

My resolution in 2014 was the year of productivity. A new baby in the house makes that more challenging but not impossible. I am using my disgust and frustration of the bureaucratic BS of the world I built my career around as fuel to build worlds and tell stories my way without someone who thinks they know better to suggest it's done this way.

Stay tuned, I will be updating well thought out constructive posts from now on rather than posting for the sake of posting. At least one a week for the rest of the year, maybe more if the week has activity.

Time to turn the page.

email@example.com://geektoauthor.blogspot.com/2014/01/i-blog-to-update-not-to-create-diary.html


text:
Canarsie Courier: Canarsie Hosts Congress At Your Corner
Residents had a chance to bring quality of life issues to one of the community's elected officials Saturday morning when Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and his staff were stationed outside the Canarsie Post Office.
For the most part, Jeffries addressed issues related to Hurricane Sandy and said many homeowners here are still struggling to get their lives back together. The congressman discussed the Buy It Back program, which is a state sponsored initiative for homeowners.
Jeffries also said he would like to tour the area near Fresh Creek, one of the basins of water which overflowed when Hurricane Sandy tore through the community last year. Preventing disaster from future storms is his priority and said he will join residents in the next couple of months to assess the conditions along the waterfront.
Many also took the opportunity to tell the Congressman about the poor service they experience when dealing with the post office – where he noticed a longer than acceptable line. "There has to be some accountability and we want to set up a town hall meeting with postal employees and managers to get down to the bottom of things," he said.


text:
Long Island, NY commercial property restoration
Valley Stream, NY Commercial Flood Service
Call 1-800-222-6815
Cammercial / Residential
Cleaning & Restoration
24 Hrs / 7 Days
Valley Stream, NY Commercial Flood Service
Commercial Flood Service
Flooding has been a frequent occurrence in our country the last few years. When flooding happens raging waters inundate everything in its path. Homes, hospitals, schools, libraries, and businesses alike will suffer the water damage that flooding brings about. The devastation that flooding leaves behind is immense. It is often hard to know where to begin salvaging important documents and belongings. Businesses lose money when flooding has occurred because they have to shut down. Employees will be worried about taking care of their families and homes before they can help put a business back on its feet. Current projects, client lists, contracts, human resource information, and ad campaigns are often in some sort of paper form stored in files at the office of the business. It is a high priority to recover and restore these documents so that the business can go forward with its current work.
Business owners and their employees should wait for permission from a city official before reentering the office. See that the electricity and gas lines are turned off if there is any water standing in the building. When the okay is given make certain that everyone that goes in the building is wearing protective clothing such as rubber boots, gloves, coveralls, goggles and face masks. There should be a disaster plan in place so that everyone knows what to recover first and how to go about salvaging the most important papers and other important items.
The business owner should call their business insurance provider and make a claim. The water damage should be recorded by video camera or a regular camera and written records should be kept of everything that is damaged as well as everything that the workers do to recover and restore items or the building itself. Once in the office have a capable person in charge to direct the recovery effort. Contact a paper restoration company so that the vital wet documents and files can be dealt with efficiently. Find a place where you can have the documents taken to be frozen. Papers can start to develop mold and mildew within hours after a flood and freezing any papers that can't be dried out immediately will prevent or at least stop any mold growth from spreading.
The person in charge should assign people to assess the damage to different files. There should be people to remove the files that aren't wet and put them some place safe. Someone else should be assigned to document and throw away any unsalvageable files. Still other people should be given the task of prioritizing the most important files to pack for restoration, labeling and color coding these files first and then color code and label other files to be salvaged in descending order of importance. Lastly, there should be people ready to pack, tape, and label boxes full of these files so they can be taken to be restored right away if they are a top priority or taken to be frozen if they can be dealt with later. After this is done work can begin to restore and clean the water damage to the building itself.
Tuckahoe,Wading River NY Commercial Flood Service
New York Commercial Flood Service