Essay Online

A novel based around real estate in Miami, I was not convinced that I would enjoy it. I had thoughts of tawdry love affairs among realtor’s, and board room struggles between power brokers. But, instead I found a hugely entertaining, and side splittingly funny novel that makes me chuckle every time I see the cover. This is humor at its very apex. Humor is a hard genre to be successful in but this author definitely has ‘The Write Stuff.’

Alan Rolnick has created a vignette of life in Miami with Landmark Status that deserves a spot on the best seller list. The characters are wild, bent politicians, bent land developers, and even a Ponzi scheme thrown in for good measure, and what finer setting than Miami?

The hero in our story is attorney Steven Benjamin Bluestone, Benjy to his friends. Benjy is a delightful character, and as he explains early in the book, he became an attorney because his father was one, but he has little interest in wrangling and courtroom drama preferring the more sedate type of lawyering that involves smoking Cuban cigars and ogling young ladies! He avoids at all cost the world of Real Estate, ‘Dirt Lawyers’ is how he describes them.

Unfortunately for Benjy an old client returns, one who had used his services in a divorce (something else that Benjy doesn’t do), and persuades him to assist in a ‘dirt deal’. If Benjy has a fault it is not being able to say no, when ex client, and friend Walter, who also happens to own one of Benji’s favorite watering holes needs ‘dirt help’, he leaps, albeit reluctantly, into the ride of his life.

The rather decrepit Century Club that Walter owns has suddenly become a much sought after piece of dirt. And there are few lengths that an unscrupulous developer will not go to secure it’s ownership.

The characters that Alan Rolnick has created are wild. But they are so well crafted they take on a reality in the readers mind. From the accident prone Benjy, to the money hungry mayor Oscar Torres, the even money hungrier would be land developer Chuck Steinbeck and his slightly aging trophy wife Evelyn, they are all so well described I can guarantee you will love them. And these are just the beginning, we also have love interest from the Mayors niece Delia, we have Raj the Cigar Man, oh, and of course Rico the bungling bodyguard!

This is a riotous book, you are laughing on page one, and you are still laughing on the last page. There are cars wrecked, planes burned, Voodoo curses, even cemeteries desecrated, and this is all achieved with a dark humor that I find hard to believe comes from a first time author. This is also a book that would transition easily into a very very funny movie. And I did note that Alan Rolnick is not only an attorney, and an author, he is also a director, so come on Alan, make it happen!

Greetings,

I’m writing to you to share some of my concerns and

at the same time, ask you for help.

It’s about the Internet.

The biggest problem caused by the Internet, as I can see it, is the openness and accessibility to an unlimited amount of information.

Naturally, one who can touch a key board at least with one finger, should accept the Internet with all its good and evil as an incredible invention of all times.

That’s one side of the coin.

Another one is that I’m totally lost in the ocean of online offers; one is more seductive than other.

”The best method of creating your wealth on line…” shouts at us a sales letter.

“The most progressive ever way of building your list of subscribers…”hollers another.

Tens if not hundreds of messages (most of them, certainly, unsolicited) call us to prosperity on line.

I was raised to respect the word written. It’s not only The Constitution , laws of the state, school textbooks, manuals, instructions, notes, you name it!

The Bible, of course. I will always remember a notorious question my Pastor used to ask me: ”What is written in the Bible about it?”

Looked like for every problem one had ever experienced, Pastor could find the answer in the Bible.

In short, the miraculous power of the word, written in my heart, is written ‘in stone.’

Now, when I read the unlimited list of superlative adjectives of sales letters I feel desperate, thriving to find out ‘where the dog is hidden.’

The messages where the writers start saying:

”Don’t you lose this one in your whole life opportunity, etc”

I wonder, if one can find a pumpkin, who would wish to lose his one time in his whole life chance?

So, I click the link, open the web site and read a special report, nicely formatted, highlighted, emphasized, splashing good news into my face, raping me with ‘order, order, order, and again, order.’

But that’s not all!

“If you order before midnight,” it says, “you will sure get tons of bonuses, so don’t tarry!”

I move aside from my desk everything, spilling a cup of coffee I was advised to grasp before reading a message, fumbling for my ‘electronic wallet’ and just about to fill in the form…

Thanks the Lord, it is still necessary to fill in the form, the last chance to escape the hypnotic daze of the sales letter, cool down, and recover from the fog of a ‘narcotic’ power of the commercial offer.

Uff, sweating and shivering, I regain consciousness, trying to think about something else and put off the hanging above me horrendous cloud of doubt:

”What if this is that one chance from a thousand , which just come only to bold and smart individuals, who, after just a few months report to us:

”I come back to gloomy days of the winter 200? when I didn’t have any money to pay the bills, to do this and that, etc, unless I met John Smith who showed me the big picture… so now my life has completely changed. Look at my house, I bought a week ago and a new car I’m thinking of buying, and, so on.”

To resist this temptation is next to impossible…

With my last effort, I press my right hand so that not to click the desirable link taking me to the treasures island where money grows on the trees and one can experience joy and gladness because one blessed day she clicked this miraculous link!

Paradise lost?

No, Mr John Milton,

Paradise found…

Instead of an epilog.

After nearly four years of trying to find a ‘Magic formula’ for getting rich on the Internet, I’m still where I was last century.

“If I could do it, you can too…”

“Can I?”

“Careers, like rockets, don’t always take off on schedule. The key is to keep working the engines.” - Gary Sinese

If you pay close attention to the words and inferences of some who use freelance writers you will see that freelancers must be superhuman.

The Top Ten Signs you Have Found a Perfect Freelance Writer

1) They are never too busy to work on my project.

2) They are always efficient enough to have the project completed yesterday.

3) They are willing to write for a fee less than the poverty level.

4) They are willing to provide unlimited rewrites.

5) They always know exactly the style of writing I need.

6) They do not have a personal life.

7) They are knowledgeable about every subject known to man.

They never get sick.

9) They never expect prompt payment.

10) They like it when I’m snippy.

As a freelance writer you may be finding some truth to this list, but the burden of proof is on your shoulders as a freelancer. You do need to adopt a can-do attitude, but be honest enough to pass on a project if you are uncertain about the subject, deadline or volume of work.

The reason a good freelancer may seem superhuman is they have learned the value of follow-up, follow through, customer service and commitment.

All freelance writers have had clients that have more than likely been refused service from other freelancers. These clients refused to be pleased with any work they are presented with. They have an idea writer in mind, but sadly that writer does not exist.

In these cases it is difficult to end the relationship gracefully. It could be you have provided numerous rewrites and the client remains dissatisfied. At that point you may need to stand up to the client and ask for payment or to be released from the obligation.

When you do hear from satisfied customers, you should not hesitate to ask for a brief testimonial you can use for the benefit of other customers who may be considering you as a means of reaching their content objectives.

Stretch your wings and learn new skills. A good freelancer may specialize in one type of service, but is adaptable enough to facilitate new writing formats when needed. The more you learn about freelancing the more marketable your skills will be.

“Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can.” - Lowell Thomas

When you start writing a novel you may find doing so somewhat more difficult than you expected. You are not alone when you make this discovery, as many novice writers and even published authors find themselves in the very same predicament. Perhaps one of the most difficult things may be trying to discover who, what, where, when, why and how you are going to develop the next “Pulitzer Prize Winning” fiction book. This article will provide you with a number of thoughts and ideas which should make your task not quite so difficult and much more enjoyable.

Your mental attitude, about why you are writing the book of your dreams, may well be the governing factor in the success or failure of your book. A good attitude would be looking at your book as something you have always wanted to do, not necessarily as the one thing which will propel you from rags to riches.

To help you get in the right frame of mind about this, perhaps you should check out some of the statistics about having a book published in the United States. You should know that approximately 162,000 books are published a year. Please don’t let the statistics deter you from your writing. On the contrary, if 162,000 books will be “born”, yours can be too. In other words, you may well be the next “Best Selling Author” just be realistic about the reasons you are writing and the expectations you have for your writing. Doing anything because you love to do it will always make it easier to complete.

You now have the right mental attitude now let’s move on to what you are going to write about.

Obviously, you already have an idea or thoughts on what you want to write about. If you are a first time novelist, it is important for you to consider writing on something which you are passionate and have knowledge of. By doing so you will reduce the chances of you becoming bored and you can rest assured that if you become bored with the topic, it will increase the difficulty of writing your book.

One of the things that ties directly in with the subject of your book, will be the style of writing you elect to use. Let’s presume you are a police officer and have decided you are extremely knowledgeable and passionate about solving murder mysteries. Take a trip to your library and check out as many books, by different authors, about murder mystery as you can. Read every book and while reading take notes about the style of the authors writing. You will soon begin to recognize the style that fits you the best.

As you are well aware there are many other aspects to writing, which can make writing a book difficult, they are beyond the scope of this article at this time. However, by having the right mental attitude, writing about something you know or very passionate about, taking the time to develop your own style, you should be able to start writing a novel which could become the next “best seller” - especially with some solid guidance.

Overview

When we write User Documents we rely on our Reader’s/User’s experience to simplify our work. This can cause problems for the Reader. This article will discuss the effects of Reader experience and how to minimize the negative effects of incompatible experience, and how to handle the writer’s assumptions about the Reader.

Writer’s Benefits: Relying on Reader Experience

When we write, we rely on our Reader’s experience to give us a “starting point” for our User Document. Often we make hidden assumptions about our Reader’s experience.

Here are some examples where relying on our Reader’s experience makes things easy (and causes problems) for us as writers:

Example: Using a Computer’s Mouse

In writing User Documentation for Graphical User Interface-based computer products (such as the Windows or Mac User interface), we assume that the the Reader knows how to use a mouse to click on items, drag, etc. This saves much background writing.

Example: Cooking: How to Measure Ingredients; Terms

Cook books save space by (usually correctly) assuming that a Reader can perform basic cooking operations (such as measuring ingredients), and terms (such as puree or slice).

Example: Common Acronyms

We rely on “common” acronyms such as AM and PM to simplify our writing lives. However, many Readers use a 24 hour clock, and thus AM and PM are meaningless to them.

Beware of any acronyms that you assume that your Reader knows. It is best to define acronyms in line (perhaps in parentheses) when they are first presented in that part of the User Document.

You cannot define them only the first time they appear in the User Document. This assumes — incorrectly — that Users read your User Document from start to finish.

Problems Writers Cause When Assuming User Experience

Our assumptions as writers can get us into trouble.

Example: Unfamiliar Words

Here’s a gardening example: Acme’s (a fictitious company) Illustrated Guide to Gardening in Canada (1979) makes an incorrect assumption about its Readers:

In one of their definitions they use a term, “the axil of a leaf” to define another term. “Axil of a leaf” is not listed in the book’s index, and there is no glossary in the book. Clearly this book assumes that the Reader understands the term “the axil of a leaf.” I don’t, and am therefore unhappy with the presentation.

Solution: Provide a glossary of gardening terms or a reference to a page in the book where the term is defined.

Example: Assuming Students’ Experience

Here is an example where an (unstated) assumption by a training company rendered one of their courses useless.

In order to do the exercises in a computer programming course, students had to be able to use an editor (a simple word processor) to program the system. The only editor available on the course machines was a UNIX editor known as vi.

Unfortunately, the students were not told that they needed to use the vi editor. The course presenters assumed that the students knew vi. The students did not, and they spent half the course time trying to learn and deal with vi.

The hidden assumption by the training company resulted in a failed learning experience (the students never needed to use vi again). It wasted two days of the four-day course time.

Don’t Present Assumptions in a Sneaky Way

If the training company had said that, “We train on UNIX systems,” then they leave a way out for themselves when they disappoint students who do not know the vi editor. When confronted, the company could respond with, “We told you it was a UNIX system. You should know that vi is the editor available on that system.”

This sneaky statement of the assumption is foolish. It will result in a lose-lose situation.

The Bottom Line

As writers, we to make assumptions about our Reader’s experience. However, if you make assumptions, then make sure that you tell the Reader what you assume about him/her.

Think about the assumptions that you make about your Reader. Are these assumptions valid (that is, can you really expect your Readers to meet your assumptions)? If there is any doubt in your mind, include information explaining the terms and procedures that you assume.

Make sure that when you state assumptions, that you present them in a way that the Reader (student) can understand what the assumption means to them. Don’t be sneaky about presenting the assumptions.

User Experience Can Cause Trouble for Writers

Your Reader’s experience can cause confusion. Here are some examples:

Example: Shampoo/Conditioner Product

One of my favorite examples is a combined hair shampoo and conditioner product. If a User has experience with the separate products, then their experience is to:

* Shampoo: Wet thenhair. Massage shampoo into the hair, then rinse it out.

* Conditioner: Wash the hair. Massage conditioner into the wet hair, leave in the hair for two or three minutes, then rinse it out.

The problem arises with the combined product. Should the User leave the product in the hair for two or three minutes (as done with the conditioner), or rinse it immediately (as done with the shampoo)?

The User Document (product label) for a combined shampoo-conditioner should tell the User how to use the two-in-one product. Most such labels do not.

Example: Words Used in Unexpected Ways

Your writing can set the expectations of the Reader, resulting in confusion when words are used unexpectedly.

An article in the Technology Section (of a newspaper on June 10, 2004, page B14) described, “How the little guy can back up computer data”. The article was about computers. When I came to the sentence: “Let’s face it: backups are boring and a hassle to boot.” I wondered about the phrase “to boot.”

In computer jargon, “boot” is the process where the computer starts up (”lifts itself by its bootstraps”…by a program originally called a “bootstrap loader”). Does the author’s quote about “hassle to boot” mean that if I do backups, then my computer will be slower (”boring”) and require more work from me to start up (”hassle to boot”)?

The use of the phrase “to boot” is inappropriate in this article, given that “to boot” has multiple meanings. The author used it as slang for “in addition to.” Since the article was about computers, I thought of the computer meaning of “to boot.” The sentence would be less confusing if the author left out “to boot,” as: “Let’s face it: backups are boring and a hassle.” We’ll return to this example shortly.

Example: Functional Fixedness

An object’s function is fixed in a person’s mind. For example, a hammer’s function is to pound things. Experiments have demonstrated that people have a hard time using a hammer for an unusual function, such as a paperweight, a prop, or a lever. This is called functional fixedness.

Functional fixedness can limit the usefulness of your product. Your User Document should attempt to overcome functional fixedness. Perhaps this example will show how critical I am of User Documents.

I have a wrist global positioning satellite (GPS) device that keeps track of my long walks. Sweaters and heavy coats, needed for walking in the winter, make it difficult to wear the GPS device on the wrist. But it is a WRIST device. Functional fixedness arises, causing me struggle to use the GPS on my wrist. But it turns out that the GPS works well when used in a pocket.

The GPS User Document should mention this (obvious?) capability, thus reducing the functional fixedness associated with the WRIST GPS. In my defense: I am not sure that putting the wrist GPS in a pocket is more obvious than using a hammer as a paperweight.

Example: Humor

Humor relies on:

. a subtle knowledge of the language (for example a pun)

. or a knowledge of an event (perhaps a current event or entertainment event)

on which the humor is based. Here’s an example, from an old joke:

“You’re so funny, you should be on a stage. There’s one leaving in 15 minutes.”

This joke relies on the Reader’s knowing the two meanings of “stage”: (1) a place for performing, and (2) transportation used in the western United States in the 1800’s. Most Readers might not know the second meaning, rendering the humor a confusing waste of words.

Earlier we examined the sentence: “Let’s face it: backups are boring and a hassle to boot.” The author used the phrase “to boot” as some form of folksy talk or humor. It confused the Reader.

Eliminate Humor from Your User Document

. Humor will only confuse Users who do not understand it.

. Humor is difficult, if not impossible, to translate into other languages.

I suggest that you use a writing style that is informal and conversational, but with no attempts at humor. Remove attempts at humor when you review and revise your writing.

If you want to write humor, do it elsewhere (you should be on a stage). User Documents are no place to practice your humor.

The Bottom Line

Assumptions

Be careful about what you assume about your Reader. When in doubt whether or not a Reader knows something:

. State your assumptions about your Reader

State the assumptions in a way that the Reader can relate to

. When in doubt, add the information that you assume, or

. Tell your Reader where to find the assumed information

By providing or pointing to this assumed information, you increase your audience

Readers’ Experience

Be aware of how your Reader’s experience influences how he/she interprets your User Document or uses your product. If necessary add material to your User Document to counter your Reader’s incompatible experience.

One day when I had nothing to do (well, actually, I had a lot to do, but I didn’t want to do any of it), I decided to play the Google game. This is the one where you input your own name or something else into the field in quotes to see how many search results you get. Because my most recent book, Queen Geeks in Love, was coming out soon, I decided to search the term “geek.” What I found astounded me.

I got more nearly 70 million hits from the word “geek.”

That’s million.

So, I figured that most every term would fetch that many results, or close to it. I started with what I would assume is the antithesis of ‘geek’: the “gossip girl’, which yielded 3,560,000. ‘Beauty Queen” yielded 1,750.000. Glamour came the closest to geek, with 44,600,000, but as you can plainly see, being glamorous is nothing compared to being geeky, statistically. Even the trendy “fashionista” only turned back 5,590,000 results.

So what does this mean? Is Google a valid measurement of popular culture? I suppose it’s not extremely scientific, but it does seem to be in indication of how many sites mention the word, which, by the way, originated as a circus term for a person who bit the heads off live animals. Thankfully, that particular aspect of geekdom seems to have faded out, unless you count Ozzy Osbourne in his former glory days.

If you look to the true measure of what’s out there in the zeitgeist, check your local television listings. This fall, every new show seems to be supernatural (which is within the realm of the geek.) We have Moonlight, a vampire tale. We have Journeyman, Supernatural, Ghost Whisperer, and Medium. The biggies&ndashLost and Heroes&ndashsell DVD collections in droves. Geeks are no longer hiding in their cyberclosets.

As early as 2001, the term “geek chic” began to be used, and in fact, a London clothing company ran a campaign using that very term to market its clothing. Fast forward to last year, when ABC premiered a show called Ugly Betty, with America Ferrera starring as an anti-fashion uber-geek. Well, guess who was on the October 2007 cover of Glamour Magazine? That’s right. The geeky girl. Of course, they glammed her up, but still, I couldn’t help but feel that someone from my team finally made it to the big leagues.

Gloria Baume, a fan of Ugly Betty and a fashion editor at Teen Vogue, told the New York Times that Betty’s “geek-chic look could trickle down.” In the New York Times article, she added, ”I’m obsessed with the nerd look right now,” adding that a number of designers appear to be similarly taken with all things dorky. ”Paul Smith did it in London,” she said. ”Lacoste did it here in New York. Luella also did the geek look. In her own kind of funny, twisted way, Betty has her own sense of style. It’s kooky, but it’s totally her.” (New York Times, October 2006).

USA Today even noted that “Knowledge is power and geek is chic. If you’re a cyber whiz who is plugged into the pop-culture world of sci-fi, fantasy, comic books and cult horror, maybe even the master of a Web shrine devoted to such once-arcane matters, you don’t just rule. You rock.”

Scholars are even on the geek bandwagon. One Danish scholar wrote a dissertation on geek culture and cited it as “the third counterculture” after hippies and yuppies. “The geek culture is changing the norm, transforming mainstream culture,” writes Lars Konzack in his thesis, titled “Geek culture, the third counterculture” ” Not long ago nobody would have known outside the geek culture what was meant by player character, experience points, level gain, and hit points. Now it seems like everybody knows. The geek culture is transforming mainstream cultures and it’s just the beginning of a general cultural change in that direction,” Lars Konzack, Aalborg University, Denmark.

In my own novels, Queen Geek Social Club and Queen Geeks in Love, the self-professed geeks of the title are girls who unapologetically are themselves. They like science and science fiction, but they also like fashion and guys. They want to change the world, but they also want to enjoy it. I like to think of them as the geek I never was in high school&ndashconfident, comfortable, clever. They know who they are, and although they struggle with self-doubt and anxiety like all teenagers, they use their intelligence and the support of their geek sisters to get through it all. In the end, it’s a great message to send to girls (or guys), and it reminds me of something someone once wrote in the margin of my yearbook: “be the way you are and you’ll go far.” Go geeks.

I have no idea how many books are crammed onto bookshelves all about the subject of marketing, there must be many millions. It is a subject well understood, how do you make someone buy your Widget as opposed to the other guys Widget? Marketing is the answer, but, marketing comes at a price. How much can you afford?

I have a friend who is a retired BBDO exec, and in his mind, marketing that widget should cost the same as the national debt of a small country. Most small businesses can hardly manage to pay the rent and other expenses, never mind a TV spot on The Superbowl.

David Mason has done a very fine job of encapsulating the important aspects of marketing into a very short read. While I am not sure that he has introduced anything new, he has put it on paper that even the most book ‘resistant’ company owner could manage, at a scant 121 pages this should not scare even the skittish book reader.

Of course there is a downside with using such a short format, in a word ‘lists.’ My wife knows me very well, and she always has stuff for me to do. But she also knows that giving me a long ‘To Do’ list makes my eyes glaze over. If the list has less than than 5 items, the chances are good that I will at least attempt a few of them. David Mason prefers longer lists, I believe one was 16 items long! That I found a little of a turn-off, my wife knows better than to try a list that long on me!

On the plus side, he makes very convincing arguments. Arguments that make sense. It is important that every business has a ’slogan,’ David Mason calls it the USP (Unique Selling Proposition), but slogan or banner is what we are talking about.

How do you attract customers? You have your slogan, but if it only exists on your computer or in your head, who is going to hear the message? Many people have small companies, some sell niche products, some sell niche services, how do you sell your idea? Newspaper Ads might work, but only for the day, a Magazine might work for a month, radio and TV spots last for seconds! How about the internet?

David Mason explores all of the potentials, all of the advertising mediums have their up’s and down’s, cost, effectiveness, even the number of eyeballs that you get your message in front of are important considerations.

The last part of the book I found really helpful, he has included some samples of headlines and opening lines that the small business owner could use in his advertising campaign, and some simple worksheets to assist in customizing the slogans to your own specific needs.

Marketing You Small Business For Big Profits is small enough to be a quick and easy read, but large enough to contain the vital elements important to run an effective advertising program. The author also takes a very down to earth approach in offering advice on implementing the strategies. ‘You don’t have to do them all, just start with one and see what happens.’ In other words you don’t have to do everything, just do something.

Today, Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as our guest, Rob Costelloe, author of Coinage of Commitment.

Good day Rob and thanks for participating in our interview.

Norm: When did your passion for writing begin? What keeps you going?

Rob: I wrote earlier in life, including a teeth-cutting first novel, then I abandoned writing altogether. But I continued to study romantic love as a potential source of fulfillment in people’s lives, and I enjoyed studying love stories in books and films. In 2005 I read an otherwise well written novel whose denouement was so suddenly despairing that I felt outrage on behalf of all the women readers who were disappointed by this disjointed outcome. Within twenty-four hours, I started writing Coinage of Commitment.

Norm: Will you share a little bit about Coinage of Commitment with us?

Rob: Sure. Coinage of Commitment offers a different kind of love story, a drama of characters who love at a higher level than what we see all around us. But this is not portrayed as just a case of spontaneous feelings conquering all. Rather, our lovers develop a hunger and capacity for higher love by reflections and experiences they have before and after meeting. The story gives a glimpse into the unique challenges such a pair would face in striving to reach the zenith they seek. The plot does feature a love triangle, so the novel is actually two love stories that culminate dramatically in a surprise ending.

Norm: How did you get the inspiration for this book? Did you have a hard time fleshing out characters initially?

Rob: The inspiration, or at least the creative energy for the project, was driven by this concept of love at a higher level, one requiring a thinking basis as well as an emotional one. Some nonfiction books that offer advice for improving relationships deal with this issue extensively, but fiction has not risen to exploring love that’s anything higher than merely spontaneous emotions.

You asked about character development and, yes, it was difficult. These are not characters who would ever be mistaken for plain vanilla. The male protagonist had to be recast from the first draft to realistically portray the conflict he experiences before the lovers find union.

Norm: How much real-life did you put into your book? Is there much “you” in there?

Rob: My contribution was that I’ve experienced love at a higher level and for a long enough time that I could define its elements from experience and inject them into a story of lovers who have class, financial, and religious differences to overcome, as well as opposition from both families, before they can reach the destination they seek.

Norm: It is said that if you want to write a good story or novel you need to create struggles of powerful descriptive individuals and not just issues. Through their accomplishments and travail, we very much comprehend the issues. How is this applicable to your book?

Rob: I agree with your premise and that’s why I put a lot of effort into refining and, in some cases, redefining the main characters so that the story would center around them more than the plot elements. At the same time, they need to be believable and appealing to readers who want and deserve to be immersed in characters they can relate to. But as you’ve indicated, it is really the setbacks and challenges the characters must resolve that make them all they can be in a story. Watching them struggle onward, never losing that certain air that we ourselves admire, is what makes them memorable to readers.

Norm: What kind of research did you do to write this book? What are your hopes for this book?

Rob: I had to get acquainted with the Penn and Drexel campuses, where the story is set. In a way, the research was more difficult because the story takes place in the late 1960s, and many of the settings I used no longer exist, or have changed. Cavanaugh’s Restaurant, realistically set in the first chapter near 31st and Market in Philly has since moved. The movie theater used in the Chapter seven date scenes was real, and I used it because it was very popular at the time. But it has since been torn down. Recovering its address was quite an adventure. Little things can be challenging: like researching the legal driving age in California in the early sixties.

You asked about my hopes for the book. In a way, Coinage for me was a labor of love, an attempt to give something back for the life I’ve been blessed with. My hope for the book is that it will sell well, that readers will enjoy it, feel enriched and uplifted by it. So far, reader feedback has exceeded my expectations.

Norm: What motivated you to write a book pertaining to romantic love, and what is your definition of romantic love? How does it differ from other kinds of love?

Rob: Believe it or not, one thing that got me started on this journey was a case of bad science. Sometime during the sixties, a widespread notion got established that romantic love did not exist except as a trivial permutation of the sexual impulse. Instead of being viewed as a unique emotional capability that is obviously separate from the sexual impulse, romantic love was derided as this maudlin quirk of the sexual impulse itself that teenagers experience and then grow out of as they mature and grow up.

I kept reading these articles, by Ph.D.s who should have known better, claiming that romantic love was an illusion, produced as an unfortunate byproduct of sexual chemistry, and that the sooner one got over it the sooner one could settle into an “adult” relationship based on calculated mutual benefit and, of course, sex. Yes, this was a kind of underside of the sexual revolution. I grew alarmed that people were lowering their expectations about what romantic love could provide in their lives because of crackpot science. I also watched it affect our literature, as stories featured more sex and a more watered down, primitive sort of love, one based mainly on impulse and sexual attraction. I started writing, partly to contribute what I could in the way of damage control. It was painful to watch the needless harm that was done to millions of emotional lives. And it took another whole generation for science to finally condescend to legitimizing the same romantic love that flourished in the Middle Ages.

You asked about a definition of romantic love. Well, let’s see. Romantic love is that affection between the sexes that augments and usually stimulates the sexual urge. Often an initial sexual upwelling serves as an emotional attractant, and the couple falls in love. It is more volatile than others kinds of love–such as maternal love–and it has been known to change from adoring affection to murderous hate in a matter of minutes (given the right kind of adulterous news). It can burn brighter than any other kind of love, and often does, but it is hard to maintain. The higher love I write about is an attempt to examine how that brighter state might be enhanced and sustained by intellectual and behavioral means, while also giving readers a good story to enjoy.

Norm: I read where Dr. Helen Fisher, author of Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love believes that romantic love is a universal human feeling that produces specific chemicals and networks in the brain. Do you agree with Dr. Fisher?

Rob: I agree, but really…how could romantic love not be a universal human feeling? From literature, we’ve known about it since ancient times. The Bible even has a book of poetry dedicated expressly to it. And on top of that, from the Middle Ages through the nineteenth century, a well developed and very feminine-flavored form of romantic love was a feature of Western culture that distinguished it from all others. The Russians ridiculed it during the cold war; the Japanese adopted it as one of the first things they copied from us after World War II. As far as chemicals and networks in the brain are concerned, I am happy to see this kind of quantitative progress. I am especially happy to see the scientific community catching up to reality and verifying a feature of our basic humanity that many of us have long viewed as indisputable.

Norm: Can you tell us how you found representation for your book? Did you pitch it to an agent, or query publishers who would most likely publish this type of book? Any rejections? Did you self-publish?

Rob: I never did come close to landing an agent. The agencies tend to be hidebound conservative, and I was peddling a love story unlike any other. And it is written in a more emotionally vivid style than is currently fashionable. The sales figures tell me that that works well for readers, but the agencies wouldn’t touch it. I went through five hundred rejections in three months until I came across a group of small royalty publishers who have sprung up in the last five years. They do not accept returns, they provide little in the way of promotional help, and they sell mainly through Internet outlets–although their books are carried by the major distributors. Among this group, I ended up with three contract offers. I went with Saga Books because they offered the best contract, and they thought the book good enough to publish it in three months on a fast track basis.

Norm: How have you used the Internet to boost your writing career?

Rob: Without the Internet, the publisher who produced my book would not exist. Many of the watchdog groups that have sprung up to protect writers from shadier elements of the publishing universe are Internet-based. They helped me greatly, and I offer them my thanks, especially Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware. The Internet has helped create an environment closer to a truly free market festival of ideas and expression than we have ever had.

Norm: Is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered and what is next for Rob Costelloe?

Rob: I will be writing fulltime starting next month. My next project, another love story, is about one-third drafted and should be ready before mid next year.

Thank you for this opportunity to reach out to my readers. This was my first interview as an author, and you made it fun as well as educational.

Norm: Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors.

Product reviews are an exceptional tool to drive traffic to your own, or any other website. They are inherently valuable and provide benefit, which is exactly what readers and webmasters are looking for. When content provides a benefit, people will read it, forward it, and link to it. As an online marketer or website owner, product reviews in particular are a great way to drive traffic to your website via linking, reprints, and click-throughs.

Saying that, in order for a product review to be an effective traffic generation tool, it must also be believable. This means that if at all possible, consider actually purchasing or trying out the product. It’s pretty much the only way to be completely knowledgeable about a product or service.

You also need to think creatively when reviewing. For example, a great product review for a hair removal system might actually have a series of reviews based on the ability of the product to remove or reduce hair over time. This type of review will most likely be linked to by many people because it is a real and demonstrative review of the product.

Here are a few things you should consider when you’re writing a review for a product or service.

1. Take the time to be thorough in your review. Every review must answer these questions:

* What does the product promise?

* How well does it achieve those goals?

* Is it a good value?

* What are the drawbacks of the product?

* Is the product easy to use?

* How does the product compare to others on the market?

* Would you buy or recommend the product? If yes, why? If no, why not?

2. Compare multiple products for more effect. Sometimes it’s easier to compare products than to simply evaluate one single product. When comparing products, it is important to remember a few things:

* Compare the same types of products.

* Compare similar attributes and features.

* Be honest about any preferences you have for one or the other.

3. Demonstrate information in a variety of ways. Can you incorporate graphics, pictures, or statistical data in your review? The more comparative information you can provide your reader, the better. Often, statistics are more easily understood when they’re conveyed in a graph, a chart or a simple photo.

Put yourself in your reader’s shoes. What would you want to know about the product or service? While it is important to be diplomatic in your reviews, it is also important to be tactfully honest. If your reviews are all positive all of the time, you’re going to loses a bit of credibility. People want the drawbacks pointed out to them too. They want both sides of the coin.

Write your reviews conversationally. This means using language most people understand. Skip the jargon and tech talk. Use language that is friendly. Break the review up into easily digested sections.

Keep to one point per paragraph and keep the paragraphs short and easy to read. Taking the time to write your review for online reading makes it easier to read, and thus easier to print, publish, and link to.

Is it better to participate in content writing or write for magazine publication?

The above question is actually multifaceted and can help you determine the overall thrust of your freelance writing career.

It has been estimated that a writer will need to pen a million words before a publisher is likely to accept their first work. That means a lot of rejection slips.

So, does that imply that content writing is preferred to the crafting of a book or magazine article?

Well not exactly. Content writing is a means of addressing a short-term need. If the immediate need is cash, then content writing might provide the answer. However, if you are looking for a means of affecting long-term royalty payments or a greater flexibility in the ownership of your material you may look at other publishing options.

When you agree to write content for a client you are essentially providing a service for hire. Once you release the article or story to the client and they reciprocate with a payment you have no further interest in the article. You can’t use it again and you will gain no further payment for its ongoing use.

When you write a story for potential use in a book anthology, or a full manuscript for publication, you may have a variety of rights to consider.

If you are the author of a story, you can negotiate with a publisher for the rights you are willing to provide. You could provide First North American Rights, which would allow you to resell the story in the future as a second right, but you would also have the capability of selling first rights to someone else on an international basis. Nonexclusive rights allow you to continue selling the material with the same rights to as many publishers as are interested.

As we venture back to the original question it is important to understand that freelanced writing can and should be a balanced approach to writing. If it takes you a million words before you find publishing success why not make some of those words available to a paying content market to provide some skills-based writing while you work on other projects that are more personal and may have the potential to provide long-term residual payments.

A writer should always find time to write about the things they are passionate about, however the service of content writing provides a means of gaining some writing income while learning new skills and writing techniques while you are waiting for a publisher’s acceptance letter.