“One of the oddest things in life, I think, is the things one remembers.”
― Agatha Christie
About this time of year in 1974 I was laying on my belly in a field somewhere in East Tennessee with machine guns going off all around me. I was in the middle of an ROTC Army Ranger field exercise. My M-14 was stretched out beside me and I was dressed in faded green fatigues. The day was perfect - sunny, mild, clear. I was in the woods and in my element and having …

eBook Creator & Ghostwriter
I recently joined a new website called “Thumbtack.” It’s a local service listing for providers of all kinds. I highly recommend it for small businesses and freelancers of all kinds because it’s a way people in your area can find YOU and your business. The bigger your digital footprint the more likely customers are to find you. You can check out my writing services on Thumbtack by clicking on this link for instance.
I’m still playing with it, but I will say I’m impressed with the clean, simple …

I just read a classic description of an outrageous practice called “Idea phishing.” It’s something that plagues a lot of writers and graphic designers and I’ve never seen it more clearly explained than in this blog post on Freelance Switch.
What is Idea Phishing: A company or individual asks for a sample of your copywriting or design - normal. But, the twist is they want you to demo your skills on some aspect of THEIR business. They then steal the idea and give it to a third world provider willing to …

Dan Pink detests the question, “What is your passion?” Really. He says as much in his blog post about passion here. If you find it strange he would argue against passion, try to remember he IS an attorney - not practicing, but graduated. And he makes a great case. The article he references in his blog appears in The Telegraph, a UK publication.
I read it a couple of days ago, but I had to roll it around in my head for a while before commenting. Why? Because it took me …

If you’ve ever worked a 9-5, cubicle monkey, clock punching, owned-by-the-man kind of job you know about the 5-10 minute break and all the stress generated by taking it, wanting to take it, or knowing when to take it without pissing off your employer. In spite of a belief to the contrary, only 21 states have “break laws” that force employers to give their employees a break from work to rest, eat or use the restroom.
Those states and their laws are detailed here. Most of the businesses that have …