SEO Elite was the first Brad Callen developed software I owned. I found his SEO Elite site whilst looking for SEO resources back in 2006. At the time I’d never heard of him. So when I saw his claims that SEO Elite would bring in 15,000 visitors a day I was pretty sceptical! Initially therefore I didn

Sometimes the best way to master a skill is to first identify what not to do. So here they are, more common mistakes new writers make (and what you can do to get around them):

Closing your ears to feedback. (Also known as the “They just don’t get it” syndrome.)

You’ve heard about how important someone else’s feedback is to your work. So you wisely show your work-in-progress to literate people, instructing them to be “brutally honest.”

And then you sit back and wait for heaps of praise, since you know in your heart that your manuscript is done and your friends and family can’t help but love it.

But what happens when your readers point out problems or weak spots?

Too often new writers immediately dismiss constructive criticism without even considering it. This is a mistake. Before you ignore everything your first readers say and chalk it up to “They don’t understand me,” remember that editors and agents are real people too, and they might hold similar opinions. True, the issue may be that you’re writing in a genre that your readers are not accustomed to, but it also might be that your intended meaning isn’t on the page yet.

What to do instead: Don’t act on anything immediately. Ask your readers to put their thoughts on paper so you can reflect on them later. As much as possible, try to practice the healthy mindset of “constructive detachment.” Even though handing over your work made you feel vulnerable and exposed, keep in mind that your readers are commenting on the words you strung together on the page, not on you. After several days, you should feel cooled off and emotionally distanced enough to at least consider the comments.

Indiscriminately incorporating feedback into your work. (Also known as “trying to be tofu.”)

Tofu takes on the flavor of whatever is in the skillet along with it. So, in a sense, tofu doesn’t have a strong flavor of its own; it only borrows those of the ingredients around it.

That’s all well and good for tofu, but you, dear writer, are not tofu.

One of your most valuable tools is your unique writing voice. If you only strive to take on the flavor that others suggest, you’ll never develop your own. And creating your own voice means incorporating suggestions that make sense to you and putting aside the ones that don’t (no matter who they come from).

Remember: You own your writing. Don’t ignore your own instincts and write a certain way just to appease others.

What to do instead: Hold onto your artistic vision. Balance suggestions from others with what you believe is best for your work. Reject advice that doesn’t resonate for you.

Sending things out too soon. (Also known as the premature submission.)

Enthusiasm is a glorious motivator. When we write something we’re on fire over, it’s natural to want to get it out to the widest audience…right now. But it’s not the wisest move.

You may absolutely adore something on the day you write it, but when you look back on it a week or a month later, you spot major flaws you hadn’t noticed at first. When we’re in the all-is-love creative stage of the process, we can’t be in the let’s-fix-this-baby-up editing stage at the same time. Creating and revising use different sides of the brain and therefore would cancel each other out if they pulled up chairs at the same conference table. But you need the editing part of your brain (the part that winces at awkward phrasings or plot holes) to work on your manuscript before you send it off to an editor or agent.

Because there are a finite number of agents/editors out there, you don’t want to make a habit of sending things off too soon and earning a reputation for submitting half-cooked material.

What to do instead: Only send your very best work, writing that has been worked on both with the easily-infatuated eye of the creator-in-progress as well as the more dispassionate eye of the editor motivated to revise. Only the distance of time can give you the latter perspective.

Taking rejection personally. (Also known as the “I’m not cut out to be a writer” syndrome.)

What happens if you follow all of the above steps and get a crushing “NO” in return?

It will happen. Rejection is an unavoidable part of writing for publication, and accepting that will make you a more determined writer.

Too many new writers internalize rejections and abandon their goals when their manuscripts are returned. Don’t let this happen to you.

What to do instead: Acknowledge rejections as proof that you’re a writer, that you’re fully in the game. Read books like The Resilient Writer and Rotten Rejections to drive home the point that declinations are inevitable, no matter what your level of expertise. Don’t waste valuable time and energy attributing some mystical power to rejections. Just get your work out there again and realize the only person who has the power to get you to stop writing is you.

To discover more ways to avoid common writing mistakes, visit and sign up for “Write Through It,” a free, monthly e-newsletter that offers tips on writing more clearly and effectively.

Lucia Zimmitti, a writing coach and independent editor, is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Editorial Freelancers Association. Her fiction and poetry have been published in various national literary journals, and she has taught writing at the high school and college levels.

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In this current time of abuse scandals involving Catholic priests, it might not occur to some that accusations toward men of the cloth are not a recent development. The 1846 case of Father Roman Weinzoepfel illustrates this point, and Roman: Unparalled Outrage offers fictional account of the events of this young priest’s tragic life.

Though the Catholic population of the American midwest was small, the need for a community’s spiritual guidance outweighed the necessity of some priests’ complete training. Thus, Father Weinzoepfel’s installation as pastor of a small Catholic church in Evansville, Indiana was expedited, and this Alsatian found himself quickly having to adjust to pre-Civil War America in a time when immigrants (particularly the Irish and Germanic Catholics) were looked upon with suspicion. It is a discrimination Father Weinzoepfel feels immediately among various merchants (a scene depicting the newspaper editor’s determination that a Catholic festival is not newsworthy sticks out).

Nonetheless, the priest finds acceptance among his own flock, and comes to be acquainted with the Long family, to whom Father administers the dying matriarch Last Rites. The father, Louis, appears to be devout yet is an overbearing patriarch, particularly when it comes to his wayward daughter, Anna. When Anna shocks the family by marrying outside the Faith, the priest tries to make the situation bearable by ensuring the future Catholicity of Anna’s children. However, it is Anna who makes the situation unbearable for Father Weinzoepfel when she, distraught that he has refused her advances, accuses him of rape. Unparalled Outrage takes the reader through a fictional account of the trial, the ensuing anti-Catholic sentiment that plagued the town, and Father Weinzoepfel’s fate, the outcome of which might have differed had he given in to the temptation to break the seal of the confessional.

Author McMullen offers with Roman: Unparalled Outrage an interesting historical perspective on religious intolerance in early America, a timely read despite its setting. Long, awkward stretches in the narrative, coupled with constant shifting of time (as much of Roman’s story is told in flashback), however, interrupt the otherwise smooth flow of the story.

Roman: Unparalled Outrage by John William McMullen 1stBooks, 1410714608, $14.50

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Time. It’s a concept that’s both abstract and real, the currency of our days (we talk of how we’ll “spend” our time).

“If only I had more time! Then I’d really write.” If you’re like most writers who need to earn a living doing something other than write, that thought is the thorn on your rose.

The fact is, you might be more productive if you had more time to devote to writing. But you might not. Many writers find that when they have all the time in the world, they get far less writing done than they had hoped (but their closets suddenly get organized and their gardens weeded).

Still, you may not be able to test that. Odds are, you have obligations you can’t push aside when the muse crooks her finger. You can’t tell your young children you’ll catch up with them after high school; you can’t expect your employer to pay you while you take an indefinite “writing sabbatical.” That means you need to apply the creativity and ingenuity and resourcefulness I know you have (you’re writers, after all) to uncover pockets of time for writing.

Ways to shoehorn a writing habit in to your daily life:

~Learn to blend things.

“If you need something done, ask a busy person” is oft-repeated because it’s true. But how do busy people take on so much and follow through so often? By learning how to maximize time and increase efficiency, by combining tasks wherever possible.

For example: Keep a small notebook in your coat pocket. When you’re waiting for your appointment with your accountant or your turn in the dentist’s chair, be open to ideas that might hit you. If none are hitting you, write anything that comes to mind: little details about your surroundings, eavesdropped bits of dialogue, what you’re hoping in that moment, what you hope for next week.

There’s no better way to cultivate an idea than write anything when you think ideas are miles away. Take advantage of all the waiting we need to do by filling up that dead space with words.

~Learn to prioritize.

Learning this valuable skill also means learning to say NO.

Most of us spread ourselves too thin, usually because want to please others and to contribute to the lives going on around us. But we have a finite amount of energy (mental and physical) and a finite amount of time. Don’t let yourself get railroaded into non-mandatory obligations you have no interest in or that don’t coincide with your core values.

Draw a pie chart illustrating how your time is spent now. Then draw one illustrating how you want your time to be divided. Do everything you can (i.e., hiring Merry Maids or a dogwalker) to re-shape your days to approximate the latter chart.

~Learn to simplify.

Set reasonable expectations for yourself. Is it really necessary for the floor under the bed to be as eat-off-it clean as the countertop?

And when you do sit down to write, don’t expect your output to be stunning, breathtaking, or even useable. Declare a victory when you get something on the page. Polishing can come later.

~Learn to enjoy the moment.

Although writing is hard, it can be exhilarating, too. Try to focus on and delight in writing as a pursuit in and of itself, not as something that pulls you away from other tasks. Enjoy what writing does for you now instead of how your efforts might pay off down the road.

~Learn to set deadlines for yourself.

Deadlines keep us “honest” and help us focus on finishing. You may be one of those writers who works best under pressure. The pressure is the deadline, and you might wonder how you’d ever get anything done without a due date, without someone waiting for what you’re producing. If you know that about yourself, manufacture your own deadlines.

However, if you’re like most people (me included), you’ll need other people to help with this. You’re far more likely to take someone else’s deadline seriously than your own, so lean on your friends and family here. Choose the due date, then ask them to mercilessly enforce it.

Much of a successful writing practice is maintaining momentum, and you can only achieve that if you make a commitment to regular writing time.

I don’t mean three hours a day. I don’t mean two. I don’t even mean one. If you’ve got that much time, fantastic. But if all you have is a half hour a day, five days a week, and if you stick to it, it will become habit. You will be amazed at how much — in the long run — you’ll actually accomplish. Even fifteen minutes a day, stretched across hundreds of days, will produce an impressive number of pages.

The research shows that short, consistent writing stints are more productive and build more creative momentum than highly erratic, longer ones. So if you can squeeze out two hours per week for your craft, try to evenly distribute those hours over the course of the whole week rather than taking it in one lump.

As Charles Buxton said, “You will never ‘find’ time for anything. If you want time you must make it.”

To discover more ways make writing a meaningful part of your life, visit and sign up for “Write Through It,” a free, monthly e-newsletter that offers tips on writing more clearly and effectively.

Lucia Zimmitti, a writing coach and independent editor, is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Editorial Freelancers Association. Her fiction and poetry have been published in various national literary journals, and she has taught writing at the high school and college levels.

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Beat Up a Cookie
by Denise Dietz

Category: Fiction / Mystery
256 pages; ISBN: 0373263406

Do you remember where you were the night the last original episode of M*A*S*H aired? Ellie Bernstein does. She was trying to settle her overweight tuckus on a barstool at Charley Aaronson’s Dew Drop Inn, which was host to a raucous M*A*S*H bash, complete with drunken look-alike Klingers and Hawkeyes bidding their favorite television show farewell with a drink (or five, or ten). Ellie, distraught over her husband’s blatant infidelity, uses the show as her balm, trying to avoid yet another inevitable cheesecake binge. At the time she believes herself the most unfortunate person in the room, but that title eventually goes to a woman dressed as “Hot Lips” Houlihan, found dead in the bar’s parking lot.

Cut to the present, and Ellie, fresh from her amateur sleuthing in Denise Deitz’s Throw Darts at a Cheesecake, is eleven years older, fifty-five pounds lighter, and less one husband. In Beat Up A Cookie, the Weight Winners counselor supports other women in the quest to lose weight while her current paramour, detective Peter Miller, dodges Ellie’s interest in his work (which has replaced her appetite for sweets) and refuses to divulge information on the curious suicide of a medical supplies salesman who bore more than a passing resemblence to a certain M*A*S*H surgeon. The deceased’s name? Frank Burns.

Much to Peter’s annoyance, Ellie’s curiosity is fueled when a second “Hot Lips” clone is found dead, and soon she is mingling with a clique of die-hard M*A*S*Hers (including philandering architect Ken Trask, whose home is decorated in patriotic colors, and Fred Remming, a whiny frustrated soul who makes Radar O’Reilly look like Mel Gibson) who ritualize their viewing habits. With her imaginary Sherlock cap, Ellie, quietly speculates as to which one is a serial killer, with crimes possibly stretching back to that fateful night when a young woman in a bar parking lot also bade “Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen.” For Ellie, though, the task is not easy: the only common thread among the victims is their resemblences to show characters, and everyone she suspects seems to have motive and opportunity; that is, considering Ellie’s wild imagination and her overactive paranoia when her son mentions casually that Ellie could pass for “Hot Lips” herself! For Ellie, it’s important to find the killer before she, like M*A*S*H, is cancelled.

A witty, quick read, Beat Up A Cookie is packed with the most essential elements of a mystery: a down-to-earth sleuth (Ellie Bernstein is a breath of fresh air in a world of sculpted silicone dolls, proving that over 40 doesn’t mean over the hill), strong, witty dialogue, and more twists and turns than a San Francisco street. You don’t have to a M*A*S*H fan to enjoy Beat Up A Cookie, not as avid as some of the people in this book, anyway.

Kathryn Lively is the publisher of Phaze, advice for authors.

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Those individuals who are trapped under debts always try to make a conscious effort towards controlling the debts and eventually finishing it off. But lack of finances is a major impediment which restricts the individuals from doing so. To these individuals, debt consolidation finance can be of great help. The money obtained under these finances assist these debtors to remove all their debts and become debt free.

The finances offer sufficient money to the loan applicants so that they can wipe out all their existing debts. The debtors consolidate all their unpaid debts in to a single amount. The consolidated amount is then paid off with the help of the finance. Usually debtor has to make multiple payments towards all the creditors that too at varying interest rate, while in this regard debtor has to pay a single monthly installment towards paying off the finance at very cheap rates. This implies that borrower can now save a lot of money on interest rates.

In the financial market, the finances are available in both the forms. Applicants who can pledge collateral can opt for secured form of the finances. Under these finances, you can obtain a bigger amount, which is actually based on the equity value of collateral. Besides, the presence of collateral provides security to the borrowed amount. This in turn helps the borrower to avail these loans at cheap rates as well as simple terms and conditions.

The unsecured option of the finances can be availed without involving any collateral. This loan option offers a limited amount and is best to clear debts of smaller amount. In case of bad credit borrowers, the finances can be of immense help. The finance offers a chance to the borrowers to improve their credit score by paying back all the debts.

To instantly access debt consolidation finance, borrower can use the online application. The lenders process the finances in such a way that it gets approved instantly. With a large number of options available, borrower can select the best deal by comparing the quotes.

With the finances, borrower gets a new lease of life by paying back all the existing debts.

Alex Jonnes is associated with Easy Debt Consolidations. He is Masters in Business Administration and writes on various finance related topics. To find

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Having a reliable and dependable car to get around is important to most of us, but most people do not have the ready cash to simply go out and purchase a car, which means that many of us need to spread the cost of purchasing a vehicle in order to be able to afford a newer, more reliable car.

There are a number of options available to those looking to spread the repayments on a car, and it is important that you look at all of the available options in order to determine the best road to take based on your finances and your circumstances. There are suitable solutions available to suit most needs when it comes to spreading the repayments on the purchase of a car.

One popular method of financing a car is through Hire Purchase, which is where you make monthly repayments on the vehicle until the balance is paid off, after which time the car becomes officially yours. Another method of financing a car is known as Personal Contract Purchase, or PCP. This is a more flexible option, and can help to keep your monthly repayments down. This is because a portion of the value of the vehicle is spread over a specified period, with a large chunk of the value deferred until the end of the loan term. At the end of the term you can make the balloon payment and keep the car, exchange to a newer model and continue with the plan, or return the car and pay nothing more for it.

Another way of spreading the cost of purchasing a vehicle is through dealership finance, but this can be quite costly so you should make sure that you do your homework and calculate just how much you will be paying in interest. However, for some people, such as those with poor credit, dealership finance may be one of the only options, as getting other forms of finance may prove more difficult.

You can also look into specialist car loans from financial institutions such as banks and online lenders, although you will generally need to have decent credit to secure this sort of finance. You can take out the car loan over an agreed period of time and you will then be able to purchase your vehicle and pay outright. Your repayments are then made the lender through which you took the car loan and are made until the balance has been repaid.

Loans4 provide for the latest finance related news.

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Retail finance has been around for some time, the proliferation of 0% , and Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) and Interest Bearing schemes have helped many a company to make their products more affordable to the general public.

A Retail finance facility, essentially is what is termed a DCS facility, DCS stands for Debtor Credit Supply, what this means is that if your client comes into your shop and buys something on your credit facility, then you, the dealer, gets paid direct. This has some obvious advantages, in that, it would not be unknown for a client to take out a secured loan or personal loan and then find something else they would rather spend the money on.

Credit Facilities, come in various guises, as mentioned, Interest Bearing, which is the standard product and basically means a standard credit agreement which has a fixed rate of interest over a certain period , eg 19.9% APR over 36 months.

Alternatives are 0% finance, or interest free, this is where the client is given a rate of 0% APR, but the dealer would have to subsidise this, so in the end someone is paying the interest. Another option is Buy Now Pay Later, or deferred payment, this is where an agreement is taken out on day 1, however payments are deferred, for a number of months. This also carries a subsidy, which is payable by the dealer. With some BNPL packages, if the client pays the outstanding balance, in full, then they may not pay any interest, however, if the client does not pay the full amount, typically at the end of such an agreement there is a 29.9%APR that the client goes into at the end of the BNPL period.

Of all the available retail Credit facilities, your ability to obtain one is dependant upon your business, some lenders require 2 years accounts, some don’t, some will require a turnover of x amount.

A retail credit facility can and will boost your turnover and profitability, should it be used correctly, some large retail companies depend on retail finance for a sizeable amount of there turnover. If anything it widens your net of available customers, because your product can be made more affordable.

Alan Marshall is a business owner and has worked in the finance sector for many years, he writes for the following websites,

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For over half a century, the vision of flying cars has captured the science fiction imagination in books, movies, and commercials. At face value, the idea of a car lifting off the ground and soaring through the air is a wonderful dream, but there are more than a few caveats to making them a widely distributed reality. As people sit in traffic jams across the country, more than a few people have wished they could simply rise up off the ground and zoom past the tangled ground based transportation system.

Our current system of transportation includes planes, so why not convert automobiles for low level flight as well? On close examination, the idea of flying cars goes way beyond the engineering limitations. Today