Start a Business With the Right PC Backup

Ready to start a business? Work from home opportunities are rising on the net. While some are better than others, that is another story. One feature of most work from home jobs is the fact you need the internet. You will likely be working with a large number of important documents, such as copies of invoices, bills, and expenses. If you are ready to start a business, then a good option is to have something to back up all these files, a trusted service which can protect you from computer error (which in my experience happens all the time). The first stop should be to get Acronis True Image Home Software. This allows you to back up all your business documents safely and easily—all for the price of $50. If you are going to start a business, there will always be plenty of headaches. But you can save yourself a lot of grief by finding a service to back up all your documents. Work from home or not, Acronis True Image Home Software is a good option.

Net Nanny can Save Your Family from Sexual Images

A disturbing part of the internet world is porn. Let’s face it, pictures and videos are across the net. If you have children or run a computer many use, you might want to consider the Net Nanny Home Suite Internet Filter. This feature allows for all the negatives of the net to be drowned out. If you have a family, it can be hard to keep these elements of the internet off the computer. Net Nanny offers a one stop solution for keeping these negative images off your computer. The prices are reasonable. For $50, you can keep unwanted images off your computer. It can save a lot of the pains of the internet, affording your family a better time on the internet. I understand completely the need for a service like this. It can be hard to be on the internet when so many are taking advantage of others with sexually provocative images. And there are other features available along with Net Nanny, including Content Cleanup and Privacy Protection.

Set up a Serious Site or Blog with Pay Less Domains

Ready to start up a blog? Or do you want a media related website? You can register domain for cheap on www.paylessdomains.com.au, which offers a cheap solution for bloggers to upgrade their blog to a regular domain. There are many advantages in getting your own domain for your blog. First, if you are in it for the money, your name will be better remembered by readers if it’s catchy and short. And many paid blogging programs allow only for sites with non-blogger or wordpress, free domains in other words, blogs. So a site that is areaderseye.blogspot.com would not be accepted, but something like areaderseye.com would. Blogging can be more than just fun. If you register a domain with paylessdomains.com.au, you can improve your chances of getting serious advertising revenue. For the reasonable price of $12, you can register your domain here. That is a reasonable price. My site Smiles-Media.com cost me $29 for a domain, which is more than twice of that price.

Being Sylvester Stallone: ‘Rambo’ and ‘Rocky’ Star Deconstructed

Article by Jacob Malewitz
Author, The Writer Who Smiles, Now Available from Booklocker
http://www.booklocker.com/books/3288.html

Writer A Writer’s Eye, A Reader’s Eye, A Comic Eye, Chasing Heaven



Along with Arnold Schwarzenegger Sylvester Stallone is one of the leading action film stars in the past twenty years. Most film fans know him for his work in the “Rocky” and “Rambo” series of movies, but he’s had a number of other hits that though not critically praised were received well at the box office. Stallone is one of the more multitalented stars in Hollywood: He has written, directed, and starred in many movies including the “Rocky” films.

In each of the Rocky films Stallone wrote the script. Stallone had seen a boxing match which inspired him to write the screenplay for “Rocky,” as noted on Wikipedia. Initially producers did not want Stallone to act in the film, but he showed resolve by sticking to his original vision of being the writer and actor in the film. “Rocky” ended up being one of the most critically acclaimed movies filmed in the 1970s. For a small budget it grossed over 200 million dollars. It also made Stallone’s career in film.

The “Rocky” films each told the story of a down-and-out fighter rising to become a cultural icon in boxing. The first film is the best as each subsequent sequel seemed to lower in quality. However, the last Rocky film, “Rocky Balboa” is a respectable end to the series for the aging Stallone.

Besides the Rocky films Stallone is known for another critically acclaimed movie, “First Blood,” which is a film based upon a novel of the same name written by David Morrell. It told the story of a Vietnam War vet named John Rambo who struggles to cope with a society that treats him as less a hero and more a villain. This was another success for Stallone, and ended up being one of his more important roles next to the Rocky character. Stallone is widely noted as saying that “First Blood” helped his career. Yet the same problem occurred with the Rambo movies: Each sequel seemed to move away from the original gripping story to a more action oriented film.
There have been a few other noteworthy films with Stallone as the actor, and the best would be “Copland.” In “Copland” Stallone played a small town cop fighting against a major corruption within the New York City police force. Stallone played a less of a hero in this film: He was a small town cop who did not bring in the major mafia bosses or have huge gunfights with gang members; instead he did the mundane until dirty cops made him act.

Other roles that might be enjoyed by action fans are “The Specialist” and “Demolition Man.” Each shows Stallone at the action roots that he popularized in the 1980s with the Rambo character.

According to Wikipedia, Stallone turned down many roles that would have proved fruitful for him including the Quentin Tarantino films “Jackie Brown” and “Pulp Fiction.”

Stallone as a writer, director, and actor is deserving of the respect he receives. The character of Rocky is considered to be one of the more important film heroes in modern times. This multitalented artist may be at a turning point in his career, but the breadth of his work in writing, directing, and acting is something to be respected.

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Unfun.com A Major Indie Music News, Review, and Opinion Blog

As a big fan of music and the indie scene, I found the site Unfun.fm to be a pure pleasure to read. It is rare for a blog to go beyond just the personal or the sales pitch in this day and age. Just what can you find on Unfun.fm? Probably what they are, and will be, best known for is music band interviews. They regularly report events in certain bands in the indie scene. For example, a post today chronicled the departure of a guitarist from the band ShitDisco. The site features all kinds of writing: news, articles, interviews, and reviews. And the indie scene doesn’t mean Unfun.fm will only be exploring the minor bands. This is important to me as even though I was once an Entertainment journalist I couldn’t tell you who some of the big names of the scene are. Unfun.fm has a good writing style and theme, with topics somewhat humorous but pure fun. It deserves respect for its unique take on music.

Announcing Chasing Heaven, for the Spiritual and the Depressed

Jacob Malewitz
Author, The Writer Who Smiles, Now Available from Booklocker
http://www.booklocker.com/books/3288.html

Writer A Writer’s Eye, A Reader’s Eye, A Comic Eye, Chasing Heaven

As I enjoy writing blogs, I decided some time ago to start a 4th. Chasing Heaven is the answer for the spiritual, the depressed, the creative. I hope you give it a look when you get a chance. Expect regular posts published on countless topics, whether it is business mental health or addiction. Here is a short summation. Thanks for being part of my creative life.

A blog for the spiritual and the creative, one for the depressed and those who chase happiness, Chasing Heaven is about finding answers to the questions on life. As a writer and a business person, I will work with many themes in this blog, chasing happiness and finding good mental health being paramount.

www.Chasingheaven.blogspot.com

Transformers: The Original Movie

Review by Jacob Malewitz
Author, The Writer Who Smiles, Now Available from Booklocker
http://www.booklocker.com/books/3288.html

Writer A Writer’s Eye, A Reader’s Eye, A Comic Eye


Transformers: The Original Movie
A review of the special 20th year anniversary edition of Transformers The Movie. Now that a new live action movie is coming out with Steven Spielberg’s name attached, it is a perfect time to find out about the first movie in the Transformers series. As this is a nostalgic moment for me, it will reflect my opinion on the series.



The original Tranformers series had nothing spectacular to its name, but I still enjoyed it in my youth.

I had the toys. I rented the videos.

When I found the original Transformer movie I thought I was in heaven … until the hero of the entire series, on a show that had lasted for several seasons, died. Optimus Prime was always the true hero of the series, my favorite character, but the leader of the Autobots died.

If there is anything important about this movie it is that it doesn’t shy away from killing the good guys, something young adults would not expect from a cartoon.
The cartoons were juvenile, the stories to simple to win awards, and all of it was based on a toy line, not much artistic creativity available there. Yet Transformers went on to be one of the more popular TV series in the 1980s.

The movie had much more happening than just Optimus Prime’s demise. It was an epic story that would have never reached Television; good guys aren’t supposed to die, and if they do, bring them back.

If you are not familiar with all the goings on of the Transformer series, all that is really essential in understanding the movie is the fact that two forces, the good Autobots and the evil Decipticons fighting over their home world of Cybertron. The leader of the Autobots is Optimus Prime; Megatron is the leader of the Decepticons
The fight spilled over into Earth, and set the stage for countless battles between these forces of good and evil. The main intent of the cartoon was to sell toys; the movie was a means to rejuvenate the line by killing off many central characters, thereby creating a new generation of Transformers toys.

In the movie, the main villain isn’t the Decepticon leader Megatron, but a world destroying planet called Unicron.

Yet there still is the question of the final battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron, which has the most distinct and epic touch of any battle in the movie. Both Prime and Megatron fall, and Prime hands over the key to Autobot hope, the Matrix, to Ultra Magnus, another Autobot.

Unicron enlists the help of Megatron to destroy the Matrix, which Prime said would light the Autobots darkest hour.

A new hero rises in Hot Rod, whose adventures much of the movie chronicles. He is an upstart Autobot who doesn’t think he’s worthy to lead, but finds destiny does not care what he thinks.

So the story goes. It’s a simple adventure tale, with enough surprises to make it the best of the Transformers stories.

The movie achieves what the TV series could not: It creates real characters that do not always succeed, or act as expected, instead calling upon heroics to answer the forces of evil.

The film still has a campish feel to it that can be seen in the space battles. It does not take itself to seriously – there is plenty of humor added in with the characters, even in times of crisis.

It can also be odd, with foreign robots and the fact that Orson Welles voices Unicron (which was his last role).

It impacted the Transformer world when it originally came out, spawned countless other series in Japan like Headmasters, but none could live up to what this film did.
In the end, the movie is a must for animated series fans, even if they didn’t like the original series it deserves to be watched.

I’m not sure about the new live action film, but I have my hopes up.

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Precious Dragon, A Fantasy Classic

Review by Jacob Malewitz
Author, The Writer Who Smiles, Now Available from Booklocker
http://www.booklocker.com/books/3288.html

Writer A Writer’s Eye, A Reader’s Eye, A Comic Eye



Precious Dragon
By Liz Williams
Night Shade Books 2007
978-1597800822, 24.95, 256 Pages

There is a hole in the fantasy writing world. All the mythology appears to come from the Christian/Western mindset. We have “Beowulf” and “Hercules,” but few stories of witchcraft in the Chinese dynasties or of Shangdi (a supreme god of ancient China). What happens when a writer goes into Oriental mythology, taking a peak into a world few have traveled? You get something far from “a hero goes for the amulet.” Instead it is a work of art that is different, flawed, and powerful on its own level.

Inspector Chen is a detective hired to handle cases from heaven, earth, and hell. Already the celebrated character of three novels, Chen acts not like the normal detective—mainly because he deals with hellish mysteries. But Pin, a mere boy, holds much of “Precious Dragon” together, allowing author Liz Williams a co-protagonist. There is no clear hook in the beginning, but the high concept is worked in by author Liz Williams. She uses Pin’s desire to escape to another world, where life is easier, as a beginning for “Precious Dragon.” Soon he finds himself searching through the hellish world he sought to escape searching for a girl he doesn’t know. Pin becomes distraught. The world gives him something when Inspector Chen, offers him a job. A girl has gone missing. And so a journey begins; nothing special for Chen, downright scary for Pin. Once Williams brings in the mythology of the Pin’s world, all the power and choices, it can be hard not to see Williams point in writing this character in. He breathes life into the novel.

The world is not pretty, the hero quest not predictable. There are drugs and prostitutes accompanying the demons of the world Pin and Chen travel. Pin seeks to leave the place, wanting a new career. But what makes him different is he isn’t high minded. Like a true character of hell, he doesn’t look down on taking advantage of sex/drug lounges, even with a sense of decency. One character asks if Pin is suitable for this job. “He comes from the chorus. An artist. A sensitive person. Of course he will be suitable.”

A mission into hell is called for, Inspector Chen the leader and Pin the follower. Problems occur when a demon named called Zhu joins the mission. True to his name, in the past this demon has slept with suspects, took bribes, intimidated witnesses, and acted unlike a nice cop from hell. It can be confusing, as Zhu looks and acts much like a man, and Williams offers to details on whether he has, say, horns and red skin. A reading of the previous novels would likely solve that question. These ideas of demons and dragons walking the earth much like people forms the basis for the hellish world that the characters of “Precious Dragon” inhabit.

The case of the missing girl takes a toll on Inspector Chen; he cannot seem to let it go, along with the demon Zhu. “I had a dream last night,” says Zhu, “in which we were wandering through hell, looking for her, but she wasn’t there.” Chen finds there may be many possibilities for war in hell and heaven. Yet, even with his detective abilities, he is unsure of what is really going on. Williams plays with this: one of Hell’s leaders says, after a battleship of the skies flies over, that it is going to get really “chilly” in hell.

Traveling through heaven and hell has never been so fun. To see the damned smiling would have just upped the levels of this story, but Williams mixes in comedy, pushing her short chapters along with a certain grace. Combining hell with Chinese mythology, the traditional western gumshoe with a keen eye for evil, and a lowly character who could meet his ego at the door, readers have found an interesting world.

Williams offers fascinating lessons on what makes Oriental mythology and politics important. For example, when communists took over the lands, dragons sought sanctuary in the mountains, being entirely non-communist, and showing that Chinese characters weren’t the only thing changing.

Chen, when going through hell, finds himself disturbed to see the damned. He says: “I am not sure this ties in with our missions statement of learning about equal opportunity policies.” The demon Zhu responds candidly: “Everyone is equally miserable here.” Not a timeless classic, but a stiff wooden one that just refuses to disappear into the night. “Precious Dragon” values the stories that came before it, pushing its very own path through the fantasy world.

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Easy-Poll.com Offers Free Counters and More

Here on A Reader’s Eye I have a personalized hit counter that isn’t seen. However, I have been disappointed because I actually get quite a few visitors here. It can be hard to see which ones were unique. Sometimes, I go over 500 visitors for the month, and my current tracker won’t record that. A new site I just discovered which offers any blogger a free web counter is easy-poll.com/counters, a site which offers a variety of different services for tracking your blogs. One new feature I noticed is you can find useful information like “10 Most Searched Phrases.” This can be crucial in getting more readers to your blog. Another free component outside of the counter is the free search engine, which you can place on your blog. The site is completely free, works 7 days a week, and only takes a few minutes to sign up with. I have to say, I have heard of getting a free web counter before, but never with such quality service behind it.

Branson Missouri Cabins Offer Readers a Reasonable Escape

As a writer currently experiencing burnout, I am often trying to think of ways to recharge my energy, mind, and spirit. One option is always a good vacation. Vacations can be a reality if you have the right ideas. For one, you can rent cabins across the country. One I just discovered was Branson Cabin Rentals, which offer the old rustic feel in an old rustic setting, in the heart of Branson Missouri. Nature is at the heart of these homes, where the cabins and condos are deep in nature, but still accessible to the outside world. On the web site, found at http://www.branson-missouri-cabins.com, the rates offered are very reasonable. There are always special offers involved. I went through the site, picked out a 5 night stay, and some of the prices were even below $100 per night. The highest cabin was a 4 bedroom priced at close to $500 a night. But that is for more people. The basic, one room can be had for a reasonable price. Yes, reader, vacations are important, they are not a waste. Take the stack of books and get a new perspective.

How to Choose an Anime Film

Article by Jacob Malewitz

Author, The Writer Who Smiles, Now Available from Booklocker

http://www.booklocker.com/books/3288.html

Writer A Writer’s Eye, A Reader’s Eye, A Comic Eye

Mecha, assassins, ninjas, angels, telepathic forces and secret evils each have there place in the anime film. Are you ready to explore Japanese animation? Better yet, want to add something good to your movie collection? Anime films are a good start, especially when you go for the classics. Still, you can watch hundreds of anime films, from “Akira” to “Princess Mononoke,” and consider myself a novice. Read on to learn more about anime.

Read the rest of the article on eHow:
How to Choose an Anime Film
http://www.ehow.com/how_2177024_choose-anime-film.html

Over on A Comic Eye: How to Choose Comics for Older Readers

Over on A Writer's Eye: How to Write a Business Plan for a new blog

SaveBuckets.co.uk Includes Thousands of Book Listings

A coy name sets SaveBuckets.co.uk miles apart from its competitors, with an ease of use similar to that of top retailers like Amazon. As a gamer, reader,, and tech junkie I am always on the hunt for the right prices. As some of my readers are aware, saving money is a bottom line for me, and I do it whenever I can, utilizing the internet for what it’s for. First, savebuckets.co.uk allows you to price compare everything, with a focus on tech products. For example, an 80 Gig iPod is shown for 150 pounds. And while the site is British, its aim is broad. There are dozens of categories, including clothing, home & garden, computer hardware, sport and leisure. However, Reader’s Eye fans, there are over 60,000 books available with price compare. Most of the books are less than a few bucks, with varies themes—from children’s books to history. Overall, Savebuckets.co.uk wins on all accounts for its sole purpose: Saving you money.

Develop a business Strategy with Alliance and Leicester Bank

As a work from home type, I am about to make the jump into the business field via books and writing. Do to this one needs many things, like a business plan, advertising, and a easy-to-work business bank account. Alliance and Leicester Commercial. This sort of plan need not be just for business types, as each of us can have our own private business. To gain finance, loans, and advice, a good bank is crucial. Alliance and Leictester Commercial Bank, whose site can be found here, offer Business Finance, loans, and advice for all kinds of businesses. You can start out for free with a start-up plan, which has no cost, you can upgrade, or go to accounts with turnover up to 10 million pounds. There is even accounts for private individuals with stocks. Based in the UK, Alliance Leicester Commercial Bank is really provides everything a good bank needs, specifically in the area of Business Finance. As someone looking into business advertising, and setting up a business plan, I found the site and services to be very useful.

The Writer Who Cries: Excerpt from from The Writer Who Smiles

The Writer Who Smiles, my eBook available here, is just starting to sell. Ready to start your writing career? This book provides the mental tools you will need along the way. For the price of a decent meal, $10, you can get an inspirational book that keeps on giving. Not sure yet? Read this opening essay from the book. On the Booklocker page, this essay and two others can be read. I really hope you can support me in this. Enjoy!

The Writer Who Cries

From The Writer Who Smiles by Jacob Malewitz

Copyright Jacob Malewitz 2008

I dream today. We, as writers, sit in a place where pain is not reacted to with drugs and alcohol. We work out our love addiction, our alcoholic addictions, with the page and the words we find through it. We find that the creator is here with us. Blake wrote through him. We remember Virginia Woolf in this place, and Hemingway, and Hunter Thompson, Richard Yates, William Blake—we cry for all these poets and story tellers. The writer who cries is human. We find a higher power when we find poetic justice.

As a Catholic from birth, I have found some resistance to my dreams. I work out all these aspects of religion in my prose. I question them as much as Christ questioned those who put him on the cross. Writers should not be afraid to think differently. We have too many emotions not to cry. Writing lets this pain out in a way that a therapist could not pull from us, a pill could not make us forget, but, not surprisingly, a great writer could make us remember. We play with absolutes as writers. I, for one, do not cry often, and question why. I read of Richard Yates downing his daily medicine with alcohol, of his flashbacks to World War 2, and I see a pained writer. I have my own pain which did drive me to tears. Writing did not cure it, it reflected it back to me like a mirror, I saw the problem, the disease, but could not medicate it right.

As writers we need to forget all our pained peers and continue anyway. We must allow ourselves this tragedy called writing. If the great American novel, that old cliché, has been written then it was a portrait of an artist living on the fringe of society. It is easy to join up with religion in the face of chaos—really easy—and we writers question it because of that. Julia Cameron, whose religion I am unaware of, called God the “Great Creator” and “Good Orderly Direction.” If the Great Creator were to do anything for us writers, it would be the gift of tears. Nothing else is a roadmap on how to be human. We see what pains us, we apply it to our craft, we bring it out on the page, and we discover a road which can consume a lifetime.

Sometimes the storms will come, our higher power will grow angry. We must let the tears fall to the storm. We pay homage to the creator by working out the reasons for the tears. We write. We avoid writing. We go through all the stages of grief when we choose to be writers. The money is not coming and writers hate asking for loans. The drugs are out of the writer’s system, maybe he or she still writes, but the pain is consuming us. The alcohol looks nice, but we cannot stop thinking of Hemingway and Fitzgerald.

We cure ourselves by writing.

A recommendation: read “The Sound of Paper” by Julia Cameron. It influences everything I touch. “Paper” worked things out in my mind, allowed to write of pain and bliss, and was inspiration in a improving a weak belief system. Of all the things I enjoy of the book, it is the morning pages. As in all her books, stream of consciousness writing is the land she explores. I did these morning pages and I cried less. I found pain in me being released. I encourage you to follow the night page. One page of anything, but written at night, because the mind is naturally different at night. Consider the rewards of being a writer along with the risks. We will learn to cry in a different way on the page. We write the morning pages to release. We write the night pages to decompress a day.

I can be cruel to myself. Writers are atypical about that. We horde our writings and never show them. Do not show anyway your morning pages or your night page (Cameron says you can). But, do not avoid showing those stories. Release them like you must a child. The stories must find their own way when you release them. The pain of criticism speaks to the writer’s hidden side: we think this will stop our writing. Criticism works with us too. We explore different things by seeing what people think. Our future writings become better. Criticism can open the door to smiling amid a new career.

Virginia Woolf worked hard, but seemed doomed with tears. Richard Yates, a genius, found that prose alone could fulfill him no matter the medication or brand of beer he was on. The writer who cries is not a cliché, but a reality.

We must prepare ourselves for the tears as we do the smiles. Always be on guard, but allow for the process to work through. Our higher power illuminates the path, just take the steps cautiously. The tears may not break in the heaven of writers, the place I spoke of at the beginning. Even if the storm covers them away, we find they can feel good, just, in their own way.

Virginia Woolf. Hunter Thompson. Ernest Hemingway. Richard Yates. These were alcoholics, drug addicted writers, depressed writers, and writers who cried. We are not alone in this world. We can find peace. What is peace for the writer? Peace is when a writer discovers the pain they one tried to escape, finding a cure by facing it on the page.

The Writer Who Smiles

http://www.booklocker.com/books/3288.html

Over on A Writer’s Eye: Another excerpt from The Writer Who Smiles.

Over on A Comic Eye: Comic Books, Monsters At Doors, Frankenstein, Comic Books Again: A Journal. An exclusive essay from The Writer Who Smiles

The Writer Who Smiles Press Release

My ebook, The Writer Who Smiles, is out from Booklocker. As a blogger, I am always looking for new content for my sites. I hope some of you find this press release interesting enough to republish on your sites or blogs. Thanks for listening.
Jacob Malewitz
Author, The Writer Who Smiles

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jacob Malewitz

Freelance Writer/Editor

jfmalewitz@yahoo.com

jfmalewitz@gmail.com

http://www.booklocker.com/books/3288.html

The Writer Who Smiles by Jacob Malewitz

Now available from Booklocker.com

Ever get sick of writers saying “Do this and you will get published.” One can see so much in the power of a book, the words it says, the reflections it offers. With “The Writer Who Smiles” author and freelance writer Jacob Malewitz takes a different approach to writing. Not, “Do this,” but “Think about this.”

A spiritual guide to creativity in the likeness of Julia Cameron’s bestselling “Artist’s Way,” “The Writer Who Smiles” doesn’t say you have to be spiritual or talented, just the simple fact you need to try to write something down every day.

In 66 personal essays, Malewitz highlights his struggles with mental illness, and his experience in being a journalist and an online writer into a work that has all the sounds of hope, all the reasons to smile when you are done writing. For those who are depressed or suffer from mental illness, it also offers a path to joy.

For beginning writers, hidden in each essay is how to develop a new way of thinking. For advanced writers, this book offers something different—the fact you can make it in the field, you can dream, and you can be even more successful.

For excerpts from the eBook and more information, go to the main page for “The Writer Who Smiles,” found at:

http://www.booklocker.com/books/3288.html

About the author:

Jacob Malewitz is the author of 500 articles published in print and online. He has been published in three newspapers where he worked as both staff writer and editor, on the websites Write-From-Home.com and Absolute Write, as well as many other markets.

This press release can be republished and edited anywhere, as long as the links and bio stay.

####

College Scholarships, Online courses, and more made easy

As a student for all of my life (or most of it at least) I am always looking for quality sites related to college education. These sites can help any student gain scholarships, grants, and even better grades. One such site is college-scholarships.com, which features online degrees as well as scholarships. If you are ready to begin a college career, or just need more scholarship money, this is the place to go. There are free college and financial aid searches, ACT and SAT preparation tips, information on college universities from across the US, and even online degrees and distant education. There is information on over a thousand college universities on college-scholarships.com. There is also a focus on online degrees. For every state there are many colleges addressed, with mailing addresses, whether or not they are career colleges, traditional colleges, or other form, and online colleges in the state. This is a one stop source for all your needs. In a huge market, one can see the reason for sites like Fastweb.com, and College-Scholarships.com seems to apply the quality information just as that site does.

The Writer Who Smiles Is Out

Readers,

My ebook, The Writer Who Smiles, is out! I am very excited about this. It's a spiritual guide to creativity, helping you find all the things you want. For the price of a decent meal, $10, you can find hope and success in your writing. I hope you tell others about it too. Here is a link, and below that a summary. I will be posting excerpts on this blog for the next few weeks. However, you can read excerpts on the main page of the book if you want.

The Writer Who Smiles

http://www.booklocker.com/books/3288.html

Part creative and spiritual guide, part story of a freelance writer, this book isn’t just for screenwriters, novelists, magazine or online writers: it’s for all those writers looking for success in the world, and all those readers wishing to understand what it means to write.

Inspired by the works of Julia Cameron, author of “Artist’s Way,” this book is a collection of 66 essays designed not as a how-to-write, but as a roadmap to the journey of being a writer. There are plenty of ways to gain faith, hope, and happiness as a writer or reader on the journey.

Are you ready to begin a writing career? Have you been published but recently found little reason to continue? You need the tools built by taking the journey for happiness in writing. These tools do not come overnight. The first step is infusing your life with creativity. The next step is to learn from every failure, every success.

The Writer Who Smiles by Jacob Malewitz

http://www.booklocker.com/books/3288.html

How to Choose an Anime Film

Hi everyone,
I have been writing for the site eHow of late, and thought this article may find some interest for my Reader's Eye readers. Love animes? This articles is for you. Here is the intro, followed by a link.

Mecha, assassins, ninjas, angels, telepathic forces, secret evils, and more each have there place in the anime film. Are you ready to explore Japanese animation? Better yet, want to add something good to your movie collection? Anime films are a good start, especially when you go for the classics. I have watched hundreds of anime films, from “Akira” to “Princess Mononoke,” but still consider myself a novice in the field. Let’s see where the anime begins and ends.
Read the rest of the article here:
How to Choose an Anime Film
http://www.ehow.com/how_2177024_choose-anime-film.html

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Over on A Writer's Eye: How to Earn Freelance Writing Income

E Track Items Can Help With Your Move

Ready for a move? Moving can be hectic and I just discovered a site which streamlines preparing for the move in an economical manner. You need an etrack. Uscargocontrol.com offers a hacker safe certified website which carries a complete line of e track and e track supplies. Basically, the site offers moving blankets, moving dollies, and moving straps. E Track straps are used for transporting your items in an enclosed trailer, in an easy way. E Track is offered in 5’ and 10’ section and you can get painted and galvanized finishes for your E Track items. Worried your items will be damaged? Uscargocontrol.com E Track items use 12 GA steel and the items can be attached with screw rivets or welding. All online orders are shipped with 1-2 business days, and an online shipping calculator can be used prior to making an account (so you know exactly what the prices for each item will be, including shipping). For moving all your valuables, especially valuable art items like paintings, E Track from UScargocontrol.com is the way to go.

A new Career for all you readers: Construction will always be needed

I have been studying new careers lately, as its something fun to do. I have worked as a freelance construction worker, have had family work the jobs, and few are ever paid less than $20 an hour. The average unionized construction worker makes upwards of $30, though the hours are long, the work can be stressful, and sometimes they find themselves out of work. I think a quality education in the construction trade can answer this. Ready to start career development? And want to do it in the construction field? It surely can be done. The reason is, Cskill.org offers all the information you will need in a few easy steps. You can get apprenticeships, receive certificates like the CSCS card and On-Site Assessment Training (OSAT), on Cskills.org. There are hundreds of possibilities for learning your trade, as hundreds of schools train construction workers. Cskills.org eases the process of changing careers or furthering your education.

BT Broadband Offers a Cheap Solution for Internet Service

For the price of a few good movies or books, you can get quality internet service in the UK, from BT Total. Need good Wi-Fi? A quality service for any wifiservices can be found on bt.com. As a reader of ebooks, I am often aghast at how my simple ebooks take a long time for downloading. I am not sure if I have a clear answer yet, but downloading an entire eBook can be done in minutes if you use Wi-Fi from BT Broadband. The basic prices range from 19 pounds for an 18 month contract, to 23 pounds for a 12 month contract. BT even offers a comparison between different plans here. For instance, an award winning option (it won an award from Best Performing ADSL) can be had for less than 10 pounds a month on an 18 month contract. That is one of the more reasonable service prices I have ever found. If you are a book or computer addict, this is the service for you. For a quality wifi service, BT Broadband seems to be one of the better services around.

Lankhmar Book 1: Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber

A classic fantasy with some flaws, Swords and Deviltry put Leiber as high as Tolkien in the fantasy world.

Article by Jacob Malewitz

Writer A Writer’s Eye, A Reader’s Eye, A Comic Eye

Published by Dark Horse Books, this classic from Fritz Leiber is an imperfect work which deserves a look from any serious fantasy fan.

Where does fantasy take us? Readers tend to think of fantasy in the sweeping epics so popular they either need 10 plus books (Robert Jordan), or they become classic films (Lord of the Rings). Fritz Leiber is said to have moved sword and sorcery away from the sword wielding Conan’s to a thinking reader’s fantasy.

The first page gives a sound vision of the fantasy city Lankhmar. “The massive, walked and mazy allied metropolis of Lankhmar, thick with thieves and shaven priests, lean framed magicians and fat-bellied merchants—Lankhmar the imperishable, the city of the Black Toga.”

Two heroes come, Fafhrd, a seven-foot tall barbarian from the cold waste north, and The Mouser, a warrior of the south (though we are not sure), a man with crypic origins. Lieber truly proves himself the king of details in describing these heroes and his world. And the world, peopled with Mingols, evil members of the Snow Clan, all becoming a piece of the author, a piece revealed on the page.

The writing feels oddly modern for a classic fantasy written decades ago. It can also be cumbersome in the beginning and end. Leiber shines in the middle, it’s just hard to follow the story in certain parts, or at least be entertained by it. But once Leiber involves his characters, their strengths and weakness, their desire for happiness and an understanding of their lands, it truly become a fitting work for any fantasy fan.

Lieber has a way of working out an idea and presenting it fast. Consider the hero Fafhrd’s love Vlana, who gives a dense speech of her upbringing, of her hopes, and Leiber makes it an interesting point on her motivations.

Much could be said of the last 50 pages of this book. They truly are a struggle to get through. Some readers will love them, others may hate them. In the end, “Swords and Deviltry” is more than a beginning to an epic. It’s a tale that had to be told by someone with talent, one that moved the fantasy world towards its present state.

Over on A Comic Eye: Aliens Vs Predator Omnibus Volume 1

Over on A Writer's Eye: The Well-Fed Writer

X-Men Series Overview Part 2

An Overview of the X-Men Animated Series: The classic stories loosely based on the comics. This is part 2, the final essay on the X-Men hit series from the 1990s.

Article by Jacob Malewitz

Writer A Writer’s Eye, A Reader’s Eye, A Comic Eye

Perhaps the most notable story told in X-Men TAS was The Phoenix Saga, which put Jean Grey into the role of a destroyer of planets. The story lasted several episodes and embroiled the X-Men in constant battles across the universe.

The best story of X-Men was Beyond Good and Evil, which had the main foe being Apocalypse. And the X-Men found themselves in a fight even bigger than them, all time was at stake. The character Cable was given a big part in this story, as he intends to stop Apocalypse once and for all.

Through all this, the characters stood the tests of inner turmoil and class conflict. There were cameos by people like Spider Man, which added an element of the Marvel universe to the stories.

It was truly a remarkable series, as important as any animated series before it. Nothing revolutionary was done in terms of animations with X-Men TAS, but, along with Batman TAS, it gave birth to a new generation of stories of super heroes told on the big screen. As Wikipedia states, without the X-Men and Batman series the Avengers, Justice League, and Batman Beyond series may never have been created.

In comparison to X-Men Evolution, it’s obvious the original had creators who actually cared about continuity and making memorable stories, not just capitalizing on a name.

Most of X-Men TAS hasn’t been released on DVD or video, which is depressing as series like Batman have been released in both forms. Still, The Phoenix Saga and some other stories were released. Hopefully, more will come on the DVD format, as there is certainly fan base to capitalize on.

In the end, X-Men TAS could be compared with the greats of animation. It is truly a series worth looking into. Ebay and Amazon are the two major markets for finding any X-Men merchandise.

Over on A Comic Eye: New X-Men: E is for Extinction

Over on A Writer's Eye: Questions in Fiction Part 2

BetterCaring Offers Health Solutions

As someone who has a close relationship with his grandparents, I see the problems that happen often to the elderly. I also see my own problems, my own battles, as needing of help. When I found Bettercaring, a very useful site for answering crucial questions about caring for loved ones in need of help, I really couldn’t believe it. The service is set up in a very simple way, allowing surfers to go through the site and find all their caring needs. There are personal stories, hundreds of questions and answers, and all set up in an easy way. BetterCaring offers services for all sorts of things, including nursing homes. If you have a health question, this is the place to go. There is the option to search for local care homes that fit special requirements. I know that, as my loved ones age, I would like to know the answers to my questions. I found that Bettercaring.com works on all levels.

An Overview of the X-Men Animated Series: Part 1

You may know X-Men from the trilogy of movies that have each had major success at the theaters, but do you know of the X-Men animated series? It ran during the 90s to major success, and showed that complicated stories could be told to young adults. Like the comics, the core characters each brought their dynamics to the X-Men mythos.

Article by Jacob Malewitz

Writer A Writer’s Eye, A Reader’s Eye, A Comic Eye

The X-Men series wasn’t just for comic fans or young adults, for many it was a chance to see super heroes in action on Television for the first time. While the series had no effect on the movies, X-Men, X-Men United, or X-Men The Last Stand, it did prove that the comic form could be moved from pages to the screen.

The series was a huge success and too date, the longest running Marvel animated series ever: Longer than Spider Man, longer than Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, the list could go on. X-Men lasted five seasons with 76 episodes.

Marvel had toyed with serious animated series before, even trying Pryde of The X-Men during the eighties, but none carried the weight that X-Men the animated series (TAS) had.

The story was based around the super hero team originally created by Stan Lee in the 1960s. X-Men received a spike in popularity during the 1970s when a new team was unveiled with characters like Colossus and Wolverine.

There are the mutants and, as in the comics, most people hate or fear them. The people of the world don’t trust the unknown, don’t trust the mutants, which brings about one of the central visions Stan Lee had initially: It would be about people being discriminated against, as during the 60s the Civil Rights movement with Martin Luther King Jr. was a major topic.

Certain mutants decide to turn on the people who hate them. Charles Xavier, a mutant with telepathic powers, recruited others to help the people who scorn them.

That is background, but, when the series begins, the mutant registration act is already in effect and the team is already together. Characters like Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Gambit, Beast, Storm, Rogue, and a new character to the world named Morph are fighting on the side of good. They find fighting for what’s right soon becomes fighting against the US government.

As said, some mutants don’t just try to fight the US government, some set out to destroy, and go to the side of evil. Magneto leads these mutants who are sick of being pushed around and harassed by a people who don’t understand. His is a classic conflicted man, who had watched his people die before as a boy, and wasn’t going to let it happen again.

The early episodes shine, but are just a prologue to the early stories. Other villains, whether they be galactic or Earthly, fight the X-Men in places that can include different times.

The characters each are drawn out as perfectly as they were in the comics. Wolverine doesn’t know much about his past and has a deep desire for Jean Grey (Cyclops is the one she marries), the New Orleans Cajun Gambit wants to forget his past, Beast just wants to be a normal person instead of being covered with blue hair, and other characters in and out, like Jubilee, Rogue, and Angel, also just want to be normal. With all this conflict and uncertainty, The X-Men are the world’s greatest super hero team and biggest chance for peace.

Characters like Gambit and Wolverine quickly became as popular as they had in the comics. Gambit, the man from the thieves guild with the power to charge objects, added in great Cajun dialogue and was never afraid to show his affection for Rogue. Wolverine knew he was a mutant, but much of his past was a haze as a result of being a major government agent.

Over on A Comic Eye: Planetary Volume 1: A Classic graphic novel by Warren Ellis

Over on A Writer's Eye: Asking Question in fiction Part 1

How to Get Free Books in Ten Steps

I just published an article on the site EHow which might interest you. Ready to start being a critic? Better yet, want to review books? You can do this, make money, and save money. One of the pluses of being a book critic is the free books you get. My article explains in ten simple steps how to get a steady supply of books on a weekly basis from top publishers.

Here is the intro, the link is below:
Free books are one of the nice things about being a writer. If you love books, this guide will help you receive all your favorites. These ten steps allow for a consistent number of free books to be sent to anyone who can type a good email and establish themselves as a book reviewer. On a personal note, I have received over $1,000 in free books.

How to Get Free Books in Ten Steps

Over on A Comic Eye: How to Build a Complete Comic Book Collection

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Memories of X-Files: David Duchovny at his best

Article by Jacob Malewitz

Writer A Writer’s Eye, A Reader’s Eye, A Comic Eye

For the majority of the time that X-Files was coming out with new episodes, the show was my personal favorite TV show; I liked it more than the Simpsons, another Fox show, more than Babylon 5, more than all the serious dramas on television.

It ended in rather an abrupt fashion. After Duchovny decided to leave the series the creators sought to replace him, but the character of Mulder was one that could never be replaced.

The series came about at the perfect time as there was a renewed interest in all things alien in the 1990s, and X-Files capitalized on this.

The conflicts between Mulder and the government conspiracy was the main basis of the show. Mulder was an FBI agent involved in cases that involved the paranormal.

He had lost his sister early in his life in a paranormal event he attributed to aliens. The loss drove him to spend the rest of his life trying to find the cause of what had happened.

Dana Scully, played by Gillian Anderson, played a key role as she doubted the majority of Mulder’s assumptions. She believed in what she could find proof for; she did not speculate on extraterrestrial life or government conspiracies.

There was the Smoking Man who was the main antagonist of the show, behind all the plans for alien colonization and other secret government projects.

While aliens provided the basis of much of the show, there were plenty of other element, whether they were people with the power to create fire, werewolves, or men who fed on other men. Mulder was always keying on the supernatural, but Scully brought a balance to the show as few people could really believe what Mulder said was true.

I can’t recall every episode as I have not seen them all, but I saw just about every episode before Mulder was replaced. Duchovny brought the character to life, and it just wasn’t the same without him.

X-Files ended in 2002, and I did watch some of the closing episodes. It was a series that should have found a way to end with Mulder instead of trying to bring in new characters so late in the game.

Duchovny has yet to have a successful film role since his leaving X-Files. Mulder might not be his last major role, but it will probably be the best.

The alien phenomenon might not ever be as big as when X-Files was running. Still, you can find shows on The History Channel late at night showing flying saucers and alien autopsies. And X-Files reruns play on the Sci-Fi channel all the time.

X-Files could have ended better, but it was still a genre defining series. I enjoyed watching it growing up, and will likely enjoy watching the occasional rerun for as long as they air.

Over on A Comic Eye: The Simping Detective

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My love affair with comic books

Article by Jacob Malewitz

Writer A Writer’s Eye, A Reader’s Eye, A Comic Eye

As a fan of many arts, I find my tastes in things change constantly. Some days I need a movie, others a novel that tells its story with words, and sometimes a good comic book. Since my youth I’ve been reading comics off and on. I guess I just like the combination of words and images from the comic medium.

Lately I’ve been utilizing the Capital Area Library (In Lansing, MI) for much of my graphic novel needs. There are over 3,000 graphic novels available at the library. All the major heroes like Batman, Superman, and Spider Man are included, as well as major writers like Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, and Peter David.

Still, I like buying comics too. There are few feelings that match finding a super hero o character you’ve always wanted to read on the comic shelf. Sometimes you can’t afford the comic, but most of the time I can afford to pick up a few of my favorites.

The first comic book I ever had was an older Tales of Suspense comic that featured two stories, one with Iron Man and another with Captain America. To this day, I own more Iron Man comics than any other hero. The same can’t be said of Captain America, who I enjoy, I just can relate to the character of Iron Man more, even though he is a multibillionaire super hero.

I relate more to imperfect characters like Batman, who is just another person, than to Superman with all his powers. This also leads in to Iron Man who, underneath his armor, is just another person like Batman.

I have to be careful when I buy a lot of comics. My tastes in characters change quite a bit, or just my reading habits. Some days I will want a pure novel story from the likes of Dean Koontz or Robert R. McCammon, or a more literary writer like John Updike.

Comics are as imperfect as novels. If read in proportions, choosing the right writers and characters, they can be great in passing the time.

Many say that comic books are a dying art form. I think not, mainly because unless you get a graphic novel from the library, usually you have to pay for a comic book. You can’t put a hold on an old issue of Batman at your library; you have to buy it. The same isn’t true of novels or, in the Lansing area, movies. Obviously the library won’t have close to every book or movie you want, but it will have a healthy amount of reading material that you could spend rainy days reading for the rest of your life.

My love affair with comic books may never end. It will go in fits and spurts, like what music I am listening to, but I doubt I will ever regret spending as much time reading my favorite characters as I do now.

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