Well, school is back in session tomorrow, while I would love to say I am happy about that, I’m not really. It has been awesome to have some time with my girls. That is just something I don’t normally get while they are in school since I work second shift. Sure they might drive me crazy once in awhile and I have very little free time when they are out of school but those are sacrifices that I am willing to make. Getting to bond with the two coolest little girls around, and having time with my wife since she took vacation too, it was great.

On the semi-bright side, I will be able to blog more again, but is that really a worthwhile thing? Being there when my girls need me, that is worthwhile! Holding their hands in mine, playing games, those are the things that make the day a lot brighter. I may joke about their being the spawn of satan, but really, they are mine through and through. Good or bad, there is no denying that they have taken on some of my characteristics.

Desi can be as sweet as honey but turn bitter when things don’t quite work out the way she wanted. Anna, she is a brooder, she will sit and stew in her own juices until well done or just break down and cry for little or no reason. There are days when I can look at both of them and see a reflection of me at their age. Those are the days that can really hurt me too. I don’t want them to have to deal with things that I did, I want to get them through the rough patches without them being affected in a negative way. Sure we all have to learn life lessons, but I want to protect them from the harder ones if at all possible. I want the best for them and nothing less will do.

I really want to hold on to the times we share, you know, save time in a bottle, but my bottle lost it’s stopper a long time ago. Seems like some of the good stuff leaks out now. That is the reason I blog and photograph when all else fails I will still have these records to remind me of all the fun we had and all the troubles. To some my writing may seem mindless drivel but to me, it is priceless, something to hold together the strands of time so they don’t get away from me. Sometimes I feel like the guy chasing his kite down the beach, that string is just slightly out of reach, bobbing and weaving and trying to elude me at every twist and turn.

With that I bid you a good night may God bless you richly and eternally.

This is my second review of a book about writing, the first being an E-book called How To Write. While the first book had it’s own merits I would have to say that The Train-of-Thought Writing Method far surpasses it. Let me tell you why:

The train of thought method is a tried and true method that can make even casual authors a lot more readable. While the system may not be fool proof it can accomplish some amazing things if you give it a try. Before you ask, no I did not use the method for this review, I should have, but I didn’t.

This method of writing breaks down the writing process into sections and for this particular method they are sections of a train. Kathi goes from laying the track all the way to the caboose. She has practice segments in each section so that you can apply what you have learned in that particular chapter. My favorite exercise was toward the end when she was covering the observation car. In it is an exercise where you are learning to develop your characters. The method is fairly in depth but not overboard. I really like this way to develop characters and plan to use it in the near future.

Throughout the manual Kathi uses examples for each section. Some are from her own writings and there are a few others mixed in as well. By using these examples she really cleared up any questions I may have had about the particular chapter. On the plus side it also made me want to seek out more of her work and read it, she is quite the author.

The sub-title of the book is “Practical, user-friendly help for beginning writers” and I would have to agree with this whole heartedly. Kathi walks you through this holding your hand but not talking down to you, which is darn hard to pull off.

I am going to give this book 5 out of 5 stars as it accomplishes its task in an easy to understand and entertaining way. If your writing doesn’t improve from reading this book then you weren’t paying attention! Kudos to the author, Kathi Macias, and her publisher AuthorHouse.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The book, The Train-of-Thought Writing Method, was provided to me at no cost by Active Christian Media for review purposes. To become a reviewer for ACM you may click here.

A friend has pointed out to me the fact that I haven’t panned a book yet and he was wondering if I might be too nice and not want to hurt feelings. So I will state here that I am in no way biased or trying to save anyones feelings. Active Christian Media lets you pick which books you want to review so that gives me an advantage right there. I am able to check the book out and decide if I want to take the time to read it. So far I have been blessed with some really good books. Believe me if I come across a stinker I will let you know, nicely of course!

A short review of the Ebook How to Write by Herbert E. Meyer, Jill M. Meyer.

First a quick quote from the book:

Like the writing process itself, this book is divided into three parts:
· Organizing for the Job
· Turning Out a Draft
· Polishing the Product

It doesn’t matter what you are writing. You always work your way through all three
parts, and you always do it in the same order. Of course, if you’re writing something
short and simple like a thank-you note for a birthday gift, you won’t need to spend a lot
of time organizing for the job. However, you will likely need to spend much if not most
of your time looking for just the right words to express your gratitude, which is to say
turning out a first draft and then polishing the product. On the other hand, should you be
writing, say, a history of World War I, organizing for the job could take years. Indeed, it
could take longer to organize – that is, to do your research – than to turn out a draft and
then polish the product.

This would be a great book for students, teachers, or anyone who wants to improve their writing skills. It is a well thought out, well organized book that is easy to understand and not filled with a lot of fluff that would distract from the important content. It helped me to realize that one of my biggest problems is when I sit down to write I have no idea where I am going to go with what I am writing.

How to Write is quite an interesting read . It is an E-Book so I had to print it out in order to read it, other wise it would take me till the end of time to get it all read. I just can’t stare at my monitor that long. Anyway it is a really good book and is very highly regarded in the writing field. In order to make this book more accessible they are offering it as an downloadable E-Book at a very reasonable price, I recommend you check it out!