Friday, January 20, 2012

Work Hard, Let Go and Succeed: The Breakout Principle

The Breakout Principle
Herbert Benson, MD, and Willkam Proctor
Scribner, NY, NY 2004 (paperback)

Every profession and occupation suffers from it: sport figures, writers, scientists, even religious clerics. “It” is the problem that crops up in everyone's life, for some more often than others, where no matter how hard you work, no matter how much you study or practice or run scenarios, there's a situation that you have to do something about which is very critical, and a wrong decision could harm you in many ways, a situation that seems utterly unsolvable, beyond the scope of your powers, and no matter how much you think about it, has no good answer.

Whether it's a baseball player's slump, writers block, a piece of computer software code that just won't behave, or a family situation that's been keeping you up nights for months: you've worked on it and worked on it, going around in circles trying to find an answer, but nothing works. Then you make some very rude remarks, and go golfing. But even then your mind is still on the problem, and your golf game suffers. You go home and try to attack the problem again, but no go. Finally and completely giving up for the night, you decide to drown your sorrows in a very long, hot shower. And all of a sudden, there you are, jumping out of the shower to write down the answer that suddenly popped unbidden into your head. This is what Benson and Proctor call the “Breakout Principle.”

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Each month "Supporting Authors One Read at a Time" magazine brings some of the best authors, books, and interviews to readers all over the world. This month is no exception with the interviews of  Matthew Wood, author of "The Day the Sun Stopped Shining," and Madeline Sloane, author of the "Women of Eaton" trilogy.

Along with these great interviews are articles about assorted things dealing with the world of books, including book clubs and a review of Kindle.


The one article which caught my eye in particular was "A Reviewer's Process" since I of course do reviews. If you've ever wondered how we review books or

Sunday, January 15, 2012

It is now Sensual Sunday, for me that is. You will be seeing this Monday morning. I really should get ahead of these days, don't you think? Anyway, since sensual Sunday is about sensual things, eating, seeing, feeling, and love I thought it would be okay to introduce two paranormal stories with a light romantic background to them. While neither one is exactly sensual, they will make you feel even if it is only fear that you feel.


The first is The Jumper by David K. Hulegaard, an easy, fairly quick read. The second is Reunion by Jeff Bennington, a good, though slower read.

So if you are in the mood for some paranormal dallying, read on. If you read nothing more, Please read my RANT at the end. It is most important.