Last weekend I was at a writers retreat. What were we retreating from? I think in one way or another we all chose to be there to enjoy a reprieve from the status quo. We were retreating from normalcy. For most writers most of the time, writing is a solitary activity. We toil in isolation, […]
This week I pulled out something I wrote and published a decade ago. I wanted to repurpose it into a shorter, updated piece. My old work shocked me. It was ponderous. I used big words that no one ever wields. I constructed long sentences – the kind where you forget the beginning by the time […]
Are You There Blog? It’s Me, Writer By Kristen Lamb (reviewed by Peter DeHaan) Are You There Blog? It’s Me, Writer is the result of Kristen Lamb’s journey down the blogging path, from a struggling novice to successful blogger – with the following to prove it. And she specifically focuses on writers. Kristen avows that […]
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Is It Business or Personal?
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I’d been using the same business forms printer for seventeen years—or what was essentially the same one. Our time together bridged many changes. For me, it transcended two places of employment, with different office locations; on their part, it spanned three ownerships, a time of expansion and contraction, three name […]
We Are Not Alone: The Writer’s Guide to Social Media By Kristen Lamb (reviewed by Peter DeHaan) We Are Not Alone: The Writer’s Guide to Social Media, Kristen Lamb shares from her own experience how writers can master social media, using it to build their platform. While much has been written about social media, this […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Call me an idealist. I think life should be fair. This applies to answering calls. According to my perspective, call distribution needs to be fair, too. Everyone should have an equal chance of being answered quickly – or at least subjected to the same length of hold time if they […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Craving dessert is a habit my wife, “The Queen of Desserts,” cultivated in me. She claims, however, my affection for sweets was ingrained in me before we met. When eating at home, I pace myself through the meal in expectation of a tasty treat at the end. At restaurants, oversize […]
Many writers lament about how hard it is for them to write their own author bio. It doesn’t go as quickly as we think and their optimum message is harder to craft. It’s best to have our author bios written before we need them. And even if our pre-written bios don’t provide the right slant […]
I recently blogged about my first article ever published. This post is about my second article. But don’t worry, this isn’t going to turn into a series. I have no idea what my third article was or where it was published. Although I promised myself I’d never ever write again after my first agonizing piece, […]
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Servicing Rewards Programs
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Like many air travelers, I’m in frequent flyer programs with several airlines. Lately, I haven’t been flying enough to actually receive rewards, but it’s fun to think I might someday earn a free trip. So it didn’t surprise me when one airline emailed me, warning me that my account was […]