The best time to write your author bio is before you need it. That means, write it today. I gave some pointers on this in my post, “Why You Should Write Your Author Bio Now.” We need multiple length bios for different uses, but today, let’s focus on a 25-word or 50-word bio. Here are […]
A few weeks ago, when I finished my series on blogging, I invited readers to post a link to their blog. No one did. I know many of you have blogs, so I’m not sure what went wrong. Perhaps the offer got lost in the post or maybe the series dragged on too long. Anyway, […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Regardless of where you work, false alarms have likely caused frustration. I remembered this one day as I searched for the source of an electronic alarm, warning me that something was awry in my house. Since the beeping was intermittent, finding the source was comedic. With each alert I would […]
To be a successful writer, we’re encouraged to do many things: The list goes on, and it overwhelms me. Though I do well at writing every day and blogging, I struggle to do the other items on a consistent basis. And this is when the rest of my life is in order. When something disrupts […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD My wife and I plan to move in a few weeks. The last time we moved was twenty-seven years ago, so the process of preparing, packing, and loading isn’t too fresh. Yet the enormity of the task has never left us and is now being reinforced. Moving represents new opportunities, […]
Most anyone who has heard me talk about writing knows of my disdain for the word very. I’m quick to strike it whenever I see it; only rarely does it survive my critical eye. Along with very, here are some words to avoid in your writing: Very: Writers use very to intensify the word that […]
As a consumer, the type of book and the form it’s in affects what I’m willing to pay. First, some background: I read both printed and e-books, having no overwhelming preference for one over the other; I like aspects of both and realize their limitations. The other item is for most of my adult life […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD With the situation in Iraq again looming large in the news, I recall Operation Desert Storm, which occurred two-and-a-half decades ago. At the time, most foreign reporters relied on dial-up telephone lines to report the news. This approach was inexpensive, allowed for mobility, and provided flexibility. An alternate method was […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I’ll admit it; I’m an idealist. I think life should be fair; everyone deserves equal opportunity. That’s why I favor impartiality when distributing calls in the call center, with each call handled in the order received and going to the next available operator: universal call distribution. However, we must remember […]
Seven Tips to Grow as a Writer My original blog, Musings, has over 500 posts, totaling about 130,000 words, enough for two or three books. While many posts wouldn’t make for good book content, about half of them have potential. So, I’ve taken the best ones and organized them by topic to repurpose as a […]