Robert W. Bly

This collection of short stories was completely amazing! Im in love! I am so glad i took a chance and picked this up. The cover was beautiful! I am glad I judged the book by its cover as the content was equally as beautiful! Some really beautiful poignant work here. I was blown away by so many of these stories.
Also wanted to mention: I got many New Jersey references from this, which is AWESOME as a fellow New Jersian, I love any works that pay homage to my home state :)
Standouts:
The show more Rubberband man was very eery! I enjoyed it and visualized this craziness every step of the way.
If looks could kill: this was absolutely HEARTWRENCHING! Yet ended on a beautiful optimistic note.
Insomnia: this could very well be based on a true story! What a lucid trip that was
Freak show of the Gods: the shining star of the novel, I sure hope Olympus exists for our misfits of the world, they are the spice of our lives.
Fishboy: I sobbed at work over this beautiful story
Coopermans Pond: This poignant story also made me sob at work! its been an emotional month!
Chimney Sweep: Feral Man vs. Feral Dog, this story will sit in my heart forever. it is symbolic and very meaningful to me, as this is a dog eat dog world we live in today, only the strongest will survive!
Shadetree - Prince of Darkness: there is always room for one more evil cat story, more please! make series of this furry ball of terror!

omg - so the "Some kind of Abigail" short story really struck home! The story reminds me of a dream I had in which i had a microwave type of apparatus machine inside my body that had somehow shut down, I then had to rush to push the button to keep myself alive as I felt myself slowly shutting down into total paralysis. The fact that this story mirrors it is entirely spooky! I relate to the idea of us becoming robots so strongly
Mr. Bly! I demand you write more fictional novels, your witty clever brain is sharp as a whip, your stories are unforgettable, your character and universe building is nothing short of sheer brilliance!
MORE MORE MORE- ENCORE!!!!!!
I am so glad I fell upon this lesser known gem of a novel, I will be revisiting this universe again someday!
And for the record- I took my sweet time savoring this clever book - it is richer then dark chocolate directly from Belgium, screw scrambling around to meet unrealistic reading goals I set upon myself. I enjoy to read, relish my escapes from reality, and so I will be taking my time to savor each novel I lay my hands upon from now on! show less

An excellent book on the art of creating offers in direct marketing. I enjoyed the book's blend of cosumer and business examples as well. If you are looking for a way to increase your results, take another look at your offer! You'll find insights about pricing, copy and lead generation here. I highlighted dozens of passages to return to and apply to my business.

The book is aimed mainly at freelance How-To writers but anyone interested in producing information products can learn a few things. The writer covers quite a bit of ground including two particularly good chapters on producing your first ebook and contracting speaking engagements. He also offers insight into pricing strategies; a few points were counterintuitive but make sense now. Across the various types of media, you learn how to tighten the content for your market, the levels of content show more needed and steps and processes to quickly produce content. Bly even takes time to make a correlation between content, adult learning style and the best publishing medium.

It's unlikely that anyone would attempt to create all of the information products covered but it's a great book to keep around as a reference as you add new products to your mix. show less

Bly has a tendency to repeat himself a bit, but the upside of this is that even if you read only the chapters pertaining to the specific careers you're interested in, you don't miss any information. He provides lots of tips, lots of resources for further reading, and what seems like solid, unstinting advice. It's a terrifying read if you're thinking of entering the writing world from another profession (as I am) but the advice is very practical, and Bly clearly lays out the pros and cons of show more choosing any particular area. My only complaint is that I wish he'd covered fiction writing in more detail. show less