My Name is Tatyana; Can I be Your Girlfriend? 2

Today we are continuing our series on our talented scammers, Tatyana.   These
letters are intended to seduce; then comes a request for money. Where these
money requests are made, I will include some of my conversation to show how I
deflected this attempt at fraud.

Tatyana appears to be a young girl, despite the fact that  she claims to be 29 years old. I believe that this is a common practice by  these types of scammers, to more reliably entice intended victims; it is slimy and very regrettable.

This Part Two of our series on her (and the scammers that  are using her image and name). As has been my practice, I am not correcting  spelling syntax or layout of these notes from her, so that you might recognize  a similar letter in your incoming email!  You can find Part One of Tatyana here.

I’d appreciate it if you would carefully review our Copyright Notice at the end of this post. You may not: Use, Borrow, Extract, Copy, or in any way, perform any action that could limit the writer’s future rights to: Leverage, Sell, Publish, Distribute or Infringe any commercial consideration that damages the author or his rights in any way. Lastly, please remember that I have done no editorial ‘clean-up’, allowing our readers to see exactly what they might see in their inbox!

Hello again my friend Cliff! I am very pleased to again receive your letter. Thank you very much for what you told me a little about you! I am very glad to know you. I am interested to talk with you! You know, I’m very worried. After all,
this is my first communication on the Internet. Today, I have mad a great mood,
as you wrote me. I’m very happy that now, we begin to learn new things about
each other.

How are you? How is the weather in your city? I think that all is well. Now in Russia it gets cold. Temperature of the day, only +12, +14 degrees. In this letter, as I told you and promised to tell a little about yourself and about the relationship that I seek.

I was very pleased to receive your pictures, you’re very handsome man.

I hope that you in the future will be sending me a lot of his paintings, because they will cause me a lot of emotion.

As I told you, I live alone and I do not have parents. After University, I rented an apartment, because I could not afford to buy his apartment. After the death of parents, I had only a small house in a remote village, and then I could not get his inheritance, he lacks a lot of documents.

I sued and the trial lasted about 10 years, and only after my persistence I was
able to assert their rights. About a year ago, the trial ended. Then I sold the
house for a very small amount and decided to buy a flat. I was able to buy a communal apartment, but she is very comfortable and I’m happy that I have my own angle.  I have one room in 20 squares, and also I have a common shower and toilet with their neighbors. Of course, this is not very good conditions, but I’m glad that I have my own accommodation. Especially since I did so myself. Also, thanks to the state program, I obtained a loan for 5 years for buying a house, as money from the sale of the parent’s home was not enough. The only disadvantage that every month I pay money for my apartment in order to repay the loan. My friend, though I and a small room, but it is very comfortable and there is always pure.

Also I would like to tell you about my daily routine. On weekdays I get up at 5 am, because my work is not close to my house. Then I have breakfast. Usually for breakfast I eat sandwiches and tea. I clean teeth, wash my face and go to work. Usually at work I get to the bus.

It takes approximately 30-40 minutes. My working day begins at 8 pm and lasts until 18 o’clock in the evening, after which I go back home.

You know, all my friends tell me that I am cheerful girl. I really am an active lifestyle. I like meeting new people and learn. I love the cheerful company. Now, unfortunately, I do not have much time to communicate with friends, because I have a lot of work. Also, most of my friends now live in other cities. I am very calm, romantic and intelligent girl. At heart, I am a sensual and tender. In his free time, I like hanging out with friends in a city park. In his free time, I swim. Also I go to the gym. In the winter I like skiing, skating. In the summer, with friends, we go to hike, bicycle.

Sometimes we go away from the city, hundreds of kilometers.  I always wanted to try water ski, but I never did. This is my big dream. You love to travel? You like to play sports? In the summer, I just like to ride a bicycle, do aerobics, swim and bask in the sun. In winter, I love skiing and skating. I always dreamed of skiing. But, unfortunately,  I’m never succeeded. I have never traveled outside of my country.

I very much like to greet the dawn and sunset to accompany. I love nature. I also like to walk along the river bank, to feel his feet the water. Cliff, you love nature? Also I like listening to music. In general, I prefer classical. I also listen to chill out and pop music.

At  home, I have a lot of tapes, classical and popular music of Russia, my favorite
singer Dima Bilan. What music do you listen to? I like to read books. During  his life, I read many books on psychology, human behavior. Also I like novels and  Detectives. Also I like fantasy books. The last book I read – it is “Perfume”. She left me an excellent impression. What was the last book you read? I think that while reading an interesting book, immersed in it. Through all the events, along with the characters.

I have heard many good things about your country. I’m trying to follow all developments in the world. Now, unfortunately, I can not watch TV very often, because I have a lot of work. All my friends tell me that I am an active girl who is unstoppable. I like to communicate, to know new people. But in my life is not completely happy because I do not have enough love and affection. I always like to see next to me was a man who can truly love me.

I am looking for my love. You’re looking for love as well, Cliff? I think that we are largely similar. In relations I am looking for trust, understanding, and of course love. I want a man with whom I have always understood me, never hurt and love. I only want a serious relationship, I do not want any games. I think that you are looking for a serious relationship as Cliff? Please tell me more about you!

What do you mean by relationships? What hobbies do you have in life Cliff? On this I must finish my letter to you, because my time has come to an end, and I must go home.

I look forward to wait for your new letter for me Cliff. I am very interested to talk with you and recognize you Cliff! Your friend from Russia, Tatyana.

 And on Saturday…

Hello my dear friend Cliff!!!!

Today in Russia some day. The sun’s shining. I came to the Internet cafe and saw your new message. I was very pleased that you wrote to me again. Thank you very much for what he told me more about yourself!  How are you today is the day? How are things Cliff? I hope that you all well!

Today I would like to tell you about my past relationship with a man and why I
am looking for my love on the Internet! When I was 26 years old. I met a man by
the name of Yura. He was then 32 years old. We met with him in the movie, when we went there with friends. He sat next to us and the whole film, he looked at me. After the movie, he came up to me and met. At first glance, I liked him.
Yura asked my phone number. But I do not have your own phone, so I was not able to give him room. After that we had started dating. I liked him more. He always looked after me, he gave me flowers. I really loved it! I thought that this is
the person I’m looking for. I thought that was the man with whom I want to
spend my whole life! But once, we agreed to meet in the library. I wanted to
take the book. But Yura did not come to the meeting. I waited for him about 3
hours, but it was not. Then I went home. But the next day, my friend told me
that she saw Yura with another girl. She told me that they kissed. I very
strongly cried, I nearly killed myself. My friend stopped me. I was very hurt
and sad at heart. After all, he told me he loves me and wants me to be his
wife.

He deceived me. He just used me. He had another woman. All these years I have not been communicating with men. I told myself that I’ll never love. But my girlfriend was able to persuade me that I tried to find love on the Internet. I was very disappointed in the Russian men. All men in Russia are using their women. They do not want a serious relationship. All they need is sex and they offended over women.

Russian men, women need only to slavery. So I decided to try to find love abroad! Now I do not regret the advice of a friend. I am very pleased that we met. I like to communicate with you Cliff!

Please tell me your story. Why are you lonely ? You just broke up with his love
Cliff? We’re very similar, since we both are looking for true love! Now I must
finish my letter. I look forward to wait for your new letter. By this letter, I
fasten photo. Your best friend from Russia, Tatyana.

On Tuesday I learn that I am Very ‘Cool’…

Hello my dear Cliff!!!! I am very glad to receive your new letter. I am very interested to talk with you and each of your letter I read very carefully! When I see a letter from you, on my face always a smile. Thank you for this great Cliff!!!!
Thank you for your wonderful photos! You’re very beautiful! I’m very happy to
know you more and develop our relations.

Today I would like to tell you more about my work and about how I like to spend
my weekend.

As you already know, I work as a psychologist in a children’s home, where I lived my whole life. Our orphanage is not very big, so he can not put a lot of children. It is home to 60 children. They have no parents. Some of them with mental health issues. They are experiencing due to the fact that they have no parents, and I understand it, because I, too, an orphan. We have very friendly staff. It consists of 25 people. Basically in our orphanage run elderly. But I respect them all, because some of them brought me. My duties at work is to provide psychological assistance to kids, find out the cause of their illness, helping them find a way out of a bad situation, give them advice. Last week in our children’s home, a new girl named Natasha. Her parents are very much drank vodka. They were alcoholics. Therefore, parents Natasha deprived of parental rights. I was terribly sorry for her.

Now, Natasha no one talks and eats almost nothing. I think that everything will be fine when I’m with her I can talk. At the weekend from work while I’m trying to hold the most good. Sometimes I go to the park with my girlfriend Katya. She is very funny woman. I know her since childhood. We grew up together in an orphanage. Sometimes I go to Katya to visit, and we spend good time together. On weekends I like to go to the movies. But this is not always possible, because the work takes a very long time. Usually I just read a book or listening to music. So I am doing cleaning house and preparing to eat.

Please tell me how you love to hold your weekend? You have a lot of friends?

I am very pleased to learn more about you, you’re a very good man and I am
pleased that we were able to meet with you. Cliff. We are with you in many ways
similar. You are very cool Cliff!!! I very much would like to see some more of
your pictures! Please send them to me! I look forward to wait for your letter
to me Cliff Gently kiss on the cheek. Your best friend, Tatyana.

———————————————

Copyright
notice – FlaAuthor Publishing, LLC

This website and its content is copyright of Clifford L Feightner – © FlaAuthor Publishing, LLC, 2011. All rights reserved.

Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all the contents in any form is
prohibited other than the following:

• You may print or download to a local hard disk extracts for your personal and non-commercial use only
• You may copy the content to individual third parties for their personal use, but only if you obtain written permission from Clifford L Feightner (cliffordf2@aol.com), in advance of use.

You may not, except with our express written permission, distribute or  commercially exploit the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system.

My Name is Tatyana; Can I be Your Girlfriend? 1

Today we are continuing our series on our talented scammers,
Tatyana.  These letters are intended to seduce; then comes a request for  money.  Where these money requests are made, I will include some of my conversation to show how I deflected this attempt at fraud.

Tatyana appears to be a young girl, despite the fact that she claims to be 29 years old.  I believe that this is a common practice by these types of scammers, to more reliably entice intended victims; it is slimy and very regrettable.

This Part One of our series on her (and the scammers that are using her image and name).  As has been my practice, I am not correcting spelling syntax or layout of these notes from her, so that you might recognize a similar letter in your incoming email!

I’d appreciate it if you would carefully review our Copyright Notice at the end of this post.  You may not: Use, Borrow, Extract, Copy, or in any way, perform any action that could limit the writer’s future rights to: Leverage, Sell, Publish, Distribute or Infringe any commercial consideration that damages the author or his rights in any way.  Lastly, please remember that I have done no editorial ‘clean-up’, allowing our readers to see exactly what they might see in their inbox!

 On a beautiful Monday in Paradise, I hear “You’ve Got Mail”…

Hi! I am Tanya. Im the beautiful women. I do not have man’s care.

I want to search men serious relationship. If you still alone, write me
please on my email: lubpolare@yahoo.com. I very much wait
for your letter. Im send you my photo. Kisssss Tanya.

The next day Tanya disappears and is replaced by Tatyana…

Hi my new friend!!! I am very pleased that you responded to my letter.

So you to get to know me as well. I am very glad to this event. I  would like to know you more. But before that I would like to tell you
a little about me. I am a girl who is looking for his true love. I  decided to apply to the Internet to find happiness, a man who will
love and respect me. This is my first intercourse with a man on the
Internet. I’ve never been approached by Internet dating in the past.

Therefore, I do not know where to begin a story about me, but I’ll
try.

Firstly, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Tatyana. My
height – 1.72 cm, and my weight – 51 kg. I was born on July 5, 1981.
Now I’m 29 years old. When were you born? I live in is not a big city
Noyabrsk, which is located in Russia. You’ve heard a lot about my
country? I would like to tell you a little about my city. City
Noyabrsk in the south of the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district, and
thanks to its geographical location is the southern gateway to the
district. In Noyabrsk has about 110000 people, is 20 of residents of
the Yamal. The average annual increase in population in the town of
about 500 people. A characteristic feature is the increase in Noyabrsk  birth – over the past years 1250-1400 people or 12 births per 1000  inhabitants. Natural increase is on average 830 people a year. Today  Noyabrsk young beautiful city that is confident in the future. Their
efforts Noyabrsk became one of the most developed cities in Yamal. In
Noyabrsk well-developed infrastructure and livelihoods of the city.

Much attention is devoted by the authorities beautification of the
city, forming its architectural design. To replace the same type of
timber and panel houses came the modern, beautiful building. Among  them, teleport, Intelligence Center and fire department – unique in  the project structure, which is unique in the whole of Western  Siberia. Hallmark of the city – the Orthodox Church of Archangel  Michael, one of the most beautiful religious buildings in northern  West Siberia, as well as the Mosque, which is considered the largest  in all of the Tyumen region. My city has many cultural and  architectural values. A large number, monuments, sculptures, theaters,  and of course churches. I love my city because I was born here and  lived my whole life! You tell me about your town? Where do you live?

Do you like your town?

Now, I would like to tell you a little about my life. From early
childhood, I had to live alone. I never saw my parents. Since they
have an accident when I was 2 years. The accident happened on the
track. My parents went to my grandmother in the village. On the way
they ran into a big machine. The bus, which drove my parents flew out  from the road, it overturned and they were killed. I do not even
remember them. I have never seen their faces. My grandmother just
died, but when I was 3.5 years. Then I had to live in an orphanage,
because I no longer had relatives. Now, I’m all alone. I have no
brothers and sisters. I had a very difficult childhood. In our
children’s home was a lot of children.

When I was 7 years old I went to school, which was located next to our
children’s home. I’ve always liked history. I always wanted to study
it. When I was 18 years old, I had to leave the orphanage. I got into
a world where I had to do everything myself. I was so lonely. I had to
find a place to live, work. I got a job. I was a clerk at the library.

I very much wanted to go to university. But I had no money. When I
worked in the library, I read a lot of books. And then I decided to go
to university. I am very lucky. I passed all the exams as “excellent”!

I came to learn from a psychologist. In this case, I continued to work
serving in the library. I liked to study people’s behavior. I liked to
help people in situations where they feel bad when they need help. My  mother was a psychologist as well. I think it’s my destiny to be a
psychologist.

When I finished university, I tried to find a job. But it was not very
easy. Since many organizations in Russia does not want to take young  people to work, because they believe that young people do not have the  experience. But after much searching, I decided to call my children’s  home where I lived all my childhood and to offer them my help in  raising children. Orphanage director told me that they were happy to  take me to work. I was very happy about that. And now for 2 years I  worked as a psychologist at the orphanage, where I spent my whole  life. I like very much to help children. After all, they, as well as I  now live without their parents. I have for them as a mom. I love  children. I believe that children are the angels that live with us on  earth. In this life, I’m looking for the man who could I truly love
and respect.

At this point I have to finish my first letter to you. The next time
I’ll tell you more about myself, about my work, about my hobbies and,  of course, about the relationship that I seek. Please tell me a little  about you. Where do you work? How is your life? I am very interested  to know you. I am very interested in Internet communication, as it is  with me first.

I look forward to your next letter to me. Your new friend from Russia,

Tatyana.

P.S. to this letter, I attach some photos from my life. From my photo,
you will know what I like. My whole life is depicted in the photo. I
hope I will like you. Please send me your pictures as well.

P.S. My new email – lubpolare1@yahoo.com!

———————————————

Copyright notice – FlaAuthor Publishing, LLC

This website  and its content is copyright of Clifford L Feightner – © FlaAuthor Publishing,  LLC, 2011. All rights reserved.

Any  redistribution or reproduction of part or all the contents in any form  is prohibited other than the following:

• You may print or download to a local  hard disk extracts for your personal and non-commercial use only.
• You may copy the content to  individual third parties for their personal use, but only if you  obtain written  permission from Clifford L Feightner (cliffordf2@aol.com), in advance of  use.

You may not,  except with our express written permission, distribute or commercially exploit  the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other  form of electronic retrieval system.

Who’s the Designer?

Image via Wikipedia

 Today I saw a great post by Joel Friedlander called “When Self-Published Book Design Goes Bad” .  It documents a book design project that looks to be in a “Death Spiral” to mediocrity!  At the worst, it has perhaps given true book designers like Joel, as well as my own designer Walt Shiel, cause to think twice when they accept a commission to design a book, a cover, or a multi-volume project.  In the end, it is the authors and publishers who will suffer when the designer says “Is this turning into THE project from Hell?”

When you give unbounded choice to an author that has slaved over for years, or a month, on how their baby will be clothed, you clearly must establish boundaries on “Can you do this so I can see what it will look like?”  Book design, like any other business, has a few important goals:

• To satisfy the artistic demands that the manuscript
• To create a product in which both can take pride
• To compel the ‘shopper’ to BUY
• To create a (limited) ‘work of art’ that will further the careers of both
• To Collect Money (the goal of all business)

Walt did this well by clearly stating the number of revisions allowed as well as the number of person-to-person communications that we would have.  After that, it was a fee per hour.  End of story. Please take a look at Joel’s article: When Self-Published Book Design Goes Bad!

Website design continues as my web designer Mike at Smart Author Sites, cuts up the approved proof into pieces, for my use in building the site.  Our first joint design conference call will be on March 29.

I may not blog tomorrow (who knows”) so I would like to remind you all that my beloved Lynn passed away eleven months ago tomorrow!

Love each other today as if there is NO tomorrow!

Cliff

http://tiny.cc/0w9q9 http://www.thebookdesigner.com/ http://fiverainbows.com/ http://smartauthorsites.com/ http://tiny.cc/2h3wm

What make a great Logo?

FlaAuthor Publishing, LLC Logo

Today’s topic is short and sweet, but is very important to any business.  I was recently pointed at an article on the topic, “What Makes a Great Logo?”  It concisely covers the significant value and the benefit derived from a good Logo design, and lets you know what not to do!

Before I refer you to the article, I’d like to spend a few minutes on my experiences.

The main player in the business for small businesses is Logoworks.  They offer a variety of packages and have good designers behind the scenes.  They were also too rich for my blood.  I’m a starving author on a fixed income and had a lot more important places to put my money as I started up FlaAuthor Publishing.  I have some minor graphical talents and tools, and excel in my research abilities.  I know good stuff when I see it.

From a good logo, the principal benefits for a small business are:

• Distinguish your company from your competition
• Be memorable
• Keep it simple

 With nothing to spend on professional logo design, and a few programs including Google (to find a free background graphic). Graphic Workshop Professional (to manipulate the graphic), and PowerPoint (to handle the text part) I have been able to create serviceable logos for the three businesses that I have started in my years in Florida, beginning in 2004.

They may be crude, but there is no reason why they can’t generate business for my company, as they follow precepts in the Logoworks article.  It begins (briefly)”Would you know a great logo if you saw one? What qualities make a logo great? How can you tell if a logo is truly effective or not? A great logo makes a company memorable. It accurately conveys the company’s identity. A great logo will be attractive but will also have a functional purpose as a business too. A great logo is more than art.”

Just think about the message that you are trying to convey with your logo.  Do a little research into logo design on the internet, and look at logos that you feel are effective in ‘branding’ the company behind the logo.  For, it is branding that you are doing, and no one knows what your core message is better than you.  You logo must reflect that message.  Show your initial designs to others around you.  Get their reactions vis-à-vis transmittal of your message.  Look at your competition and their logos.  What do they say to you and is it relevent to their message?  Think, experiment, play around and build three candidates to show to others.  You are too close to your business to make your decision alone.

Read the full article here: http://www.logoworks.com/what-makes-a-great-logo.html

Good luck!

Information Delivery: Times Marches On

There has been a lot of discussion about the future of books. 

Views from Sandhausen Website - First Draft

As we look back at the Record, Movie, and Entertainment systems evolution, we see a shift of media; content reigns and delivery system evolves.  Since the same things are happening to all of these information delivery systems, it tells us that it is not about these ‘Information Niches’; it is more about how we are evolving as a species.

As an abject Lover of books, it has been of concern to me personally. As I strive to move forward in my writing and publishing efforts, I feel like I felt in my 30’s when White Water Rafting meant so much to me.  The analogy is not only solid, it is absolutely fundamental to what we are experiencing.  We avoid the rocks (new ideas), are sucked into whirlpools (when we bet on an innovation that proves to be a dry well), and are relentlessly pushed by the overpowering force that we feel (Time) to our greater glory – or total destruction.

As said by Julius Wiedemann in his recent (excellent analysis) post The Book Is Dead. Long Live The Publishing Industry! , “We are moving toward an ever-growing differentiation between the book as object versus content delivery system. As this occurs, we cannot ignore the fact that our lives are shifting dramatically toward a digitalized experience. This shift is happening not just for the sake of technology; it is happening because we–as in, society–are changing, as is our behavior.”

My lifelong desire was to write and publish a book.  I love to write so it was just a matter of time.   I published Lynn’s Story in a hardback version only.  It went to close family and friends who intimately loved and shared joys with Lynn and me.  I am publishing Views from Sandhausen in all formats less audio.

MAJOR INTERRUPT!! The paperback proof copy of Views from Sandhausen was just delivered!  It is Brilliant!!!  I may sleep with it tonight.  WOW!!!

 As pointed out in Mr. Wiedmann’s post, I expect that people will still buy a physical copy of the book, if they liked the eBook that they have read.  If this comes to pass, it is VITAL that eBooks have the same pagination as does the hard or soft cover edition.  The current practice of paginating eBook’s as ‘screens’ will make it slightly more difficult to read the eBook on your commute, the PC version in the office (whoops, did I say that?), and the hard/soft cover version whilst trying to fall asleep.  Not impossible mind you, just more difficult.

I intend to leverage that trend by offering book bundles Hard + eBook, or Soft + eBook, on my personal sell site, ViewsfromSandhausen.com.  OF course, pricing breaks will be offered.

Other happenings: (things are moving very fast) over the last two days, include my sending the first round of comments back to Smart Author Sites on the look and feel of the site that they are currently designing. Today’s photo will give you a quick look at the first draft of the site Home Page.  Please feel free to comment on what you see!  (You always are welcome to leave me comments: it makes both you and I better!)

The Twitter following continues to grow; I am weeding out the ‘chaff’ and adding people who are ‘movers and shakers’ in this business.  If I’ve learned something from you (and I know that you don’t care) – I’m following You!  Lastly, I’m continuing to work with PhotoFunia and their very clever software that produces images like this:

What a great tool for subtle advertising!!

Views from Sandhausen Advertising

Now take a further few moments and read Julius Wiedmann’s insightful post The Book Is Dead. Long Live The Publishing Industry!

Really Competent Writers (#RCW)

Really Competent Writers (#RCW)

Today I started a Twitter list for Really Competent Writers!  It includes: writers, publishers, coaches, and all manner of competent folks, that are not shy about leaving their thoughts to posterity.  These folks put pen to paper to ensure that a really great thought is not lost to history!  I did this because, in all of my ‘social applications’, I haven’t found this kind of organizing category.  It make sense to me that if Twitter, and perhaps others, focus on the highest praise a reader can receive, we will all be better off.  I know that I wanted this ‘handle‘ when I started this writing odyssey, now almost year-long road.  I’ll also rant about a few other things that are happening.

So, to you: Walt Shiel (@slipdown), Joanna Penn (TheCreativePenn), Joel Friedlander (@Jfbookman), Carol White ( @amarketingmaven), Mars Dorian (@MarsDorian), Shelley Hitz (@Self_Publish) and many others, I thank you for your generosity and support!  With you permission, I’ll be adding this hashtag to Tweets with you and trust that the movement will catch on and offer a ‘focusing on talent’ ‘handle’ for aspiring writers to focus on.

Today I received my ‘Articles of Incorporation’ for FlaPublishing, LLC.  Now I’m a legal business entity (I know, I can hear you cheering)!  I also received my first draft of the www.ViewsfromSandhausen.com website, and fed back comments to the designer’s, Smart Author Sites.

Lastly, we’ve solidly passed 1,020 Twitter followers.  My thanks to all of you that follow @cliffordf2 !

Stay well and happy!

Social Media Overtakes Pornography as #1 Web Activity

Image via Wikipedia

Do you still think that Social Media is a fad?  Is this another Hula Hoop, or Betamax, or the current ‘Rad’ thing to do?  Many of us believe it is here to stay.  To provide you with evidence to support that assertion, do I have a movie clip for you?  It will take 5 minutes out of your day but, I believe, it will also take the doubt out of your mind.  Did you know that Social Media has overtaken pornography as the #1 web activity?  That’s good new!

A short story for you.  Back in 1990, as a technology believer and practitioner, I believed that the Internet was “The Next Big Thing”.  In my stodgy large corporation, I was surrounded by Luddites.  I knew that we had to jump on this new reality.  We had to be the “First Mover”!  As a Principal Engineer in R&D, I had some autonomy and discretionary budget.  I went to the head of Corporate Security and told him that I would ‘bring the Internet into ‘My Company’, and give Him the credit.  He looked at me like an offensive beetle and told me that “…over his dead and bleeding body” would I do that.

Going back to the drawing board, I devised a security gateway that incorporated world-class computer authentication, and anti-virus protection.  Six months later I went back to the new head of Corporate Security and made the same, but updated, pitch.  www,MyCompany,com was online by 1992, before any of our competition!

The point of all this is that Social Media, in the not too distant future will be regarded as a very big thing; a turning point for society.  To provide evidence for this assertion, I need to thank my friend, Joanna Penn (The Creative Penn) for posting this video.  It is part of the presentation for the book Socialnomics, written by Eric Qualman. He asks the question, “Is Social Media a Fad or the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?” That’s BIG.  The facts within are staggering!  Welcome to this new reality!

Dealing with Stress (Author and Otherwise)

Over the past year that I have been writing with intensity (‘Lynn’s Story’ and

Medieval Writing Desk (Public Domain)

 ‘Views From Sandhausen’), I have, on occasion, been stressed.  If you consider that I started this odyssey as a coping mechanism for dealing with the death of my wonderful Lynn, stressing over the solution to one’s fundamental stressor is less than optimal. 

Those of you that know me know that in the direct aftermath of Lynn’s passing (documented in “Lynn’s Story”) I quit smoking.  Well, I’ve been bragging that I was capable of doing that at any time for years; it was certainly ‘Put up or Shut up’ time.  Well I did and I did; not that I would have given nearly anything to weaken – I did not.  So, how did I do it!

As a Global Program Manager for a Fortune 100 company for 38 years, I learned many lessons on dealing with stress.  Project Managing Year 2000 for my company, allowed me to really focus on those ‘Lessons Learned’, employing them personally, and teaching them to others.  Lynn’s passing was Shattering.  With my writing and the love (and support) of my family, I used those tactics again.

In part, to learn the ‘Writing and Publishing” Industry, I subscribed to several dozen writer and publisher blogs.  One of my absolute favorites is Kristin Lamb’s Blog, WarriorWriters.WordPress.com.

In it she covers a wide range of topics on all things writing and publishing.  Recently, she wrote a wonderful post: Stress Happens–Surviving and Thriving Despite Life’s Setbacks .  I urge you to read it, even if you are not a writer.  It is solid, common-sense driven advice in a time when we all can use all of the coping strategies we can obtain!

Cliff

Self-Publishing Coach Interview: Views from Sandhausen

It was my pleasure to be invited by Shelley Hitz, Founder and Owner of Self-Publishing-Coach.com, to do an interview about the current state of Self-Publishing ‘turn-key’ companies. She is a charming and talented author and Coach and can be reached at http://Self-Publishing-Coach.com. Her site is loaded with templates and other valuable resources for writers.  You have to see it!

Credit: Shelley Hitz

Please read and enjoy the full interview here.

Thanks

Working in the Back Room

Today’s activity, and indeed the activity for the next week or so (with sporadic work after), is to find and join blogs that pertain to our primary focus, i.e. make the world (and more importantly our niche) aware of our book Views from Sandhausen, and the many ways that our book can add value to our potential readers.  Of course, that extends to the site http://ViewsfromSandhausen.com , our ‘sales’ site.  This site is not yet active as we have to work with Smart Author Sites to design a powerful and compelling website. 

USA Internet Backbone

I have sent out a number of invitations to potential memoir-authors, and well as a current PDF of the entire book.  I’m not in a position to put this version up on Amazon, Kindle or B&N eBook sites as the recover copy has black and white photographs within.  This is done so to not give the Impression that the final print versions of the book will include color photographs.  Printing the book with in color is horrifically expensive.  Of course, the final eBook versions will contain color photos.

I’m finding lots of opportunities within my niche (Foreign Service, Travel, Life in Europe, etc.) and am both subscribing to those blogs and subscribing to their authors on Twitter.  This activity has resulted in an enormous uptick in folks following me on Twitter, now at 305 and climbing rapidly.  Of course this building of my “Tribe” in the eWorld is nothing but goodness!

One person that I re-tripped across in my journey across the electrons is David Radin.  Dave was a salesman for a Computer Graphics System Company back in the late 1970’s and early ‘80’s, which I brought into My Fortune 100 Company.  His company was very small but they wrote great software, and great hardware on which it ran.  As a Manager of Design & Drafting Services for my company, I saw the value; I just had to convince the leaders of my company that even if it wasn’t IBM, it had worth and we needed to embrace it. We did, Dave’s company performed, and I was promoted.  Life was good!

Over the years we occasionally crossed paths, particularly after his first book Building a Successful Software Business was published.  He is now a very successful CEO at Just between Friends in Pittsburgh.  It was great to talk to him and we will work together going forward.

So, amongst news that they are shooting congresswomen in Arizona, I plod on, doing the work that I want to do and trusting that the future will take care of itself!

Cliff