R. Frederick Riddle's Blog, page 23

News 09 07 20

Today’s Issue: Labor Day

Welcome to News & Views which is published every Monday and Friday.

What is Labor Day?

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

As a former union member in good standing I celebrate workers, both unionized and non-unionized. American industry is built upon the dedication and hard work of millions of men and women. Unfortunately, the Labor Movement is not the same as it was when I was a young factory worker.

Although the politicization of unions was well underway back then they at least tried to maintain a public persona of being neutral. Today the union movement is dying because leaders have become more involved in politics and less involved in the workers themselves.

Unions came into existence because the average worker didn’t feel they were being recognized for their work. Working conditions were bad, pay was weak, and abuse appeared to be rampant. And unions were able to use their leverage to accomplish much good.

But along the way they changed.

Like I said it was already underway when I was a young man, but today’s unions are a far cry from what I knew back then.

Will There Always Be a Need for Unions?

Good question. It is possible unions will disappear altogether, but it’s also true there may be a continuing need. Most businesses have awakened to the fact that a happy, healthy, well paid work force is a productive workforce. I am sure there are some businessmen and women who haven’t gotten that memo yet, but they are few and only time will tell if the need continues.

One reason people want to come to our country is the freedom to work, to invent, to explore the unknown, and to make their mark. Not to mention provide for their families. Legal immigration is one of the backbones of our work force. So many people have come here from other countries and contributed to America’s well-being. Illegal immigration has yet to prove it has any such benefit to the country or to the illegal immigrant.

America Remains a Free Country.

As long as it remains free people will want to come here. It seems to me legal Immigration should be expanded with higher numbers of immigrants allowed into the United States. I think we should have a balanced approach with the Wall as a necessary deterrent to illegal immigration plus a wider door to come through which would be a fair and equitable plan. Immigrants need to be vetted since we live in a violent anti-American world.

Dealing with the existing illegal immigrants has become the cause célèbre of politics. But isn’t it putting the cart before the horse? Before dealing with those already in the U.S. we need to first stop the flow into the United States. Let’s plug the leak through the Wall, increase border security, and reform Legal Immigration. Once that’s done then deal with how to treat the illegal immigrants.

Do You Favor DACA?”

To some degree this has already been taken care of by President Trump. Tired of waiting on Congress to deal with this issue he issued a decree than many feel answers the DACA needs. Only time will tell how this work out and whether Congress eventually adopts it. Remember, a Presidential decree only lasts as long as the President is in office. The next President can issue an entirely different decree.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

Subscribe to Author Alerts (click and submit signup form)

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld. #Writingservices

News & Views 09 07 20

Today’s Issue: Labor Day

Welcome to News & Views which is published every Monday and Friday.

What is Labor Day?

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

As a former union member in good standing I celebrate workers, both unionized and non-unionized. American industry is built upon the dedication and hard work of millions of men and women. Unfortunately, the Labor Movement is not the same as it was when I was a young factory worker.

Although the politicization of unions was well underway back then they at least tried to maintain a public persona of being neutral. Today the union movement is dying because leaders have become more involved in politics and less involved in the workers themselves.

Unions came into existence because the average worker didn’t feel they were being recognized for their work. Working conditions were bad, pay was weak, and abuse appeared to be rampant. And unions were able to use their leverage to accomplish much good.

But along the way they changed.

Like I said it was already underway when I was a young man, but today’s unions are a far cry from what I knew back then.

Will There Always Be a Need for Unions?

Good question. It is possible unions will disappear altogether, but it’s also true there may be a continuing need. Most businesses have awakened to the fact that a happy, healthy, well paid work force is a productive workforce. I am sure there are some businessmen and women who haven’t gotten that memo yet, but they are few and only time will tell if the need continues.

One reason people want to come to our country is the freedom to work, to invent, to explore the unknown, and to make their mark. Not to mention provide for their families. Legal immigration is one of the backbones of our work force. So many people have come here from other countries and contributed to America’s well-being. Illegal immigration has yet to prove it has any such benefit to the country or to the illegal immigrant.

America Remains a Free Country.

As long as it remains free people will want to come here. It seems to me legal Immigration should be expanded with higher numbers of immigrants allowed into the United States. I think we should have a balanced approach with the Wall as a necessary deterrent to illegal immigration plus a wider door to come through which would be a fair and equitable plan. Immigrants need to be vetted since we live in a violent anti-American world.

Dealing with the existing illegal immigrants has become the cause célèbre of politics. But isn’t it putting the cart before the horse? Before dealing with those already in the U.S. we need to first stop the flow into the United States. Let’s plug the leak through the Wall, increase border security, and reform Legal Immigration. Once that’s done then deal with how to treat the illegal immigrants.

Do You Favor DACA?”

To some degree this has already been taken care of by President Trump. Tired of waiting on Congress to deal with this issue he issued a decree than many feel answers the DACA needs. Only time will tell how this work out and whether Congress eventually adopts it. Remember, a Presidential decree only lasts as long as the President is in office. The next President can issue an entirely different decree.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

Subscribe to Author Alerts (click and submit signup form)

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld. #Writingservices

News 09 04 20

Today’s Issue: Really!

Welcome to News & Views which is published every Monday and Friday.

Let me get this straight. A person who is 3rd in line to be President, wields great power, and a millionaire was set up by a hair salon or a stylist. Really!

Setup or Just Arrogant?

The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has enormous power. She has people available who not only monitor but are in control of where she goes, etc. The U.S. Capitol Police protect her, but as the next in line after Vice-President Pence, she apparently has Secret Service protection as well.

My point is that whatever agency protects her would have the ability to “scout ahead” to find out if it is safe. They would also have known of any state or local regulations that would or could impact her travel. In this case, they would have known that salons were not yet allowed to open up.

In my mind, Nancy Pelosi cannot blame the salon owner or the stylist. Her people would or at least should have known about any and all circumstances surrounding her appointment. Further, not wearing her mask for a brief time is completely on her. I don’t go to salons, but I am quite sure that in these days wearing a mask is required by most store owners, not to mention local government.

So, being setup is a non-starter. If her people didn’t inform her, then she has a personnel problem. But commonsense tells all of us wearing a mask when entering a facility is usually required. And having it around her neck is not what is meant.

What’s her Problem?

There’re no term limits for legislators. So, she has been serving in Congress for 33 years, including 7 years representing the 12th District. In that amount of time a person acquires a lot of political power.

She’s been Speaker of the House for 17 years. That makes it very hard to get rid of her as either Speaker or Minority Leader (if Republicans win majority).

However, I think she is slipping. Not talking mentally, although one could argue that. But politically she has suffered defeats. The Impeachment fiasco should never have happened. In case you forgot, she went from saying “impeachment is so divisive” to pushing it through. And it was not because of overwhelming evidence. They had a lot of innuendos, fake manifesto, and political skills on their side, but not much in the way of real evidence.

But for the first time in her career she felt fear. She sees these younger strident women coming into Congress and found she couldn’t control them. I believe to this day that she never supported impeachment but did so because of the loud voices of a few. Now she is stuck with it and will forever be linked to it.

I think we’re seeing the demise of her leadership role. I’m not celebrating, because the Party is selling out to the Far Left. She may linger on for a while yet, but I think the die is cast and she will be replaced by someone further to the Left.

I believe her response of blaming others for her own actions is just a symptom of what is going on. We may see a lot more in the future.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

Subscribe to Author Alerts (click and submit signup form)

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld. #Writingservices

News & Views 09 04 20

Today’s Issue: Really!

Welcome to News & Views which is published every Monday and Friday.

Let me get this straight. A person who is 3rd in line to be President, wields great power, and a millionaire was set up by a hair salon or a stylist. Really!

Setup or Just Arrogant?

The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has enormous power. She has people available who not only monitor but are in control of where she goes, etc. The U.S. Capitol Police protect her, but as the next in line after Vice-President Pence, she apparently has Secret Service protection as well.

My point is that whatever agency protects her would have the ability to “scout ahead” to find out if it is safe. They would also have known of any state or local regulations that would or could impact her travel. In this case, they would have known that salons were not yet allowed to open up.

In my mind, Nancy Pelosi cannot blame the salon owner or the stylist. Her people would or at least should have known about any and all circumstances surrounding her appointment. Further, not wearing her mask for a brief time is completely on her. I don’t go to salons, but I am quite sure that in these days wearing a mask is required by most store owners, not to mention local government.

So, being setup is a non-starter. If her people didn’t inform her, then she has a personnel problem. But commonsense tells all of us wearing a mask when entering a facility is usually required. And having it around her neck is not what is meant.

What’s her Problem?

There’re no term limits for legislators. So, she has been serving in Congress for 33 years, including 7 years representing the 12th District. In that amount of time a person acquires a lot of political power.

She’s been Speaker of the House for 17 years. That makes it very hard to get rid of her as either Speaker or Minority Leader (if Republicans win majority).

However, I think she is slipping. Not talking mentally, although one could argue that. But politically she has suffered defeats. The Impeachment fiasco should never have happened. In case you forgot, she went from saying “impeachment is so divisive” to pushing it through. And it was not because of overwhelming evidence. They had a lot of innuendos, fake manifesto, and political skills on their side, but not much in the way of real evidence.

But for the first time in her career she felt fear. She sees these younger strident women coming into Congress and found she couldn’t control them. I believe to this day that she never supported impeachment but did so because of the loud voices of a few. Now she is stuck with it and will forever be linked to it.

I think we’re seeing the demise of her leadership role. I’m not celebrating, because the Party is selling out to the Far Left. She may linger on for a while yet, but I think the die is cast and she will be replaced by someone further to the Left.

I believe her response of blaming others for her own actions is just a symptom of what is going on. We may see a lot more in the future.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

Subscribe to Author Alerts (click and submit signup form)

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld. #Writingservices

Ron’s Lit Tip 09 03 20

Today’s Issue: Inner Thoughts

Welcome to Ron’s Lit Tip. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I will share a tip with you.

I often advise writers to use italics when allowing readers to ‘hear’ a character’s Inner Thoughts. And I do so again.

But what is so important about Inner Thoughts?

Glad you asked.

Inner Thoughts are the same as thinking. We humans are always thinking and whether or not your characters thinking shows up in a book their actions are the result of and reveal to some extent their thoughts. Sometimes letting the actions depict a character’s thoughts is the best route, but there are times when the reader needs to ‘hear’ those thoughts.

All the Characters?

No. Not even most of the characters. At the very least the reader needs to be able to understand and identify with the primary character. You want the hero or heroine to be as real as possible. This helps the reader identify with the character, maybe sympathize, or even approve of both the thinking and the resulting action.

I’m Still Confused.

You want the primary and maybe a few other leading characters to be real, not two dimensional. Broadcasting the character’s thoughts brings another dimension and can play a pivotal role in the overall story.

Sometimes when a character is facing a problem it can be worked out in thoughts. Instead of you the narrator telling the reader what he or she thought, you allow the character’s thoughts to be heard. The reader gets additional facts right from the character rather than the author.

That can be powerful!

So, why don’t all authors do that?

This may be hard to believe, but it’s possible they disagree with me. It is also possible that they simply never thought of it as being important. Usually such authors endeavor to inform the reader of the thoughts and think that is enough. But consider the following:

Jim’s story wasn’t believed by Detective Adams.

Or

As Jim related his story, Detective Adams thought, There’s something wrong here. This just doesn’t make sense.

You decide which is more powerful.

I see your point, but why the italics?

Technically, there is no law that says you must use italics to indicate thinking. But I contend that if you use quotes (“”) a reader might think the character is talking out loud or if you use an underline (__) a reader my just think it is being emphasized but not really thinking. In both cases the reader may miss the idea of thinking.

Another thing to consider is that in the above example where the detective’s thoughts were shown it got more of the story such as time (as Jim related) and why the detective didn’t believe it (something wrong, and doesn’t make sense). If you were also hearing Jim’s story for the first time, the detective’s thoughts alert you, the reader, to a multitude of possibilities and might cause you to reread Jim’s story.

Oh, in other words, the reader will also wonder.

Yes. And look for clues to solve the mystery. That is just one example of how I believe a character’s thoughts can influence the surrounding scene and, possibly, the entire story.

Tip: Use a primary character’s thoughts to help tell the story.

Tip: Consider using italics to indicate thoughts.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

Subscribe to Author Alerts (click and submit signup form)

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld. #Writingservices

Ron’s Lit Tip 09 02 20

Today’s Issue: Author Alerts

Welcome to Ron’s Lit Tip. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I will share a tip with you.

Do you enjoy these blogs?

Would you like more?

Well, I’ve decided to start a newsletter called Author Alerts. At the start I plan on it being a monthly issue, no start date yet. But I have placed a signup (popup) on our website. A visitor to the site sees the popup and, if interested, fills it out and submits. And just like that they are registered.

This is just another way of marketing products and services. Here at T&R Independent Books we have products (books) and services (TR Writing Services). So, it would seem to be an ideal way of marketing. However, our popup is strictly for TR Writing Services.

Marketing products and services is one of the keys to success and it seems to vary from person to person on whether something works. I’ve never used popups before which means this is a new adventure for me.

What am I Using for Email Campaigns

I have learned some things from the sources I use. I have had at least two sources recommend MailerLite for my email campaigns. Another good one is Mail Chimp, but once you get past the free service it gets pricey. So, I chose MailerLite.

My logic is simple. This is an experiment for me, which means I want the best service for the lowest price. If MailerLite is successful I would undoubtedly stick with them for the paid versions. But if I went with Mail Chimp, I would need to swap over to MailerLite once I exceeded Mail Chimps maximum subscriber limits for the free version. Mail Chimp allows up to 2,000 subscribers whereas MailerLite allows up to 1,000 subscribers.

That means when I reach 1,000 subscribers I would need to move to the Paid version. But I am of the persuasion that by that time the email campaign would pay for itself. I have used Mail Chimp in the past but not for long. If my memory serves me right, I found it too hard to navigate and to produce the kind of letters I wanted. In any case, I never did much with it.

What will the Newsletter be like?

For starters, it will be a monthly newsletter. It will be dedicated to writing, publishing, and some marketing. Although I expect the newsletter to grow and expand in its offerings, it will start off with subjects like Tips and Resources, plus other features.

One thing I will also do is gift the PDF version of my book Perished: The World That Was.  It is priced at $9.99, which isn’t a bad price in itself. But Free is always better. It’s a great book and a fine deal.

Tip: Consider using an email service to bolster your reach and your sales.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld. #Writingservices

Ron’s Lit Tip 09 01 20

Today’s Issue: Revelations from new book

Welcome to Ron’s Lit Tip. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I will share a tip with you.

Normally I give you a tip about writing. But today I’m taking a slightly different tack.

The time is coming when my new book Trump An Outsider’s View will be available for purchase. I thought that today I would share some facts from the book that you may not know. Since we are still in the Covid-19 Pandemic I’ve selected certain entries to display. They will be highlighted in bold.

Fact #1. Did Trump call Coronavirus a Fraud?

Actually, this is not in the book, but I thought I would include it here. This is the famous tweet that got the liberals so upset. The tweet occurred on February 28, 2020 at a Trump rally in South Carolina.

The Democrats and other liberals have since said that he said, ‘The coronavirus, this is their new hoax’. It is true he said in his tweet, ‘the coronavirus’, it is also true he said, ‘this is their new hoax’. But he did not say, ‘The coronavirus, this is their new hoax’.

These were two different statements within the tweet and the content was different in the tweet.

Fact #2. Did Trump not take the virus seriously?

In my book I color coded the Trump Administration’s response.

When you go through the Covid-19 Timeline, which began in November 2019, you will find the administration began its response on January 3, 2020. See the excerpt below:

The United States HHS Secretary Alex Azar was alerted on January 3 that CDC director Robert Redfield sent an email to the director of the Chinese CDC, George Gao, formally offering to send U.S. experts to China to investigate the coronavirus.

On the same day, the Trump Administration began initiating restrictions regarding China. Here it is:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a level I travel notice for Wuhan, China due to the spreading coronavirus.

Whatever President Trump said or tweeted, his Administration acted promptly. But in this politically charged year, that was conveniently forgotten.

Fact #3. What was the death rate at the end of August and what does it mean?

The death rate for the year-to-date as of 8pm August 31st is 3.05%.

There are numerous charts out there and differing people or organizations providing the numbers. I chose to use the Florida Department of Health daily numbers reported in the newspaper. I also used W.H.O. numbers for daily year-to-date reporting. The highwater mark for the virus was at the end of May when 5.8% of cases were deaths. The actual statement appears at the end of May and I am showing it below.

At this time, the total cases were 1,776,785 and total deaths were 103,781 for a death rate of 5.8%.

The final count for this book was 6,028,012 cases and 183,563 deaths for a death rate of 3.05%.

I was inspired to write my book by observing the events and discovering that the news media wasn’t being entirely honest. So, I started researching and following the stories within. The result is a book told from my perspective and based on facts not fear. You never know what you will discover when you start digging.

Lit Tip: Events happening around you are excellent sources for stories.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld. #Writingservices

Monday News & Comments 08 31 20

Today’s Issue: FEMA

Welcome to Monday News & Comments.

Earlier on August 8th President Trump signed an order authorizing FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), which was founded in 1979, to payout $300 per week to qualified unemployed workers. This is a result of the Democratic held House’s refusal to pass legislation that would have helped millions of unemployed voters. In following through on President Trump’s order FEMA has issued a press release. Here is an excerpt:

WASHINGTON — FEMA Administrator Pete Gaynor approved Florida for a FEMA grant under the Lost Wages Assistance program. FEMA’s grant funding will allow Florida to provide $300 per week — on top of their regular unemployment benefit — to those unemployed due to COVID-19. FEMA will work with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to implement a system to make this funding available to Florida residents.

This is good news for the unemployed here in America. Speaking as a man who was laid off through no fault of his own when I was much younger man, I know what it is like to be unemployed. Yes, you get unemployment benefits, but they don’t really replace what you were making. So, $300 more per week means a lot to someone trying to survive.

When I went on unemployment, I had $2000 in my bank account. I thought I was in fine shape and figured it would only be for a short time, but by the time I got another job it was all gone. I was a single man back then but consider how devastating losing your income is for families.

It is interesting to note that Nancy Pelosi and the press emphasize this as only temporary relief and therefore not worthy to consider. Again, speaking as one who was unemployed for a time temporary relief is far better than no relief at all. In my case I was able to find a new job within the time frame I was unemployed. But my bank account was wiped out by that time.

Many people who are unemployed want to work, even eager to work, and this extra money will buy them some time to find work. I’m not talking about fast food jobs such as President Obama offered, but real jobs. The Liberals in and out of government want permanent relief which robs a person of self-esteem. Inevitably such programs fail because the individual involved literally loses the desire to work and stagnates. And the impact of this takes people out of the workforce.

I know this increase in unemployment benefits will add to our deficit, but sometimes it is necessary. Once this pandemic is over, the economy will take off and repayment of the deficit will begin. In fact, it is already apparent that the economy is coming alive once again. Unemployment has begun declining and jobs are rising, slowly but ongoing.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle, Editor of TR Writing Services, provides help struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He also authors Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus he is co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld.

Friday News & Comments 08 28 20

Today’s Issue: Coverage of RNC

Welcome to Friday News & Comments.

Well, the Republican Convention is over, and the President has been re-nominated. I have no problem with the convention itself. But the coverage was poor. Now understand we watched the convention on broadcast television. We chose not to have cable TV so we pay the price.

We don’t get a good signal from PBS which carried more of the convention than other stations, so we watched it on CBS and NBC. At least CBS had Reince Priebus on its panel. As far as I could tell he was the only one with a conservative agenda, everyone else was liberal. NBC’s Chuck Todd was terrible as he, in my opinion, always reached for words or phrases that were negative or dismissive.

But, as expected, the network panelists on both stations were too busy telling us what they thought the issues are and how we should understand them. Reminds me of another TV reporter who not too long ago said it was their job to tell us what to think. No, It Is Not!

There job is to report the facts minus any personal bias. I know bias will always be there, but they should at least try.

Another situation that bugged me was that they talked too much. Instead of letting us hear what the Republicans were saying, they either never let us hear them (except for main speakers) or they interrupted the feed and began their interpretation. First ran into this on CBS. We turned to NBC and found them to be as bad or worse.

I didn’t watch the Democratic Convention, but I imagine it was the same although probably friendlier to the Democrats.

As for the conventions themselves I saw enough of both to color the DNC as dark and the RNC as light, or put another way, the DNC was pessimistic and the RNC was optimistic. Optimism is always better than pessimism, especially if the optimism is founded on facts which was true in this case. Covid-19 cases since May 31 grew by 352,587 (June), 1,926,860 (July), and 105,237 as of August 28, 2020. That indicates that August cases may have turned south. And we already know that the death rate (also known as case fatality rate and found by dividing deaths by cases) has plunged from 5.8% on May 31st to 3.09% on August 28th. Those are facts and they are positive!

While the death rate is not perfect it does give us a clearer picture, especially when over a long period of time. The above timeline covers June, July, and almost all of August for almost 13 weeks! That at least answers the problem of the delay of deaths. Instead of going higher they have continued downward.

With the trend southward of the cases I imagine we will see a bottoming out of the death rate and maybe a slight increase as the two totals draw closer. That is really positive news!

There is more reason to be optimistic than there is to be pessimistic.

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For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

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R Frederick Riddle, Editor of TR Writing Services, provides help struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He also authors Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus he is co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld.

Ron’s Lit Tip I am Motivated, What Next?

Today’s Issue: I am Motivated, What Next?

Welcome to Ron’s Lit Tip. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I will share a tip with you.

In the previous blog, I talked about getting motivated and how it’s important. But that’s only the spark.

What’s Next?

Think of a car. First you turn the key on and start the engine. That’s the motivation aspect. Your next step is to shift gears depending on where you want to go.

Shifting Gears.

Start doing something. Notice I didn’t say what to start doing. The reason is simple. Different people have different ways of starting. For example, I use a previous book as a template. This requires a little work because I have to save it under a new title, change key words, and some other metadata. Then of course, I have to remove some interior text. The advantage of this is that most of my frontmatter and backmatter is already there only needing touch ups.

Other people will use other methods. The point is that you have your engine started and it is time to begin your journey. Sitting in the parking lot and idling is not the ‘next’ thing you should be doing.

What’s the Journey?

Well, still using me as an example, I go through the existing text and remove most of it, leaving the Chapter Title, and my standard lines between Chapter Title and Text. Sometimes I go through the whole book first doing this and sometimes I work chapter to chapter, thus beginning the writing process. I will have to change the Title as it appears in the Heading, but that is about all in the text or body.

Another way to do this is to create a template from an existing book and use it over and over. This would already be cleaned up. However, it would also mean more updating of frontmatter and backmatter, as well as changing Heading and paging.

I’ve used both and either one saves time. More importantly it creates a consistency between my books, so when a reader picks up one of my books there is already a sense of familiarity.

But, if you are uncomfortable doing either of those methods, you can start from scratch. This means you will have to create a new title page, copyright page, and other frontmatter, plus the text including heading, and page numbers. Plus, you will need to add your backmatter, such as Author page, listing of previous books written, and more.

Lit Tip: Consider making a Template before you write.

Get free Guide to Writing at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com.

For information about us (“we edit, proof, and publish the book within you”)  contact us at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com and get our Free Brochure which tells you about our services.

AUTHOR’S PAGE: amazon.com/author/rfrederickriddle.

ARE YOU A BOOK REVIEWER? Want to review our books? Contact me at marketing@tr-indbkstore.com with the subject line indicating that desire. Such as, ‘Seek to review [book Title].’ Be sure to indicate your email address and your name.

 – – – – – – –

R Frederick Riddle is the Editor of TR Writing Services providing help to struggling and/or new authors to write and publish their books. He is also an author of Historical, Speculative, and Mystery fiction, plus co-founder and Vice President of T&R Independent Books. To reply to any blog you can comment on a blog and/or send an email to marketing@tr-indbkstore.com. His Facebook page is at RFrederickRiddlesWorld. #Writingservices