Intel Gathering of Your Internet Use

Check out this article on how the public is being tracked.

Tuesday, 19 March 2013 12:17

The Internet is a surveillance state - March 19

http://www.olivetreeviews.org/news/headlines/item/3015-the-internet-is-a-surveillance-state-march-19

Recently finished The Perfect Assassin (Ward, 2008)

I bought the Kindle version of The Perfect Assassin by Ward Larsen.  It's in my favorite genre.  Turned out to be excellent.  Really like it.  Larsen does an excellent job of pulling the reader in, making the characters likeable and interesting, and he moves the plot forward in leaps, changing the pace with the story, and finally pushing it right through to the end.  Among the best action-espionage novels I've read, and I'd have to say he does a better job of it than Patrick Robinson.  Certainly on par with Brad Taylor. 

Here is the Amazon summary of the book:
One perfect shot will change the course of history. Christine Palmer, a young American doctor sailing solo across the Atlantic, makes an incredible discovery - a man narrowly clinging to his life in the frigid waters. But there is much more to this desperate survivor than meets the eye.David Slaton is a Kidon - a highly-trained, highly-precise, and highly-dangerous assassin. The Kidon is both the hunter and the hunted, and he and Christine are in grave danger. Will they win in this race against time?With the precision of a sharpshooter, author Ward Larsen weaves an intricate tale of espionage and intrigue.

And Larsen's bio from Amazon:
Bestselling author Ward Larsen is a two-time winner of the Florida Book Award. His first thriller, The Perfect Assassin, is currently being adapted into a major motion picture by Amber Entertainment. His work has been nominated for both the Edgar and Macavity Awards. A former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, Larsen flew over twenty missions in Operation Desert Storm. He has also served as a federal law enforcement officer, airline captain, and is a trained aircraft accident investigator.

These are two newer novels of his, both about flight.  Don't think I'll read them as I'm not into aviation, but I'll check them out for sure.  I'll post their ads.

Reading for pleasure, to learn, to improve one's craft

Reading... goes with writing.  

I really like reading, and wish I did more of it.  It seems to come down to the number of available hours in a day.  Sadly, my reading often gets pushed out of the way by other things.  

(I like this recent photo I found... it communicates the theme of loving the written word, the power of words, the experience of reading.)

Over the past couple years I've been reading through three different books on writing.  These authors have become my writing instructors.  Stephen King, Larry Beinhart, and the pair, Irwin & Eyerly.

The books include: Stephen King's On Writing (2010), Larry Beinhart's How to Write a Mystery (1996), and Hadley Irwin & Jeanette Eyerly's 25-year-old Writing Young Adult Novels (1988).  Each of them recommend lots of reading.  Clive Cussler is another whom I pay attention to whenever I hear snippets of his method; he reads quite a bit as well.  

Breaks from writing...

Enough of this means one needs to take a break.

So that's what I've been doing recently.