Glendon Perkins In The House!

Glendon Perkins

First of all, I would like to thank each and everyone of you who took time to participate in my blog hop that I hosted sometime back. It was a pleasure having all of you there. I met some new bloggers and it was interesting to learn about your writing journey.

I would like to express my gratitude by having your interview up on my blog to let my readers know about you. So, first in the list is +Glendon Perkins 

 Tell us about yourself a little   

A) I'm a Wyoming native, U. S. Navy veteran, and a three-time published author of short stories.

  Why do you write and what is the motive behind it?  

A) I write to tell a story. That seems like a simplistic answer but it's true.

 What is the biggest motivation (people/any incidents) for you to write?  

A) Situations in life are the most often motivators to my writing. I see something or hear something or experience something and a story starts developing in my head.

How is the feedback from people or your readers?  

A) Nearly all the feedback I've received from my readers is positive. Some readers may not like the genre I write in, but the writing itself is generally well received.

 What is the progress in writing that you are proud of?  

A) My overall progress in writing. Going from someone who didn't have a clue about writing a good story to being someone who understands what a good story is.

Tell us about an interesting writing you have made so far.   

A) For several months I posted a novel in rough draft from my novel in progress "Buried Alive." The story was so well received, and along with the popularity of the story mixed with the term "publishable", I was forced to remove it from the public.

What is hardest – getting published, writing or marketing?  

A) For now writing is my greatest challenge. I seldom have completed works to try marketing and I'm not ready for publication of a novel yet.

 What marketing works for you?  

A) My marketing consists of word of mouth and posting links on social networks.

 How do you plan to expand your writing experiences (ex: from being a blogger to a writer etc?). 

A)I already blog and write so being published is how I hope to expand. 

Are you aware of the tricks blogging have to drive you more traffic? (like Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and blog layouts?). 

A) Nope, don't know anything about how to draw more traffic.

What do you want to achieve through writing?  

A) A published novel, preferably through traditional publishing.

 How would you encourage or advise someone who is intending to take up writing?  

A) Just do it. That's about as simple as it gets. Write a lot and read a lot. Don't worry about your first attempts being bad. We've all been there. Find a special or ideal reader to write for. And ask questions.

What do you hope people will take away from your writing? How will your words make them feel?

  A) I would like my readers to com away with some kind or emotional response. I like to hear the readers say they received "chills" or the story was "chilling" or "I was right there."

 Do you have a website you would want to share with us?  

A) My website is www.glendonperkins.com. It has my blog posts, guest writers, writing tips, and links to my published works.

Thank you, Jassy for letting me be a part of your blog hop.

Thank you for your precious time Glen and I wish you all the best!!

Love,

Jasveena

I welcome you thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback

What Is True About True?

A True Gift

It was a casual day with me going through the internet, blogging and getting distracted from what I was supposed to be doing which is applying for jobs. I had and still having a good time having absolutely, I mean it, absolutely nothing to worry about at home. So there was this day I could still remember. I was going through a few blogs of authors and writers as they appear on my news feed on my Google + homepage. There is a huge network of authors over here with people like Alana, Adrianna and Vashti being so warm and welcoming. In fact, through these people and other friends on writers' community, I am getting to know awesome blogs and writers. So, I remember going through a new blog belonging to a whole new person, Melinda Field and the first thing I saw on her blog was about her book and I quickly learned that she is a writer. I left a comment on her blog as I found her book very intriguing and little did I know she would be mailing me soon about her book. I received this book together with her beautiful wisdom card a month ago and I had so much fun reading it. 

Something about Melinda that might catch your interest:

Melinda Field is an award winning writer/poet/playwright who lives in the mountains of Northern California. A version of her short story The Ledge, excerpted from True, was an award winner in the Lorian Hemingway International Short Story Competition. She has authored three sets of ​wisdom cards with photographic artist Lani Phillips, that were created to inspire and empower women of all ages on a daily basis. They are Wisdom of the Crone, Wonder of the Mother and The Journey. The cards can be viewed at www.wisewomenink.com. Melinda is currently working on a sequel to True.

She has been a wonderful support within a short period of time knowing her and I would like to thank her for amazing guidance. It really means a lot to me Melinda. :) You can read her blog at this link and her official page here

True, from my point of view, is a story told in the most natural and genuine way. It is highly relatable to our daily life, with the good and the bad coming together in the same journey of life. The book starts off with Caterina Ramos, being a stubborn child, forced to go to her grandmother's place after her mother has been sent to the prison for prostitution and drug abuse. Caterina goes to school nearby and there she sees a bunch of terrible boys who bullies her. Later, she becomes the victim of rape when these boys take advantage of her. Her grandmother Jenny passes away hearing this, and Emma, one of the horsewomen takes care of Cat while she continues her pregnancy.

The story evolves beautifully and peacefully emphasizing on the true friendship between these horsewomen and how they help each other to overcome life and death. Melinda is currently working on the second book and I can't wait to buy it next. Get her book at Amazon

I welcome your thoughts and views ! :D Thank you for your feedback

Things I Want My Daughters To Know

Mother and Daughter

I have a book named Things I Want My Daughters To Know. I bought this some years back and I think this book expressed the emotional bonding of a mother with her daughters so well. It is one of the books I read that still stays so fresh on my mind and I think the novelist has implied the message a mother would want to let her daughters know before her death. In this story, the mother dies due to cancer and the daughters would discover letters written by the mother after her death that would guide them through their important moments of their life.

Things I Want My Daughters To Know

Inspired by this book, I wanted to come up with the things I would want my daughters to know, if I have any in the future. I thought it would be good to think about this now to mold the future of my children soon.

1. I Want My Daughters To Know That Seeking People's Approval Hurts

I want them to value themselves for who they are and no longer be the women in the older generation where they used to care for people's approval about their behaviours and being 'obedient' women pleasing men and putting up with their shit.

2. I Want My Daughters To Know That It Is Not A Crime To Have Their Own Opinion

I want my daughters to know that they should always have a firm opinion on any issues and never fear the societies' and religions' brutal limitation and control over what women should and shouldn't do. I want them to know that standing firm by their belief is more important than anything else.

3. I Want My Daughters To Know That They Shouldn't Allow People To Have Control Over Them

I want them to fly free like a bird, doing what they feel they could do, and pursuing their desire that could complete their seek for a sense of  achievements in life. I would never want them to see as someone who is being taken granted for as a wife, forsaking their own goals in life.

4. I Want My Daughters To Know That They Are Women With Class

I want them to define their own life and be a woman with class. I want them to carve success in a unique way and be a leader, not a follower and most importantly be different from everyone else. I want them to be wise and not innocent, taking guard of themselves and analysing different aspects of life from their own perspective. 

God Take Over: I Am Finished

God Take Over: I Am Finished

Difficult times in life can be very devastating. Some can cope with the hardship and come out of it to be a better person, whereas some get out of track, gets mislead and never come back to the journey he or she is supposed to be travelling on. What differs these two different group of people? What are the connection between tough times and spirituality and most importantly God?

The one who loses hope fast are the ones who never get their spiritual strength renewed. They seemed to be seeing more negativity in life more than the goodness it has to offer. With hatred in heart, they become someone they are not, from good to bad, disseminating the negative aura and vibes to everyone surrounding them. Life and negativity win them over. People who embraced success and faith in life are those who were able to see the bright side of difficulties. They had hope with the future. And the hope came in the form of God. 

God Take Over: I Am Finished. A Cry For Mercy When Suffering Seems Unfair is a book written by Christine Agada, based on her own life's trial and tribulations as she struggled in life, willingly and sometimes unwillingly submits to God's will. Catherine beautifully captures the message that if we choose to seek God's help and allow God to take control of our life, our faith would be restored and our souls will be revitalised. 

By applying the ultimate message in this book: where human senses, strength, power, abilities, knowledge, and intelligence end, God’s supremacy begins, one would realise the strength weakness has and turn it into a stepping stone for success and peace of mind. 

It is an inspirational, spiritual and personal growth book that would restore your relationship with man and God. For those who say God is Nowhere, this book would show you that God is Now Here and opens your eyes to faith, peace and spirituality, taking you one step closer to God.

Catherine's websites are http://www.ctkpublishing.net/ and http://www.cathyagada.com/ 

Her book can be purchased at http://www.createspace.com/4263363

Grow Your Blog Audience: Enable 3rd Party Commenting System

Updates:

I found that my G+ friends could not drop their comments via G+ on my blog when I enabled Disqus a few weeks back so I contacted the Support at Disqus regarding that and their response was:

Hi Jasveena,

To clarify, although users can connect their Google account with their Disqus account, they cannot comment with their Google Plus account at this time. Let us know if you have any other questions.

Brittany - Product Support Disqus 

As a blogger for the past three months, I am keen on updating my blog to be appealing to my readers as well as Search Engines. In order to take blogging into the next level, one should do Search Engine Optimisation to his or her blog. Now many bloggers have great contents on their blog and some even get thousands of visitors a month. It is a sad case if you don't make an effort to learn about blogging further when some people out there are mastering blogging tricks and bringing their blogs on the first page of Google thus being a blogger by profession.

I have always wanted to have my Facebook friends and Twitter followers commenting on my blog. Most of the time, when I have not published any new post, I would still be getting a decent amount of audience on my blog on my popular articles. I know they are not from G+, so they are not able to comment on my blog or like the post. So I enabled Disqus thread on my blogger account. With this, I hope more readers would be engaged on my thoughts via my posts. 

For Disqus to work you should disable G + comment system.  All you should do is to create an account an install the widget via their easy-install method on http://disqus.com/

I hope this work for you and do let me know if you like the changes on my blog. 

Lessons Learnt 4 Years Away From Home

Running Away From Home

You really thought I ran away from home huh? Kidding. I was away from home to pursue my higher studies and now back HOME. As of June 2013, it has been 4 years I'm away from home, learning to handle life somehow on my own and I think after all these years, I could make a good conclusion on what I have learned so far while running life according to my own instinct. So what lessons did I acquired?

I was attached to a local Technical University after my STPM (which is equivalent to what we all know as A level). I was offered a degree course in Chemical Engineering in June 2009 and now I'm done with it after 4 years. It was indeed the first time away from home and that was when I left my comfort zone to learn life apart from what the books taught me.

I feel those 4 years made me into a different person altogether. I may not have changed very much from the way I look but internally, my thoughts and attitudes have been shaped better. If you are a student who just started off your university life or about to go into your future university or higher education institution, I hope you would start learning life altogether, not just looking into what the books have to say. If you do so, you are losing a part of your valuable life and I certainly feel sorry for students who fail to think out of the education scope. These are the conclusions I could make now after the bitter-sweet ride of 4 years.

1. Screw People Aside
The one complicated thing about anything we deal with everywhere is people. From businesses, politics, family, relationship and friends, everything is a mess because people don't have parallel thoughts with you. I'm not saying you should disregard everyone but there are very little people who are genuinely interested in your well-being. So know who are they and always cherish your relationship with them. Never count on someone who would stab you from the back. I learnt to never really sweat on things happening with people as people come and go in life and all you should know is that you have done good from your part.

2. Keep Your Focus On Your Goals
One thing that keeps your life spicy is having goals in life. These aims are the reason for you to get up and out from your bed. When you have reasonably beneficial goals, you will be focused in life and nothing could distract you from getting what you want. You don't just live a life at college for a piece of paper that tells your boss you qualified exams alone. I felt I should have pursued writing two years back when I created the blog, yes THIS blog, for my English class (Academic Report Writing I think) and I have abandoned it after three months.

3. Time Is Gold
My lessons in life within that 4 years also taught me that I should appreciate time. Procrastinating is not going to lead us anywhere and I think once you have found the purpose of you living, you will regret time wasted and would never want to waste your time anymore. You will be more grounded. Make use of time to gain as much as you can; knowledge, money and experiences. They say life starts at 40, but I'm not 40 yet to comment on that. Nevertheless, I can say that life starts the moment you want it to get started.

4. Jump Out Of Your Comfort Zone
If you are going to be an ordinary student going to class, sitting for exams and passing with flying colours, you will eventually regret your boring schedule. Take a risk. Of course a calculated risk, do what you have always liked doing or ever dreamed of doing before. Go to the gym, keep yourself fit. At the end of a tiring day, a sense of accomplishment would follow and that is the reason for a peaceful sleep and also the reason for you to wake up the next day.

It's your life and you choose how to live it. So live it your way in your own terms and grab success your way. Thank you for reading and it will be so nice to have your say on my posts in the comment section regarding your lessons. 

Importance of Doing SEO For Blogs

Blogging and SEO

I have been a blogger now for the past four months with almost 10K visits to my site. Regardless of why we blog, we need good traffic to actually promote our writings. A good blogging way would drive quality traffic to your blog. So how do we do this? I have learned some important tips that are worth following all these while and I think SEO plays an important role in ensuring you get a good number of visitors. It is a well-known short form for Search Engine Optimisation. I bet most of you would be using Google as your primary search engine. In order to have your page appearing in the lower Page Rank List (PRL), you need to tweak your blog and articles to some extent. 

1. Keyword Density

Ideally, you should have one keyword that is included in your article title, and appear two to three times only throughout your blog. I chose the keyword which is the abbreviation of Search Engine Optimisation as it appears to be having a medium level of search results per month. You can check the priority level of keywords using Google Adwords. When you limit your keyword usage, the search engines crawl better to look up for your articles or blog. 

Google Adwords

2. Page Layout

I just checked for my SEO site checkup results via this page and it says that my page loads slowly as it exceeds the average size of a webpage. An average web page's size is only 33 kb whereas mine is about 200 kb which is pretty high and one way to cut down the size of your page is by using CSS layouts, external style sheets, and moving javascript to external files. I have no idea yet what those stuff mean but I will surely look into it. Apparently, sites with larger sizes discourage people to visit which is pretty true.

3. Blog Article Details 

Make sure your blog article is updated with search descriptions and labels. Ensure you have enabled custom robot tags too. If you have pictures, make sure you add titles to it and always cite the page that you have taken the pictures from. I have learned that words in italic and bold help search engines to locate your articles better but there are other sources saying this is not necessarily true or effective. As you can see, I have highlighted my keyword here in bold to emphasis on SEO

4. Google Analytics

If you have signed up for Google Analytics, you will find interesting stuffs regarding search engine results related to your blog. This is the result of my blog. Check the keywords people use to land on my page. It is pretty interesting. 

Google Analytics

I'll be updating this page with more information from time to time. Stay tuned.