Patrick G. Whalen

I am experiencing a few lingering issues in transferring all of my original posts to the new Uncommon History blog. Visitors to the new blog will notice very little change in the interface or feel of the site. It is with great intention that I am preserving the familiar look and feel. Many visitors and guests to the original site really enjoyed the layout and I am trying with great earnest to ensure there are very few changes.

Please feel free to visit the new Uncommon History site and let me know what you think about the new digs (if you so desire).

Please also update your bookmarks to point to:

http://uncommonhistory.blogconduit.com

A number of my readers are from the Northeast and many of them have probably visited New York on occasion. There is so much to see in the Big Apple that I believe it would be impossible to catch everything, even if you lived there.

If you do plan on visiting New York City though and want to discover more than the typical tourist traps, try one of the New York City walking tours with someone familiar with the city.

“I try to leave out the parts that people skip.” – Elmore Leonard

If your a writer, you are also most likely a reader as well. As a reader you’ve probably come across too many books that seem to be chocked full of useless and irrelevant words. It truly is a fact that most book publishers pay for word count, but far too many authors fail to make those words count.

I attest to the fact that this area is one of the hardest for me to get a true handle on. When I write, I write from the heart and mind and soul and to me every single word counts. The problem is that many of your readers won’t agree with you.

You want your readers to read every single letter you jot down, but admit to yourself now that such a reality doesn’t exist. Pretty much all readers skim, just like you are doing right now, looking for the useful morsel or nugget that you can take away from these few minutes that I stole from your life.

My suggestion, which is admittedly sometimes very difficult to stomach, is to have others read your work before you wrap it up in a final draft. When they have read it they will most likely give you very valuable feedback, but you can also ask questions of them.

Specifically ask, “Did you find any of it to be superfluous? Did you skim any of it? Which part(s) did you skim?”

If you receive feedback to such questions, you will be able to remove the parts that others won’t read and be closer to achieving your goal. That is, if your goal is to remove “filler” from your masterpiece.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of ampm. All opinions are 100% mine.

I understand that for some people, eating is a curse. It’s something they either do only because they know they have to or that because of the temptation to not stop eating, they must exercise extreme vigilance. Whatever the case may be for you, I have to admit that I absolutely love to eat. Some people like to sit in art galleries and stare at paintings that reflect the artist’s dreams, expression and talent. To me, food does the exact same thing, but it is more of an interactive experience.

Rather than standing in a cold room under dim lights staring at paint, appreciation of food is best expressed when consumed. In fact, I also love to cook and hear the mmmms and ahhhss from my dinner guests when they taste my concoctions. It’s even better when I get to sample the quality works of other food artists. To make it better still, many an architect of a fine meal will even share their “secret recipe” with you on occasion.

This fantastic source of new food ideas is now moving to social networking which is one of the greatest places of all to share new ideas. There is a new application on Facebook with which you can add a secret menu tab to your profile and find new and interesting Yums that you may want to add to your own menu. New Yums are scheduled to appear on 7/26, 8/2, 8/9, 8/16, and 8/30. On top of that, starting August 2, you and your friends can share your very own secret recipes with each other!

I am personally a lover of the Great American Burger and the ampm Secret Menu item named the “Chili Conquistador” blends together some of my favorite American ingredients. It may not be nutritionist approved, but your taste buds may just agree that it is quite a tasty treat!

Are you kidding me? It can’t be that time again, can it?

Okay, so NaNoWriMo is still three months away, but when you think about how fast this year has gone already, November really is just right around the corner.

If you are one of the few writers who hasn’t stumbled upon this great exercise in applying your craft, NaNoWriMo stands for “National Novel Writing Month.” Each year thousands of writers from across the globe gather online, huddle into coffee shops or even curl up in their dark closets with a lap top to “pen” 50,000 words in just 30 days.

It isn’t necessarily a competition against other writers as much as it is a friendly challenge for individuals. Writing groups form from seemingly nowhere to support each other and help keep the creative juices flowing.

If you accomplish your 50,000 word goal, you are then eligible to brag about your own personal achievement and place badges on your website.

It is almost August so it would be a great idea if you do plan to participate in NaNoWriMo 2010 to get a basic framework together before November 1st. Don’t cheat by starting your draft just yet, but it is common (and suggested) practice to get some basic outline or sketch prepared beforehand.

Eating healthy and losing weight has not been a priority in my life, but lately I’ve been watching the numbers on my bathroom scale slowly drift upward. I’ve begun becoming increasingly aware of the types of food I eat and the activities I take part in (or avoid). I am still certainly no expert in the realm of healthy eating or health products, but I recently came across a product called HCG Diet Drops and their website certainly has some great information on healthy living.

If you are interested in learning about their product called “The Fat Release System” you may just want to visit http://www.truehealthyproducts.com and watch their free video on how the product works.

I’m not endorsing their product or even saying it would work for you, but it does look like something worth investigating.

If you’ve tried their products, I’d love to hear from you and would enjoy reading such a discussion on this website.

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