An E-Newsletter of Profitable Advice about Writing
To Increase Your Personal and Professional Success
|
|
April 2011
Vol IV
Issue 4
|
|
|
| ARE MEN REALLY BIGGER WIMPS THAN WOMEN? |
| Today I went to our local health and fitness center, rolled up my sleeve, and donated a pint of blood. It went well, but in all honesty, that's not my favorite thing to do.
Apparently I'm not the only man who feels this way. Every blood technician I've surveyed over the years has said that men are bigger wimps than women. If men were the ones giving birth, they say, the world wouldn't have an over-population problem.
I'm type O-negative, which makes me a universal donor and very popular with the vampires...I mean, the Red Cross. So, I've made a habit of donating twice a year. Over time, I'm glad to say, what was once an ordeal has actually become a satisfying privilege.
However, just as a precaution, I still like to know how much experience the technician has had before I allow her to stick me. The one today was a real humorist. She said she was still in training and that she'd been missing veins all day because she had partied all night.
As you can probably tell, I would make a terrible doctor. A few years ago, my wife, Sarah, and I were visiting a friend in the hospital. As I was standing at the foot of the bed listening to this woman describe in great detail the operation she had just had on the veins in her legs, I suddenly heard my wife's voice, as if through a tunnel, "Michael's turning green." If we hadn't changed the topic of conversation, I probably would have keeled over.
That's what makes the next thing I'm going to tell you all the more amazing. Believe it or not - I can hardly believe it myself - I just finished ghostwriting a book about the causes and treatments of leg vein disease.
And to my surprise, it was actually a delightful experience!
Say Goodbye to Varicose & Spider Veins Now! by Greg Martin, MD, discusses the enormous breakthroughs that have occurred in the field of vein medicine in the past ten years. It's written in an understandable style that will appeal to both lay people and medical professionals.
The book contains lots of helpful illustrations and photographs to aid comprehension and add visual interest. Cartoons that Sarah and I created contribute to the reading enjoyment.
Actually, the biggest fear going into this project was not my fear of passing out, but Dr. Martin's fear that he wouldn't have enough time to write a book. Operating two very busy offices keeps him busy from early in the morning to late in the evening, five days a week. There seemed to be no room in his schedule for a book project.
But now, only a few months later, the book is out and is receiving rave reviews. Not only did he do an excellent job writing it, but he actually enjoyed the process.
 | | Greg Martin, MD |
Congratulations, Dr. Martin, on the publication of your new book. It was a privilege working on it with you....maybe more of a privilege than giving blood, and certainly a lot more fun!
|
Congratulations to The Butin Group!
| | The Butin Group, a highly respected boutique PR firm serving an impressive array of clients in the food & beverage, travel & leisure, and lifestyle & consumer brands markets, recently launched an exciting new website. Check it out at
http://www.TheButinGroup.com
I count it a privilege to have served as the primary copywriter for this venture.
|
|
MORE BAD NEWS!
| | A story in our local paper today carried the following headline:
"Less Women Dying from Lung Cancer"
Now, you might think I would be happy to read that bit of good news. But as a writer, all I could see was the grammatical mistake. Obviously, the proper adjective is "fewer," not "less." I live in a small town - actually on a small island in the Atlantic Ocean - so this error might be understandable if it were written by a local staff writer. But, alas, it was written by a "professional" journalist who works for the Associated Press. Our local writers do make plenty of mistakes, however. On the very same page in today's paper, one staff writer wrote the following:
"Choose dark, over milk chocolate for a healthier choice."
This short sentence is deficient in two respects: - The words "choose" and "choice" are redundant. - There should be no comma after the word "dark." There's an old Sufi saying that goes like this: "When a pickpocket looks at a man, he sees only his pockets." Unfortunately, that seems to hold true for me. Too often, when I as a writer look at writing, I see only the grammatical errors. 
Come to think of it, I wonder what a barber sees when he looks at my hair. |
|
|
Michael J Dowling ~ Writer ~ Editor ~ Ghostwriter ~ Publisher
133 Worthing Road, St. Simons Island, GA 31522
Phone: 912.230.5051 Fax: 912.634.5777
E-mail: MJD@MichaelJDowling.com Website: www.MichaelJDowling.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljdowling
Clear, concise, creative, and convincing writing and editing to enable individuals and organizations
to accomplish their goals and increase their visibility, credibility, and profitability.
|
|
|
|
|
|
