The Miracle Of Smiling

When you share that honest smile, good things are bound to happen. Your beautiful smile can touch someone's heart and breakaway all barriers of doubt and mistrust. That genuine smile, often communicates that 'I care... it's alright... let's be friends'. That positive smile creates an environment of happiness, love, hope and peace with those you share it with. You make a difference with that smile. You form that miracle when you smile'.

Smiling is not only a welcoming gesture yet a miracle can happen when you share it with a stranger or a friend. Unfortunately, not many people take smiles seriously. For instance, this habit has become a mere formality shaped by cultural social ties that its emotional impact on others is hardly felt. While for some, it's not in their nature to smile often, the daily hassles of life can even make a brittle smile next to impossible. Many times, I am often intrigued by the innocent smiles of children... it makes me love and hug them often!! Putting this aside,... how about smiling anyway?

It is true that different smiles portray a variety emotions and give out a lot of information about you.

Sometimes,we may find it challenging to smile genuinely? However, you can acquire that wonderful smile if you get the hints below:

1. Imagine the presence of good people around you. Concentrate on doing good, kindness, and feelings of happiness... Joy will affect the smiling curves around the corners of your mouth. Remember that as you focus on these good virtues repeatedly, making it a habit... your smile will blossom and flow so naturally. It will emit different shades of positive light from your face tapping directly into the mind of the one you are sharing it with. The power in that honest smile has to reflect in your eyes, then miracles happens:
Feelings of fear turn into boldness
Sadness to cheerfulness
Loneliness to companionship and a sense of belonging
Tears of sorrow into joy.
Doubt into trust... and so on.

2. Change to a positive mindset and learn to greet others with a big smile. This will attract people to you.

3. When you spot people looking at you, then return their gaze with that broad, loving smile and hold it for a few seconds. Some will smile back at you, others will come to you and a few will look away because they may not like your smile. But hey! the ice is broken! You can see the miracle of your smile and don't you feel more confident now? Go on and try it. When you fail the first time, try again and again until the art of smiling is perfected.

The miracle of smiling in good for you because:

1. It is healthy for you - You have heard of the saying ' laughter is good medicine for the soul' ( The Bible book of Proverbs 27:22 )The miracle of smiling follows laughter which will strengthens our immune system, increases your energy levels and lifts up your spirits. You recover easily from from a long illness when you laugh your troubles away, look younger and live longer!

2. It attracts people to you like a magnet- because it makes you more relaxed with others. People love associating with happy people wearing that genuine, contagious and friendly smile.

3. It indicates that you have positive thoughts and emotions about other people.

4. It makes you and the one you give it to feel good.

Now, it's normal to have a cold stare but can you imagine its effects on others, especially after a hard day's work?
'That cold stare can usurp all the positive energy from your tired body and makes those around nervous. When shared and prolonged it signals a cry for help and sadness which is not good for you. A cold expression could mean bitterness and anger. Yet, behind that coldness is a vulnerable heart yearning... for a hug and that genuine smile to make that miracle happen.'

Yes, we can get very tired and don't look so happy many times. But we shouldn't allow this become a chronic habit. We must find or make time to give love and smile. A warm smile certainly reduces all the tension and heals the tortured heart. Why not share it?

On the other hand,

Not everyone that shares their smile with you is a genuine person. Like I said before that different smiles convey various emotions. You will meet people from all walks of life who naturally have sly smiles because they are sly too.. These can be crooks or deceitful con artists that use this gesture to get anything from helpless people for selfish gain. While some smiles may indicate nervousness, other smiles worn to cover feelings of awkwardness. Like I said previously, smiles can talk a lot about us.

Give that gracious smile to somebody. Let our smiles flow naturally from the heart at all times. Someone surprised me one time, when we lost a loved one. I was amazed that this lady, whom I didn't even know, kept glancing at me a contemptuous smile yet the intensity of my grief and those around me at the was overwhelming, at this burial ceremony. There she was, moving around smiling with everyone, so I wondered if a mournful smile, a time of sorrow was so hard for her to put on. Could have been a mental problem or was this smiling technique to make her cope with this tragedy? You could interpret this situation differently but one wonders if we are soon losing out on public etiquette. People like that will cross our paths in life often and you know deep within you that you know need special help. Let our motives in our hearts be pure always in order to make that miracle of smiling happen.

In conclusion, you can choose to share that genuine smile with someone today. It's not only for your own good but it forms a miracle touching the one who receives it. Like Mother Teresa counsels " let us make one point that we meet each other with a smile, when it is difficult to smile. Smile at each other, make time for each other in your family." I love Princess Diana's radiant and winning smile because it was always followed by acts kindness to people from various walks of life. You can open this link to find out why she inspired the world so much that her miraculous smile was never forgotten.

Einstein Was Not A Scientist

It's shocking to say that maybe the most renowned scientist in history is not a Scientist. But according to the Value Zodiac model, Albert Einstein was most likely the scientist's nemesis -- the Shaman.

Einstein was a theorist. Theorists are thinkers that use conceptualization to perform educated guesses to discover truth. Theorists often intuit an answer. They stumble onto ideas that seem to "make sense" to them, reflecting the central value theme of harmony that represents the Shaman.

Physicists have long understood that electricity and magnetism were related. The question that faced physicists in Einstein's time was how electricity and magnetism (E & M) were related to classical Newtonian physics of moving bodies.

The way in which Einstein intuited his way into history highlights Einstein's Shaman disposition. Einstein started by using the unusual experimental tool of the thought experiment. Unlike traditional experimentation which relies on setting up a unique set of circumstances in the physical world, controlling for variables, and measuring the results, the thought experiment is one that takes place entirely in the imaginative mind.

When Einstein was 16 years old, he imagined himself trying to chase a beam of light. He realized that if he was moving at the speed of light alongside the beam, he would see the beam as being in a fixed location according to his perspective. This was his first inkling of what eventually became his theory of special relativity.

Einstein began developing relativity by supposing that the speed of light was constant. At the time, he had no physical evidence of this, but he inferred this from the work of another scientist named Maxwell, who had done some groundbreaking work in the field of E & M. With the assumption that the speed of light was constant, Einstein created a couple of thought experiments.

Taken to the next level, Einstein imagined himself and his wife looking at each other across an open field. Einstein stood upon a moving railroad car. His wife stood on a fixed point on the ground. If Einstein were to fire a particle of light between two horizontal plates on his cart, he would see the particle moving up and down between the plates, but his wife would see the particle bouncing up and down but along diagonal paths as the cart moved down the track.

If our assumption that the speed of light is constant is true, this creates a paradox because the particle is seen by both parties is hitting the mirrors at the same time, even though the particle appears to travel a longer distance as seen by Einstein's wife while traveling the same speed.

This doesn't make sense. How can two things travel different distances in the same time while moving at the same speed? The answer lies in examining the clocks each person is using to measure time. Einstein's clock moves forward at a slower rate than his wife's clock. This is the concept of time dilation.
Einstein made this leap of logic without a shred of experimental data. He reasoned his way to this result in his head. It allowed into derive of his famous mass-energy equivalence relationship.

Many of his contemporary physicists roundly condemned his findings -- accusing Einstein of circular reasoning. His postulating that the speed of light was a constant made his calculations tremendously easy and elegant. But he was right!

Good theorists are rarely good experimentalists. Because they so often focus on the big picture or big ideas, they often quickly become bored with the mundane effort that is associated with scientific experimentation. Although Einstein published his general theory of relativity in 1915, relativity was not provided an experimental basis until Arthur Eddington and his team performed observations of stars during a solar eclipse in 1919. This again illustrates how important it is for people of different approaches to life work together to maximize the impact of both.

Einstein was a Shaman. Shamans always look for simplicity. The elegance of E = mc2 is in its ability to condense so much complicated physics into a simple relationship. This simple relationship "made sense" to Einstein. It reflected the central value theme of harmony that is associated with the Shaman.

The same sentiment which led him to his biggest breakthrough also later led him to his biggest professional challenge after other scientists began to develop the probabilistic-centered theory of quantum physics. Einstein famously said, "God does not play dice." Since quantum theory did not make sense to him, he rejected it despite the experimental data that emerged to support it. He worked to the end of his life trying to refute quantum physics. In the end, Einstein was relegated to the fringes of his profession because quantum theory conflicted with his vision of the world. Einstein's story only proves the central tenet of the Value Zodiac -- that we all have unique gifts which are worldview helps us to find tremendous insight, but if we don't keep an open mind to other points of view, we can lose that which makes us great.

Your Defiant Child: Review

I studied this book as my primary source in preparing and drafting my second crime/mystery book. That is one reason why I mostly substituted the word 'child' with 'defiant'. The other reason is I'm trying to apply the book context to retarded adults rather than to defiant children. Retarded adults are children anyway right?

Besides so many children around me who are showing signs of becoming sociopaths, there are more adults who are acting like children. Many defiant children become adult psychos or sociopaths then some become serial murderers. I will use the reviewed book to explain why and how the criminal became a sociopath in my book.

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The whole family can lose its affection for each other. Parents blame each other for the destructive behavior of the defiant one. Siblings can end up hostile toward parents and the defiant sibling. That's how one defiant can bring the whole family down.

Important Facts to Remember

The defiant's behavior is all up to you. Why? Because the greatest potential for control of the defiant's behavior is in the environment and the enormous part of the environment is YOU.

The defiant acts the way he do because he can't see things the way you do, i.e., difference of perspectives.

The fastest way to determine why the defiant acts the way he do is to look at yourself. Can you see the defiant's attitude in yourself? If so, you are the problem or the root of it.

You encourage bad behavior to get worse when you show you have a breaking point and use cumulative punishment. You finally lose patience and decide to punish or give up and temporarily reward defiant behavior thereby creating a time bomb -- the inevitable physical violence.

Overreacting suddenly to a certain defiant's behavior will prevent the defiant from learning specific consequences for specific types of misbehavior. The defiant can't build a predictable framework of action and reaction without that learning. Offer incentives like 'reward points' instead of using punishment.

What I think the book missed is giving stress to the fact that failure is not bad. In fact failing is actually good because we cannot learn until we fail. I not only missed my childhood. It was also a mess because my father was a perfectionist. Guess how that affected me. Yes. He never taught me that failure is good but instead coerced me to be 'perfect'.

Remember, this is just a fraction of what I learned from the book.

David and Goliath - Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

Malcolm Gladwell was not satisfied with oversimplified retelling of the David and Goliath story. When Malcolm sizes up this story he calculates David's victory was a highly probable one due to a tragic flaw coincident with Goliath's size. This flaw was not an obvious one nor was it simply that bigger moves slower in real time. Its revelation requires asking critical questions such as; Why does Goliath ask David to "come at me?" Why does Goliath speak of sticks when David has one? And why does Goliath have an attendant for a one-on-one battle?

Once we realize there is a perfectly logical explanation that fits those questions we begin to see how perceived advantages may be limitations. This is a call to be more discerning about our own perceived advantages/disadvantages. Moreover we can extend the allegorical one-on-one conflict to other types of opponents (actual armies, disability, misfortune, and oppression).

Sports are replete with David versus Goliath type conflicts. The key is to realize that power can come in forms other than size (e.g. breaking customary rules of engagement, speed and surprise in place of strength). A person that has never coached basketball could notice assumptions made about advantages and disadvantages in game strategy. For instance consider how the full court press defense is typically employed by someone who is familiar with the game.

Conventional strategy might use the full court press for just for few minutes of game. A surprising strategy would be to always attack the inbound pass. Who does that? Perhaps a team does it when it lacks height or outside shooting superiority. Maybe a team that has built up its stamina employs a full court press for an entire game.

Being an underdog gives you freedom to try things (such as the whole game full court press defense) but usually teams will not do it because it is hard work. Ironically players have to be bad enough at offense to be convinced they need to play that way. If they think they have a chance playing the easier way they will abandon the more demanding full court press style.

Malcolm has made the 10,000 hour rule for success famous in his previous bestseller Outliers. In David and Goliath he continues with a fair amount of mathematics and uses graphs such as an 'Inverted U' to describe the relationship of academic achievement to class size. He bemoans data that shows "to this day 77 percent of Americans think it makes more sense to use taxpayer money to lower class size than to raise teacher salaries."

Most intriguing are the examples he used to explain the sociological term "relative deprivation" and the psychological term "desirable difficulties." In our achievement culture we need to reconsider how having resources and belonging to elite institutions may limit our options (relative deprivation). We can also be misled about perceived disadvantages. Malcolm notes that an extraordinarily high number of successful entrepreneurs are dyslexic and do well on the cognitive reflection test (desirable difficulty helps on this test).

Lastly he enumerates three "Principle of legitimacy;" 1. All participants have a voice 2. Rules are consistent, same thing applies day to day and 3. All are treated equally under the rules in fairness. Malcolm cites Joanna Jaffe's J-RIP as a breakthrough because it countered how the powerful were viewed by the oppressed. The juvenile robbery intervention program (J-RIP) established legitimacy for police as caring members that serve and protect their community.

David and Goliath provides a good quantity of mathematical and scientific evidence to uncover false advantages. This book also delves into the psychological and sociological factors that may unmask disadvantages. Perhaps the author's background suggests both a science and an "Art of Battling Giants."

Book Review of "Back to Normal"

In his book "Back to Normal", Enrico Gnaulati explores a topic which I'm sure many of us have pondered as parents. As a child psychologist himself, he has an inside glimpse of what is expected from doctors by the insurance industry and pharmaceutical companies.

Enrico cites lack of proper training and pressure for a quick fix as two sources of the confusion. Psychiatrists hand out the medication and psychologists do the counseling. They are generally not put together as a team. The first source of concern is usually a referral given by the teacher at school to have a child evaluated. The parents contact a psychiatrist who given the medication prescription and the child is under control without further investigation as to what may be causing the behavior.

If a family is willing to stick it out, counseling over a long period of time may get to the root of the problem without the need for medication. In today's hurried lifestyle, parents are unable to take time off from work for a counseling session. Children are pushed into so much activity through the schools and extra-curricular activities that there is no time to talk.

I have thought of two other examples that were not mentioned in the book. The first is the possibility of a neurological or medical condition. Doctors usually hand out medication at the first mention of behavior and that's the end of it.

The second example was when my son was in fourth grade. The teacher advised me to have him assessed, stating that he was too pre-occupied with "Power Rangers". I was thinking, "Yeah, as is every other fourth grade boy who watches cartoons and before that it was "Ninja Turtles" and before that something else. Next year it will be the latest craze." At that time, the school also banned trading of "Pokemon" cards. That was the stupidest thing I've ever heard. It's a cartoon which now, no one even cares about.

Trying to be a responsible parent, I complied and made an appointment. I was upset when after going to the first appointment, the insurance company went bankrupt and I was turned over to collections for a $200.00 bill in which we did absolutely nothing but fill out the new patient paperwork. I later found out that if a school asks you to get evaluated, they have to pay for it.

Each family has to work through what is needed in their scenario. For some, it is a truly needed resource. However, before using medication as the first solution, do a little research and explore all the options.

If You Are Considering Writing/Publishing a Book, Think It Through - Then Go Ahead And Do It Anyway

Personally, I believe that the experts finally got something right: As difficult and exhausting as writing can be, nothing compares to the challenges and sheer misery of marketing one's self.
Just the huge numbers of electronic avenues make this experience quite daunting. (I run into that word quite often when I discuss trying to sell one's work). And as many of us have come to realize, it's not just the sheer numbers of Internet sites, it's the TIME you need to spend on them to make yourself credible. That's the REAL killer. I'll spend at minimum, an hour agonizing over THIS composition.
Plus, here you are, all excited and duly proud of yourself for having completed something that you devoted weeks, months, even years to and you can't even get your sister to buy one and give it a five star rating. You should be having this HUGE celebration with all your friends. Instead, you're fumbling around like a teenager in the back seat of your old man's Chevy, trying to add some kind of Pin to a Board on a site that you REALLY don't care about. And it's TWO O'CLOCK IN THE DAMN MORNING!
But you've checked your numbers and you're 697,364 in Amazon's Best Seller Rank. So you text and you tweet. You create a fan page. You blog. You Skype. You Pin, and you Tumble. You contact every "friend" you have, and have them contact every friend they have, and every friend they have, and so on down the line. "Yes," they say, "I'll get me a copy of that new book you just published. I'm gonna read it, rate it, and give it a whole passel of stars." Two days later and now you're at 798,621.
And so you text and tweet some more looking for support and ideas. But as much advice as I get; I write. I consider myself a writer. Maybe not a very lucid one, but a writer nonetheless. I have stories inside of me. Having them stay there while I attend to other business only makes them fester and this will ultimately lead to some really bad juju.
By nature I am not a tweeter or a texter, a Pinner, or Tumbler. I don't try to StumbleOnto anything. Don't much care for Skyping, and I secretly hate all of my "friends" on Facebook.
And so here I sit, trying to promote my book on one more probably useless site, and it's now 3 o'clock in the damn morning. I just keep repeating to myself, "I'm a writer, I'm a writer, I'm a writer, I'm a writer, I'm a writer...

High IQ and Society - Which Is More Important, A Book Review

Over the years, I've talked to many high IQ people in the range of 125 to 145. Interestingly enough, most everyone in that IQ range has had the same experience, they have out innovated, and, with unique thoughts and original ideas that their higher IQ counterparts were unable to come up with. Let's go ahead and talk about this, because I have some experience here and some thoughts as I do run a think tank which happens to operate online.

In the October 2013 edition of Psychology Today there was an interesting article titled; "The Smart Gap-How to Deal with Shortfalls in Brainpower," by Dr. Eric Maiseil which stated; "sometimes we get good ideas several steps above our intellectual pay grade." Now then, the writer of that article is also the author of a book which I do recommend;

"Why Smart People Hurt - A Guide for the Bright, the Sensitive, and the Creative," by Dr. Eric Maiseil, Conari Publishers, New York, 2013, 256 page, ISBN: 978-1-57324-626-2.

This book will also shed some light on this topic. Personally, I know a ton of smart people, and they often tell me they don't like social situations because everyone purposefully dummies down, they start talking about dumb stuff, stuff that doesn't matter; the weather, some TV show, some political comment, or even perhaps what Paris Hilton's puppy had for lunch that afternoon after the video went viral online - if that's not enough to drive a smart person bonkers, I don't know what is?

The other suggests that many smart people get bored or have mania events and want to stay on that creative intellectual high, and want to get back to it once off. He calls this "racing brain syndrome" which is a decent phrase if you've ever been there, myself, about three times a day, I can't turn it off, nor do I want too, when I am abuzz in intellectual thought, on the verge of an "ah-ha" moment, the last thing I want is some imbecile to come along and say something stupid about their opinion of the weather - I mean get a life, don't invade mine.

He also explains how it can be rather depressing to live in a non-intellectual society, or area, which I understand, of course, there is always the Internet or you can study humans in their natural habitat, which is also fun to do, it's almost like going to the zoo! Well, that's it for now, but I did enjoy that book and would recommend you get a copy for yourself.

Steps to Enter Your Inner Career Game

How often have you heard that defining your career is an inside job? If so, or even if you have not, ask yourself these questions:

• Are you now looking for work out of desperation?
• Are you more concerned about getting the job just because you have the skills or because the job appeals to you?
• Are you applying for everything and anything you can put your hands on that you think you may qualify for out of "guilt."?
• Are you doing everything that the career gurus say to do (at least the ones you find for free on the internet) to find a job, but feel deep inside that there is something still missing?
• Did you take their advice, get the job, and once you got there ended up wanting to leave after the first week, month... you get the picture.

If you are buying into the song and dance that "the economy" has something to do with why you may still find pieces missing in the work you are doing, no worries. There is no mistake that you are reading this now.
This is not an article about how to find your spiritual path. However, this is an article that will not sugar coat the fact that finding your true career direction - the one that represents who you are as a person and will make you happy, requires going inside for the answers first. By that I mean allowing yourself to dream the big dream and connect with the part of you that wants to have it all... and defines precisely what that is.
So you may ask yourself (or me), "yes, but what does this have to do with reality." My answer? Everything. Here's why: If we are perpetually using the "economy" or some other reason why we are not finding career passion or finding a job at all and blaming others - our boss, our co-workers, our spouses, significant others, etc., too old, not enough education, yes but... , guess what happens? Correct - we go back to square one. By defining our dream work from an inner perspective, we are literally creating enormous possibilities that would never have materialized had we not.
Make that shift to knowing our career passions with no doubts and doors begin to open and opportunities abound.
However, I must confess that not everyone is ready in his or her life cycle to make this shift. It can bring up a host of feelings such as regret, guilt, resistance and even anger at even having to look within for the answers. Some even give up and go back to the same old same old. My question to you is, are you ready?
My friend, Michael, is a great example. I love him dearly. Yet, he is struggling with returning to a job in the career he is "comfortable" with and, leaving the exact job that has created more grief and disharmony than anyone should have to deal with in a lifetime. If he returns to this career, he can be assured of experiencing the same challenges and perhaps reaching a breaking point that could have physical repercussions. We are now working together on a way for him to take the time to do the inner work that will allow joy to come back into his life by creating opportunities for him to do what he is truly meant to do. It is not surprising that he has Career ADD. How much he is willing to accept, let go and redefine is up to him.
Here are a few examples of steps you can take to get the inner ball rolling:

• Relax and decide that you are going to take the time to discover now what you have spent perhaps a lifetime eluding - Career Happiness.
• Make a list of EVERYTHING in your past jobs that you did not like or that you were resistant to.
• Include in this list every task, skill, type of people or specific people and why you think you did not resonate with them, working environment (down to the type of chair you sat in), product you were selling or involved with through your work, industry you were in, etc. that made you feel bad.
• Now take that list and decide what the opposite of each item is for you - in other words what is your PREFERENCE to what you have listed (not necessarily the literal opposite.) You must be completely honest or this will not work.

Congratulations! You have begun your inner journey to career happiness. This will be vital information to use in developing a career direction. Explore more blog posts on this site for inspiration or contact me directly at to schedule your complimentary session and let's explore your inner game.
To your joyful livelihood.

Shell Mendelson, MS, is a Career Counselor and ADD/ADHD Career Coach. Shell was mentored and trained directly by Richard Bolles, Master Career Counselor and author of What Color Is Your Parachute and has been listed as a resource for the past 20 years in the annual Parachute edition. Shell has helped hundreds of clients manage their Career ADD and find a career direction that fits them like a glove. She is recognized as a Career ADD Expert. Her mission and purpose is to guide her clients to joyful livelihood, which helps manage symptoms and impacts all aspects of life far beyond career.

Book Review - 'What You're Really Meant To Do'

The book - 'What You're Really Meant To Do - A Road Map For Reaching Your Unique Potential' written by Robert Steven Kaplan is simply great because it is simple to read & absorb without any complex models.

The book is conceptually divided into three parts.

The first part of the book is about 'Know Thyself First'. It provides the tools & tips to understand your own strengths & talents better by analyzing your own life and aspirations. Robert Kaplan doesn't go into any complex psychological models. The book suggests writing your own life story and doing personal introspection where you can find all the answers.

The second part is about 'Connecting with the Right Opportunities'. It is about how to align what you learn about yourself in order to carve out a path in alignment with your own best strengths for a fulfilling life.

The last third part is about 'Going the Extra Mile' in order to achieve the excellence in what you do - The Good versus Great.

It is probably a common knowledge that all these concepts in one way or the other have been written extensively in hundreds of books. Most of the things may not be new for those who have read many other good self help and inspirational books. But what matters is how well it is written, which appeals to your heart, mind & soul.

The simplicity of this book in narrating as well as unfolding the complex life's knots is done in a superb way.

I always feel that these books do play a great role in reinforcing and helping you to take a pause and re-inspect your life - where you are, who you are and where you want to reach or have already reached.

I do believe that no book on earth can actually change the things for you. It is only 'Us' who can change things for us or we may even choose to remain the same even after reading number of such books. There is a famous saying that 'you can take the horse to the pond, but you cannot force him to drink water'.

So these books also play the same role. They take us to that pond of knowledge and understanding, but it is up to us to apply it if we really want it for us.

The book is an interesting read and has a very simple flow with very simple real life stories to narrate. 200 + pages book goes straight to your heart and stays there for quite sometime. I guess I finished this book in almost in a continuous flow and didn't want to put it down.



The learning out of it is very straight forward, meaningful and useful. But it will matter how much you take care to apply the suggested tips & tools in your personal & professional life.

From time to time, I like to take stock of my life's direction and always want to take some corrective measures if I feel I don't connect well with what I do. So it has been a good useful book for me, and I really treasure its learning and hope it should do the same for all others who read it too.

About The Author

I have been with corporate sector for more than 20 years now. I have served in Banking, Quality, Process Management, HR, IT, Marketing, Advertising, PR and CRM. I have obtained diverse exposure mostly in Middle East (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Egypt) and now in Lahore, Pakistan.

Besides, I love the concept & model of E-Business and I believe it has lots of potential for individuals, Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as well as large corporate sector to take full benefit from.

How to Become A Paid Book Reviewer

A Paid Book Reviewer is a great way for a avid reader to make a little extra money from their hobby. While a beginner book reviewer usually starts by writing for themselves or for a free publication, some Paid book reviewers can make $150 to a $1000 a book review. Learn how to become a Paid Book Reviewer.
Instructions
1
Get some experience writing book reviews. The fastest way to get experience and earn a little extra cash is to write reviews on books you have read in a chosen niche and write reviews on a free blog. You can earn money by becoming an affiliate to a website such as Amazon, that sells the book titles you are writing a review on. Keep a blog for each type of book you review. For example if you read horror, romance, and books about parenting you will want to keep a blog for each subject.
2
In order to get the attention of prestigious magazines, newspapers, or website you may want to publish a few book reviews through local magazines and newspapers. Most of the time the only compensation you will earn is the cost of the book if that but you will gain valuable experience.
3
Now that you have the experience you need to become a Paid Book Reviewer research publications that use book reviews in your subject area. Read up on their guidelines given and be sure to follow them to a tee. Sometimes you can research forums and look for other writers who publish in specific publications to get hints on what the editors are looking for.
4
The best place to start your road to become a book reviewer is to contact editors of magazines or websites you already read that reviews books. Or better yet find a venue that you already read that does not publish such content (but it would go good with content) and offer to start one. There are to many to name, but if you start out with venues that you already know you are more likely to know what they are looking for.

How to Write a Professional Book Review

Are you an avid reader and a decent writer? Maybe you should look into writing book reviews. There are many publications that pay for freelance book reviews. You might be able to make some extra cash.

Instructions
1
Read book reviews in major publications. You need to get a feel for how the professionals do it.
2
Research publications that hire freelancers. Read the reviews they have published. Check the guidelines for specific requirements. Some publications want everything squeezed into 300 words or less. Others like long, detailed reviews.
3
Pick a book. It's best not to choose a bestselling or well known author; those are over reviewed and major publications probably already have copies to review and someone on staff to do it. Try picking a book from a little known or new author.
4
Take notes. While reading the book, take notes about style, character development, anything that really appeals to you or stands out--both positive and negative. If it is your book, go ahead and write in it. If it's not your book or you hate defiling sacred texts (even if it is just a plain old everyday paperback), grab some sticky notes to save the pages. Maybe try those little arrow sticky tabs to point to the area of text that stood out.
5
Write a practice review. Don't use first person. The review is not about you, it's about the book and the author. Some informal reviews use first person; professional reviews, however, are all about the book. Major publications and readers have no idea who you are, and they don't care.
6
Put the facts first. Pretty much every publication puts all the info about the book at the top: title, author name, publisher, date released, price. Some include number of pages, type of book and genre of the book, such as fiction or non-fiction mystery, self help, paranormal romance and so on.
7
Make it interesting. Open with something that grabs the reader's attention, like a good quote from the book.
8
Give complete information. What type of book is it? Is it the author's first book or thirtieth book? Is it a book in a series? If so what number in the series is it, are there more to come?
9
Summarize the book quickly. In a paragraph or two describe what the book is about and what happens without giving away any important information. No plot spoilers please. Give enough info to make it interesting and give the reader a good idea of what the book is about.
10
Critique away. Tell them what you thought of the book, but not in first person. Example: "The author successfully blended elements of the paranormal with real historical events to create a spellbinding story that was believable and highly engaging. The characters were alive and the story was gripping, a complete pageturner. You won't want to put it down."
11
Polish the review, check for errors and submit to a publication. Good luck.

How to Make Money Writing Book Reviews

If you enjoy reading and have the ability to write clear, professional reviews of what you read, you can make money writing book reviews for various websites and magazines. A lot of freelance writers supplement their incomes writing book reviews for these outlets. Today, the Internet provides quick access to current freelance writing jobs, allowing writers to search for new work daily. Writing book reviews can be not only an excellent source of extra income for freelancers, it can be pleasurable work as well.


Instructions

1



Choose a freelance job resource guide to use for leads. There are many such sites on the web. Freelance Writing (Freelancewriting.com) pulls freelance writing jobs from a number of these sources and posts them daily, giving you fresh opportunities all the time. Many of these opportunities are for book review writers. The service is free to use.
2



Browse the freelance writing jobs as you would the job section of a newspaper. Start first thing in the morning, over a cup of coffee. Make a note of any book review job posted that sounds interesting.
3



Contact your leads with a letter describing your writing credentials. Keep the first-contact letter short and to the point. Assure the lead that you are good with deadlines. Offer to send samples of your previous work and point to any online samples a prospective client can review. Close with a thank you and let the lead know you look forward to working with the company.
4



Be professional and meet your deadlines. When you get a book review job, read the book all the way through and write succinctly, giving a thorough review without adding a lot of personal commentary. This, of course, may vary, depending upon the guidelines of the organization you're reviewing books for. The key is to write knowledgeable reviews that demonstrate you understand the book you're reviewing.
5



Be patient. If you're just getting started, it may take some time to build up a list of clients. Keep applying for any book review job that interests you. Check the markets every day. Once you begin building up a client list you do book reviews for, you may get job offers from other sources. Book reviews are excellent for web content, so there are plenty of jobs available.

How to Write Book Reviews

The basic principle of a book review is simple: Should your audience read this book or not? Why or why not? With a little practice, you can write clear, readable and succinct book reviews.

Instructions

1. • 1
     Read the book. A lot of review writers think they can get around this, but it’s not worth it. If necessary, also read about the book. If the book needs a context, read a little bit of history about the environment or the writer.
     
   • 2
     Assemble your ideas. Instead of just sitting down and telling yourself to start writing, take the time to let things fall into place. Wait a day and think about the book before you write the review. See what sticks in your mind as good and bad. Make lists of what you responded to and didn’t. Keep your audience in mind. It may be that things you liked will not appeal to them, and if you know your audience well, you can recommend something that you did not enjoy.
     
   • 3
     Start writing. Don’t write the review immediately, but write a few sentences. Try to boil the book down to a very simple three-sentence paragraph. A synopsis of the book is essential to a review, but you don’t want it to take up half of the review text! Write an outline or write an opening and a closing. Try to say what you liked most or least about the book in one sentence.
     
   • 4
     Write the body of the review. Now that your brain has started moving, write the meat of the review. Write an opening sentence or two, then move to the summary of the book’s events. If necessary, after that write briefly about the context of the book or the writer and why they may matter. Finally, get into what matters: What you thought. Identify what was good and bad, but more important, tell the audience why. Tell the audience whether you recommend the book or not.
     
   • 5
     Summarize with blurbs. A modern audience, particularly one online, enjoys information stripped down to very simple sentences. Your review can be much more marketable if you write up blurbs in advance instead of making an editor do it. Give a few bullet points with pros and cons and end with recommended or not.
     

How to Write Comic Book Reviews

Writing comic book reviews is a joy for me. I get to pick what I want to write about, I learn about the aspects of a good story and sometimes I even make money writing comic book or graphic novel reviews. Does any of that sound nice? The following steps focus on writing the basic comic book review.

Instructions
1
Start with the classics. If you want to become a comic book reviewer, you need to know the basics of this vast world. That means exploring titles like “Watchmen” and “The Dark Knight Returns,” and the writers behind them. Who is Alan Moore? Who is Frank Miller? Who is Neil Gaiman? You should be able to answer those questions if you want to write comic book reviews, since many titles are similar in theme and need to be compared.
2



Explore publishers outside of Marvel and DC. Sure, it’s fun reading 20 straight issues of Spider-Man or Batman. But as a comic book reviewer, you need to learn about small publishers, too. These comic publishers need your help more than the big two.
3
Decide your article slant, or thesis. You need to see the slant in writing style and artwork for this comic book. It will become the thesis for your review. This isn’t a school essay, since you are out to entertain and not explain, but developing a thesis can help you write the review. Is this a horror comic? What do you think of horror comics? Ask a question and find an answer in the story.
4
Ask questions of the story. Entertain readers by explaining the themes of this story. Even an old Spider-Man comic from the 1960s has a theme; all stories do. So ask questions, compare and contrast, all because you want to write a good review.
5
Write a 200- to 400-word review. Can you write a 400-word review of a 22-page comic book? Yes, but you usually don’t have to. If you are writing a graphic novel review, or a review of a trade, you have more material to review, so it actually isn’t that hard. But if you offer the main theme of the single-issue comic story, background on characters, an analysis of the artwork and a general discussion on its entertainment value, you can often push the 400-word review mark.
6
Ask for review copies and take joy in the fact people are reading your work. Because they are reading your work, whether it’s for a site like Silver Bullet Comic Books or your own comic blog, someone wants to read your stuff. The bigger publishers might not respond to requests for review copies, but some will, and you will get free comics. Isn’t that fun? From now on, you can pick what you read and save money doing it.

Becoming a Book Reviewer

It is quite challenging as well as interesting to become a person that reviews books. You can get free copies of books to read and also it gives you an opportunity to earn money. You can begin by creating your own blog in order to create a network of readers who enjoy your writing and feel supported by your ideas and examples.

Begin writing book reviews on books you know and love. You can start with reviewing books you have in your home that you are obsessive about. That passion will help you create a superb book review. Be certain to include a photo of the book you are reviewing and a quote to give you nice lead in to the book review.

Find books that interest you and that fit in with the topics you write about on your web site. To find publishers that you can query, look at the information listed with the book on Amazon. Make a list of the books and publishers you are interested in. Query the media contact, explain that you are a book reviewer and would like an opportunity to review their book.
Be professional while contacting publishers; try to keep your query short, simple and to the point. Always double check spelling of their book and make certain to give publishers a link to your published book reviews, as well as your own writing. You must show them your expertise at writing book reviews.

When they email you or send you a book to review, be certain to email them informing that their book arrived and you are glad about the opportunity to write a book review for their book. Review books promptly and send the media contact a note and a link to so they know your work as a book reviewer is complete as per the schedule.

Be professional as well as appreciative in your work. This will definitely help you to build relationships with these professionals. Note that book reviews are a fine way to add quality content to your website and at the same time allowing you the pleasure of reading books you enjoy for free.

Insights and comments upon "Word of Terror"

Nelson most recent work can't just be adorned along with laurels. Regardless of the stressed ambiance which bears the action coming from the start, this book is perfect for a horror motion picture adaptation of B-category that entertains although it lasts -- just like a touring home of horror frightening smoke and large mirrors, razor-sharp sounds, spirits and also monsters - as well as was overlooked along with the final staff.

Nelson readers are with out a lot of delays chucked on the conveyor gear of events along with gradually speeding up pace, describing the figures, relationships, life as well as death, to ensure that the impression of emergency, the passage of energy and precious moments that count as a milestone grinding unfortunates that discovered themselves among them gears.
As if that was insufficient a horror, Nelson’s drawn his frayed collection The story occurs in real time, with black and white portrayal and the existence of evil common (such as ideas and animals) that there's simply to harm people, and the result of scientific testing will be mindless, horrible creatures that are hybrids / mutants and wish simply to destroy humans, people in the combat the evils of poor encounters which can additionally start using sketchy methods to great, unification of the survivors who have been strangers for now, the existence of a completely hopeless and / or in one method or another handicapped individual who, in vengeance of likelihood, endure nightmare, and so on.

Word of Terror is an idea-like surface colored an interesting conjecture concerning the cause-effect loop, as well as the the majority of gratifying section of the guide, but I assume in which the entire running after, shouting as well as waste have got a respectable epilogue, was to discover that Phrase associated with Horor is in fact a guide about post-apocalypse, which is not yet occurred and how it was caused / will happen. Curiously, because proven in the the twilight series of 1 inventor, folks, will be brought on by the go up of these generation, synthetic cleverness, which can be considered a better version in support of value lifestyle.
In addition to the fundamental ideas and also truly outstanding storytelling, we can't state significantly positive about the guide. The characters tend to be unoriginal adds Avi Lebor, synthetic, as well properly reduce to fit the size of this kind of tale, the account is implausible and also far-fetched, the concept poorly utilized, reading a clear experience. In spite of a large number of figures, unknown conclusion and tangible, organic and natural, scary of the scary that pulls components of the genre, regardless of the undeniable fact that the author manages to simmer the reader in order to not-so-low temperature right up until the very end, it appears that the guide is actually needlessly prolonged, too much time and also somewhat recurring.

Nevertheless, it is not clear for exactly what cause could it be conceited, misanthropic and with few energy invested in the defiance of most individual, leads to egocentric and also odd monologues along with alone, and many types of evening causes the tentacles regarding the building passengers. The Ballad associated with wicked researchers who don't reduce in size while using virtually any approach rather than by any means this particular guide is only got a diverse, elaborates Avram Lebor. The notion of installing chickens and also 99% regarding the e-book because they are two diverse universes, the writer regarding a filling device and twine your own creativity and also plot skill managed to patch collectively in to a about gladly natural whole.

Black Adult Dating Sites You Can Trust

Age, height, colour of your hair. You need to be honest, because you want to attract people that are going to be attracted to you. After all, you also want them to be honest about themselves don't you?

So, black adult dating sites are a really fantastic idea and a way to meet people that you don't get chance to come into contact with any other way. Perhaps you work long hours and don't get the time to go out much and socialise. When you work hard, you don't always feel like going out at the end of a hard day at the office. You maybe quite shy and find it difficult to talk to people; it's not always easy is it? You sit or stand at one side of the room; you notice them but are not sure if they have noticed you also. They may be shy too, so the opportunity to talk just passes before you can do anything about it. Well on a dating site, you don't need that courage that you have to muster up when you meet someone face to face. You can chat without having to make eye contact, or physical contact, it is so much easier. You don't have to give your telephone number on the spur of the moment, you can take your time and get to know this person first. It may be weeks, maybe months before you feel that it's right to meet, both of you can get to know each other and be sure. Black adult dating sites give you the opportunity to contact someone you feel is compatible, get to know them in your own time and pass on your personal details to them when you feel that the time is right and not before!

When you are out for the night, maybe on a works celebration or at a friend's party, you may see someone that you like or even feel attracted to, but how do you get to know them? It's difficult isn't it? Dating sites give you the opportunity to talk to people that you like, get to know them without rushing and eventually, but only if you are happy about it, meeting them and getting to know them better. Black adult dating sites will not reveal your personal details to anyone; all your details will remain private and confidential. It will be your choice who to give your landline or mobile number to. Your real name will not be given to anyone, until you decide to give it to them yourself. So the concept is absolutely fantastic. It's now up to you to decide if you want to join one of these fabulous dating sites, you have to be 18 years old to browse the website, When you join, give clear and accurate information about yourself, that way, you will attract people that are really genuinely interested in you. There are an awful lot of nice, loving people out there like yourself, just waiting to meet someone like you, so find them today, you will be so happy you did!

My Funniest Online Dating Horror Stories

Yeah, yeah. It's absolutely true that online dating worked out pretty well for me, ultimately. But having given it some thought, I wanted to come clean with you about something. It's not like every single date was a blissful stream of perfection.
Sure, I met lots of great women and had a blast for several years...culminating in meeting Emily on Match.com. But along the way, especially at the beginning, I certainly encountered my share of sometimes hilarious and sometimes downright nightmarish situations.
Here are the four most memorable ones:

1) Not What The Doctor Prescribed

Very shortly after my divorce in 1992, I received a "spam" message in my inbox that I actually responded to. Believe it or not, I hadn't even heard of online dating before. This ad claimed I could meet the woman of my dreams on their site, so I was intrigued.
The next thing you know, I had ponied up however much they charged and began looking through the pictures of women they had listed.
To be honest, this was not exactly the most well-traveled site on the 'net. Who knew there was a Match.com out there? So inevitably, I found exactly one woman who seemed interesting to me-a brown-eyed blondie with a friendly smile.
I emailed her, probably with something lame like "You seem nice. Maybe we could get along. Would you like to talk?". Remember, this was Day One for me in the online dating world.
Call it "beginner's luck, but she wrote back. Crazy, huh?
Well, one thing led to another, and there we were sitting across the table from one another at dinner. The fact that I shouldn't have been paying for dinners here has long since been duly noted and is sort of beside the point, so please overlook that for now and read on.
Midway through dinner, she starts talking about her medical problems.
Never talk about your medical problems on a first date. I don't care if you've known the person for ten years, let alone ten minutes.
Between bites of whatever I was eating, she was bragging about how she had chronic kidney stone issues and how tough she was for being able to pass them without even flinching nowadays.
Unfortunately, she took my casual attempt to divert the discussion as disbelief.
"You don't believe I get kidney stones? Here...look..."
Already having started digging in her purse, she soon produced a small medicine vial.
I thought to myself, "This chick has to be kidding. I believe her, already. She doesn't have to prove her case by showing me her prescription."
I should have been so lucky.
Pressing down and twisting the child-proof cap, the bottle opened and the contents were soon poured into her hand.

"See, look at this...it has to be at least the size of a pea, right?"
With a freshly French-manicured thumb and forefinger, she produced the largest unit from an impressive collection of similar objects she was holding.
Yes. It was the largest kidney stone she had ever passed.
This woman collected her kidney stones. And she took them with her everywhere, apparently.
I don't remember what I said or did, really. But I do remember there was a second date, believe it or not.
2) Not A Strip Mall, Sweetie
Not long after the "kidney stone chick", I met another woman from the same site. She was a Hispanic cutie with perfect skin and a booty that would have made Sir Mix-A-Lot slam on the brakes. She said "sweetie" a lot.
I hadn't learned the part about not taking women to expensive dinners on first dates yet, so there were at one of the nicer sushi joints in San Antonio.
She was terrific. She was intelligent and loved to laugh. Above and beyond that, she was a great flirt. Clearly she was digging me.
We had ordered two glasses of red wine, and conversation turned to what she did for a living.
"So you said you were 'self-employed'. What exactly do you do?", I asked.
While she answered, I took a sip of Merlot. And it was right then that I discovered that all those slapstick "spit takes" you see on old-school comedy sketches are rooted in factual reality.
It took all I had in reserve not to spew grape juice all over everything.
"I run a chain of strip clubs, Sweetie.", she had announced matter-of-factly.
Sitting before me was a decidedly classy woman, who I had picked up from a decent home in a nice neighborhood.

"You mean, like a strip mall...right...with the nail salons, a tanning place and a Chinese restaurant."
"No, silly! LOL! I mean like...you know...strip clubs. The kind with girls."
Now if you know my style at all by now, you already realize the date was as good as over.
Yet, it was like a train wreck. I couldn't look away.

And I asked the inevitable question.
"Yes, well...my ex ran the day-to-day operations and I pretty much handled the books. But he let the 'interview process' go a little too far too often, and I couldn't trust him anymore. I got the business in the divorce settlement."
It was then, I told her the truth.
"I've never been to one of those places in my life, and I see no reason to start now."
Uh oh.
I may has well have lit a roman candle. That chick practically attacked me as soon as we left the restaurant. I tried to handle things as best as I knew how at the time, but let's just say she wasn't a happy camper.
When I got home, she had already e-mailed me the buck-naked pics from her "Adult Friendfinder" profile (which was my first introduction to that particular reality). "This is what you missed out on. GOOD LUCK!!!" was the only line accompanying the pics.
3) June Carter Cash Or Charge
I should have known better, considering the one pic she had attached to her profile was a blurry one.
And in my heart of hearts, I really did know better. Suspecting this particular date may not go so well, I invited her to dinner (yeah, yeah...hardheaded wasn't I?) at 5.30p.
I walked into the Chili's or TGIFridays or whatever it was, and immediately got that nauseous feeling that every single online dater experiences at one point or another. Specifically, the one where you see someone waiting alone at a table over there who vaguely resembles the person you were expecting to meet about as much as a piece of burnt toast resembles the perfectly good slice of bread you threw in the toaster and forgot about.
My honest-to-goodness first thought was, "OMG...who replaced the woman with the nice smile in the profile with June Carter Cash!"
I was too much of a "Mr. Nice Guy" to turn tail and skip town immediately, so I gathered my intestinal fortitude and approached the table.
Conversation was stilted from the very beginning. She began to make a feeble attempt at flirting.
The woman was at least 55 years old. And not a very attractive 55-year-old at that.
She was dressed in solid black stuff with lots of stainless steel crap and fringes on it, like she was some dust-farting legend from "The Grand Ole' Opry" or something.
The thickness of her Texas accent was eclipsed only by the thickness of her black eyeliner.
Finally, she excused herself to the ladies room, offering me a blessed reprieve from impending regurgitation.
It was then the waiter came to the table asking me if I wanted another beer. "NO!" I proclaimed, soon apologizing for the brusque tone neither he nor I had anticipated.
"OK, um...how about your mom?
"What?"
"Would your mom like another beer?"
Suddenly reminded that one must take oneself much less seriously in order to derive the greatest enjoyment out of life, I burst out laughing.
I was still recovering when Mrs. Cash returned to the table.
Having ordered a small garden salad (after all, who could eat?), my focus pretty much turned to saying as little as possible in hopes that she would friggin' finish eating.
I had already called for the check and ended up excusing myself to go find the waiter and pay it, already.
Finally, leaving, I parted ways with her at the table and wished her well. There was no way I was going to risk the awkwardness of walking her to her car. My inherent sense of chivalry was in fact overwhelmed by utter disgust, without apology.
Arriving home at the advanced hour of 6:30, I was greeted once again by a "post date" e-mail. In her vitriolic message to me, Mrs. Cash had "charged" me with a series of offenses that clearly roused her deepest sense of hurt and anger. Among the more particularly hilarious ones was the pronouncement that I was "obviously gay" because I failed to see her as attractive.
Were she the last woman on earth, she may have been right about that.
Incidentally, I finally learned my lesson and quit that particular dating site...forever.

4) Cook For Your Drunk

She was a very cute kindergarten teacher of Lebanese ethnicity. She was also a total sweetheart. Realizing her pics consistently got 9.5s on HotOrNot.com, I threw the dice and let her come to my place so I could cook for her.
There were no disappointments. She was exactly my type. And she was already being touchy/feelie/smiley enough that I knew this was going to go really well.
I mixed her an "Apple-tini".
"Oh my! This is GOOOD!" she said. Noticing her glass was empty, I refreshed it for her.
The glass was empty again the next time I looked over at her. Right then, making eye contact with her, she skipped over to me, threw her arms around my neck and started biting me with a giggle.
This chick was perhaps 110 pounds with a full tank of fuel. (in other words, she was probably 110 pounds at that moment). So I decided maybe two drinks were enough.
But nevertheless, when I wasn't paying attention she had found some raspberry stuff in my stash and had begun mixing vodka with it.
Ten minutes later, dinner was finished...and it was spectacular, if I may say so myself.
But she was nowhere to be found.
It was then I remembered she had excused herself to the bathroom.
I went to check on her and she had vomited (thankfully with tremendously accurate aim) into the commode, and was presently passed out on the floor. Whatever.
Managing to wake her up, her groggy self agreed to let me carry her to the bedroom and let her sleep it off...which she did.

I ate dinner alone, watching SportsCenter. The Spurs had lost, no less.
She woke up 8 hours later, found me asleep on the couch, and had made me breakfast by the time I woke up. It was a great breakfast. She clearly had a sense that I was a man whom she could feel safe with. There was a second date.

Obviously, I learned some things from my early online dating misadventures. My evening with he Lebanese cutie actually happened about six months before I met Emily, so that only proves you gotta stay on your toes at all times. Actually, that one was probably less of an "online dating disaster" per se and more of an issue of guarding my liquor stash from pent-up school teachers!

Of Ghosts and Evil Spirits in Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh is a mountainous state in northern India. It has no railways and the connection between distant villages is only by roads or mountain paths. My father tells me that when he used to visit his village which was on the border with Himachal Pradesh he would often venture for a walk into the wild mountains.

He told me that one day he and a friend of his decided to go for a long trek in the mountains. After walking a mile or so my father and his friend saw a black cat sitting on their path. As they moved closer the cat continued to purr and refused to give way. So my father's friend who carried a lathe (wooden rod) had swiped at the cat. But before the rod could descend on the cat it vanished. My father and his friend laughed and thought it to be an illusion. They continued further and this episode was repeated. A faint alarm now rang in their mind.

As they continued further they saw child standing on the road and he was crying. My father thought his mother must be nearby. So he lifted the child and shouted for the mother. But says my father the child then started laughing and slowly his weight started increasing. Alarmed my father dropped the child and ran back to the village loudly reciting the Jap the prayer of Guru Nanak.
He told me no uncertain terms that what he had accosted was a chaleda. This was a term I heard for the first time. Though the tale was narrated by my father I initially took it with a pinch of salt. But some study in this field and a visit to Himachal confirmed to me that a chaleda is very much a spirit that is in existence and has the power to appear before a human in different forms. It could take the shape of a beautiful woman or an animal. It is an evil spirit and plays with the victim by taking different forms and then may either maim or even kill him.
The chaleda as per popular belief is a spirit of a man who has died a premature or violent death. Such spirits are doomed to roam the earth till their day of salvation when they can gain entry into the gates of the spirit world.

There is big debate whether there is anything like spirits or an after life. But the phenomenon that I have narrated is difficult to explain. Yes, the chaleda is not heard of anywhere else in the world or for that matter in any other part of India. This spirit appears to be peculiar to Himachal Pradesh. Thus there is a possibility that a legend may have been built up by the people there from some different episodes. But this is a simplistic argument. I for one have no rational explanation of what or who is a chaleda.

Sexuality and Horror Movies

Have you ever thought that there is a connection between sexuality and horror movies? What is the key in capturing the viewers' attention? Well sex combined violence. And horror movies are almost always about sexuality even though it is very obvious or subtle. Sex and horror became almost inseparably. You know the classic scenes where a naked woman gets killed in the shower, or the women who get raped by monsters in order to continue their species, the slasher films in which women who are very proud of their sexuality are seen as deserving to die (an example are cheerleaders), sexual domination often evocated in horror movies and so on. Even Frankenstein, who is seen as a threat to the male animal's sexuality.

The classic examples of sexuality in horror movies are the Vampire stories. They are aroused by beautiful women, but they only want to drink their blood. There is also a subgenre to this type of movie, the so called lesbian vampire stories in which their sexuality is explored to its maximum.
In horror movies appears also the voyeuristic intentions. And there is just one small step from this to pornography. Horror and sexuality are both taboo subjects for adults to talk to in front of children. However all humans have certain needs and erotic dreams, some dream about making love with the loved one on a beach while the sun sets, some to have intercourse with strangers on the kitchen table and others who fantasize about being strangulated while having sex. It is said that before dying from strangulation one has an orgasm like never experienced before, so this could make a very good plot for a horror erotic movie who wants to explore sexuality.

Sexuality is also used in some horror movies in the form of binding the heroes before the big confrontation or at the end of it, as a reward for surviving through it. Here we can find sexuality in its perfect shape; everything goes right in these types of sex scenes.

Some other scenes related to sexuality are those in which the heroine walks around naked through her house and the killer is inside, playing with her mind, calling her, whispering to her (talking about Hitchcock's Phycho movie who used this recipe for the first time back in the 60's), others are crimes who happen in strip clubs. Talking about sexuality! Even the moment when the killer is about to murder his victim and immobilizes it while whispering or touching her neck is full with sexuality.
Another recipe for a good horror movie is using the characters' sexuality to kill the bad guy.

 A heroine seduces a killer in order to destroy him. Teenagers who explore their sexuality and end up being punished by forces of nature for doing this, sexual repression, the striving for self acceptance after being abused by psychos are all scenarios for horror movies. All the characters like Vampires or slashers are using the same motive. They show what consequences decadence could have. It's all about sexuality in the end. Sex and horror do mix, and they mix very well. These are the two things that are included in everyone's subconscious and little of them talk openly about it. The scenarists that create horror movies found the soft spot and in order to obtain a successful movie it takes two: terror and sexuality. And, of course, an inspired plot.