Reading Games For Children

Book Reviews 101
Here are 9 simple steps to keep in mind when creating a book review. Any kind of book review, either written or via web video, explores the main aspects of the book, along with more specific examples.

However, a good book review is not simply a book report or a summary - it goes a step further and connects the book to the world around us.

Some things to keep in mind when reviewing a book:

1. State the name of the book, author and publication information exactly. This seems simple, but is sadly often botched.

2. Do your research and read the book carefully. Don’t review the book if you haven’t completely read it.

3. Never give away the whole story. The goal is to entice readers with your review. Let them know what the book is about; while leaving them wanting more.

4. What is the theme of the book? If a work of fiction, how does the author use characters and setting to drive the plot?

5. What genre is the book? Does it live up to that genre? If it is a mystery, did it keep you guessing? Or, if for instance a how-to book, could one follow the instructions and perform the tasks described?

6. Let people know how you related to the book. Did it make you laugh or cry? Try to share some highlights of the book without giving away too much. Share your personal connection with the book. It makes the review interesting, and gives the person watching or reading your review a sense of who you are.

7. You don’t have to, in a general sort of way, love the book you’re reviewing. Be specific and give specific examples out of the book that support your opinion.

8. Have you read other titles by the author? Comparing the title you are reviewing to other books by the same author will help people gauge their interest in the book.

9. Do some research about the author. There may be something very interesting about the author that readers want to know.

Jessica produces book reviews at BlueRectangle’s San Leandro, California office. BlueRectangle not only buys back <a href="http://www.bluerectangle.com/buyback">used books</a> and textbooks; but offers video <a href="http://www.bluerectangle.com/reviews/view_one_category/today">book reviews</a> To watch some book reviews please visit <a href="http://www.bluerectangle.com">Blue Rectangle</a>

Audio Books ? What?s Hot For 2006?
2006 is already here and many ask me what we should expect of the emerging interesting market of Audio Books. Audio books have been here for over 20 years and they have become so popular in the last couple of years but yet I claim that the audio books revolution has just begun.
Find out the hot trends in the audio books market for 2006:

1. Less audio books on CD and cassettes and more downloadable audio books ? MP3 audio books and other formats of digital audio books will become cheaper and more reachable, While audio books on CD and books on tape are much less convenient and user friendly. The amount of podcast listeners who download audio books from the internet to listen on their mobile devices such as iPod will rise significantly.

2. Audio book rental services will become the most common method of listening to audio books ? Similar to the DVD market, most audio book listeners will prefer renting audio books instead of buying them. This trend will be the strongest for downloadable audio books but also true for audio books on CD and books on tape.

3. Free audio books ? More online audio book services will offer low cost and free audio books by free trials and special sales.

4. Audio books will invade Europe ? While the audio book market in the United kingdom is developed and have reached a turnover of 124$ million in 2004, The market in Germany is constantly rising and have already reached a turnover of 120$ million in 2005. The audio book market in the whole continent is expected to rise in about 20% during 2006.

Sony has also recognized the emerging market of digital audio books and has recently announced of a new audio book mobile player. The new product will let the users store and listen to digital audio books and is predicted to gain the same popularity as the ?iPod?.

Audio books will be a part of everyone?s life. Join the audio book revolution

Find out all about audio books only on <a target="_new" href=" http://www.911makemoretime.com/audio%20books%20bible.htm "> Audio books free downloads and more - The audio book bible</a>. The audio books bible: http://www.911makemoretime.com/audio%20books%20bible.htm

Audio Books ? 10 Frequently Asked Questions ? Part 2
The audio books era is already here. I keep hearing phrases like: Audio book rental, free audio books, audio book club, audio books on CD, online audio book rental services etc.

Here are the next five frequently asked questions about audio books (and the answers of course):

6. What kinds of audio books do you recommend to listen to?
Listen to audio books that you would read. Meaning, if you like thrillers, listen to thriller audio books, if you are looking for children books, get children audio books etc.

Yet, I suggest you get to know more other successful audio books kinds such as language tutorials and motivation audio books.

7. Are the old fashioned books going to disappear?
I don?t think so. In fact, I still prefer reading books before I?m going to sleep. The experience is a different one, and some people still prefer the old books. Yet, I believe that the reading habits of most of the world?s population will change in the next century thanks to audio books.

8. Can I find any book in an audio book format?
Unfortunately not any book could be found as an audio book. Yet, almost any new book and any bestseller from the last century are getting published as an audio book. Most of the old books could be found in the format of books on tape and the new ones as downloadable audio books and audio books on CD.

9. How can I listen to downloadable audio books?
You could listen to downloadable audio books using a media player on your desk top or your note book computer. However, most people use audio players like iPod to listen to downloadable audio books.

10. Where should I get my audio books?
The best place to get audio books from would be one of the online audio book services.

Paton Jackson is the audio books? expert of 911 corp. Find the best audio books sources on <a target="_new" href=" http://www.911makemoretime.com/audio%20books%20bible.htm "> Audio books rental and more - The audio book bible</a> .

What You Need To Know To Write A Book
As a published author and personal coach,with published work in various genres, I get alot of questions about how to write a book and get it published. These questions come from all over the world and yet despite the variation in culture, the questions are always the same. Here are the answers to my top four questions: What you need to know to write a book Momentum is the key to every published novel and completed work. Debating for half a century over what to write is a good way to have your dream of becoming an author remain simply a dream. Schedule time daily to write and to create worlds previously unseen. In the items below I will talk alot about research, especially if you intend to publish. Knowing your audience is one of the keys to getting published. That said, if you devote all of your energy to research and second guessing what "the world" and publishers will actually like, you can end up in the same predicament as those who simply dream of writing. With that word of caution, before writing a book that you intend to publish you must know your demographic. Are you writing for 5 year olds, teens, senior citizens?Is this a specialized group? Ex. If you are writing for children, what level of learning are they at? Would a picture book be more appropriate? What type of language are they capable of understanding? Ex. If you are picking a certain genre, like Romance, what group are you targeting? Will you write historical romances, science fiction romances, supernatural romances, comic romance novels? What is appropriate in this genre now? Romance novel love scenes have come along way. Whereas before you were allowed to hint at bedroom activities, now love scenes must sizzle. How to write a book plan Even if you are simply writing to write, without the thought of publishing, you should have a structure to your work. Outline what you would like to happen in the book. What plot are you going for? Your book should have a beginning, middle and end. Yes you absolutely should jump in and write, as soon as possible, but have an idea of where it is going. There is a difference between writing a really good scene and writing a full blown novel. One is a great "idea" and the other has a plot and storyline with a conclusion. I always outline the plot of the book, and create a back history for each of my characters. Most of what is in their history you will not include in the actual book but it gives you a frame of reference. When you don't know what your character will do next, look at the outline you created for him. Ex. Did his mom abandon him early on? How does that affect his attitude, thoughts, behavior, speech patterns? Does he have a stutter? How does that affect his relationships? How to write a book and publish it If you intend to publish your book, the traditional way, then pick up a copy of this year's Writer's Market. Look and see what publishers in your genre are asking for right now. They will tell you the subjects that they want and the ones that they will burn on site. Never send your manuscript to these publishers unless asked for it or their description in the Writer's Market says this is allowed. You should send a query letter with a self addressed stamped envelope to receive their reply. Most publishers throw out unsolicited manuscripts so save yourself the time, and money. When you are asked to send your manuscript in, send it with another self addressed stamped envelop. On the off chance that they do not accept your manuscript you want to make sure that you get your manuscript back. Your mauscript should be printed on only one side of each page, be easy to read and have space for margins. Even if they do not accept your manuscript, they are sometimes nice enough to write comments in the margins. If you intend to self publish, you are in luck, the price for self publishing has come way down. Whereas you used to have to spend thousands of dollars and buy copies in bulk, now print on demand publishers will take a small upfront fee and a percentage of sales but you do not have to stock your books. They simply print a copy as soon as it is ordered. How to Market Your Book Once the writing is over and you have either been accepted by a publisher or self-published, you need to begin marketing your book. If you are self publishing you need to send out press releases, submit copies to book reviewers, schedule book signings, and use every tool available to you to get your book and your name out there. If you have been picked up by a publisher, I hate to tell you this, but you still have the job of marketing your book. Beginning authors, especially, have this duty. You must constantly be in marketing mode. Tell people about your book, arrance interviews, set up a web presence. Go on to the message boards and promote your book in a friendly manner. Network with other authors to see what techniques have worked for them. You have written a book. That is wonderful. Congratulations. But that is only half the battle. Letting people know about it and building a following is the other half. I have spoken a great deal in this article about the business of writing your book. All of these considerations are necessary. Above and beyond them though is the sheer enjoyment of writing. Allow yourself to get caught up in the experience. As writers, we have the absolute wonderous gift of creating new worlds and sharing them with others. You get paid to dream. What better job is that? Keep the business model in mind and be observant of marketing opportunities but when you are actually in writing mode, let that reality go and focus on creating a new one that you can share with others. Caterina Christakos is a published author and personal coach. To receive even more step by step writing tips go to: http://www.howtowriteachildrensbook.com

Caterina Christakos is a published author and personal coach. To receive even more step by step writing tips go to: http://www.howtowriteachildrensbook.com

How Not To Get Published
If someone had told me in 2000 that I'd publish four books in 2001, I'd have called him an eejit. The last time I'd been published was 1989, and that doesn't count because I paid someone to do it. I'd long since given up on getting published again. In fact, I doubted I'd ever write again. By now you may wonder how I made it from Point A to Point B. Or for that matter, why I stopped writing. The second part is simple. I was chasing money, becoming a high-powered businessman and losing myself. The first part is a little more difficult to explain. In December 1999, I flew to Hong Kong for a vacation. The first vacation in my life, really. I intended to stay for a month. Instead, I married an Australian who taught English there. I quit my job in North Carolina by email. I found myself unable to legally work in Hong Kong. So what was I to do with my time? I dusted off a childhood dream and resumed writing. I had a slush pile full of old short stories, and I ran them through the on-line writing workshops. There are two parts to writing--story and style. I wasn't changing my stories--they came from me and were what I wanted to write--but my style was pathetic. Style is also the part that can be learned. So I did. Then came something that amazed me. New stories. Mixing with the "writing culture" got my creative juices flowing again. After all those years. Better than ever, in fact. Next, I published them. Between March and December 2000, I published twenty stories in twenty different e-zines. I only made $6, but I was building my resume. I believed that I had a short story anthology in me, and I'd decided to try publishing it. I felt I needed a "track record," so I got one. I also had a novel in my slush pile. A gripping imaginative story, badly told. But I'd finally learned about the craft, the structure, and the hard work that comes after that original flash of inspiration. You see where I'm leading by now. I wrote two new novels, and signed contracts to publish all three novels plus the new short story collection in 2001. It's a common sight among new writers, and really it's a bit sad. People who have the story--the part that can't be learned--but tell it badly. They rush in on the adrenaline high that authors know so well, then get rejected and give up. What defines a great story? That depends on which reader you ask. If you're writing a story that moves you, someone somewhere with similar tastes will like it. Some stories will be more popular than others, but almost every story will be considered great by someone. But if it's badly written, the reader will simply put the book down and read something else. As a teenaged author, gathering up enough rejection slips to wallpaper the room, I didn't give up. I just got arrogant and decided "You don't understand me, ya eejit." That's no solution. Nor is paying to be published. Nope, if you want to get published, learn how to tell your story. Spelling, grammar, punctuation, pacing, dialogue... all that stuff you may have slept through in high school will become second nature with enough practice. I did quite well in high school English, by the way, but it's not like they taught pacing and dialogue and real story- telling there. To learn those, you've gotta read. But that's no problem for an author. If you don't enjoy reading, you can't write something that others will enjoy reading. Also, you must listen to the criticisms. Accept some and reject others, but always listen. I believe the Internet makes it much easier to get those criticisms. I work as an editor now, and one of my authors told me that he sees movies inside his head. It shows in his writing! I don't write that way, unfortunately, but I still know how he feels. When "the Muse" pays me a visit, I've gotta write it down as fast as it comes to me. That's the one part that can't be packaged, taught or mass-produced. That part comes from you, the author, and no one else can do it the way that you do. Kurt Vonnegut, whose works I greatly admire, writes one sentence at a time, and makes each one perfect before he begins the next. But I don't write like that, nor do most of the authors I know. We just let it fly, then go back and fix it later. But if you don't want to get published, don't go back and fix it. Pass that raw copy around to your friends and family and let them tell you how wonderful it is for fear of hurting your feelings. Then send it to the publishers and collect the rejection letters. That's what I did in my younger days, and I wasn't published. It took me twenty years to learn my lesson. It would genuinely make me feel good to hear that most writers aren't taking quite so long.

Who Moved My Rice? http://www.chinarice.org You can't eat grits with chopsticks

Reading speed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reading Speed is the speed with which one can read as defined in WPM ( words per minute ) or WPH (words per hour). Obtaining your WPM. To obtain an estimated average, begin by ...

How To Break Into Print Publishing
The big question. Do you submit directly to publishers, or do you find an agent who will do that for you? Based on anecdotal evidence I've heard, it can work either way. Many publishers refuse to read unagented submissions, but on the other hand Tom Clancy and John Grisham sold their first books without an agent. The bottom line is, if a publisher reads what he can sell, he'll buy it. It doesn't matter if it comes from an author or an agent. The trick is getting him to read it. That's always your focus. Some people swear by agents because they're the ones who will get you larger percentages and advances. I've decided I don't care quite so much about that. In the case of a new author, I sincerely doubt that'll happen anyway. Maybe later. I'd hate to lose my first sale because some greedy agent asked for too much money. Not that I believe that'll happen either. There are also those who swear by agents because many publishers won't look at an "unsolicited manuscript." That's true enough. They ain't got time. They're using agents as a preliminary screening process. A good agent will also know which publishers are most likely to be interested in what YOU write. Someone recommended that once you've selected some potential publishers, phone each one and ask how they would like to be approached. Ask to whom specifically you should address your work. Then you can honestly call it a "solicited manuscript." (Always be honest in your correspondence.) If this doesn't work, because you can't phone or the secretary refuses to cooperate and tells you things like "we only accept material from reputable literary agents," then mail your query letter, bio, synopsis, and sample chapter. They can only say no, or they can say your query looks interesting and they want to see the rest of the manuscript. If you hook a publisher this way, odds are the publisher will like for you to have an agent. So this is when you can call one, after you've hooked the publisher. The agent gets 15% for doing practically nothing, so he'll take the job. The publisher will become more interested when your agent phones saying he's (or she's) looking after your interests in this matter. The most important step is to get your presentation looking as professional as possible. No mistakes. None. Zero. Nada. The vast majority of rejections aren't because the story is bad, but because the Acquisitions Editor concludes that it'll be too much work to make it "ready to read." With new authors, publishers usually lose money. Advertising, print inventory… don't ask them to invest a great deal of editing time as well. They won't do it. It's just that simple. ===== THE SELECTION PROCESS The most important part of getting your error-free manuscript published is choosing the right market. The best way to do this is to read books that are aimed at the same target audience as your own. If you want to approach publishers directly, look at who published those books. Their marketing machine is already positioned to announce your manuscript to your target audience, and they want more books of the type that you write. They're your best bet. Some authors thank their editors. If you're going straight to the publishers, note the editors' names and use those, preferably after a phone call to ensure the editor still works there. If you can, just phone the publisher and tell whoever answers the phone something like "I'm writing a letter to so-and-so, and I want to be sure I'm spelling the name correctly." I used to be a secretary. I liked quick, easy questions. If you want to approach an agent first, look in the acknowledgements sections of those books. Some authors thank their agents. Look up those agents and start with them. Tell how you found them. This might impress them because it makes you look professional. You know they've got a track record in your genre. They know how to sell to publishers who are aimed at your target audience, so let them do it. Whichever method you use, go in fully prepared. Meaning, work through all the steps below before you submit anything. ===== OVERVIEW Your aim is to convince someone who not only does not know you, but does not want to know you, and has read too many bad books, that your book is different. For this you need a cover letter, bio, synopsis, and a sample chapter of such sublime wit, wisdom and genius that even the most jaded and cynical editor can take pleasure in it. Take your time. Don't just whip up something in a day and send it out. You're probably looking at a one or two year gap between acceptance and publication. So in the grand scheme of things, taking the time to make your presentation really shine won't matter. EXCEPT, it'll ensure you get published in the first place. Every publisher should have writers guidelines. Get them. Read them. Follow them. They're using the process of elimination to get out of reading these submissions. The first step in that process is to bump off everyone who can't follow the guidelines. Don't be one of them. ===== PREPARING YOUR QUERY LETTER This will be the first impression they get of you. Make it a good one! Edit that letter as hard as you would a manuscript, and make the damn thing perfect. Make it good writing. Sum up your book in such a way as to make the recipient of the letter say, "Wow, I want to read this book." The first page of your book, along with the jacket text, are what usually determines whether a browser buys your book or puts it back on the shelf. As you write your query letter, think of what you'd put on that book jacket, and work that concept into your letter. Never address your query letter To Whom It May Concern, Dear Editor, or any of that. Get a name. When you find the books that you really like, and are searching them for potential publishers, call those publishers. Ask who edited those books. If you want to approach the publisher directly, write to those editors. You can find more excellent information on the submission and publication process at: http://www.caderbooks.com/pubfaq.html http://www.dsmagency.com/published.html http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/findagent.html http://www.fictionfactor.com/children/chances.html http://www.hollylisle.com/fm/Articles/scamspotting.html http://www.jkelman.com/publish/ http://www.kerismith.com/WishJarTales/gettingpub.htm http://www.robertaisleib.com/published.htm http://www.sff.net/people/justinvs/howtopub.html With a simple bit of good writing, and we all know you can do that since you've already written and polished your manuscript, you'll make it past this first hurdle. The editor reads your letter, sees nothing in it to stop him from continuing, and has no choice. What would stop him? Typos. Grammar. Spelling. Boredom. Or anything that says "I write so much better than Stephen King that he's not fit to hold my jock strap. Buy my book and we'll both get rich." ===== WRITING YOUR BIO Don't lie. That's the first rule. The second rule is, don't forget any writing credits. List everything relevant you've got. Publications in decent magazines or newspapers. Credits in TV, films, theaters. Any literary prize you've managed to get in adulthood. The fact that you're a professor of English or an editor on a sports journal. If you have no literary background, no education, and no respectable publications, but you spent fifteen years in solitary confinement in a Siberian Work Camp, that might indicate that you have a story to tell. But if you're writing about cuddly koalas to entertain the under-five crowd, this piece of information may be more than anyone needs to know. You can list your credits either chronologically or from most impressive to least impressive. Just whichever puts you in the best light. You want to look like you're already a successful author. You don't want to sound arrogant, but you do want to sound confident. Keep it to a single page. You don't want to waste anybody's time. They don't have enough. (Who does?) If your bio is so bare of details that it's more of a liability than an asset, forget about it. Maybe your "bio" equals a sentence or two, in which case you can work it into your query letter instead of a separate document. Your goal, remember, is to get that editor to read your synopsis or manuscript. To judge it on its own merits. If he reads your writing and rejects it, you gave it your best shot. Try a few more, and if they all reject it, think about improving your writing. But you don't want that editor to stop reading your submission before he gets to your writing. So, take the time to do the query letter and bio correctly. ===== WRITING YOUR SYNOPSIS To quote at least one agent, "There is no such thing as a good synopsis." And how can there be? How do you sum up 50,000 or 100,000 words in a page or two? I'll tell you how I do it. Very badly. Having said that, this is your first chance to show the publisher that you can write. Some publishers want a minimal amount of information on first contact (query letter, bio, synopsis). Others want to see the first chapter or two as well. Nobody wants to see the whole manuscript at first, except those who say so in their writers' guidelines. If you include sample chapters, the chance of them being read depends largely on the quality of your query letter and synopsis. Keep your synopsis short, two pages maximum unless the writers' guidelines say differently. Shorter is better. Pick out the theme and the strengths of your book and, in as clever a fashion as possible, relay these qualities in a brief chronology. The chronology is less important than the theme because, in truth, your only hope with a synopsis is that your theme or concept will strike a chord with the editor or agent reading it. If your story is funny, your synopsis should be funny. If it is a romantic story, then your synopsis should be a romantic synopsis. You are a writer, and here is where you can be creative. Many great works of literature don't have easily defined stories, just fine writing and good characters. If you have no story, then you have to sell your idea. The synopsis must have fine, clear writing. Say how your book starts, how it ends, and the interest in the middle. This isn't the time for cliffhangers. Your sample chapter should do the main talking, but your synopsis should offer up those clever memorable sound bites that will linger in the editor's mind and convince him to read the sample chapter. ===== PREPARING YOUR MANUSCRIPT Did I mention that your manuscript must be flawless? I'll mention it again. Your manuscript must be flawless. Especially be sure that the first chapter(s), the "hook" that you'll submit, will be the type that grabs the reader and makes him/her/it wonder what happens next. Beyond that, some mechanics: If the publisher you're submitting to lists all this information in its guidelines, you're in luck. Do what they say and they'll read the manuscript. Fail to do so and they'll set it down unread, even if you're the next John Grisham. Remember, they're budgeting their time and trying to get out of reading this stuff. Once they read it, they'll be fair. (If not, you don't want them.) If it's good solid writing, you're in. But until they get to the writing, they always expect the worst. If you'd seen some of the crap that comes their way, you'd be just as pessimistic. But in the end they do love good writing or else they'd quit that job. ===== PUBLISHER LIST Publisher Directories at http://www.chinarice.org/publisherlist.html contains the websites of almost 100 publishers, but they do tend to vanish quickly. I recommend visiting this after you've gone through the selection process, either from books you read or from a book such as WRITERS MARKET. ===== AGENT LIST Here's some advice from the Agent Research and Evaluation website. They define an agent as: "...someone who makes a living selling real books to real publishers. No one representing himself as an agent should also claim to be a book doctor, an editor-for-hire, a book 'consultant' of any kind. They shouldn't charge any type of 'upfront' reading fee, marketing fee, evaluation fee or any other fee apart from a commission on work sold. "With the possible exception of certain MINIMAL office expenses, legitimate agents NEVER handle [the expenses connected with submitting manuscripts] as an upfront cost. Only as a billable expense after being shown to have been incurred. "Remember, real agents live off the commissions they make from selling their clients' projects. Scammers live off up-front fees for unnecessary, inadequate, or non-existent services." This is excellent advice. Anyone can call himself an agent, get himself listed somewhere, and tell every author who sends him a manuscript "This is excellent. Send me some money and I'll sell it." Then he can pocket the author's money and do absolutely nothing, or send the manuscript to the same publishers who reject everything else he sends them. Agents work for a percentage of your sales. It's usually 15%. An agent's source of income must be the books he sells. If the author pays him before he closes a sale, where is his incentive to close the sale? Insist that your agent send you copies of all rejection letters. A great agent should offer this without you asking, and those rejection letters shouldn't all be undated "Dear author" or "Dear agent" letters that don't mention you or your agent or your manuscript by name. Your agent should also involve you in the selection process without you asking, even if that just means telling you "I'm sending to this, that, and the other place." Don't let him/her send your gothic romance to a children's publisher, etc. If your agent is sending your stuff to the right places and it's still getting rejected, you've done all you can do, except write better. Literary Agent List at http://www.chinarice.org/usliteraryagentlist.html contains my list of resources for finding an agent in the US. Literary Agent List UK at http://www.chinarice.org/ukliteraryagentlist.html contains my list of resources for finding an agent in the UK. If you've been reading my other advice, you're already talking to other authors. If you know one who's made it into print, especially one who writes in your genre, ask which agent (and which publisher and editor) he used. ===== WARNINGS Once you have narrowed down your list of prospects, visit: National Writers Union (http://www.nwu.org) Be sure to look at "Writer Alerts" Preditors and Editors (http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors) Warnings about all the latest scams. How to Spot the Scam Sharks in the Writing Waters (http://www.speculations.com/rumormill/) Writer Beware (http://www.sfwa.org/Beware/) A wealth of must-read advice from the Science Fiction Writers Association, regardless of the genre you write in.

Who Moved My Rice? http://www.chinarice.org You can't eat grits with chopsticks

The Aramaic Language of Jesus
By Gabriel Sawma BACKGROUND The fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the First Temple in 587 BC, by the forces of king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, mark the beginning of what is known as the Babylonian Exile of the Jews. Up to that time, and from the moment of its appearance in a documented written form, the Hebrew language presents, a clear evidence that it belongs to the Canaanite family of languages. This means that when the Israelite tribes settled in the land of Canaan, from the fourteenth to thirteenth centuries BC, they adopted the language of that country (Isa. 19:18). The Hebrew of the poetic sections of the Bible, as well as the oldest epigraphic material in inscriptions dating from the tenth to the sixth centuries BC, is known as Archaic Hebrew. Among the biblical passages that reflect Archaic Hebrew are the Song of Moses (Ex 15), the Song of Deborah (Jug 5), the Blessings of Jacob (Gen 49) and of Moses (Deut 33), the Oracles of Balaam (Nm 23-24), and the Poems of Moses (Deut 32), as well as Ps 68 and other early psalms. The language used in the prose sections of the Pentateuch and in the prophets and the writings before the exile, are known as Classical Biblical Hebrew, or Biblical Hebrew (BH) proper. Many Biblical scholars characterize BH as a language which does not have the full sense of the word, a merely “fragment of languageâ€�. The approximately 8,000 lexical items preserved in the books of the Bible, are not enough to meet the needs of a living language. There have also been claims by various scholars that clear traces of Aramaic can be found in the origins of Hebrew. Recently, various studies have emphasized that Aramaic May have influenced the Hebrew language very strongly, mainly in the second half of the first millennium BC up to the beginning of the Christian Era. It may also be said that other languages, Semitic and non-Semitic had their influence on the Hebrew language, especially those who had a significant cultural impact in the region such as the Sumarian, Akkadian, and Egyptian. Those languages left their mark on Canaan before the Hebrew language came into existence. Ugarit and Phoenician on one hand, and the Southern Semitic dialects on the other, have also given rise to many loanwords in Biblical Hebrew. There is also influence, to a lesser degree, from Persian and Greek. Some Hebrew words derive from Indo-European languages, such as Hittite, and even Sanskrit. In the Oracles of Balaam (Nm 23:7) we encounter, for example (Roba) ‘dust’, attested in the Akkadian inscriptions; (Surim), which means ‘mountains’; (Nehalim) ‘palm’ . Some of the roots peculiar to archaic poetry are found in other Semitic dialects. For example (P’L) ‘do, make’; (Mhs) ‘strike’, and (hardus) ‘gold’ are common in Canaanite and Ugaritic texts, wheras (Yatannu) ‘let them recount’ (Jg 5:11) and (Mahaqa) ‘destroyed’ (Jg 5:26) correspond phonologically to Aramaic. The Babylonian Exile of the Jews exposed them to an Aramaic cultural and linguistic environment. The Aramaic language before that time had been widely spread throughout the Assyrian Empire as the language of administration, commerce and diplomacy, supplanting the Akkadian as the Lingua Franca of the Assyrian Empire (1100-612 BC). The incident recorded at 2 Kings 18:26 and Isa 36:11 provide some indication of the spread of Aramaic into Palestine. During Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem in 701 BC, the Jewish officials request that the Assyrian Rabshakeh negotiate in the diplomatic tongue, i.e. Aramaic. In the aftermath of the destruction of Nineveh in August 612 BC by a combined force of Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar II and Medes commanded by Cyaxares, a Neo-Babylonian Empire (605-538 BC) became the dominant power. And the Aramaic language remained a universal language during that period. It reached its zenith as the official language of the Persian Empire (538-330 BC). With the rise of the Empire of Alexander (336-323 BC) in the East, the Greek language became influential in the region. The Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament (at Alexandria), known as the Septuagint (LXX), and subsequently the writings of the New Testament, were only examples of such influence. But Greek never displaced Aramaic among the Jews of Palestine or Babylon. The succeeding Maccabean, Hasmonian, and Roman administration in Palestine did not witness fundamental changes in the linguistic situation, although, with the coming of the Romans to the East, Latin was introduced into many aspects of public life. BIBLICAL ARAMAIC Passages of the Old Testament written in the Aramaic language are called Biblical Aramaic. They occur in Ezra 4:8; 6:18 and 7:12-26. Daniel 2:4,7:28; and the gloss in Jer. 10:11 and Gen 31:47. Various scholars have tried to show that the original language of a number of books from the Persian and Hellenistic periods, were written in Aramaic, and that they were later translated into Hebrew. This view has been presented in connection with Job, Koheleth, Daniel, Esther, 1 and 2 Chronicles, proverbs, and Ezekiel In the New Testament, various Aramaic words or expressions occur, e.g. “Talitha Cumiâ€� (little girl, stand up) Mark 5:41; “Ephphataâ€� (etphtah, be opened) Mark 7:34; “Eli, Eli, Lama Shabachthaniâ€� (my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me) Matt.27:46, Mark 15:34; “Rabboniâ€� (my Lord) Mark 10:51, John 20:16; “Maran Athaâ€� (our Lord, come) Cor. 16:22. Aramaic influence is apparent in personal names such as “ Cephasâ€� John 1:42, 1 Cor 1:12 and “Tabithaâ€� Acts 9:36, 40, and in place names, including “Akeldamaâ€� (field of blood) Acts 1:19; “Gesthsemane (oil press) Matt 26:36, Mark 14:32; and “Golgothaâ€� (skull) Mark 15:22 ARAMAIC INSCRIPTIONS We possess an abundant number of inscriptions written in Aramaic. They constitute an extremely important source of information for our knowledge of Biblical Aramaic. With the earliest inscriptions dating as far back as the ninth century BC, from Zinjirli in north Syria; from Nineveh, Kouyunjik, Nimrud, Khorsabad (8th to 7th century BC; from Babylonia (6th â€"4th cent. BC); from Tello, bilingual in Aramaic and Greek (3rd cent. BC); from Egypt (fifth to beginning of third cent. BC); the so-called stele of Sakhara, bilingual (Egyptian and Aramaic) dated the fourth year of Xerxes 482 BC; from Taima, north of Hijaz; Al-Hijr; Petra and Hauran; the Palmyrene inscriptions belong to the first three centuries of the Christian Era ; from the Sinaitic Peninsula; from Pakistan (3rd. cent. BC); from the former Soviet Union (2nd cent. BC); and from Afghanistan (3rd cent. BC). THE ARAMAIC LANGUAGE OF JESUS At the beginning of the Christian era, Aramaic, in various dialects was the dominant spoken language of Syria and Mesopotamia. It developed a number of literary dialects, known as Palestinian Jewish Aramaic, Samaritan Aramaic, Syro-Palestinian Christian Aramaic, Syriac, Babylonian Talmudic Aramaic, and Mandaic Aramaic. In Galilee and Samaria, Aramaic dialects became the day-to-day means of communication. It is generally agreed that the inhabitants of Palestine, at the dawn of the first century, were acquainted in varying degrees with the Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin. Differences emerge, however, regarding the geographical and chronological limits of each language. Some scholars defend the theory that Jesus spoke in Greek, among those in favor of this is Vosius, in the seventeenth century, D. Diodati In the eighteenth century and Paulus, Hug and Credner in the nineteenth century. More recently, A.W Argyle argued that Jesus spoke Greek and that his audience understood it as easily as they did in Aramaic. Some welcomed this claim, but others were in opposition. Evidence of Hellenistic influence, is attested by numerous Greek inscriptions, graffiti, and correspondence, Greek Pseudepigrapha written in Palestine, the Greek fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as the Greek influence found throughout rabbinic literature. Others have stressed the role of Latin, the language of the Roman administration; they argue that Latin left its mark on a number of public inscriptions as well as in a few of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Latin influence is manifested in certain aspects of Rabbinic Hebrew. M. Wilcox, on the other hand, considers the Hebrew language of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which predominates over Aramaic, as an indication that Hebrew, in New Testament time, was not confined to rabbinical circles, but appears to be a “normal vehicle of expressionâ€�. Along this, runs a similar view of H. Birkeland, who challenged the usual view that Aramaic was the regular spoken language of the first century Palestine. According to Dr. Birkeland, Hebrew, not Aramaic, was the language of the Jews and of Jesus. No one doubts the extent to which Aramaic had spread throughout the Levant from the middle of the first millennium BC, until; Arabic supplanted it, in the seventh century. A more difficult question, which has led to a significant disagreement among scholars, has to do with differences among, and classification of the various dialects of Aramaic. The most extreme theory is that during the Exile, the Jews lost their Hebrew language for Aramaic, reserving Hebrew, already a dead language, for literature. This was Saadiah’s view, and also, in different forms, by a number of nineteenth- and-twentieth century scholars, including A. Geiger, A. Meyer, G.H. Dalman, A. Dupont-Sommer, and F. Altheim and R. Stiehl. Meyer argued that Jesus’ mother tongue was Aramaic and that most of the Testament writings were originally written in Aramaic and later translated into Greek. Dalman agrees with the fact that Aramaic was the spoken language of the Jews in New Testament time. He concluded that Jesus grew up in Aramaic environment, and that He had to use Aramaic in order to be understood by his disciples and the people. More recently too, Dupont-Sommer argued that, Aramaic was the only language current among ordinary people at the time of Jesus, and that it was the language spoken by Jesus and the Apostles. Similarly, Altheim and Stiehl argued that from the beginning of the Hellenistic era, Aramaic had completely supplanted Hebrew as a spoken language. A more sophisticated approach distinguishes Middle Aramaic (from 300 BC), and Late Aramaic dialects. In the first group, E.Y. Kutscher placed Targum Onkelos and the Aramaic translations from the Dead Sea Scrolls as well as inscriptions from around Jerusalem, and Aramaic expressions in the New Testament. The later dialects, which belong to Western Aramaic, are classified as Galilean, Samaritan, and Christian-Palestinian Aramaic. Of these, the Galilean dialect is of particular interest, because, it was used, for example, in the Aramaic sections of the Palestinian Talmud , the Palestinian Targums , numerous midrashim , and various Synagogue inscriptions. The evidence of the Aramaic language of Jesus is Impossible to explain if Aramaic was not His spoken language. The Scriptures were provided with Targum for the Aramaic-speaking masses who could no longer understand Hebrew. Nowadays, there are few scholars who would disagree that in Galilee and Samaria, the spoken language of the time was basically Aramaic. More controversial though, is the extent of the use of Aramaic in Judea to the south . The discovery of Aramaic texts among the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as earlier evidence from, for example, names of persons and places, have demonstrated conclusively that the use of Aramaic was well established, but not completely dominant in Judea. To simplify the matter, we can say that the most widely spoken language was Galilean Aramaic in Galilee, Samaritan Aramaic in Samaria, and Rabbinic Hebrew in Judea, although, at certain times and places, more than one language may have been used. Since Jesus began his career as a Galilean rabbi, well versed in the Scripture, It is highly possible that he was able to converse in Hebrew as in Aramaic. © Copyright 2006 Gabriel Sawma ALL RIGHTS RESERVED About the autho: Gabriel Sawma is lawyer dealing with International Law, mainly the European Union Law, the Middle East and Islamic Shari'a Laws, http://www.gabrielsawma.blogspot.com. Professors of Aramaic and a recognized authority on Islam. Author of a book titled "The Qur'an: Misinterpreted, Mistranslated, and Misread. The Aramaic Language of the Qur'an", http://www.syriacaramaicquran.com. Email: gabrielsawma@yahoo.com.

Lawyer specializing in the EU Law, the Middle East and Islamic Shariaa Laws. Professor of Aramaic and author of "The Qur'an: Misinterpreted, Mistranslated, and Misread. The Aramaic Language of the Qur'an".

Enjoy Driving With Audio Books
Did you know that A trucker working to the legal limit in the U.S. can rack up to 3,432 driving hours a year—nearly 10 times that of the average New York commuter or enough to listen to the unabridged audio book version of Bill Clinton's My Life 77 times? (Publishing Trends, Market Partners International, September 2005).

Think of the way audio books could optimize your time management. Audio books can turn the day to a 26 hours day. Yes, audio books can add extra two hours each day. Still not convinced?

Did you know that The average rush hour driver will spend an additional 62 hours stuck in traffic—at standstill—each year and that More than 97 million workers drive alone to work each day.

Well, enough with that pile of useless data, Think about yourself — what have you been doing while driving - Listening to the radio? Making unnecessary calls with your mobile phone? Wasting valuable time?

Now close your eyes and imagine you could read the last edition of the New York Times, Read the last Harry Potter book or learn Chinese — all simultaneously while driving your car. Now open your eyes and stop dreaming, you can do it all now. The only difference is that you are going to use a new method of reading — listening to audio books.

And it is so easy: You may get audio books in different formats from books on tapes and audio books on CD to downloadable audio books. You can get it from different sources — libraries, book and music stores and online audio book sources. You could buy audio books, rent audio books and even get free audio books.

According to eBrain Market Research survey, 71% of the audio book listeners listen to them on long car trips.

Believe me; I couldn't wait getting into the heavy morning traffic listening to the audio book "IT" by Stephen king. In fact, I couldn't resist listening to it at home after work. I love audio books.

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How Long?
When people ask me when I started writing, I tell them it was in 1980. My first story was published in the high school literary magazine, my next story won second prize at the National Honor Society's 1981 Florida State Convention, etc.

This week, I remembered something older. I wrote my first titled short story in 1976. I was 13. This was for English class, at Trask Middle School in Wilmington, North Carolina. Michael Jordan was my classmate only in homeroom, not English.

The title of my very first short story was "Dial O For Orgy."

Are you still reading?

Little Michael really wanted to say "Dial O For Occult," but vocabulary was never his strong suit. I don't recall the teacher ever doing anything to correct my mistake. But I've since learned that students sometimes have the power to leave a teacher totally speechless.

"Dial O For Orgy." Yeah, that could do it.

The title was a deliberately blatant rip-off of "Dial M For Murder." You knew the title was a blatant rip-off, much like WHO MOVED MY RICE?, but maybe you didn't know it was deliberate. And hey, now Sue Grafton's writing an entire alphabet of mysteries, and their titles regularly appear in the crossword puzzles I use to help me with my vocabulary deficiency.

No, I don't remember my story. Something bad happens, our hero can't solve the problem, he consults somebody with a Ouija board (dial O for Ouija?) and lives happily ever after. Or something like that. I just thought you'd like the title. I swear, it wasn't about phone sex.

==========

This is an excerpt from an unpublished interview. I was asked how long it took me to write each of my books.

* THE CHRONICLES OF A MADMAN - 21 years
http://www.booksunbound.com

From 1979 through 1985, I wrote short stories for magazine publication. Well, intended publication. The 100+ rejection letters amassed. One had a picture of a skunk on it. (Thunder Creek Publishing, Canada.) But I was stubborn. "My writing, my way, and if you won't take it it's your fault!" That is NOT the way to approach this business. Writing is a calling, but publishing is a business. It took me years to learn that. Twenty-one years, to be exact.

A friend read my short story collection and said it had not one single redeeming quality. I decided she was right, erased those Commodore 64 floppy disks, and went back to my security guard desk. About a year later, I realized I'd done a stupid thing.

1988, on my newly purchased but very old Osborne computer, I recreated the stories from memory. Best thing that could have happened to this particular book. I remembered the best bits and forgot the trash. I doubt you need to do anything so drastic.

Now we have to skip ahead again. 1995. I wrote a novel in three weeks despite working about 100 hours each of those weeks at a physically intense hog farm. The Muse grabbed me. I shopped the novel around but had no luck. Oh well. That wasn't a new experience.

Hong Kong 2000, I realized the obvious. The novel was too padded and puffy. Since it was the sequel to a short story from the undersized collection, I whacked about half of it and added it to the collection. After this experience, plus the experience of running all my old stories through free on-line creative writing workshops and learning so much about how to improve them, I began writing new short stories. The end result was THE CHRONICLES OF A MADMAN.

http://www.booksunbound.com

* VIGILANTE JUSTICE - 11 years
http://store.fictionwise.com/servlet/mw?t=book&bi=7416&si=42

Sometimes it takes a while to write that first novel. :-)

My little brother, age 20, was a cop when he killed himself. I was a writer long before that. So I had to write about what he would be like "today" if he hadn't done it. I wrote 3-1/2 novels about "him" before throwing them away and abandoning the project. A few years later, I had a "eureka moment" and wrote a first draft in 1996. I wasn't able to find a publisher, largely because I hadn't written it well.

Skip ahead to 2000 in Hong Kong. Fresh off my short story collection, I dug this out of the slush pile and utilized all I'd learned to rewrite it. Judging by its readership and its status as an EPPIE finalist, I must have gotten something right. :-)

http://store.fictionwise.com/servlet/mw?t=book&bi=7416&si=42

* RISING FROM THE ASHES - 1 month

I was an old veteran by this time. My wife had spent 10 months telling me to "write my life story." She'd fallen in love with me because of how I told it to her. But I was afraid it'd bore people. Finally, the realization hit me. Don't write MY story. Write Mom's. She can't write it herself, because she's dead, but it needs to be told.

At a resort in Koh Samui, Thailand, I outlined it in one hour on hotel stationery. A striking contrast to the humble beginnings described in the book, and the only time I've ever used an outline. My longest book, my shortest writing time. Perhaps because remembering is faster than inventing. I consider this my finest work. The second of my three EPPIE finalists.

You can't buy this. I'm shopping it to traditional print, a.k.a. dead tree, following the demise of NBI. You KNOW I'll brag if I pull it off.

* AN AMERICAN REDNECK IN HONG KONG - 6 months

Though RISING FROM THE ASHES is women's literature and this is humor, this is the sequel. I ended the first book when my family died. I was 26 then. I wrote this when I was 38. I lived a lot of crazy stories in those 12 years. Again, a process of remembering instead of inventing.

The breakthrough moment was realizing that the chronological approach wasn't working. It was forcing me to retell the same back-stories too many times. I organized this into theme-based sections, each section chronological and self-contained, and it all but wrote itself after that.

You can't buy this either. NBI again. It's an orphan until after RISING finds a home.

* WHO MOVED MY RICE? - 2 years
http://www.booksunbound.com/bsmr.html

This happened after the interview. Things got even crazier after I left Hong Kong to "teach English" in mainland China, so it was only natural for me to chronicle all that. Two years? Yes, two years. I write slowly now.

http://www.booksunbound.com/bsmr.html

Who Moved My Rice? http://www.chinarice.org You can't eat grits with chopsticks