Search the Community

Just finished this book, anyone who is interested in sales or marketing should check it out. The author discusses his theory of branding, the "primal theory," and its seven components: the creation story, the creed, the icons, the sacred rituals, the leaders, the pagans, and the sacred words. Then he examines a number of companies (including Coca Cola, UPS, Fast Company, and Cyan) and how they have created great brands. He also discusses people, places, and organizations. It's about 250 pages, but it's a pretty quick read.

Anyone read this new one yet from King? Just bought it today and going to get started.

Many of you have heard me mention him in this forum already, and I suggest anyone who read J.R.R. Tolkien should pick up some of his books, he's really good. http://www.terrybrooks.net/

4.5 of 5 stars i downed this 400 page book in 2.5 days, not because i like to read, but because i couldn't put this down. it's a conspiracy/thriller about the government, the mob, big business, and technology. one of those that "could be true," but we'll never know. give it a whirl. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/034548059...ie=UTF8&s=books

Yeah, so, I've deemed it fantasy-action genre, though really there's as many battles in the book as any other fantasy novel, but I try to write in a more engaging matter. Rather than focus on building a fantastical world, I focus on the characters and their stories. Feedback (especially critical, I hope to publish this someday) is always appreciated. EDIT: (Taken out)

I get USAToday and the local paper. Read as much of it as I can.

Anyone else love fantasy, sci-fi books?

who reads him? I've read cat's cradle and breakfast of champions in the last month or so.

Has anyone else read this book? It's a response to all the people crying that today's pop culture is dumbing down our society. Johnson argues that today's tv shows and video games, along with the internet, are actually making us smarter. He goes well beyond the standard "video games improve dexterity and hand-eye coordination" argument. Not too long, check it out if you get a chance.

(From the back cover:) Shot twice by an unseen assailant, Dr. Marc Seidman lies in a hospital bed. His wife is dead. His six-month-old daughter has vanished. Just when his world seems forever shattered, the note arrives... If you contact the authorities, we disappear. You will never know what happened to her. We want two million dollars. There will be no second chance. Marc has nowhere to turn and no one to trust. And the authorities are closing in on a new suspect--him. Cornered by deadly secrets about his wife, about an old love he's never forgotten, and about his own past, Marc has only one chance to get it right--and bring his daughter home... --- Great read, the end will blow you away It's real smart, you'll be guessing at how everyone is connected throughout the whole novel.

im trying to read more of these but i need help finding some good ones. my small list: The Art of War Guns, Germs, and Steel A People's History of the United States

Has anyone read Life of Pi? I am on chapter 20 and it isn't very interesting. Is there any reason I should finish it? Thanks jay_swift

Who are some of your favorite authors? Here's mine (well a partial list) Robert Ludlum Louis Lamour Larry McMurtry Greg Iles John Sanford Clive Cussler Stephen King(used to be a big fan of his stuff, not so much anymore) These are just a few I can think of off the top of my head. As you can see it's all fiction & westerns. I read other things by different authors. I just don't follow them as I do the above mentioned. Although 2 of the above I can no longer follow as they are dead(so I don't reckon I'll be seeing anything new from them)

Okay, here is my fan fic. If you are still interested in joining it, reply with the needed information here. A word of warning. This story may and probably will contain excessive amounts of profanic language. I know that it's not allowed here, but I'll "*" them out as necessary. If your uncomfortable with this being overly used with profanic obsenities, then you might want to turn back. I'll do my best to keep it to a minimum as well, so odds are, you'll probably see little amounts of it if any at all. ----- Tatsuhiko sat at his desk finishing up his newly given report. Looking annoyed, he thought up a way to finish it. He took a sip of his coffee, set it down, and tapped the desk with his pencil. "Hmm...." Tatsuhiko said. He heard a snap sound and saw he broke the tip of his pencil. "Ugh...." He got up from his chair and headded over to the pencil sharpener when the sargeant opened the door. "Tatsuhiko, I need you accompy the new member of Alpha Team. Her name is Misery. Don't ask, please. We recently sent Bravo team out into Raccoon City forest several hours ago, and heard nothing back from them since. We need two specialists to check out what happened and report back to us. I hope you two get along. Here, follow me to the helicopter. We're prepping it now." This ought to be interesting... She'd better have experience, because I don't expect me to be watching her back. Tatsuhiko thought on the way to the helipad. When the Sargeant and Tatsuhiko arrived, they found Misery already in the chopper, sitting with her hands on her knees, looking straight ahead as if the two were invisible. Tatsuhiko got in, sat down across from her, and said to the Sargeant, "Is it really alright to send only two people out there?" "It should only be a quick in-and-out mission. Just see where Bravo team is, evacuate any survivors, and report back to base. Simple as that." "If you say so. I don't need to bring probies into this mess with me. I don't want to get killed just because someone makes a stupid mistake." "That won't happen again, I promise. She is fully capible of handling herself in these kinds of situations. I advise you to exercise caution too. Never know what might happen." "Roger that. I'll radio in once we reach the point where they were last heard from." The Sargeant saluted the two, and departed from the helipad as the helicopter took off. Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the entrance of Raccoon City forest. "We'll be approaching the drop-spot within 5 minutes. Stay alert and keep an eye out" said the pilot. A spot of smoke was seen out the right hand side of the window. The pilot veered toward the smoke. Tatsuhiko readied his saftey line to decent to the ground. Misery followed suit, still keeping silent. Tatsuhiko looked at her and back towards the ground of the drop spot. "Brace yourself for landing. Keep a tight grip as well" Tatsuhiko said. Misery nodded and jumped out first. Tatsuhiko followed and landed next to Misery who already had her weapon drawn. ksssst "Tatsuhiko, I'll be returning to base to refuel and head out to the drop point again. Radio back when you find anything. Out." ksssst "Alright. Stick together and keep an eye out. There should be something nearby from that smoke." Tatsuhiko said. Conditions: Tatsuhiko - Fine Misery - Fine

Alrighty, since I'm pretty excited to do this again, I'm posting sign-ups for my upcomming fan fiction. What is it about you ask? It's based in the Resident Evil world! Sure, you may be turned off a bit now, but people who gave it a shot really got into it when reading. This fan fiction will be written entirely by me, but you guys get the chance to take part in it! Heres what I ask of you. I'll have player positions listed, then all you need to do is post a reply with the following information (only needed if you want to be in the story). Rules also provided: Name: (Can be a name you desire, or if you truely want... you can use your CS name for it. Server rules apply ) Age: Sex: Short Bio: (This is so we can get an idea what your character is like. Nationality, location of birth, past life experiences, etc. Also include how your character got involved with S.T.A.R.S. (optional. If you don't want to be a part of S.T.A.R.S., then you won't have a couple perks that they get. Spots for S.T.A.R.S. members will be limited.)) What kind of character you want: (see below) Weapon(s): (In this field, you choose what weapon you start out with that is approperate to your class. Pictures are encouraged! Link to them only please. Soldiers, Medics, and the Alpha Leader are limited to an automatic rifle and a pistol (both of their choosing). The Heavy Weapon character gets to choose two primary weapons and a secondary weapon (light smg or pistol). You don't need to go in serious detail with your bio, just provide enough information you think I'll need to get a good of your personality, etc. Classes: These are what we will be able to choose from. Depending on the character's situation, civilians caught up in the action will either share firearms, or be provided with one when they are introduced into the story. Here are the classes to choose from: Alpha Leader: Tatsuhiko (JackieChan) - INGAME Heavy Weaponeer: Jim/Chief (Chief) - INGAME Soldier 1: Misery (Loki) - INGAME Soldier 2: Farmer (Farmerisme) - INGAME Medic: Bones (Batman) - INGAME Civilian 1: Nick Zoro (Nick Soapdish) Civilian 2: Dr. Sophie Brunn (Ebildustbunny) - INGAME Civilian 3: Baraqel (Baruch) - INGAME Careful which class you choose. Being the Heavy Weaponeer class hinders your character physically. They get exhausted faster, slow reflexes, and can potentionally die faster than the rest of the team. The medic is the most dependant of the classes to choose from. So it'll be up to the team to make sure that the medic survives the ordeal. Characters can die from any means I choose from. Mostly from zombie attacks. If I happen to have your character die, don't think it's because I hate you (which'll be impossible because I <3 all of you ), it's part of the story. Health Status You get 5 health status levels. There as follows: Fine Caution Caution Danger Dead Obviously, the more damage you take, the worse your health status gets. Finding green herbs/medipacks (provided by the medic of the group) increases your health status one level, but you can never get back to the "Fine" condition once you have been wounded. You can only get up to yellow caution. I hope I'm not missing anything... In the mean time, heres my character's information (also, use it as an example as well): Name: Tatsuhiko Age: 24 Sex: Male Short Bio: Born in Japan, Tatsuhiko moved to the states mainly for schooling. He then recieved military training when he was only 18. He joined S.T.A.R.S. when he was 20. Many people got jealous of his abilities because he quickly passed through the ranks and recieved the highest rank for being an officer on duty. Alpha Team's leader. Compromised of only two people, Alpha Team was assigned only special jobs that didn't involve too much risk. So he mostly was given paper work with his partner. Character Class: Alpha Leader Weapons: M4 Colt Carbine, Raging Bull Magnum Now I leave it up to you guys to support this. YOU MAY JOIN AT ANY TIME WHILE THE STORY IS IN PROGRESS AS WELL! The story needs at least 3 people to begin, so get postin! Also, as the story progresses, post things to keep me goin. I don't want to duck out of the story early due to loss of interest. gl, hf.

Have any favorite or interesting short story writers? I like Stephen King or Bradbury ones... but have seen some cool russian ones by Leskov that I am reading now. I like this genre because to get a story started and finished so quickly (and have it be good) is really tough. I would like to read some more if anyone else has some good ones.

... I think it's the only series I ever clung to. Since like 5th grade... I enjoy other books but nothing has ever come close to much I enjoy reading this series. Anyone else read this series? I'm currently on like chapter 7 or 10 of "Rakkety Tam"

I think we could make this work. Take turns suggesting books that we could all read... give it a few weeks or more... then discuss it. Public libraries are our friends.

Feel free to discuss whatever you would like about what you read. Keep it civil for sensitive topics. Ideas... Post up books as you read them and tell us what you thought about it. Authors or genres that you enjoy. Ask for advice on good books that others have read and suggest yours to others. Think about joining the GC book club (coming to an area near you soon) where we will take turns suggesting a book we can all read and discuss. Add links to stuff you are currently writing. You can get feedback and just plain share your work. Anything else you can think of!

<---me I like books! Good luck with your forum, Farmer!