Its no surprise that its hard for new writers to get published. Bookstores are practically flooded with tomes on how to sell your idea. What about the writers who dont have time to network at conventions, spend months waiting for manuscripts to be reviewed, or just simply think there has to be a better way? After a year of research, planning, and hard work M. John Matirko, founder and proprietor of Velesquious Studios says, I think there is."

While working at a hardware store in Pocono Lake, PA Mr. Matirko started seeking representation for his first novel. When he grew weary of the process he registered a company name with the state and started www.velesquious.com to try online marketing. Now hes taking on work from other writers and artists as well hoping to turn his idea into a platform for new talent.

A seemingly endless number of articles and magazine covers talk about retirement, but the fact is that most Baby Boomers are still not ready for the rocking chair. By 2010, 58 million people--20% of the population--will be 50-64. Sure, they must do some retirement planning, but meanwhile how do they survive and thrive in this challenging PreRetirement life stage?

The answers come from www.PreRetirementLife.com, a new Web site guide with special resources, tips, and content for adults aged 50-64.

It's travel season at Barbara Adams' Beyond Wonderful! This month, resident wine expert Michael De Loach shares a wealth of insider information about California's legendary wine country. He also covers two less celebrated (but equally enticing) winemaking regions: Portland, Oregon and New York's finger lakes.

De Loach's enticing travel stories are equally entertaining whether you're planning a real life vacation or simply imagining a future adventure. Each article includes recommended routes and lists of "must-see" wineries, as well as detailed suggestions for accommodations and dining, with options to suit every taste and budget.

"You like someone, but don't know whats in her or his mind? Afraid your advances can spoil a good friendship?"

Lets101 - a leading free online dating site, has the solution. They have designed a new innovative Break The Ice program specially for these situations.

Now, no more guess work if one feels there is a connection, and wants to know whats in her/his mind but without spoiling the existing friendship, lets101 break-the-ice program is a right place to go.

Lets101 has also introduced my stories and blogs section, where members can write about their daily experiences and what they are missing in life and what they are looking in dating partners on the online dating site.

Amid unpredictable energy costs, U.S. business owners want Congress to make the United States more energy-independent even as high health care costs remain a concern, according to the biannual PNC Economic Outlook survey.

When asked which issues they would most like to see addressed in the 2006 mid-term elections, reducing U.S. dependence on foreign energy sources (29 percent) topped the list, followed by health care reform (24 percent) and tax reform (16 percent), PNC’s findings revealed. The order of the top two issues is reversed from the Spring survey of small and mid-sized business owners 558 across the United States.

GotoBus.com (www.gotobus.com), the world's leading online travel site for more than 1,500 bus tours, sightseeing tours and vacation packages in the US and Canada, has hand-picked best bus tours for you to experience the Top 7 Natural Wonders in the U.S.

Number One:

The Grand Canyon, AZ -- Whether you believe it took millions of years or whether you believe its an obvious result of a great flood, its become irrelevant when you see the scale. If you want to challenge yourself -- step on the newly built Grand Canyon Skywalk, a glass bridge hanging 4,000 feet from the Colorado River. We recommend the L.A. to Grand Canyon, Las Vegas 3 Day Tour, $99

Equinix Inc, (Nasdaq: EQIX), the leading global provider of network-neutral datacenters and Internet exchange services, has announced that it was recently awarded ISO 27001 certification of its datacentre in Enschede in the Netherlands.

ISO 27001 certification is awarded to companies whose business processes conform to strict international information security standards. Equinix's operations in the Netherlands underwent stringent assessment and auditing measures to ensure that its business processes satisfied the ISO 27001 standards.

Midwest Energy Association (MEA) announced today that they have added a Leadership Development training track to help new and developing crew leaders, supervisors and managers enhance their management skills. The sessions are part of MEA's efforts to assist the industry with its serious workforce development challenges. With some utilities facing 30% or more retirements in the next 5 years, they want both the traditional technical sessions offered at the gas and electric conferences and Leadership Development. The new leadership training covers a range of soft skill topics including Workplace Relations, Contractor Alliances, Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Presence.

The Ferndale Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring its first annual Commercial Real Estate Showcase. The showcase will be Thursday, May 29th, 2008, beginning at 9AM and ending at 3PM. The showcase will be for anyone looking to relocate or expand a business into north Whatcom County & U.S. business market. This event is designed to benefit various Canadian businesses who are interested in expanding into the United States market.

Ferndale Commercial Real Estate Showcase

The Showcase will feature a variety of available retail, office, industrial, & land development opportunities of all sizes in and around the City of Ferndale, which is conveniently located just 15 miles south of the Peace Arch border crossing & 8 miles north of Bellingham, with excellent proximity to the interstate, an International Airport, rail/cargo tracks, & cargo/ship facilities. The event will include a self-guided tour of more than 20 properties, a free lunch for the first 150 attendees, and city planners on site to answer questions.

Experlogix, Inc., the leading developer of web-based sales and product configurator solutions, announced today its integrated Parametric Configurator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM is now Certified for Microsoft Dynamics, which signifies that Experlogix has met Microsoft Corp.'s highest standard for partner-developed software. By successfully meeting all certification requirements, Experlogix can now carry the distinct Certified for Microsoft Dynamics logo.

The Certified for Microsoft Dynamics software test verifies Experlogix delivers a packaged software solution that supports key business processes, is easy to install for partners and customers and is compatible with the Microsoft Dynamics platform upon which it runs as well as other elements of the Microsoft technology stack. Certified for Microsoft Dynamics solutions require that at least 10 customers have deployed Experlogix for Dynamics CRM and are willing to recommend it.

Drexel University Online, a subsidiary of Drexel University, addresses the educational needs of nurses by providing an online RN to BSN program for them to gain the knowledge and skills needed to advance in their career. This program has been offered online from the College of Nursing and Health Professions since 1999 and has close to 1,000 active students.

The Bachelor of Science in Nursing(BSN) online program helps to prepare nurses licensed in the United States for career advancement in today's demanding healthcare environment. Graduates of the online BSN program learn skills necessary to assume roles that demand critical-thinking, decision-making, communication, and leadership skills. Core courses prepare graduates for population-based cases and the managed care environment and electives in the student's choice of area cover additional current issues in nursing.

An estimated $148 billion dollars a year in lost revenues, according to Annals of Internal Medicine, is the result of reduced job productivity and absenteeism in the U.S. due to hangover symptoms related to alcohol consumption. During the present economic downturn, alcohol consumption has been increasing in company downsizing, worker productivity demand and stress levels. Recent statistics show that 90% of the American workforce will go to work with a hangover.

In spite of these difficult times, Zaca has announced today that they will be giving away free hangover patch samples to the first 4,000 who access their website to help keep worker productivity high. The goal of the free samples is to produce an increase in worker productivity and company revenues.

Best known for introducing readers and discussion groups to classic works, the Great Books Foundation is embracing two recent developments in literature--sudden fiction and graphic stories, popularly called "comics."

The Great Books Foundation Short Story Omnibus

The Great Books Foundation Short Story Omnibus (The Great Books Foundation, March 2009), edited by Daniel Born, Judith McCue and Donald Whitfield, not only includes stories from familiar classic and contemporary authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, John Updike and Margaret Atwood, but also features nine pieces of sudden fiction (also known as short short fiction or flash fiction) and three graphic selections, each accompanied by discussion questions and a short author biography.

Everest Poker's own Stefanie Bergener from Germany, and Maria Maceiras from Spain, made the final table of the Women's World Open II in London yesterday. Team Everest Poker's only two representatives in the $108,000 tournament made the top three.

Maria finished 3rd taking home $15,000 with Stefanie finishing 2nd taking home $22,000.

Maceiras has been a part of the Everest Poker Team since 2007 and has quickly become a poker winning machine over the past two years. She was the first women to win two legs of the Spanish Championship, establishing herself not only as a top female poker player, but as one of the best in Spain.

Pugster Inc., a fashion jewelry company, recently obtained an exclusive license for It's Happy Bunny Italian charms and has now released these hilarious charm links with favorite sayings from everyone's favorite Happy Bunny, found exclusively at www.pugster.com.

Italian charms are the hip and fun fashion jewelry of today. Customers love them because they are easily customized and changed; they can choose ones that fit their personality, interests and hobbies, or even ones that tell their life story. These colorful and fun charm links are made of durable stainless steel. They come in thousands of designs that include words, letters, names, animals, sports, hobbies, professions, holidays, zodiac signs, birthstones, fashion and authentic brands including Happy Bunny, Disney Resort, Walt Disney Collection and many more.

Women to Women reported today that since the release of Suzanne Somers' new book, "The Sexy Years -- Discover the Hormone Connection", it has been deluged by callers asking about bioidentical hormones to relieve their symptoms of menopause and perimenopause.

"We haven't seen anything like this since the WHI study on HRT was stopped almost two years ago," said Dixie Mills, MD, a practitioner at Women to Women and a nationally known specialist in breast health. "Because of who she is, and her own personal experience of breast cancer and menopause, a lot of women are really listening to what Suzanne Somers has to say about bioidentical hormones."

Virginia Real Estate and Development, Inc. (VARED) now represents Ward Cedar Log Homes, Americas first log home company, founded in l923.

Customer contacts are VAREDs Bernard Jomphe, real estate agent and Mike Pintz, president, who were named Independent Sales Representatives at Wards national sales seminar. As representatives of the 82 year-old manufacturer of complete log home packages, Pintz and Jomphe help homebuyers custom design their Ward home, find suitable land and assist with site preparation and construction.

West Simsbury, CT - April 6, 2008 - WebAward08.org - The Web Marketing Association, host of leading website awards competition WebAwards, released the Internet Standards Assessment Report (ISAR) to help the toy and hobby industry create more effective and engaging websites.

"As the standard of excellence for websites continues to increase, consumers are increasingly picky about what they consider to be an effective website," said William Rice, president of the Web Marketing Association, Inc. "Toy & Hobby websites do an excellent job of providing users with information about the latest gadget, toy or game."

The WebAwards competition judges toy and hobby websites on seven criteria that combined create award-winning websites:

Design

Innovation

Content

Technology

Interactivity

Copywriting

Ease of use

Toy and hobby Web sites earned the distinction of being the top industry in the overall ISAR index. This top honor was largely due to their 5-year criteria average ranking of first in design, innovation, and content criteria areas. They scored second in copywriting and third in technology. Historically, toy and hobby sites have been strong in design, content, and copywriting. They lagged the 5-year criteria benchmark averages only in interactivity and ease of use.

The Quality Inn Maingate Four Corners announced recently the completion of renovations coinciding with new ownership of the property. The hotel, which underwent extensive renovations to upgrade the 104 guestrooms and suites, atrium lounge, and meeting room, is owned and managed by Richard Grabow of Grabow Properties LLC.

Located at 43824 Highway 27 in Davenport, the Quality Inn is ideally situated just three miles from the Walt Disney World theme parks and is easily accessible to downtown Orlando. The hotel also offers visitors convenient access to the Orlando International Airport and is one of the closest hotels to Cypress Gardens Adventure Park, Tampa Bay and the West Coast beaches.

The start of a new year is supposed to be a time of New Year's resolutions, rejuvenation and a fresh start. For many couples, sadly enough it doesn't turn out that way.

According to the research of Relationship Coaches Susie and Otto Collins (authors of "Should You Stay or Should You Go?"), more decisions to divorce and leave a relationship are made after January 1 than any other time of the year. These reasons include:

The 5 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Considering Whether to Stay in or Leave a Relationship

1. "I'll Just Get Through the Holidays" Mentality. People who are contemplating divorce don't usually want to spoil the holidays for their children and their families so they keep their feelings to themselves. Most couples avoid looking at and doing something about the problems that exist in their relationships before and during the holiday season to keep up appearances.