Tens of millions of Americans solve crossword puzzles regularly, but few know a thing about their genesis. Who writes crosswords, how--and for God's sake, why? Matt Gaffney is one of two dozen people who earns a living as a cruciverbalist. In Gridlock he provides an insider's look at the people who put that puzzle in your paper every day. With verve and gusto, Gaffney traces his own starving-artist struggle to find paying puzzle gigs, including marketing hip crosswords to the Gen-X market. He then moves on to topics like the effect of computers on crossword writing, including a man versus machine battle he stages to see who writes better crosswords; the ever-evolving crossword puzzle book market, where a top-selling series now has books shaped like a toilet seat; and a trip to the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, where the "Cru" (collective slang noun meaning "the crossword puzzle writing community") hangs out in person once a year. Gridlock also features an interview with crossword rock star Will Shortz.

     Let me test my presumption with a preview of four these ‘old’ stories. If I told you there was once a west coast sex cult with dozens of young girls, single ladies, and married women, who all fornicated with one well-endowed “prophet,” and he occasionally found it necessary to carry-out bondage S&M sessions here and there, you may not be surprised at all. But what if that sex cult began in 1903 and ended in 1906 with a couple of murders and suicides, does that sound like anything you have read about before? Or, how about a cheater who murders his inconvenient wife, disassembles her over a fifteen hour period, then puts her bones in the same stove he cooks breakfast for his sons before sending them off to school? If that doesn’t surprise you, perhaps the ending will–but you’ll have to find out for yourself. In ‘The Dandy and the Squire,’ a smooth-talking peacock from Kentucky visits his northern ‘cousins,’ and charms three of the women into his bed. He’s a big time operator who talks fancy, dresses fancy, and tells great stories of his days as an adventurer, riverboat gambler, and sharp-minded deal maker. He’s so smooth, he’s able to murder the patriarch’s son, make him look like the bad guy, and marry the boy’s tender-hearted sister before the Yankees get wise to his lies. Good thing, too, because he had also talked the father into giving him the family farm. Chapter Five is the stranger-than-fiction story of ‘Shoebox Annie.’ During the early 20th Century, this trollish-looking woman introduced her freakish-looking son to a life of crime. Their decade’s long spree of lyin’, cheatin’, and stealin’ led them to become America’s first mother and son team of serial killers. They were so good at disposing of bodies, none of their four victims have ever been found. If ‘old’ stories sound boring to readers of contemporary true crime, I hope this book will change minds, and fully reveal just how wicked and decadent our ancestors were. And deadly. Volume II in the Vintage True Crime Stories series is a wrecking ball that smashes to pieces that phrase, “The Good Old Days.” Maybe you will believe me when you get to the last page.

    He spent 18 months - between May of 2010 and October of 2011 - working as an embedded reporter with law enforcement agencies, partnering with officers on night patrols, accompanying detectives on warrant searches and probation sweeps, observing SWAT operations and spending hundreds of hours with attorneys and victims' advocates in small-town courtrooms. The result is "Shadow People," a stark and sometimes brutal exploration of America's modern methamphetamine crisis.

    Written for Americans, but equally amusing to anyone visiting the shores of the Great Southern Land, this book examines the relationship between Australia and the U.S., including how Australians view their American cousins. The author has plenty of experience of working and dealing with Americans. He is married to an American nurse and has lived his life within the massive cultural influence that America has shared with Australia since the Second World War. The author’s stories are brimming with empathy and jokes for his American audience. The book is written from the opinion of an Aussie Bloke and the easy-to-digest chapters are just long enough to leave the reader smiling and well informed.Topics include Blokes and Sheilas, Bloody Foster’s, Dangerous Creatures, Talking to Dogs, The GAFA, Speaking Strail-yun and Working for the Queen. Confused? You won’t be after reading this book!

    They are first- generation Americans, citizens of other nations, and lifelong New Yorkers. But they all share one thing: They honor their loved ones by living their lives with purpose, and a promise to never forget.These courageous family members share their grief and loss-and hope- speaking in their own words, with love, courage, and strength enough to inspire us all.

     Built on top of the old city cemetery, Denver Botanic Gardens sits upon thousands of unrecovered human remains. Small wonder, then, that visitors and staff alike have reported all manner of ghostly activity, ranging from disembodied voices, cold spots, and phantom footsteps, to shadow figures and full-bodied apparitions. Are the spirits of the restless dead making their presence known to the living? Join paranormal investigator Richard Estep, of TV's 'Haunted Case Files,' 'Haunted Hospitals,' and 'Paranormal 911,' as he and a small team of dedicated researchers are locked down inside Denver Botanic Gardens in an attempt to uncover the truth for themselves.

    town, an adolescent girl is unwittingly handed a one-way ticket by her mother to allegedly "visit" her estranged father in Florida. Young and vulnerable, Lockey Maisonnueve has no idea she is being abandoned and sent to live with a vile and dangerous pedophile who would spend the next several years violently raping, abusing and mercilessly selling his daughter's body into childhood prostitution to other adult men. After being rescued by her naive, but well-intentioned, grandparents, her troubled life is further devastated by cancer and ravaged by the subsequent brutal murder of her mother, in which Lockey is briefly considered a suspect. "A Girl Raised by Wolves' is the inspirational memoir of a survivor of the darkest circumstances one can endure in a single lifetime and still emerge with a sense of humor and to defiantly proclaim "they didn't break me!"

    Brodie Seminar Book Series) shows how you can change your mindset and improve your personal motivation. Learning how to remain motivated in your life is essential. Without motivation, you will surely find yourself lacking quality results in life. • Do you have everything you wish to achieve in your life? • Do you have any important goals to accomplish in your life? • Are you really accomplishing your goals and dreams? • Have you ever stopped to actually evaluate the quality of your life? Most people struggle to produce the exact results they want in their life, typically due to a lack of motivation or inspiration to take the necessary actions. If you want to become successful in your life, the secrets are revealed in Motivation 101. These untold secrets will encourage and prepare you to take action. It is these actions that will translate to increasing the results you want. Motivation 101 will help open your eyes, mind, and body and will help teach you how to stay motivated and to take action to accomplish your goals. This is why Motivation 101 is a must-have in every library or home. Here are a few things that you will get out of Motivation 101 • How to start your day on the right note • How to utilize the Power of Music throughout the day • How to realize who your greatest opponent really is • How to create your own environment • How to Just Do It when it comes to accomplishing your goals • How to become a Master of Your Own Universe The perfect way to get motivation is from deep within you. Doing something that will motivate you will surely get the results. This book is intended to help eliminate procrastination and teach you how to be passionate about everything you set out to do, encourage you to do what you really love and help create value for not only for yourself but for others. This is the fundamental success principle that you must aspire to accomplish and Motivation 101 will help your journey. Motivation 101 can help you move toward enjoying your peak level of living. Life is more than mere existence. We only truly exist when we live our lives with purpose. Motivation 101 shows you how you can easily start your own journey towards a healthier mindset – a mindset that you can be proud of and achieve mental freedom. But more than this, Motivation 101 explores what it means to live a truly happy and fulfilled life – to really live the life of your dreams and pursue what you love. It encourages you to examine your own motivations and desires in order to determine your path in life. To get access to the bonus materials and resources (all for FREE), be sure to visit: www.BrodieEDU.com

    From the boys at the back of the bus to one of the most imitated sports talk radio stations on the air today, get the full story as told by the guys you tune in to hear on 1310 AM every day.On the occasion of The Ticket’s 15th anniversary, Ticketheads finally have a book revealing all the history and behind-the-scenes hijinks of the Marconi-winning radio station. The ultimate bathroom book for every good, strong P1, this is the true, unvarnished Ticket story of how Mike Rhyner and the gang evolved from press-box yuk monkeys to forming the core of one of the nation’s most popular radio stations.

    The demand for vintage trailers-the smaller the better-has risen dramatically in recent years, with the most in-demand trailers being "teardrops," first manufactured in the 1930s and containing just indoor sleeping space and an outdoor exterior kitchen. Also profiled in the book are "canned ham" trailers, whose shape resembles the profile of a can of ham; small-size examples of America's most beloved vintage trailer, the Airstream; miniscule gypsy caravans in Europe; and fiberglass trailers made in Canada. Two hundred color photographs showcase these trailers' sleek exteriors, retro-styled interiors, and, in many cases, the restored classic cars that tow them. Teardrops and Tiny Trailers includes a resource section chock-full of places to locate vintage trailers, clubs to join, and rallies to attend.

    Whether you are a native speaker who wants to sharpen their verbal toolkit, or a non-native speaker who wants to learn how to navigate the English language maze, this book will provide you with information and techniques for instant improvement and lifelong learning. Maybe you want to improve your presentation skills. Perhaps you want to tel more interesting and engaging stories. Or maybe you simply want to become more articulate in your day-to-day use of English. Whatever your needs, your goal is to improve your English, and Launch Your English can guide you to do just that. In this book you'll learn how to: • become more creative and descriptive in your English usage • capture people's attention with your vivid and enhanced expressions • break English down into building blocks for easy improvement • select the right word and expression to articulate your thoughts exactly Free resources for students of English -> SirEnglish.com

    Sure, they play in huge games where tens of thousands of dollars can move in the blink of an eye. But that's not the only difference. Elite players play and think about the game in a completely different way from everyone else. If you want to raise your game to their level, it's not just a matter of getting a little better at what you already do. The honest truth is that the way 99% of poker players approach the game is fundamentally flawed. You will never be able to crack the top 1% until you know what they know. There's one big secret to the game that nearly every elite player knows, yet almost no one else understands. It's an open secret-no one is hiding it. Elite players talk about it sometimes in videos and articles. Nevertheless, top players have known this secret for years, yet still almost no one else does. Poker's 1% seeks to change that. It bridges that gap between the elite players and everyone else. It promises that as long as you are willing to put in the work, you too have a shot to reach the top. Poker's 1% teaches a way of thinking about how you play, a way to unify every hand you've ever played and ever will play into one single, overarching strategy. The goal is that you will have one big "aha" moment, the moment where you finally "get" this game. After that, it's just fine tuning. The more you fine tune your strategy, the more you win, and the higher you can go. Poker's 1% gives you a unique window into the secrets of the world's best players. It shows you what you've been doing wrong and how to fix it. And, most importantly, it guides you in a straightforward way along the path from average player to elite.

    Topics include:• Archived Items • Battery Replacement • Calculator Functionality • Checking Your Email • Collections • Contacting Amazon's Kindle Customer Service • Converting PDF Documents to Kindle Format • Discussion Boards • Displaying the Time • Download Problems - What To Do • Formatting Issues in a Kindle Book - What To Do • Games on Your Kindle • Gifting a Kindle Book / Gift Certificates • Internet Access (it’s free) on Your Kindle • Internet Bookmarks• Kindle Reading to You (Text to Speech) • Lending Books• Losing Your Place While Reading • Lost Kindle Tip • Mobile Websites - Access Them on Your Kindle • Password Protection • Permanent Deletion of a Title • Pictures on Your Kindle • Playing Music on Your Kindle • Popular Highlights Feature - Turning it Off • Reset Your Kindle • Samples of Books • Screen Freeze Fix • Screenshots - Printing Out What You See • Social Networking with Facebook and Twitter • Transferring Books to Your Kindle • Transferring Existing Collections to Your New Kindle • Checking the Weather • Wireless Coverage for Your Kindle • Random Tips • Blogs Available on Your KindleMichael Gallagher is the author of several bestselling Kindle “how-to” guides, and his title “Free Kindle Books and How to Find Them” has been the #1 Kindle reference guide for over two years, garnering #53 and #72 on the Top 100 Kindle bestseller lists for all Kindle book titles in 2010 and 2011, respectively. His “Kindle Books and Tips” blog has been the #1 bestselling subscription blog in the Amazon Kindle Store since 2010. You can visit his author page on the Amazon website at http://www.amazon.com/author/gallagher

    This daily reader contains inspirational quotations from Overeaters Anonymous literature along with the experience, strength and hope of Overeaters Anonymous members.