BenWoods.com

February 14, 2010 - For those of you who have been following my literary agent list, you know that I've contacted a boatload of agents. Although some of given "Corporate Ties" favorable responses, I have not obtained an agent.

  Well, it's now time to move ahead without one.

February 02, 2010 - OK, technically speaking, I am a human being. But my friend, co-worker and "Corporate Ties" cover designer, Sean O'Connor, has constructed a robot in my likeness.

  All right, I guess "constructed" isn't the right word, as he hasn't built the robot (at least, not yet), but he has created a fair number of robot friends at the appropriately named site, my robot friends. Most of the mechanical inventions are based on O'Connor's friends, but he occasionally throws in a Santa Claus, Abraham Lincoln and so forth.

January 19, 2010 - When entire countries decide that your browser is a security risk, that's probably not good news for your company. That's the case with Microsoft and Internet Explorer, as French and German governments are recommending their people to use safer alternatives to IE.

January 17, 2010 - In the current state of the U.S. economy, it's pretty difficult to avoid being laid off, fired or, for whatever reason, not having a job for a certain period of time. True, sometimes the employee is entirely to blame for his/her predicament, but more often than that, a company is trying to consolidate, move offices or, in general, save money against the bottom line. Many times, those doing the actual firing and layoffs have to make decisions they would prefer to ignore, yet they have no choice.

  Enter Chester Burger's book "Creative Firing: Why Management Firings Happen - and How to Reduce Them." This book runs through the gamut of upper management decisions and how to maintain some control and honor throughout the endeavor. I've read many a business book, and even though this book was published in 1972, nearly every principle still applies.

January 16, 2010 - As I attempt to find an agency to pitch my new book, I thought it might be a good idea to list some of the agents I have contacted. At this stage, I've run into issues where companies have listed communication methods, but they don't seem to follow through. I hope that my list will save the time of others who are attempting to find representation.

October 30, 2009 - As a writer of workplace novels, I try to stay up on the latest and greatest new business books that are out there. There is generally a clear distinction between self-help and narratives, but I do not think it always has to be like that. Enter author Lisa Robyn, who has recently released her newest title, "The Corporate Dominatrix: Six Roles to Play to Get Your Way at Work." From the website, the book "shows women how to role-play their way to success by employing the tactics of the six mistress archetypes of The Corporate Dominatrix: Goddess, Queen, Amazon, Governess, Nurse, and Schoolgirl."

June 11, 2005 - Since the full article is no longer available online, I figured it would be easiest to just post right here. Ex-Owensboro resident pens humorous Internet novel By James Mayse | Messenger-Inquirer ...

May 28, 2001 - There's an intriguing question raised almost daily by most U.S. media sources when it comes to the Internet: Is now the right time to get into the adult Web-site industry?Oh, my bad, that's m ...

January 07, 2010 - During the past couple of days, I've been taking mini-breaks to read Basketbawful, a blog about the worst of the worst in the NBA. If you know me, you're probably wondering why I would be reading this, considering that I follow college basketball exclusively, not the NBA, the NBA development league, European leagues, Upward basketball, etc. If you don't know me, I'm not sure how you ended up on this site, but feel free to look around and DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING.

  The site author has a running story called "Livin' Large," which, for all intensive purposes, is a coming-of-age story set a few dorm rooms down from where my college experience began. It's a great story, and I will admit that maybe I think it's so great because it's easy for me to relate. Nevertheless, I'd recommend that you check it out.

January 08, 2005 - While most experts would jump at the opportunity to tell you that the Internet is a relatively new invention, apparently not all places on the World Wide Web agree.