John Howard Reid: Bible Translations, Historical Novels, Short Stories, Poetry, Writing Guides, Mystery and Detective Thrillers

JOHN HOWARD REID:

Bible Translations, Historical Novels, Short Stories, Poetry,

Movie Guides, Writing Advice, Mystery and Detective Thrillers

For full details of my "Merryll Manning" series of mystery/suspense novels,

please visit http://merryllmanning.exactpages.com

Not just a movie book but a great tool for writers!

How do you think up catchy titles and interesting names? Charles Dickens used to keep a notebook in which he'd write down real names and places that caught his eye. But now there's a much easier and far more effective way. This is what I use: Hollywood Classics Title Index That link will take you to Amazon Kindle. If you prefer NOOK at Barnes & Noble: Hollywood Classics Other ebook stores such as Apple and Sony also stock this book.

For 99 cents, this 345-page book will provide you not only with thousands of fascinating titles but names as well. Movie titles and the names of both movie stars and character players are chosen and designed for one reason only: TO CATCH ATTENTION!

Of course, it's not a good idea to use the titles of recent movies and the names of current stars. This book, however, lists over 3,000 movie titles from 1920 through 1970. It also provides extensive cast lists with more names than you could use in a thousand years. You can also mix first names with different surnames and use titles as a springboard. I see someone has complained that the first section of the book is just a listing of old movie titles. It is. You've got to realize how to use it. For example, here's a 1920 movie titled "The Man Who Had Everything". You could change that to "The Man Who Had Nothing", "The Man Who Had a Dream", etc.

Even more importantly, you can also see at a glance that "Man" is a word that carries enormous impact. No less than 33 movie titles begin with that word.

On the other hand, you might think of titling your book or story, "Fast Decision". On the face of it, this seems a very appealing title. But when you look it up in this book, you find that "Fast" is a word with virtually no appeal at all. Strange, but true! Only one movie title begins with the word, "Fast", and as for "Decision", it's not listed at all! On a positive note, how about "King of the Night"? Maybe you don't find that title appealing, but Hollywood has found otherwise. No less than twelve movies begin with the word, "King"; and no less than nineteen with the word, "Night"!

Scroll right down to enter my latest Goodreads Book Giveaway: SILENT MOVIES & EARLY SOUND FILMS ON DVD: NEW EXPANDED EDITION.

How To Copyright Literary Work -- Fiction, Poetry, Plays, etc.

There is now a standard world copyright for authors. You don't have to front up to a registry any more. Anything you write is now automatically copyright, simply because YOU wrote it. If anyone steals your work or publishes it without your permission, all you have to prove to a court is that you wrote it it first. So always keep your first drafts and date them, or better still email copies of a work in progress to a few trusted relatives and friends. Most authors never sell their copyrights outright. Instead, they give a permission to a book publisher, a magazine, a web site, etc.

The above is the theory. In practice, it's a bit different, as the Supreme Court has ruled that a substantial portion of your work must be published without your permission, unless the original work is very short in length, for example a sonnet or a song. Both Congress and authors are unhappy with this decision, but that's where it stands at present.

Writing Contests

Each year, John Howard Reid and Tom Howard Books sponsor three writing Contests. These Contests are open to all writers worldwide.

In order of annual closing dates, these contests are:

1. The $5,550 John Howard Reid & Tom Howard Short Story, Essay and Prose Contest, deadline March 31, 2012. Entries for Contest 20 are now being accepted. Please use this link for further information: http://shortstorycontest.0catch.com

2. The $5,550 Margaret Reid Poetry Prize for Traditional Verse, closing June 30, 2012. Entries are now being accepted. The link: http://margaretreid.exactpages.com

3. The $5,800 Tom Howard Poetry Contest for Verse in All Styles & Genres, closing September 30, 2012. Entries are now being accepted. Please click this link for further information: http://tomhowardpoetry.bravepages.com

Here's absolute must reading for all who wish to succeed in literary contests and writing competitions! Click the above Amazon link for the new print edition of John Howard Reid's famous handbook, WRITE WAYS TO WIN WRITING CONTESTS: How to Join the Winners' Circle for Short Story Awards, Poetry Prizes, etc.

Price is $12.50 for the book's trade paperback edition. An e-book edition is also now available. Buy from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other bookstores. The book is currently on sale at Amazon Kindle for only $2.99. Other e-book stores are charging $3.99. But what's $2.99 or $3.99 or even $12.50 compared to increasing your chances of carrying off that $3,000 in cash First Prize? Click this link for Kindle: Write Ways to WIN WRITING CONTESTS

"Sailing in the Mist of Time" is the latest anthology of award-winning poetry, edited by John Howard Reid. This lavishly produced, 196-page, large-format book features no less than 102 award-winning poems from both the Tom Howard and Margaret Reid Contests, plus 3 original poems from each of the judges. Currently, this beautiful book is on special everywhere for only $9.95. (The normal retail price is $16.50).

Reid has published two personal anthologies of poetry. The latest, entitled "ESCAPE TO PARADISE AND OTHER POETIC FANCIES", is described at the bottom of this page. Reid's first collection of poems is also still available. It's titled "Anyone for Love" and it's also available in a Kindle edition for only $2.99 which you can access via this Amazon link:

Further Notes on the Author

A keen Bible scholar, John Howard Reid, has translated portions of both the Old and New Testaments in Bible Wisdom for Modern Times: Selections from the Orthodox Old Testament and Mark and John: The First and Last Gospels. He has recently published What Matthew Really Wrote as well as PSALMS of Praise and Power newly translated from the Greek Old Testament. These books are also available in Kindle, NOOK and other editions for $3.99 or less. For further information, please click http://reidbooks.exactpages.com

Reid's novel, In All His Glory, based on the Greek editions of the Biblical books, "Kings" and "Chronicles" (not the abbreviated Hebrew versions), has a central character in King Jeroboam of Israel. The novel recounts his adventurous dealings with Pharaoh Shishak while in exile in Ancient Egypt, after his narrow escape from King Solomon. This book was published in 2006. A follow-up novel of mystery and suspense, "Prophet, Priest and King", dealing with the last days of King Solomon, was published in November 2008.

Reid's other books include four collections of short stories, Mexican Autumn (2006), in which all the stories are not only cleverly inter-related, but are all accurately set in a real Mexican village in Lower California called Bahia de los angeles; Micaela Morris in Jo's Heaven (2007), which includes five award-winning stories, including two First Prizes; A Packet of Dreams, and A Mountain of Many Treasures, both of which were published in late 2008.

Using the knowledge gained both as a First Prize winner in several literary contests and as the Chief Judge of three of America's richest writing competitions, Reid authored a popular handbook, Write Ways To Win Writing Contests. The book has now been revised and republished in an Expanded Edition.

Reid is also an expert on classic films and vintage movies from both Hollywood and British studios. He has published a large number of books on this topic, including Silent Films & Early Talkies on DVD: A Classic Movie Fan's Guide (2008). This has been updated to Silent Movies & Early Sound Films on DVD: NEW EXPANDED EDITION (2011) which is now available. You can scroll down to the bottom of this page to enter the Goodreads Giveaway!

Another recently published movie project is "Mystery, Suspense, Film Noir and Detective Movies on DVD: A Guide to the Best in Cinema Thrills". This book has just been awarded a Bronze Medal in the annual Readers' Favorite Book Awards! The Kindle edition is only $3.99. Please scroll down to the bottom of this page.

Was King Solomon Really Wise?

In his latest historical, suspense thriller, author John Howard Reid challenges the common belief that King Solomon was a prince of wisdom. The Bible chroniclers, in fact, try to play it both ways. Solomon was obviously a complex character, and he is presented as such in "Prophet, Priest and King", a worthy successor to Reid's earlier historical novel, "In All His Glory" which, set in Ancient Egypt, detailed the conflict between Solomon's rival, Jeroboam, and Pharaoh Shishak. In this latest book, set in Ancient Israel around the same time as the events in "In All His Glory", the plot is set in motion by an unknown assassin who is targeting the priests of Baal. In an already explosive political situation, Solomon himself is obliged to run the killer to earth. Will wisdom desert him in his efforts to bring peace to Israel?

A gripping novel of murder and suspense, "Merryll Manning: Trapped on Mystery Island" is the first in a series of highly acclaimed mystery suspense novels that began life overseas back in 1985.

Both the second Manning novel, the acclaimed "Merryll Manning: The Health Farm Murders", and the third, the equally acclaimed "Merryll Manning: Beachfront Holiday" are now available for the first time in paperback. These are the books that started the famous literary controversy between Selwa Anthony (who said in her Book Review that John Howard Reid was as effective a writer as Agatha Christie) and American critic, Richard Deutch, who answered in The Sunday Telegraph newspaper: "Some critics have compared Reid's novels to those of Agatha Christie. I find the comparison a little unfair -- to Mr Reid. If Reid's work needs comparing, I would liken it to Graham Greene's."

For full details of the "Merryll Manning" series of mystery/suspense novels,

please visit http://merryllmanning.exactpages.com

For my latest anthology of original poems, I decided to use my "Tom Howard" pseudonym. I was in the army when some of these poems first appeared on the literary scene, so naturally I had to use a pen name.

My latest poetry book is ROSALIA DE CASTRO: Selected Poems rendered into English verse. You can enter the Giveaway right down below. A previous book, MYSTERY, SUSPENSE, FILM NOIR AND DETECTIVE MOVIES ON DVD, is attracting some excellent reviews which you can read at Amazon if you click the link below. (This book has just won a Bronze Medal in the annual Readers' Favorite Awards). Both books are now available in Kindle editions for only $3.99 each. (The Kindle links are the ones that display no price information).