Jeffrey Michael Miller's book titled "From The Inside Out" is making big noise in the literary world these days. Two wonderful reviews of the book have just come in recently and both of them offer praise to the young poet and his first collection of poetry. The first new review of the book comes from country singing sensation Linda Davis who has many wonderful songs of her own and is known also for a beautiful duet with Reba McEntire entitled " Does He Love You " that went on to become a number one hit. After reading the first five poems in Mr. Miller's collection of poetry she writes the following.

" I love every one! I appreciate your ability to communicate your thoughts and do it well! Keep up the good work. I'm sure your friends and family are so proud of you and proud for you that you've published your work. "

The second of the two great reviews come both from The American Authors Association and The Military Writers Society Of America who are both presided over by the same person. Bestselling author and Vietnam veteran Bill McDonald is President of both groups and after reading Miller's collection of poetry he offered his review of the book in these words.

" A Thinking Man Poetry Book "

" It is a pleasure to pick up and read a poetry book that does not follow the same old trodden emotional roads that all the rest have over the years. Poet Jeffrey Miller takes his readers on a new and different journey of the spirit with his thoughtful book of prose called From The Inside Out

This is certainly a man’s book of poetry but most women will be very much at home as well, reading his poems. He covers all matters of the emotional and political landscape with thoughtful and intelligent verses aimed at causing us to stop and reflect on the issue he is addressing.

The poetry flows like water and energy and will impact your thinking long after you have put his short little book down. The poetry is not hard to figure out. The messages are not hidden in obscure wording and phrasing they are clear and to the point. Some of the poems deal with issues of the military and good old fashion patriotism. It is a nice mix of personal experiences and even tributes like the one to a country singer. A good enjoyable read awaits readers willing to buy this book and read it. "

"From The Inside Out" is available for purchase through Millers Publisher which is Publishamerica and through notable booksellers such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble so be sure to pick up a copy for yourself or for your friends. You can visit Jeffrey's website anytime and see these reviews above and more on his my book review page which lists a few of his independent reviews that have all been five stars so far.

I'm very angry because I'm sick and tired of what I see as deception and dishonesty within the literary community. It's been going on for far to long and nobody seems to want to pay attention to it or to care about it.

I love my publisher which is Publishamerica and it's a first rate Publisher however I have seen firsthand with my own eyes individual authors that meet on discussion boards asking each other to do reviews of one anothers books that most always turn out to be four or five star reviews.

These people then go on every major bookseller website and post these reviews and in my opinion decieve customers into thinking these are independant and unbiased ratings of these books from customers when in fact they are really reviews from friends and fellow authors who claim to be unbiased but to me it's decpetion of the highest order and it stinks.

In my mind it should be put to a stop immediately and these authors should be made to apologize to these websites and to our publisher for doing what is known as logrolling. That's when friendly authors positively review one anothers work.

It's a scratch my back and I'll scratch yours method and I don't like it one bit. A friend is more likely to help a friend and say something good even though the work may be bad. Most of these reviews are four and five stars and it's always the same names so look into it on Amazon and sites like this and you'll see these authors scratching each others backs and careers that comes at the expense of the reader in my opinion.

I have never asked for a review from a fellow author because to me it's unethical to accept a review from a fellow writer that you're friendly or familiar with. My reviews you can be sure will come from honest and independant sources unlike those who support and take part in this logrolling that should be stopped and abhored.

It's time for people to wake up and see the widespread deception in my opinion and write to these people in order to put a stop to this unfair practice. It really takes away from and hinders the efforts of honest writers out there who don't seek to falsify anything or cheat the system like some in the business do.

Let's have a call for honesty and fairness and a call to stop these people from what I see as deceiving customers with friendly reviews put out all over the place from their fellow associates and cronies. 

Let's show the honest writers out there in the world that we support them and their efforts to put things out to the public in an honest and forthright way and let's put a stop to this pathetic logrolling once and for all.

Jeffrey Michael Miller

Every now and again a story comes along that really burns your backside and recently in the news there's been talk about the National Organization for Women making a huge deal about some words coach Paterno of Penn State said during a press conference concerning a Fl0rida State football player and the situation the player finds himself in concerning allegations a woman has made against him.

The FSU player Nicholson who is a very good player was held out of the bowl game between PSU and FSU over allegations that he was involved in some sort of situation with a woman.

Paterno was asked about it during a press conference and Paterno who is always a gentleman of good nature and sense basically said it's tough out there in the world and you have to be careful and kids have to be smart and know who they're getting involved with and so on and so forth.

The coach was not accusing Nicholson and he was not accusing this woman of anything in my mind he was merely stating the situation of the world today and the need to be careful in it.

The womans organization took a hissy fit and asked for the coach to be removed after all these wonderful years of service and after all these years of looking after kids and making sure they graduated and got good grades because I suppose they think he wasn't sympathetic enough to this woman who is making the accusations against this player.

My feeling on this is when did we on this planet become guilty until proven innocent? In this country we are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. I am wondering really why Nicholson of FSU was not allowed to play and what was the basis for not allowing him to play? Anyone can make an accusation against someone of anything but until there is proof of a crime and allegation is just an allegation.

Let's say it turns out Nicholson is indeed innocent then can he sue this woman and turn back time to play in the biggest college game of his life? He'll get nothing and still miss the biggest college game of his career because someone alledged something which in my mind is not fair in the least.

Don't get me wrong if indeed evidence comes forward to find Nicholson did do something then I feel for this girl and her family but let's remember that it's innocent until proven guilty folks and lets not bring out the firing squad when good coaches and good men give an opinion.

Let's see the evidence and have it bring out the facts first before we make our decisions on Nicholson and we certainly should not involve a great coach and a great man in this nonsense for making a comment.

I'm disappointed that a national organization would be so quick to jump on an innocent man and a good coach and role model over his comments that to me seemed fine. The Nation Organization for Women or NOW  as they are known should be ashamed really and should get facts on cases and get evidence before they send out the axe man.
 

As we ready ourselves to celebrate yet another Christmas to honor the birth of our Lord Jesus let us remember that this is a time to focus on the many blessings in our lives. Each day should be a day to focus on these things we hold dear that the Lord has brought to us but Christmas time is especially good for bringing these things that we should always notice to the forefront of our minds and our thoughts. 

Christmas time is about giving and not only in the way of handing out material presents to one another that we purchase from the many stores we have to choose from but it's mainly a time of giving the most important things like an ear to someone who needs to be listened to or a coat for a small child who is need of one. Handing out and giving can be done best by giving someone a smile when they are feeling down or encouragement to get past the gloom they might feel in order to stand tall and move onward with joy.

Christmas time giving can mean giving a home to a small animal that otherwise would be alone and cold and miserable out in the elements with nobody to care for them. All these things make a difference in the world and they might not individually heal all that needs to be healed but each offering of kindness furthers the cause of bringing true love and peace to a world badly in need of these things.

A few material gifts are fine and are especially welcome from the children who wait for old Saint Nick to come and spread his joy to the children but among the joy of the material should also be a lesson that the best and most important gifts come from inside and are given from the heart and soul from one human being to another.

I feel that even as we watch the nightly news that tells us of the many sad and evil things of this world that goodness overcomes and goodness makes up the majority of the people of this world. 

As the three wisemen were guided by the star of Bethlehem to the manger to witness the miracle of the birth of Jesus let's also use that same light that shines in us from Jesus guide our hearts to do good deeds and make another human being feel special and cared for in the most important ways by the power of love and mercy. 

Let the lesson of Jesus being turned away from the Inn inspire us not to turn away from someone or something that may be in need of our help and our light to shine on them. The power of the human spirit and the human heart can work wonders and the pureness of a kind act can turn wrong into right.

This holiday season let that same pureness flow from within your heart and into anothers and let's make Jesus proud to be our Father and our Lord by our actions that are inspired by his love for us.

May you and your family have a very blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year and may the light of the lord always shine upon you and carry you in your time of need. 

Well folks wegot bombed with some snow here in Pittsburgh late Friday night into Saturday and again today. I don't mind the shoveling because it's a good workout and I love winter. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas as they say and that's just fine by me.

http://jeffreymichaelmiller.topsiteworld.com On my poetry list website we got a new member added today and this member is The top 100 poetry forums so be sure if you like poetry to drop by and click on their link to take you to their website to have a look around and enjoy some more poetry websites on the internet.

In other news I'm a happy camper cause my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers won today against Da Bears and they got losses today by both the Chargers and the Chiefs to put us in the sixth and final spot for the wildcard position in the playoffs as of now. So the Steelers still need to play strong and hopefully win out and have some luck with poor results from the Chargers and Chiefs again and we just may be in the playoffs and finally back on track after Big Ben's injury woes of late so I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping we make it to the playoffs and then onward staying healthy to the big game.