Officially Moved

Ok so technically it's been awhile but I keep forgetting to do this post. I'm now officially at my new place so if you want to check me out I'll be over there.

There's book features, blogger/wordpress how to's, contests, and lots of free stuff so make sure to come see me at my new blog

Indie Designz

updated to add: Thanks to the wonderful Alex I've added a GFC follower button unfortunately you all will have to refollow me there. So if anyone wants to take pity on me and be a follower I would so appreciate it.

Lost in Translation

When my husband and I began our translating business, we truly had no clue what we were doing. It began as a request from a friend. You see, my husband’s first language is urdu and second is English. I’m the opposite. My first language is English and second language is Urdu. 

My husband’s friend wanted a book that was written in Urdu to be translated into English. That is how my husband and I came up with our unique style of translation. We translate together. Every paragraph. We discuss its obvious and hidden meanings. Variations of words that can be used. Or if there isn’t one particular word my husband will explain to me all the meanings and uses and I’ll figure out what English word works best. 

By using this method we’re able to have a translation that doesn’t “look” like a translation. If you’ve ever watched a badly subtitled movie or just read some of the humorously translated Chinese signs then you know what I’m talking about by “looking” translated. 

When we had completed his friend’s book, he showed it to a publisher friend of his and we were hired. That’s when we thought “ok now what?! We’re not professionals”. That’s when I turned to the web in search of various other professional translation sites.  I was surprised at how many I found. The Shanghai translationcompany/companies were the most helpful in answering some of our more basic questions on what to do next. 

It’s been three years since that simple request turned into a business. My husband and I have translated upwards of 100 books in that time. Some from Urdu to English and some from Arabic to Urdu. I have no idea how many we’ll end up doing by the time we’re finished. I didn’t think there would be that many but it seems the list just keeps growing. Which I’m glad about. I love translating. It lets me feel like I’m part of the book making process, and being an avid reader there is no greater enjoyment than being able to see a book blossom from beginning to end. And then seeing it in the hands of other readers, there is no greater gift than that.

Time to Get Mellowed

Recently I've taken up yoga. Well not recently. Originally I started doing yoga about seven years ago to help with my lower back and hip pain caused from a car accident when I was a teenager. Yoga not only helps with my physical relaxation but my mental relaxation as well.

However lately I've been lazy and slacked off and I've really started to notice the difference. Not only in my physical mood but my emotional mood as well. In an attempt to get back on the yoga wagon I took the ever popular Google oracle to find out what other forms or techniques I could use to help relax.

And that search is what led me to  Herbal City LLC. Seriously I didn't know such things existed. I realize I don't get out much. Don't watch TV and as much as I'm online I don't really surf the web so this was totally a new thing for me.

I had to look through what they offered because I wasn't about to let the opportunity pass. I mean if Google recommends it then it must be good, right?

After some clicking around I found things like Party enhancers, K6 herbal incense, and Spiritual powders.


It was like falling into a 70's party commercial and the strangest thing of all is all this stuff is legal. I'm not sure what it all does, but it's definitely something to check out if you're looking for a natural way to relax among other things.

Moving to Paradise

My husband and I have been talking of moving. Jobs here are scarce, but moving is not that easy. There's a ton of variables to consider. Not just the obvious ones like housing and jobs. We have his family to consider as well. We've been their sole support ever since his father passed away. While he and I'd be able and willing to live for awhile on little, we always have to consider how our actions impact upon them.

I've been looking at various online job sites like IT Jobs Melbourne and a few others. We aren't sure where exactly we'll go. If it had jobs and was cheap I'm not sure that either of us really cares. In today's economy, it's difficult to take care of a family. Especially a large one. I can't expect his mother and sister to start living a different life than what they're use to. While it is different without their father, still it's the only way of life they've ever known.

So my husband and I've been spending a lot of time searching and trying to figure out what the best options are and how to proceed. Not sure what we'll end up doing, but hopefully something will work out soon.

Easy Way to Write Your Novel

Often times my thoughts fly faster than my fingers can type them or somewhere between brain and finger the thoughts get convuluded and don't come out exactly the way I want them to. This causes me to get confused about what I was going to say or makes me unable to express myself as clearly as I do in my head. Since I haven't developed telepathic abilities to allow readers to see my thoughts I've been looking for ways on how I can improve my writing without losing the sparks of genius that seem to disappear somewhere between inspiration and the time my fingers get moving on my keyboard.

At first I tried just using a tape recorder and recording myself speaking, but I'm not very good at dictation or keeping up with my own voice so I'd have to start and stop the recording. This was extremely time consuming. So I continued looking for ways I could speed up my writing time without losing the quality and that is how I came across the  voice biometric with biometric security system.

Even though this didn't solve my problem, it definitely intrigued me. Biometric security is basically voice recognition software which allows a person to record a sample of their voice and use it for identification purposes. It is a great tool for small businesses in order to enhance their customer service and provide greater service quality. I admit I didn't know such things existed and it's interesting to see what you find when you're searching for one thing but it leads you some place totally unexpected which is what happened to me in this instance.