C.J. Bligh

I would like to tutor students in English online via Skype and such. May I just post ads on foreign regions, or do I need to get permission from Craigslist to do this? I don't see anything that says this can't be done. Thanks.

I have already been approached by one individual about adapting one of my novels for the stage, and am wondering if there is a typical way that one would go about pitching his or her novel to those who might be interested in staging it.

I have written and published a book via Kindle, and it hasn't done too badly. The people who have read it like it, and it has been downloaded quite a few times, not to mention been ranked on a couple of lists. I think it would translate rather well into a film, maybe with some changes or additions, but I don't really know what to do since I am a writer and not a screenwriter. Any ideas? Thank you.

I have an old friend/coworker who has been completely avoiding me in recent weeks, and who recently unfriended me on Facebook. I don't talk to her as much now anyway, and try to stay professional at work even though we know each other well, but I am still good friends with her younger brother--who she went out of her way to introduce me to several years ago--and her parents approve more of his lifestyle than hers. I have often felt caught in the middle, even though her brother and I do our best to stay neutral. I think her anger at me may be over something as simple as a discussion we had a month or so ago in which I politely disagreed with some of the things she was emotionally saying, which meant that I was more of her parents' mindset on that particular day. I have no interest in friendship with this individual anymore, but I am wondering if I should say something to her since she won't even say hello or make small talk with me now? I really hate workplace drama, but I also don't want to be afraid of communication. I would appreciate your advice.

My parents are very unhappy and have been for years, but refuse to communicate with one another about any of the issues causing problems. Without getting into stuff that happened when I was very young or before I was born, my father moved my family and me to the state where we live 19 years ago; he did this without really getting my mother's input, and the first year he spent here was by himself before we followed him up here a year later in 1994. For years after that he went out of his way to find jobs elsewhere in the state that would keep him away from us except for weekends and holidays and special occasions.

He finally retired three years ago, and since then has been living at home full-time with my mother. They argue a lot, they don't do a lot together other than church and meals, he is almost always down in the basement watching TV or reading the paper (when he isn't doing yard work or working part-time) while she is upstairs reading or computing or watching TV herself. They sleep in separate bedrooms now (neither of which are their joint bedroom—he sleeps on the couch in the basement, while she sleeps in my old bedroom), they fight over a lot of little things, he constantly recycles the same sorts of jokes and stories, she criticizes him for most of what he says and does, he gets very accusatory and upset about things not being the way he wants them to be (even though he was out of our lives for years and we just got used to doing things our way until he retired), she is almost always in a bad mood and feels unappreciated (a lot of which she takes out on myself since I live next door and am around them a lot too), and I am to the point where the whole situation has left me an anxious, frustrated mess. My brother and his family rarely visit; they even went two full years without coming here to see us, and I am guessing it is because of all this. I would just move out, but I have significant health problems, and my parents are generous enough to help me pay for those by allowing me a place to eat and sleep next door to them while I go through therapies and work part-time. They also help me with my medical expenses.

Should I present my concerns about this situation to them? Should I consult some outside help or suggest they get some themselves? Am I even in a position where I have the right to say anything since my parents' problems are theirs and since they have been quite good to me? Whether I eventually move away or not, what would be the moral/ethical thing to do in this situation?

I am just wondering when the last time was that France won a clear and decisive military victory in a major war... In 1918 they were able to kick Germany out of their territory, with the help of Britain and the United States, but World War I ended in an armistice, not an actual decisive conclusion, and during World War II, even though Germany eventually lost the war, France had already surrendered within a year of the war starting. The only other 20th century conflicts I can think of involving France, those in French Indochina and Algeria, both resulted in French defeats/withdrawals. I am just wondering when most historians would agree (if they would) that France last had a clearly decisive victory over another nation in an important international war.

I work at a college tutoring center where the amount of money I make is based on how many students I meet with for appointments. I recently had one of my regular students taken away from me for a minor misunderstanding. Apparently I am not supposed to see any part of the feedback form my students fill out about me. I am not even supposed to hand the form to them. One of my bosses at the center, rather than tell me the mistake I had made so that I would not make it again, told the student to report me to our center's director, who then gave the student to another employee. This will cost me a substantial amount of money over the course of the semester and maybe the year too since the college pays me per hour and this would have been a lot of hours. I have seen numerous other employees make the same mistake that I made, and it has never been disciplined at all. In fact, the form is confusing and many times students ask us how to fill it out, which is why I saw hers in the first place. If I find out from the center's director that this form mishap was the only reason I had the student taken from me (our sessions were going fine before that), should I report this other boss to a higher superior? (My center's director probably won't do anything about it.) What course of action would be moral/ethical/legal to take?

P.S. This immediate boss who reported me to our center's director has a long history of this sort of behavior, so it's not just one issue. I am wondering if I have a moral obligation to report some of the other things she's done too, since the director of our center never really does anything about her.

I have read that rape only accounts for about 1 percent (at most) of all abortions in America each year, but what about incest and fear for the mother's life? I read years ago that 90 percent of all abortions are on-demand abortions with no legitimate reason other than personal choice, so I am wondering what the statistics are more recently. Thanks. Source citations would be helpful too.

I track my independent book sales on Amazon a lot, for both my print editions and my Kindle editions (mostly my Kindle editions now actually), and am just wondering how many total book titles are available in both print and electronically. Is there a way to find out the exact number (which I'm sure changes noticeably every single day)?

Just recently I published my first novel on Kindle. I have a second one now too. Both of them are very good because I am a perfectionist and have taken a lot of time to research, write, edit, and publish them. I even went to the trouble of getting an illustrator for the first one, and his illustrations are incredible. I am very unknown, but I want people to buy my book, so I have both books priced right now at the bare minimum of a dollar. Should I consider raising the price to two or three dollars, or would that hurt my sales? I really feel like I should be earning more than 99 cents for each book, but every time I have done that, the few sales have stopped. What do you all think?

I am 27, single, male, not a minority, and have a couple of comorbid chronic medical conditions that make it very hard for me to work full-time. I do work 10-15 hours a week at a local community college, but I am dependent on my family for the vast majority of my money and food, which is becoming increasingly difficult. Is there a government subsistence program that could help me afford a small room/place of my own while I continue working part-time and completing my medical treatments to try to get feeling better for a job with more hours? Thanks.

I am wondering if there are any good novels about Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, or Somalia. Fiction, not nonfiction, please. Thank you.

I am having my first novel published on Kindle later tonight, and all I have to do now is select whether I want it protected by DRM or not. I have read good arguments for and against, but I would like to hear some real-life opinions from some real-life people who have actually been on the receiving end of having it or not. Please contribute, thanks.

I am tired of being constantly exposed to the sick and perverse things of the world and am very interested in spending some time--perhaps a year?--in a monastic lifestyle somewhere. I think it would be good for my physical health, which is not good, and my social and emotional health, which are even worse. Is this a good idea, or would it have the opposite effect? I do not want to remain celibate forever and have no interest in becoming a priest, and I am not Catholic (yet), but I am interested in this either as a part of a Catholic or Protestant or Anglican or even Orthodox church. What are my options? I am very serious about this. Thank you.

I am writing a vampire novel set in the 1860s, and I am having my vampire reminisce about some things that happened in the decades before. One thing involves a woman he had an affair with, who was very interested in mindless popular literature, which was one reason he broke up with her. What are some things that were read frequently in those days? I will not mention anything like Dickens or Irving or the Bronte Sisters because those were actually high-quality authors. I am looking for things that were not very deep and not of very good literary quality. Feel free to add and message me, since this is quite a project. Thanks!

A very good friend of mine is moving across the world to live with her new husband… she is very upset because she was just offered a very big promotion here, which she can’t take, because she and he have already married and she will be moving over there to join him in a few months. Once she moves over there for him, her career will basically have to end or be restarted. What should I tell her? What would be the proper approach to take since she and I have been good friends for years and are very close, but since I don’t want to put a crack in their very new relationship as a wedded couple? It is awkward, too, because I warned her ahead of time that she might have this happen.