|
Dear TwinkleGrammers,
I'm heading out on book tour for Dearest Dorothy, Merry
Everything! In fact, I have a stop in Glen Ellyn IL
TONIGHT, November 1. Don't wait to check out the
schedule or you might miss me, and believe you me, I
NEED ALL THE HUGS I CAN GET, so please come give
me one and I promise to hug you back! (But I
also promise if you're not the huggie type, I shall
BACK
OFF! ) Make sure you check to see if you're a
WINNER in this months drawing for one of TEN FREE
BOOKS!
| National "Tell Us YOUR 'Dorothy' Story" CONTEST |
 |
|
THIS IS SO EXCITING ! To
celebrate the launch of Dearest Dorothy, Merry
Everything!, Penguin is sponsoring a national (as
in NATIONAL) contest. READ THE RULES
Enter for the fabulous prize of course (DINNER WITH
ME plus airfare plus ...), but write about
your "Dorothy" because to do so will give you
a chance to savor your own prayer of thanksgiving
for that wonderful person in your life. I know: the
entire Dearest Dorothy series is based on the zest,
spunk and faith of MY Real Dearest Dorothy!
Entries must be postmarked (no e-mails) by
December 22 and received by December 29. Nothing
will come to me; it all goes to NYC! Read all about it
HERE. And start writing!
|
| Do You Have A Book in YOU? Do you like to CRUISE? |
|
|
On February 4 I will leave New Orleans on a
ship called the Norwegian Sun. I will relax, eat and
visit exotic places I've never seen before. I will also
eat and teach/speak on the topic: Do You Have a
Book In You? My friend Jan Long Harris, senior
acquisitions editor and author extraordinare, will co-
teach/speak with me. We intend to (with lots of
GOOD FUN!) instruct and encourage you in your
writing aspirations. Whether you want to write for
your family or aim for the best sellers' list, we've got
first-hand, viable, insider info. So cruise, learn,
write, eat, sight see and BE HAPPY!
|
| The BOOK TOUR IS FINALIZED! |
|
|
FIRST STOP TONIGHT, NOVEMBER 1
The book tour stops are in place. Now all I need is
- I get there
- You show up
- We say hi
- I tell you stories behind the stories
- You ask questions
- You take pictures with me, if you want
- I sign books
- You read books
- You tell others how wonderful Dearest Dorothy
is
- We all have happy dreams about the events!
SEE WHERE I'LL BE (poet and know it)
|
| Traveling Laughs, my new blog for travelers |
|
|
Whether you're traveling from the couch to the
refrigerator, or from your office to the limo to the
airport to the rental car to the meeting (yet again),
stop by HER
E and pick up a Traveling Laugh ?to go.? As
a
seasoned whirligig of a traveler I?ve learned the most
important thing I can pack (that cannot be
confiscated by a three-year-old or the TSA) is a
sense of humor.
|
| THIS MONTH'S CONTEST WINNERS! |
|
|
As promised, we drew ten e-mail addresses. Rather
than going through our usual and complicated
approach to drawing from thousands of numbers, for
the first time we used the FABULOUS Random Number Generator! What a slick,
slick thing THAT is. Thanks to Michael Daniels, Ph.D.
for inventing it and our friend Matt
Nelson for finding it for us!
And the winners are: Lois Pederson, Gloria Orner,
Mary-Ellen Noone, Jan Ackley, Kirsten Sitnick, Susan
Espinoza, Tonya Barker, Renee Gleim
and two subscribers for whom I only had e-mail
addresses and am waiting to LEARN their names!
(Please take a minute to use the link to your account
and update your information, especially if you are a
long-time subscriber.)
CONGRATULATIONS, you lucky winners! Your books
will go out by Friday (if I receive confirmation of your
snail mail addresses by then--and PLEASE, ALL
winners send me off an e-mail).
|
| Don't forget to . . . |
|
|
If you haven't already done so (with the LAST
TwinkleGram) PLEASE, oh PLEASE scroll to the VERY
TOP of this page and push CONFIRM to make sure
you stay on the TwinkleGram list. THANK YOU!
If for whatever reason (like you're on dialup and this
took WAY too long to load) you'd rather not receive
this colorful html version, scroll to the bottom of this
page, click on "update profile/e-mail address" then
put a check in the box that says you'd like to receive
the text only version. (lower left) VOILA!
Also, as suggested in the DRAWING WINNER
segment, please take a moment to follow the link in
this e-mail to your account and UPDATE any missing
information. THANKS!
|
| Like to read cozy (Gentle Read) books? |
|
|
Check out the Cozy
Library. What a SLICK THING!
|
|
Today's TwinkleGram Story |
|
|
|
The last TwinkleGram I talked about slowing down.
Funny I should follow that with a trip to the Woolly Worm Festival (aka caterpillars) in
Beattyville, Kentucky. Funnier yet that the Woolly
Worms, not known for their speed, are the obvious
highlight of the festival, and they actually RACE!
(You've heard of the hair vs. the tortoise, well this is
the Woolly Worm vs. the Woolly Worm, neither
leaving a blaze of smoke in their wormy wake.)
If you'll look at the picture (and for those of you who
receive in text only, it's a picture of a Woolly Worm
at the bottom of a vertical string and a girl's fingers
are scissored across the string to hold Mr.-- Ms? --
Woolly Worm at the bottom) you'll note that the
Woolly is READY to race and is therefore attempting
to make it's way over the scissored obstacle. But
not for long
because
alas, those scissored fingers will quickly turn into the
jaws of life and put Woolly back in the starting
block. No, Woolly, it is not time to GO!
Ever feel that way? Like you're ready to go-go-go
but somebody, some thing, holds you
back-back-back? Worse yet (or is it?), have you
ever gone-
gone-gone only to find out you should have waited--
or not gone at all?
In the case of this particular Woolly Worm and this
particular race, I overheard (couldn't help myself)
interesting comments afterwards from Woolly's
scissorhands owner. It went something like this. "I
had to move him back so many times he was worn
out by the time the race began." (In case you
missed the hint, her Woolly didn't win.) I
sympathized
because I'd heard the emcee say, time and again,
"We'll be starting in a moment, so get your Woolly
Worm on the string!"
I'm not sure what the moral of this story is, but I do
know this: you can't finish if you're not ready
to GO. My question to you is, are you getting
ready? Are you honoring the "thing"
(goal, dream, vision) that whispers inside you, Do it!
Stop reading this moment. Evaluate your life, your
goals, your progress--or lack thereof--toward the
race you'd like to run. The trip you'd like to
take. The new endeavor you'd like to try. Then get
yourself in the starting block and be ready to GO!
Then again, maybe you're already hearing the
starting bell, so get to movin'. Even Woolly Worms
run the course.
|
|
