I spent the entire day writing, except for a long and fascinating conversation with my new editor, Paula Ekelhoff. May I say, she is a remarkable woman? 🙂 She recommended several books, which I am currently downloading: “In the Garden of Beasts” by Erik Larson, for one. And niece Jenni recommended “Timebound”, which is also in the transfer process.
I awoke, as usual, at 4 am, and I immediatedly decided this was just plain ridiculous–one thing if getting up so early was working, but it wasn’t. So I went back to sleep and arose at 7:30 and, guess what, the Earth didn’t stop turning. It didn’t even have a catch in its get-along, as we Westerners say. (Are you surprised?) As it turns out, sleep deprivation is NOT the answer to life’s problems, and I got MORE work done today, instead of less. Who knew? 🙂
Have I mentioned lately that I really enjoy your comments?? Well, I do. Keep posting them, please. Someone said Nora Roberts kills animals in her books–I certainly hadn’t noticed that. May I say, I have ENORMOUS respect for Nora, both as a writer and a person? She is INCREDIBLY generous, for one thing. Although she will never broadcast it, she’s helped innumerable people.
My brother Jerry and our mom, Hazel Bleecker Lael, share a birthday, which is January 31. (Dad and I shared June 10.) Happy birthday to both of you!
I received the most delightful letter from my niece, Sydney. Apparently, this was a school assignment, and Sydney demonstrated, among other things, her ability to translate fractions into decimals. I mean, REALLY? Believe me, I’m IMPRESSED. Math is definitely NOT Aunt Lindy’s strong-point! 🙂 In any case, the letter closed with, “please write back.” You can bet I will.
This I know for sure, to steal a few words from the Divine Miss O–aka, Oprah. 🙂
There is a God, and He loves us.
Some things are well worth fighting for, and freedom is one of them–our own, and that of others.
No matter how bad things look or how overwhelming the odds, we must KEEP MOVING FORWARD, because if we don’t, the dark side wins. And we can’t let that happen.
Life is full of wonderful surprises and mysteries; it’s all about making discoveries, from day to day. That, my friends, is where the magic lives–in seemingly small and ordinary blessings.
There has NEVER been a better time, in the history of the Earth, to be alive. For all the problems, the 21st century is the place to be. If you don’t believe me, do a little historical research. The advances in medicine, technology, human and animal rights, among many other things, are HUGE. We’ve come a LONG way, and, yes, we still have a long, long way to go: the road ahead is a challenging one. But we’re cowgirls and cowboys, aren’t we? Quitting is not an option.
So, there it is. We keep going, no matter what, because that is who and what we are. We do what we can, where we are, with what we have, and we let that be good enough.
Because it is.
As my old daddy used to say, if you get up one more time than you’ve been knocked down, you’ve succeeded.
Be blessed
About Linda
The daughter of a town marshal, Linda Lael Miller is a #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than 100 historical and contemporary novels, most of which reflect her love of the West.
Raised in Northport, Washington, Linda pursued her wanderlust, living in London and Arizona and traveling the world before returning to the state of her birth to settle down on a horse property outside Spokane.
