This Week’s Winners + ETC.

Friday, Mar 21

Well, friends of mine, it’s Friday.  Again.  How does this happen?  🙂
I’m writing today, but will probably duck out later to soak up some of this lovely spring sunshine.  I’ve had all the winter I need and then some, and I’ll bet you have, too.  Bring on those flowers!
No reading done last night–I was too tired, plus I don’t want MISSING YOU (Harlan Coben) to be over.  It takes that man way too long to write a book.  (Now, where have I heard that before?) 🙂  However, since I don’t seem to be able to go to sleep right away, even with a favorite stone in each hand (my favorite Labradorite is the current fave, along with a beautiful golden onyx from Mexico), I have to plug in to my iPod and listen to an audiobook.  Last night’s was called HANNA’S SUITCASE, a true story about a little Czech girl and her family during the Holocaust.  This one was pretty short–two and a half hours–so it was just about right.  (Usually, I drop off somewhere in the middle and have to go back and find the last scene I remember.)  I tried to listen to a biography of author Pearl S. Buck (THE GOOD EARTH, among other famous books), but it just didn’t grab me.  I was about to say I found it depressing–to which the inevitable response would be, “And the Holocaust isn’t depressing?”
I’ve said it before, but here it is again.  It’s important to remember, and to acknowledge what happened to millions of ordinary people with lives and families, homes and pets, dreams and hopes, favorite songs and precious memories.  There are those who want to believe the Holocaust didn’t happen, and that is not only wrong and disrespectful toward those who survived, as well as those who didn’t–it’s dangerous.  That old saying comes to mind (paraphrased here): Evil thrives when good people do nothing.  When they look the other way and pretend the emperor is all gussied up in new clothes, things are only going to get worse.
So, I’ll step down off my soapbox, now that I’ve had a good rant  🙂
And now for our winners–drumroll, please–Lynn Allen and Marcy Collins.  Congratulations, both of you.
As always, a new contest begins on Monday.  Same prizes as last week: a copy of POSITIVITY and an autographed LLM book for one winner, and a necklace and autographed book for the second. 
I plan to write this weekend, and make a few artist trading cards, etc.  I’ve just received new issues of SOMERSET STUDIO and CLOTH, PAPER, SCISSORS, my favorite, favorite magazines, and I’m definitely inspired by some of the projects.  I’ve started a project for CPS’s “Reader Challenge”, having decided I need to get out of my comfort zone and submit a piece now and then.  I find Pinterest to be a good source of ideas, both for Simply Filling/Weight Watchers recipes and crafting stuff.  I am constantly amazed at how creative people are.  I also love Youtube–whenever I need a demonstration of any kind, I tune in.  So far, I’ve learned lots of art techniques, how to clean my one-cup coffee maker and how to use just about any other gadget you can think of, and there are all kinds of videos about gemstones and crystals.  Of course, one has to take some things with a grain of salt, but hey, we ought to do that with everything, in my opinion. 
 
Have a terrific weekend.    
 

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.

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