I have just “re-upped” with my wonderful publishers, Harlequin, and I am thrilled. So even though I’m feeling my deadline bearing down on me, I think I’ll celebrate today. 🙂 Also, the plumbers are here, pounding and drilling as they put in the new bathroom for the guest room, which happens to be directly across the hall from where I write. Excuses, excuses!
Our winner for this week, by the way, is Betty Hamilton. Betty, by now you should have received an email from Super-Jen, the assistant who can leap tall buildings in a single bound and bend steel in her bare hands.
OK, new contest. But let me explain the plan first. 🙂 The questions I ask are really meant to get a dialogue going between all of us, and the winner will be chosen at random. Prizes: a signed book, as usual, AND either a lovely pair of arm-warmers, made by my clever sister Sally, OR a bracelet, made by my other clever sister, Pam. 🙂 You can see their work, if you’re so inclined, on Etsy, under Thankful Rose and Polymerpamela, respectively.
The question? If you could live your life over again, what would you do differently? And what wouldn’t you change? I’m going to ponder that one a little–or a lot–and I’ll say a few words about it here on the blog.
Winter continues–you’d think it was January or something–and I am in a much better state of mind than I usually am at this time of year. (The big meltdown of 2008 comes to mind.) A lot of factors enter in, of course–primarily prayer. I can’t say enough about what listening to the Daily Audio Bible (dailyaudiobible.com) every day has done for me–the changes are too personal to describe, even if I could find the words. Let’s just say, it’s all good. 🙂 Another reason is that I simply decided that I wouldn’t let the weather and its accompanying restrictions bother me, and I don’t. I shift my focus to the many good things in my life, and say a prayer of gratitude.
Sure, I’m stuck in the house. But, good heavens, I HAVE a house, so what am I complaining about? I’m not living on the sidewalk, hoping to get a bed in a shelter on any given night.
I also tend to put on weight in the winter. Flip of the coin: in my life, too much food is the problem. In many people’s experience, it’s too little food. Beyond the Western Hemisphere, this is pretty much the case everywhere.
I could go on and on, but you get the picture. What I tell myself is this: call 1-800-BOO-HOO.
In closing, be safe, be well, and be kind.
Because kindness is love, and what the world needs now, in the words of the old song, is love, sweet love.
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.
