Emilie Richards's Blog, page 74

The Christmas Wedding Quilt Giveaway Winners

My Christmas blog will appear on Friday, but today, as promised, I’m announcing the randomly drawn names of the ten winners of copies of The Christmas Wedding Quilt.

The question? What is the most special gift you’re giving this holiday? The answers were wonderful, both in the emails to enter the giveaway and in comments on the giveaway post. You’ll find those blog comments here. Take some time and see what other readers like you are giving this Christmas. I was so impressed, and you will be, too.

Some of the winners are giving:

A sewing machine to a daughter whose husband is serving in the military so she can start a new hobby
Anonymously donated handmade scarves (25 of them!)
Handmade pillowcases and a quilt
Roof repairs where badly needed
Homemade bread in reusable ceramic pans

I wish you could read each and every one of these. I am amazed, as always, by your generosity and creativity. I am clearly the winner here, because I got to enjoy them all.

Here are the winners of the books.

Larry Jan Manley
Machelle Smith
Mary McLain
Sandra Pipitone
Faith Creech
Tina Day
Deborah Simmering
Jean DeFrances
Jane Doigherty
Sue Crane

I’ve emailed all the winners. We’ll mail the books after the holidays, so watch for them.

Thanks to everyone who participated. I’m glad the books will go to happy new homes.

Watch for more giveaways in the future.

 

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Sunday Inspiration: A Special Christmas for Lexi

If you liked last week’s story about the young deaf man in Turkey whose friends came to his aid, you’ll love this Christmas story about 12 year-old Lexi Brown’s Christmas surprise. The best stories are real ones, aren’t they? But did you expect the angels to be members of a college fraternity?

Lexi was in a Los Angeles hospital fighting for her life against cancer when on a lark she and her mother put a sign outside their window asking for pizza delivery.

It so happened that there is a fraternity across the street, and when the SAE brothers saw the sign they decided to not only deliver pizza but roses and a serenade. That was just the beginning of a beautiful relationship. The frat guys began visiting Lexi on a regular basis and bringing friends as well, members of the UCLA football team and women’s tennis team among them.

Then came the big surprise. One night Lexi looked out her window and saw the fraternity covered in Christmas lights and on the roof were the letters LEXI lit up large as life. They are certainly making it a special Christmas.

The young men are now raising money to help pay for Lexi’s medical bills, and they will remain by her side in her struggle.

Isn’t that the kind of powerful Christmas story we all want to hear?

If you want to know more about Lexi, here’s an article including photos of those extravagant holiday lights plus a news clip.

May her story and the spirit of generosity and kindness remain in your heart throughout the season and the new year.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you.

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The Christmas Wedding Quilt Giveaway

This past week I mailed out more than 8,000 newsletters with links to a new Shenandoah Album Christmas story, Nine Patch Christmas. If you received one of them, I hope you enjoyed the story. I loved catching up with Helen, family and friends. If you didn’t receive it, it’s not too late to sign up for my mailing list. I’m sending the newsletter to new subscribers every few days to be sure they can read the story, too. Nine Patch Christmas goes away on January 6th to return some day in the future.

This week, I’m still feeling the Christmas spirit. I hope you are, too, as this unexpectedly warm December threatens a white Christmas for many who have their fingers crossed for snow. So to compensate for the lack of fluffy white stuff? This week I’m giving away ten copies of The Christmas Wedding Quilt,* an anthology with three novellas that I did for Christmas 2013 with authors Janice Kay Johnson and Sarah Mayberry. My novella? Let It Snow.

You see the connection, right? I’ll pause while you sing or at least hum the tune for a moment.

This giveaway is only open to readers with a U.S. address.  I apologize to my U.K. and Canadian readers, but mailing a print book means filling out complex custom forms and triple postage out of country, and this time of year, that’s just not possible. I hope that very soon both Amazon UK and Amazon.ca will allow us to gift an ebook through their stores. That would make giveaways so much more fun for everyone. But right now, that option doesn’t exist. I’ll keep my eyes open and the moment it does? I will have an international giveaway just for you.

To enter for your copy, tell me the best gift you’re giving this holiday season. Giving! Your homemade Christmas cookies? An hour of babysitting? A smile for the Ebenezer Scrooge next door who needs one every day? Something a grandchild is hoping for? Please email your response here, and next week I’ll list the winners and some of your responses–without names attached. The winners will be chosen by my old buddy random.org, because honestly, how could I possibly choose without random’s impartial help?

Please be sure to include your address. I’ll delete entries and addresses after the giveaway ends, and you won’t be added to any lists. I hate it when that happens. Comments are great, too, but don’t forget, I’ll only be choosing winners from the emails I receive at the above address since I’ll need your email address to notify you.

T’is the season of giving and I am delighted to share copies with my lucky readers. Meantime?

Let It Snow! (But not here in Florida, please.)

*I’m an Amazon Associate, which means I get a teensy royalty if you buy from one of my Amazon links here.

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Sunday Inspiration: Hearing Hands

‘Tis the season to respect and love our fellow human beings and to hear inspiring stories of kindness and compassion. Right? As opposed to what we’re hearing from some politicians.

This story reminded me of my travels to Turkey with a Muslim group that promotes interfaith respect and cooperation. We had Orthodox Jews, a Catholic priest, and people of every possible Christian denomination with us. The Turkish people welcomed us into their homes and shared their lives and faith with us. It was an outstanding experience.

This is a story about a young hearing impaired man who lives in Istanbul, Turkey, a truly gorgeous city. His friends and neighbors realized how lonely and frustrating it must be to be hearing impaired in the middle of a world of people who can hear.

So they got together with the help of Samsung and took a month of sign language lessons, and then Samsung secretly videoed a morning walk where people were — to his surprise — suddenly communicating with him. Yes, Candid Camera all over again. And his response is priceless. And yes, it is a commercial for Samsung, isn’t it? But just think what an amazing world it would be if every business, every commercial enterprise, dedicated itself to helping those who could most benefit from it? Can your imagination stretch that far? Let’s make sure it does.

Please watch this brief Hearing Hands video and be filled with the holiday spirit.

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All I Want For Christmas is Glue: Booklover Carols Part Eight

Yes, I know you’ve been waiting on the edge of your seat for this year’s Booklover Carol. No? In fact you’re about to run screaming from the room? I’ll give you a head start.

Every year for too long to contemplate I’ve created a new Booklover Carol for my readers to enjoy. We’ve had carols for and about readers, publishers, bookstores, and more. This year I considered letting the tradition die. Then I heard Mariah Carey singing “All I Want for Christmas” and I knew I had found a new carol to revise (torture.)

Last year’s carol, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Kindle” is still available on my blog, as are all the others. Just follow the links under the category “Holiday” on your right and scroll down to read them all.

If you dare.

Have you ever watched the pages in a book you’re reading fall like snowflakes from the cover? Ever had to keep a beloved book in a plastic bag just to keep pages together? I’ve had readers complain to me. So in case you thought I wasn’t paying attention?

This Booklover Carol is for you!

All I Want for Christmas is Glue

(based–very, very loosely–on Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You)

I don’t want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need

To go with all the novels

Underneath my Christmas tree

I want my pages, one, two, three

In perfect order I can read

Make my wish come true

All I want for Christmas is glue, yeah.

I don’t want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need

And I don’t care about anything else

Underneath the Christmas tree

I don’t need to hang my stocking

There upon the fireplace

Give me pages, merry and gay

Lined up right on Christmas Day

Me and Elmer, snuggled like lovers

Gluing pages into covers

Make my wish come true

All I want for Christmas is glue

Glue, baby

Oh, I won’t ask for much this Christmas

I won’t even wish for snow

Just pages glued in order

Underneath the mistletoe

I won’t make a list and send it

To the North Pole for Saint Nick

But the very next time I buy a book

I’ll be careful what I pick

‘Cause I just want glue here tonight

Locking pages tight

What more can I do?

Baby, all I want for Christmas is glue

Glue, baby

As somewhere pages are falling

I hear readers’ voices calling

Glue or staples, needles and thread?

To reassemble the book I read?

Oh, I don’t want a lot for Christmas

Just glue for a little mending

I just want to read my pages

Right through to the happy ending

Oh, I just want glue for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true

Baby, all I want for Christmas is glue

Glue, baby

All I want for Christmas is glue, baby

(Repeat until your tongue falls out.)

 

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Sunday Inspiration: What We See

Last night I saw another flag at half mast, and my first thought? We might as well just leave it that way. There will be another mass killing soon enough.

At what point did cruel, crazy people shooting down innocents begin to seem routine? At what point did our leaders throw up their hands and refuse to do anything about gun violence other than pass along prayers and condolences?

Just when things seemed darker and darker, I read a column by Nicholas Kristof titled “In 5 Minutes, He Lets the Blind See.” A doctor who has restored eyesight to more than 100,000 people is literally bringing light back into the world. Dr. Sanduk Ruit is a Napali ophthalmologist who has developed a 5-minute procedure that removes cataracts from poor people who would normally be blind for the rest of their lives. What an incredible gift to give.

How blind are we to all the goodness that surrounds us? Our headlines scream about terorrism, and murder, but we seldom hear about or talk about or even think about those many people who show compassion and kindness, those who seek to bring about justice and peace. We are frightened, and so we forget.

So now let’s think about this. Good, courageous everyday heroes are all around us. Not just dedicated doctors and committed peace makers, but our families and friends, neighbors and co-workers,who are constantly helping others in so many ways, large and small. They are paying attention to the sixteen feet around them and finding ways that make a real difference.

Perhaps we need someone to restore our vision so we see and remember the ocean of caring, concerned, loving people of all religions and not the shallow, murky puddle of those who feed off the fear and pain of others.

What we see does depend on what we look for, and I invite you during this holiday season to see the goodness and love that surrounds us and celebrate it with joy.

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The Color of Light Meets Emeril Lagasse and Martha Stewart

I’ve been busy this week looking for Christmas cookie recipes. No, I’m not baking yet. But I am cooking up something for my newsletter readers, something very special for my December edition. As I did the research for that surprise, I found cookie after cookie recipe I wanted to try.

While I was researching, this recipe leapt out at me, even though it had nothing to do with my newsletter. Instead this one has to do with my latest book. What do we get if we cross Emeril Lagasse, Martha Stewart, and The Color of Light? We get these delicious, eye-catching Stained Glass Cookies.

Now I’m sharing this find with you. I’ve adapted the recipe, which appears online in many places. But if you have read and enjoyed The Color of Light, and you want to try your hand at making your own rose window? These cookies are for you. If you make them let me know how they turn out. We’d especially like to drool over your photos.

Oh, and by the way, The Color of Light is now available on Audible as well as available as an audio CD with the same wonderful narrator, Karen White, as we’ve had for all the books. That’s the cover at the top.

And another “Oh?” Just an aside. If you’re not on my newsletter list, this might be a good time to sign up so you don’t miss out on my surprise.

*****

Stained Glass Cookies

Adapted from Food Network and Martha Stewart

Yield: 4 dozen approximately

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) of butter

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (you can substitute lemon extract)

3 cups all-purpose flour

A variety of hard candies in bright colors–Jolly Rancher assorted or original work well.

Equipment needed:

1 2 1/2 to 3 inch circular or ornament shaped cookie cutter

1 small star shaped cookie cutter that fits well inside the circle and leaves a substantial rim.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Using the paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the sugar and butter until smooth. Add the egg and the extract, and when creamy, add the flour until mixed. Now scrape the dough on to a sheet of plastic wrap, and press it into a rectangle. Cover and seal with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for an hour or more.

Remove the dough, unwrap and slice into thirds. Roll each piece to 1/4″ or slightly thinner. Using the circle cookie cutter, cut as many circles as possible. Repeat with all of the dough. Next use the star cutter and cut a star shape inside each circle. Reroll star scraps, or bake separately and decorate.

Line cookie sheets with parchment and place cookies on them, leaving room between for expansion.

Separate candies by color. Place each into small plastic bags and after covering with a dish towel or pot holder, break up candy into tiny pieces with a hammer or mallet. Fill each of the the star-shaped holes with different colors of crushed candy. Be creative.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown, and the candy has melted.

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Sunday Inspiration: 16 Square Feet

So often we — and I certainly include myself here — bemoan how little can be done by one individual to affect the world.

But have you ever asked yourself what you can do to affect the 16 feet around you?

Recently I ran across an article in our local paper titled “Life philosophy in 16 square feet.” It’s worth a read.

Elihu Wallace is a 79 year old man who has worked at a variety of jobs, has raised a family, and has been involved in his church. Over the years he developed a life philosophy that he needs to be responsible not for the entire planet, but for the 16 square feet around him.

That’s 4 feet in each direction. Not a large space, but just large enough for him to make a difference in the lives of many people, especially boys and young men. He realizes how important it is that young people be raised with strong values, so as a crossing guard, a Big Brother, and a father and friend to many, he does what he can to teach values of integrity, responsibility, and self-esteem, while having a good time — he teaches golf to boys as well.

I like this idea of looking after the 16 square feet around us. It’s not nearly as overwhelming as taking care of the entire planet. Though I remain concerned for what’s going on in the larger world, I feel more powerful and effective when I accept responsibility for overseeing the space and the people and the events in this small space that encircles me.

As we gather together for the holidays, this life philosophy is especially important. What can we do in this sacred time to enliven and enlighten those we love so much, those who are only a hug away? What can we do to transform this small circle with love and compassion?

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Thanksgiving: All Is Safely Gathered In

Some of you may have seen my post about WorkFlowy. Some of you may have seen this past week’s beautiful Sunday Inspiration video on Gratitude, found and added by my husband. I am absolutely certain that at no point did you see a connection between them.

I didn’t either, not until it occurred to me that it’s so easy to just mutter a few words of Thanksgiving when the moment is appropriate, and think, “Well, I’m finished.” But, of course, as the video said, there a so many things to be thankful for, things that are right here, all around us. Things we don’t always notice.

That’s the challenge, isn’t it? To pay attention? And that’s when I decided that WorkFlowy has taught me a lesson in how to be grateful.

WorkFlowy breaks lists into multiple parts. Through a process of drilling down, users learn to break up tasks into smaller parts, then accomplish those, one at a time.

Breaking things into smaller parts? Not just “I’m grateful for this beautiful world, family and friends. Amen and pass the turkey.” But I’m grateful for the infinitesimal levels beneath each.

Thank you WorkFlowy for helping me to note that everything is made of smaller parts that can be noted, too.

So in that spirit. Let me break down my Thanksgiving prayer just a little. I can’t begin to list all the things I’m thankful for. But here are a few.

I’m thankful for this beautiful world:

For the ping of raindrops, of mist and wind and the sizzle of sunshine against my skin
For so many people who care about others and are trying, without considering the odds of success, to help
For artists and rainbows, for birdsong and soaring, for penny whistles and limericks
For lily-of-the-valley, roses and gardenias and the salt-sweet air of the Florida coast

I’m thankful for family:

For the powdery fragrance and satin skin of a newborn
For the welcoming grin of a preschooler, the shy smile of an eight-year-old, the giggle of a five-year-old when she thinks no one is listening
For Paw Patrol and Hello Kitty and American Girl Dolls with stories to tell
For grown children who are as interesting and individual as I hoped they would be and for the partners they have chosen
For the partner I chose

I’m thankful for friends:

For those who listen and those who have much to say
For those who reach out quietly and those who dive in
For those who read my books and those who make no excuses.
For those who have been with me for decades and those who just moved into view.

And my readers? I am thankful for each and every one of you. You are never a number, a statistic, not a boost to a bestseller list, not a constant drumbeat toward bigger and better books. I am grateful when you share your stories here or in other ways, when you find time to read my books–even when you aren’t certain you want to–when you find gentle ways to challenge me.

Each of us has so much to be thankful for, even if we have to “drill down” sometimes to remember. I’m thankful for this blog, which reminds me to do just that each week. And I’m especially thankful today for everyone who takes the time to read it.

Whether this is your holiday or just a reminder of one passed or approaching, Happy Thanksgiving.

Now, pass the turkey!

Congratulations to Martha, Kate and Marsha, all who will get copies of the books featured in my last The Writing Process 2015 post.

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Sunday Inspiration: Gratitude

I know that Thanksgiving is still a few days away, but this beautiful, inspiring, incredible video and meditation is a way to prepare yourself for the holiday.

I’m looking forward to enjoying family, food, and some foolishness on Thanksgiving Day, but in the chaos sometimes the thankfulness part gets lost.

If you watch this video, you can’t help but be overwhelmed with a deep sense of gratitude for this day and every day, for every day is a blessing beyond measure.

I wish for you a Thanksgiving filled with happiness and gratitude.

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