This past week, I did a fun giveaway of my new book, “The Day The Turkey Came To School” on Facebook.  The idea was to like and share my post about the book, and for every person who liked and shared it, I put their name in my cowgirl hat (after all, I do live in Texas) for a drawing.  I said that if I got 50 shares, I would draw two names instead of one, for a copy of my book.

There were 60 shares in the past week, so this morning, my husband, Jeff, drew the two names.  One name drawn was that of a dear friend in Kalamazoo, Michigan.  The other was a Texas Facebook friend I met through my membership in the Texas State Button Society.  Both ladies are grandmothers so I know they will have someone to read the book to or to give it to as a gift.  I was delighted to ship both of their books to them today.

One of the best parts of being a writer, is being able to share my stories with others in a tangible form.  I think true writers write because we must…we are driven by some innate force which compels us to tell our stories or other people’s stories.  Writers don’t write for money or recognition, although those kinds of rewards are certainly the icing on the cake. We write because we must write in order to be happy.

I believe this same drive is what propels everyone to do what we love to do, regardless of our individual passions.  My dear friend and favorite illustrator, Vicki Guess, is an artist.

In addition to illustrating books, Vicki is inspired and loves to paint in various mediums.  Whenever I’m with her, it’s fun to see the projects she has been working on.  Here is one of her latest paintings done in pastel.

Vicki’s pastel painting is currently in a national juried art show in Grapevine, Texas.  For any of you who live in North Texas and would like to see Vicki’s painting in person, here is the information on where to see it.

Thank you to all of you who support the work of writers and artists.  Without you, we wouldn’t be able to continue doing this work that fuels us and that we love so much!