Staying Present

I'm in New England now, and it's snowing out. My neices are in school and my sister and brother-in-law have gone to work, so I have their lovely home to myself. I brought in a bunch of wood so that there would be a good supply of dry wood, and then I took a walk.

Walking in the snow is such a peaceful, healing thing to do. Somehow everything seems quieter when it snows. Now I'm sitting in a comfy chair in the living room, feet up on the hassock and a cozy blanket covering my legs. I've got a nice fire going in the hearth, gentle music playing and a hot cuppa coffee by my side.

A Facebook friend shared this article and I wanted to pass it on to you. It's about our tendency to allow worries about imagined future events to steal our present joy. The author expresses it so beautifully and compassionately. This is something I've struggled with a lot this year, as I sometimes allowed my fears about the future impose on my enjoyment of the present. It's something I've consciously worked on - and continue to work on, and it was nice to have someone else express the experience and feelings out loud so the rest can remember that we are not alone in our challenges. Here's the link to the article: NYT Article

While you read it, I'm going to stare out the window at the falling snow, listen to the music, enjoy the warmth of the fire, and try to stay with just the experience of those things, in this moment, now.

The winners of  THE CHRISTMAS VILLAGE BOOK GIVEAWAY are ...

DRUMROLL.....

M.K.
AND
SUZANNE DRAZIC!

CONGRATULATIONS! Please email me at melissaanngoodwin@yahoo.com with your mailing address, and I'll send your signed copies to you next week.

I'm off to New England for 10 days of classroom visits and signings! Talk to you all soon.

Author JD Holiday reviews The Christmas Village

Pop over to author JD Holiday's blog for this review of The Christmas Village, which she calls "the best Christmas story I've read." Woo-hoo!!

Here's the link: JD's Writer Blog

And don't forget to leave a comment here this week to be entered to win a signed copy of The Christmas Village!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Check Out My Feature Article in Cape Women Online Magazine

Hi Everyone!

I've got a feature article in the holiday issue of  Cape Women Online Magazine. It's called, "Weaving Tales with Childhood Memories," and talks about how those memories factored into the writing of The Christmas Village. Many thanks to editor Katie O'Sullivan at the magazine for the invitation to contribute.

Pop over and check it out if you have a chance. Here's the link: Weaving Tales

AND, my BOOK GIVEAWAY continues through this week (see previous post) so if you'd like a chance to win a SIGNED COPY of The Christmas Village, leave a comment on any post through the week and you'll be entered. And please pass on the word to your followers.

I'm so grateful for all my wonderful friends and all the blessings of life. Happy Thanksgiving week to all!

Melissa

Book Giveaway: THE CHRISTMAS VILLAGE!

With gratitude for all my blessings, I'm having a

BOOK GIVEAWAY!

I'll be giving away two signed copies of

The Christmas Village

Here's how to win:

Leave a comment on this post and you are entered!
Mention my book on your blog, you are entered again (Just let me know that you did) Let your followers know that they can enter the giveaway by popping over here and leaving a comment.

Tell your followers to mention they came from your blog, and YOU are entered again.
The blogger who sends the most followers is entered again.

That's lots of chances to win!

I can only ship books within the U.S., but if you are one of my international friends and have someone in the U.S. you'd like the book to go to, you can enter and win it for a U.S. friend. (Sorry about that - I have so many friends in other countries and you know I love you!)

The giveaway is open through the day after Thanksgiving! Thanks for letting everyone know!

Empty Bowls

Tonight we went to an Empty Bowls fundraiser to raise money for food for homeless students at local schools.

You get a bowl handmade by a child from a local school, and local restaurants provide soup and rolls:



These guys played great Blue Grass music:

It was a good time, supporting a good cause.

The other day we went to a beautiful beach called Boca Grande. This blue heron was on the beach:

He started following me - I turned around and it looked like he was sneaking up on me! It's very lovely here and we are considering it as a place to settle down. I'll keep you posted on that!



Veteran's Day

Sending out thoughts and prayers to all who served and serve in the military - thank you for your sacrifice. I long for a future in which we need not send you off anymore. Be safe, brave ones.

Punta Gorda, Florida

We're settled into a motorhome park here in Punta Gorda, Florida for a while. There is a nice swimming pool, and I am able to put my yoga mat down beside it to practice. It's the first time I've had a really decent spot to do my yoga since hitting the road. That's because many of the camping spots were gravel or grass, or sometimes it was just too buggy. I'd do a little bit of yoga without my mat and wearing my sneakers for traction, but it's not the same.

Despite that, my body it isn't sore like it often was when I was practicing more regularly. I find I can move into the poses more easily, and I kicked up into handstand easily yesterday. Sometimes, less is more.

We have friends who settled here after traveling in their motorhome for a year. It's nice to have people take you under their wing and let you know about fun things to do and places to go. Sometimes on the road you feel like you are out there all alone, so it's nice when we stop in places where there are familiar faces nearby.

And now we rest ....

We've made it to Punta Gorda Florida, and we'll be staying in this general area for several months now. We're at one RV park for a couple of months, and then we move around a bit, but never going too far - until we head toward Miami in March.

Later this month, I'm heading back up to New England (by plane, not RV) for classroom visits and a book signing on Cape Cod. I'll be talking with 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th graders at five schools. My signing is on Friday, Nov. 30 from 6 to 8pm at the One Centre Street Inn in Yarmouth Port, MA.

I feel ready to get back to writing and hope to make some headway with that. I actually have three projects started, one of which is the sequel to The Christmas Village. We'll see which project calls to me strongest, though I suspect that meeting with all the kids later this month will probably push me in the direction of the sequel.

These past six months have been a whirlwind of travel and adventure, which really hasn't been the best environment for trying to write. It's been a wonderful gift to spend more time with my dear hubby, RVPainter. We've been through the ups and downs of this together and we make a pretty darn good team.

After a few months in, I just decided to let it be okay to not try to accomplish things, and just take in and enjoy all that we were seeing and experiencing. That's a new thing for me - letting it be okay not to strive, or produce or accomplish. Are you like that?

As the season progresses, I hope you'll mention my book, The Christmas Village to friends and family. It's gotten great reviews on Amazon.com, on Goodreads and from bloggers - but most importantly, from kids. You can read some of those reviews down the right side of the blog.

Talk to you all soon my friends!