Bats, Ribbons and Reviews!

Woohoo! I got a couple of new reviews on DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE this week, and wanted to share: Four out of five bats (ha!) from All Things Urban Fantasy, and four and a half blue ribbons from Romance Junkies. The reviews themselves contain spoilers, so I'm just hitting the highlights here:

Rating from All Things Urban Fantasy:



"Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now put this author on your watch list."

"DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE takes things into the realm of myth and magic without treading on too many dogmatic toes. This paranormal romance surprised me quite a few times, most particularly in the way that the main character/supporting character dynamic was reversed. While it’s unusual for me to be interested in world building over romance, I enjoyed the glimpses of this particular devil’s world so much he quite stole the show."

From Romance Junkies:

Full of imagination and creativity, DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE, the first book in talented author Terri Garey’s new DEVIL’S BARGAIN series, is an edge-of-your-seat thriller that will have you rapidly turning pages to see what happens next. An emotion-packed tale, DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE is filled with complex and compelling characters, a heart touching plot, deceit, plot twists, manipulations, romance, suspense and paranormal mystery, making it a delight for readers of various genres. This is a story you do not want to miss!

Not Crazy, Just In Rewrites

This kind of says it all...

Browse Inside "DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE"

You say you're tired of waiting until May 31st to discover what kind of diabolical trouble Sammy Divine has cooked up? I have the solution!

Browse Inside this book Get this for your site

A simple click will allow you to read the first 60 pages! (Yep, I said 60, as in Six Oh.) It's a really cool feature that's almost as good as holding the real thing!

Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction: Of Rock Stars and Romance

My newest novel, DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE, hits the stores in just over two weeks, and today I thought I'd give you a little background on just how this story came to be. (Let me warn you, you're going to think I made it up, because the truth is definitely stranger than fiction!)



Back in 2007, the first book in my Nicki Styx series, DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY was released. The basic premise of that story was this: a so-called "goth girl" has a near-death experience, and comes back from the other side with the ability to see and hear the dead. (It was a bit of a take on the "be careful what you wish for" idea, in that someone who was drawn to the dark side ended up with lot more darkness in her life than she ever expected.)

Fast forward two years and two books later, when I was helping my husband set up a website for his business (I used to be a computer techie before I was a writer). I was coordinating things with the web designer, and just happened to include my official "author signature" in one of my emails, which showed my own website address. He clicked on it, visited my website and said, "Hey, I didn't know you liked that dark stuff, but since you do, here's a link to a cool band I think you'll really like." Hence, I was introduced to the goth n' roll artistry of gold-record selling Finnish band, The 69 Eyes, also known as the Helsinki Vampires. Do yourself a favor, and check out their video for a song called "Perfect Skin" for a taste of their particular brand of dark deliciousness:



Anyway, I was hooked, and casually ended up "friending" the band on MySpace.

To my surprise, I got a personal response to that friend request, from none other than lead singer, Jyrki Linnankivi, also known as Jyrki69. He told me that the band was working on a new album, and that one of the songs had been inspired by one of my books! I'll be quite honest with you - my initial response was a bit skeptical, both that a hot lead singer of a rock n' roll band would email me personally, or that he'd ever even heard of my books. :) But, in true "stranger than fiction" fashion, Jyrki kept in touch, although he kept secret which book he was referring to (Helsinki vampires are nothing if not mysterious). Then, in the summer of 2009, their new album was released, featuring a lead single entitled "Dead Girls Are Easy", the video of which debuted on, of all things, Playboy.com . I'll warn you, it's a bit racier than the book , but you can watch the video and hear the song here:

Later that year, a dream came true when I got to meet the band in person when they toured in the US. Here's a pic of Jyrki and me, after each member of the band signed a copy of my book (do I look happy or what? ) Story and more pics here.

Anyway, I decided to return the artistic favor. The band's medium is music, but mine is writing. I'd been toying with the idea for a new series featuring a diabolically handsome character of Sammy Divine, who'd was a recurring character from appeared in my first (Nicki Styx) series. Sammy's the Devil, you see, and there's a long-time legend about extremely talented musicians who GOT that talent by making a deal with the Devil. Enter the character of Finn Payne, the rock n' roll bad boy who sold his soul for rock n' roll, and now wants it back. Throw in a young single mother with a very sick child who makes her own deal with the Devil, and you've got DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE, which releases May 31st, 2011.

Art inspires art, hot guys inspire more hot guys, and so on, and so on. :) C'mon now... who could make up a story like that??

Just In Case You Forgot... Devil Without a Cause is out in three more weeks!!

Revisions: When The Creative Process Gets Messy!

Anybody who tells you that writing is easy has never actually been through the revision process.

This is a partial shot of the floor beside my desk right now, littered with pages that no longer fit the manuscript I'm working on.  Pages I worked on for days and weeks, now scrapped due to a change in story direction.  Luckily, I don't drink alcohol while I work or it would've been an empty bottle of wine laying there instead of a Snapple bottle.  :)

Write some pages, read 'em, scrap 'em.  Write some pages, read 'em, scrap 'em.  Write some pages, read 'em, keep 'em.  Wash, rinse, repeat.  :)

Anyway, that's where I've been and that's what I'm doing, and what I will be doing for the next three weeks.

At the end, I may need a bulldozer, as my office may look like a landfill by the time I'm finished!

Devil Without a Cause Bookmarks, You Know You Want 'Em!

Just got custom bookmarks made for my May 31st release, DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE, and I love how they turned out!

If you'd like one (or several, for all your cooler friends), send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:

P.O. Box 320386
Tampa, FL 33679-2386

and some will be put in the mail to you.

If you're a bookstore owner, librarian, have a reading group or otherwise just want to roll around on top of a bunch of bookmarks featuring a gorgeous, shirtless guy (see left), let me know that, too, and I'll send you extras. :)

Happy reading, and don't lose your place when you could be using a cool bookmark like this to mark it!

Win A Copy of Le Regazze Morte Sono Facili

Want to win a copy of the Italian version of Dead Girls Are Easy?  Stop by Gloria's Literary Cafe to read a review of the book and an interview with me, then leave a comment for Gloria.

What? You can't read Italian? I'll paraphrase: "This book is the best book ever written, and Terri Garey is AWESOME!" (Ok, so maybe I'm exaggerating a little.) ;-)

If you really want to read the review and interview, it can be translated from Italian to English through Translate Google or Bing by just copying the link for Gloria's Literary Cafe (above) and pasting it into the translator.

Good luck, or as they say in Italian, "buona fortuna!"

Let It Go

Most writers are familiar with the phrase, "Kill your darlings". The actual quote, however, is this:

“Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it — whole-heartedly — and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings." - Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, 1916

I just took Sir Arthur's advice and killed one of my "darlings", an entire scene that I'd worked on for days. I LOVED this scene - it had some affectionate reminiscing on my main character's part, introduced a new character and added some local flavor, and the dialogue was fantastic, if I do say so myself. :-) But last night, I decided to do a total read-thru of the novel so far, and you know what? The scene didn't work. It was a beautiful in a stand-alone kind of way, but it did absolutely nothing to move the story forward. The new character was unnecessary, and so was the reminiscing. In fact, the scene slowed the pacing of the overall novel, which led me to take a deep breath, put my finger on the Delete key, and KILL IT.

The inability to kill your darlings has killed many a writer's career, in my humble opinion. We get so attached to the words we put on paper that we'll do anything to keep them; a tweak here, a move there, use this bit of dialogue somewhere else... when really, a clean break would be best for all concerned. We justify keeping it, thinking of all the time and effort that went into creating it in the first place, and not wanting to waste our prose or our time. But a good book is worth the time, and perfect prose may not always be perfect in the bigger sense - the BOOK is what's important, not the scene.

It's a tough lesson to learn, but liberating in its own way.  As a writer, I believe that nothing I've ever written has been wasted, even if no one ever reads it, because -- just like in life -- learning to let go is a lesson in itself.

Take a minute and think of something that you need to let go of, whether it's bad feelings toward a certain someone, or that pair of jeans you haven't fit into for at least five years.  :)  Go ahead and remember all the reasons why you're hanging onto to it (or them), then take a deep breath and LET IT GO.

Janet Rose Garey ~ April 10, 1916 - March 6, 2011

I have only slipped into the next room

I am I and you are you

Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.

Call me by my old familiar name,

Speak to me in the easy way which you always used

Put no difference in your tone,

Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow

Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.

Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.

Let my name be ever the household word
that it always was,

Let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of shadow on it.

Life means all that it ever meant.

It is the same as it ever was, there is unbroken continuity.

Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?

I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near,

Just around the corner.

All is well.

Yet Another Le Regazze Morte Sono Facile

I have no idea why there are two different Italian covers for Dead Girls Are Easy, but this one is clearly aimed at all you zombie lovers!

In honor of its grisly gloriousness, I'm going to repost my original zombie short, entitled:

ZOMBIES NEED LOVE, TOO by Terri Garey

“Is that a femur in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

Donna snuggled in closer to Derek, brushing the dark hair from his eyes with one hand. Unfortunately, a clump of it remained in her fingers, and she knew this particular boy toy’s time was limited. That was the problem with zombies—their shelf life was much too short, the pesky problem of decomposition being one she hadn’t solved yet.

Even embalming didn’t help, and she didn’t care for waxy buildup on her fingers any more than she did her floors.

“Brought you a present,” Derek murmured, with a lopsided grin, “for our two-week anniversary.” His breath reeked of blood and sausages, which made sense considering his job at the local meat packing plant. With a flourish, he whipped a hand from behind his back, and offered her his prize.

“How sweet,” Donna squealed. “It’s a heart!”

“Yeah, baby,” he answered smugly, blood dripping between his fingers. “A fresh one. Nothing but the best for my girl.”

“Awww,” Donna said, “I got you a present, too.” She let go of him long enough snatch her purse up from the bed. Digging inside, she brought up an object about three inches long. Picking off a piece of lint before handing it to him, she announced, “I usually wait at least a month before giving my boyfriend the finger!”

Derek and Donna both died laughing, which was long overdue, considering Donna had been dead for two centuries, and Derek for two weeks.

She eyed him with regret as she giggled, knowing his laughter would soon be a thing of the past, much like Horatio’s, the guy who’d gotten her into this fix. It had been Horatio’s idea to visit the cemetery in Edinburgh that night two hundred years ago. Bodysnatching had been a good way to earn some quick cash back then, unless your body happened to be the one that got snatched, of course.

Poor Horatio, she’d known him well, until that shovel had come out of nowhere, and smashed his head in. The doctor who’d done it hadn’t hit her hard enough, though, and she’d woken up in his laboratory to find him on top of her. After that, what was a ghoul to do except defend herself? It was only after she’d killed the doc with his own dirt-encrusted shovel that she’d found the secret book lying on his desk, in plain sight, and learned the ancient grimoire’s secrets about how to reanimate the dead.

“Hey, baby,” Derek said, interrupting her musings. “I got a perfectly good boner going to waste here.” He grabbed her hips and pulled her close again. “What say we get naked and put it to good use, hm?”

Donna smiled. She’d learned a few secrets about herself that night, too, including how her brush with death and her newfound ability to reanimate dead flesh left her with a taste for more of it. Immortality had cost her soul, but she was pretty sure she didn’t need it where she was going.

“Absolutely,” she answered, with a smile that revealed her own teeth, pearly white and perfect. Her eyes glowed red as she began to tug his shirt from his pants. “No use letting a good piece of meat go to waste."

Yes, I have a weird sense of humor, but if you didn't know that by now, then welcome to my world. :-)

Le Ragazze Morte Sono Facili

Dead Girls Are Easy, in Italian (with bats)!

Cool, huh?

Can't wait to see what the cover of A Match Made In Hell is going to look like!

News, Events and Appearances In 2011 (so far)

It's mid-February, and already I've had to sit down with my calendar to plan out my year. My current novel-in-progress, A DEVIL NAMED DESIRE, is due to be turned into my editor March 1st, which means that for the rest of this month I'll be glued to my keyboard, fine-tuning, layering, and tweaking it into shape before I turn it in.  The month of March itself will be spent a) collapsing with relief, and b) twitching, as I'll be a bundle of nerves while I wait for her to read it.  :)

The real fun begins in April, when I fly to Los Angeles for the RT Booklovers Convention.  If you happen to be going, too, you can find me at the Avon Dusk to Dark Mixer/Booksigning on Friday, April 8th, from 6-7pm, or track me down at the giant Book Fair on Saturday the 9th from 11-2pm.  The rest of the time I'll be attending workshops, meeting with readers and librarians from all over the US, attending parties like the Venetian Masquerade Faery Ball and the Vampire Ball (featuring "Zombie Strippers from Planet 9"!) and just generally roaming the halls seeing how much trouble I can get into.  Dean Koontz is a special guest of honor this year, and I've made myself a vow not to leave the convention without his autograph, and if I'm REALLY lucky, a picture!

The month of May, I'll be on pins and needles waiting for the mass market paperback release of Book #1 in the Devil's Bargain series, DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE, which will be in bookstores everywhere beginning May 31st.  If you don't want to wait, you can read an excerpt here, and if you're really impatient (like me), you can go ahead and pre-order it from Amazon, which means you'll get it a few days early.

I'll be doing some booksignings in the Tampa/St. Petersburg/Brandon area once it's out, and will be sure to post dates and times when it gets closer.  I'll also be doing some signings in the Atlanta area, and will post those, too.

June will find me in New York City, where I'll be attending the Romance Writers of America conference, from June 29th through July 3rd.  While there, I'll be participating in a panel discussion called "Beyond Giggles and Screams: Light vs. Dark Paranormal Fiction" with fellow Avon HarperCollins authors and Supernatural Underground pals Kerrelyn Sparks, Pamela Palmer and Karina Cooper.  Having written my share of both giggles and screams, I'm really looking forward to it!  I'll be signing books at the giant "Readers For Life" Literacy Autographing on Tuesday, June 28, from 5:30–7:30 p.m. (which is open to the public), and a special signing with Avon Books.

August will find me - excitingly enough! - in Melbourne, Australia, where I'll be attending Romance Writers of Australia's annual conference.  (C'mon, admit it, you know you're jealous!)  I've been wanting to go to Australia my whole life, and this year is the year!  While at the conference, I'll be participating in a workshop panel on Supernatural Series with my editor, the talented and wonderful Erika Tsang, and fabulous fellow authors Kelley Armstrong, Keri Arthur, M.J. Scott and Kylie Griffin.  After the conference, it's off to Adelaide to visit old friends, and then on to the Brisbane area to enjoy the wine country (and its benefits) with my two favorite "Annas" - lovely authors Anna Campbell and Anna Sugden.  Books, sightseeing, old friends, new ones and wine.  What more could an author ask for?

Anyway, hope to meet a few of you at one of these places, and if not, pop by my website or Facebook page and say hello!

Surrender the Booty!!

(I wonder if I'll ever get tired of saying that?)  :)

It's time for the annual Gasparilla invasion in my home town.  It’s our own version of Mardi Gras, with krewes and floats and beads and beer and scalawags. There’s an actual flotilla invasion, which anyone with a boat can join, led by the noble pirate ship Jose Gaspar, which is filled with normally staid businessmen dressed to the hilt as swashbuckling pirates, complete with scars, pistols filled with blanks, stuffed parrots and an eye for booty (and believe me, lots of women are willing to show their booty for beads!). Afterward, a long parade down the waterfront; local high school bands, colorful floats, beads flying through the air and ending up in the greedy fists of screaming civilians (with quite a few ending up in the palm trees that line the route).

You see, legend has it that Tampa was once invaded by a dastardly devil named Jose Gaspar, also known as the evil, merciless Gasparilla! This womanizing seadog was the terror of the local seas, from the Panhandle down to Cuba. Back in the late 1700’s, he supposedly sailed right into Old Tampa Bay and conquered the city. And yet, for some reason, back in 1904, our city officials thought it would be a great idea for an annual festival in his honor. (Think Captain Jack Sparrow, speaking Spanish.)

It’s glorious, and fun, and as it's an absolutely beautiful day in Florida, I'm going out to enjoy the parade. I'll come home exhausted and weighted down with beads (but no, I will not surrender my booty!).

Devil Without a Cause - The Cover, and an Excerpt!

Idle hands are the Devil’s workshop…

Temptation and seduction are the tricks of the Devil’s trade, and when offered the chance to regain his wings by playing guardian angel, Sammy Divine is hell-bent on doing things his way…

Faith McFarland is in need of a miracle. So desperate to save her sick child, she’s willing to make a deal with the Devil: steal a ring worn by Finn Payne, the bad boy rock star who long ago sold his soul for rock n’ roll. Temptation and seduction become necessary evils, yet Faith’s salvation means Finn’s damnation… because the ring is all that stands between him and Hell. Falling in love was never part of the bargain, but now that they’ve tasted heaven in each others’ arms, can they convince the Devil to give up his due?
__________________

Ok, I fully admit that I absolutely LOVE this cover!  Waiting for cover art is absolutely one of the most stressful parts of being a writer: Will the art department "get" your vision? Will the characters look anything like what they're supposed to?  Will there be a third hand in the wrong place (don't laugh... I know authors this has happened to), or an ugly font for the title, or will the overall look just make you go "ugh."?

I'm happy to say this cover makes me go "Mmmm...", not "ugh".  :)

Want to read an excerpt from Devil Without a Cause?  Go here.

(In stores and e-book form on May 31, 2011)

Idol Hands Are The Devil's Workshop

Yes, I know the correct spelling for this blog title should be "idle", not "idol", but that would completely mess up the pun when blogging about Billy Idol, now wouldn't it?  :)

So why am I blogging about Billy Idol? Take a look at the photo at left - Billy Idol at age 50, on the cover of his 2005 comeback album, "Devil's Playground".

When I was writing the second book in the Nicki Styx series, A Match Made In Hell, I introduced a new character, Samuel B. Divine, a/k/a "Sammy", a/k/a His Satanic Majesty.  Yep, the Devil, in the flesh.  And now you can see, perhaps, whose flesh I chose to put him in, and why.

When the Devil's Playground CD came out I listened to it over and over again, marveling that Billy had not only kept his trademark growl and trademark sneer, but how - at age 50 - he'd kept his trademark sexiness. Take a peek at the video for "Scream", my favorite song on the CD:



All this over-the-top, drop dead sexiness was the perfect inspiration for the character of Sammy, who tormented poor Nicki for two more books (You're the One That I Haunt and Silent Night, Haunted Night) with his over-the-top, drop dead sexiness :).  He swaggered, he tempted, he threatened, he seduced, but as it turns out, good once again triumphed over evil when the ultimate bad boy fell hard for the girl who refused to give in to her dark side, and chose another man over him.

The character of Sammy isn't completely based on Billy Idol, though.  I wanted remove some of the rough edges, give him a wry sense of humor and some sophistication, and the perfect model for that seemed to be Simon Baker, who plays Patrick Jayne on the TV series, The Mentalist.  Those sexy blue eyes of his, slightly wrinkled at the corners, seemed to have that perfect "wise-beyond-his-years" look that I imagined Sammy might wear. Highly intelligent, a con man's con man, with a slightly wounded air and a mysterious past.  Oh, yes, Simon Baker got himself incorporated into the character of Sammy, as well.

For now, Nicki Styx seems to have found her happily ever after, but Sammy's story isn't over.  He's eternal, you know, and he's got a lot of stories to tell.  I decided to pick up right where we left off with DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE, which will be released in paperback and e-book form on May 31, 2011, and am thrilled to continue spending time in Sammy's world as I write the as-yet-untitled sequel, which will be released in the winter of 2011.

So, because I get asked all the time about where I get my inspiration, I thought I'd let you know.  When I envision the character of Sammy, he pretty much looks like this:

mixed with this:

Now you know.  :)

Supernatural Stocking Stuffers

Ho, ho, ho!  Merry Christmas, and have I got a package for you!

What? No, wait... not that package... get your mind out of the snow gutter, you deranged little lovers of things that go bump in the night!  Somebody might think you've been reading too many stories of hunks like this dropping down your chimney, unaffected by the cold despite his bare chest, slipping under the covers to warm you from head to toe, bearing diamond rings, hot chocolate with marshmellows, and an enormous... um... candy cane.

Ah... fantasy makes the world go round, doesn't it?  :)

No, today I really do come bearing gifts (and you can include that little visual as one of them).  I'm guest blogging today over at the Supernatural Underground, and giving away buttons and bookmarks!

I'll choose 25 people from those who send their mailing address to booksthatgobump@gmail.com, and I'll mail them one of these awesome 2" square buttons that say "I Read Books That Go Bump In The Night". Pin to your winter coat, your backpack, your bookbag, your stocking (or wherever you'd like to pin it to proclaim your love of awesome reading material), or use it as a stocking stuffer for someone else you know. I'll even throw in an assortment of cool bookmarks from Underground authors like Melissa Marr, Jeaniene Frost, Kerrelyn Sparks, Sophie Jordan, Leah Cypess and me (Terri Garey) with every pin I give away!

Remember, you must send your mailing address FIRST to booksthatgobump@gmail.com (which will save me from having to track down 25 winners and get their addresses later; rest assured your address will NOT be used or shared in any other way), but you can up your chances of winning by leaving a comment, retweeting, Facebooking the link, or just shouting it from the rooftops (maybe you'll find a half-naked elf up there, just waiting to slip down that chimney... but I digress.)

At any rate, 'tis better to give than to receive, and today I'm in a giving mood!  Get your goodies while they're sizzling hot! (Just like today's eye candy.)  :)

DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE - A "Semi" Sneak Peek at the Cover!

Even though I've been forbidden to show the smokin' hot new cover for my newest release,    DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE, until sometime next month, I decided to bend the rules just a teensy bit and show you PART of it.

Let me say that I love it, and you definitely won't be disappointed when you see the full product.  :-)

It's kind of funny, actually, because when I wrote my first book, DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY, I envisioned a cool black and white cover with red lettering (preferably set in a graveyard).  I got the graveyard, but the rest of the cover was a wild riot of purple and green.  This cover, however, is much more what I envisioned for all my books - dark, sexy, and slightly mysterious.

The book itself is the same: dark, sexy, and slightly mysterious.  No tongue-in-cheek humor in this one, although Sammy Divine has a wit all his own.  I can't wait for you to meet the character of Finn, the rock-n-roll bad boy who long ago sold his soul in return for fame and fortune, and now wants it back.  I don't know which one of these hotties was my favorite, actually, because I enjoyed writing them both so much!

DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE is available for pre-order, and will be released May 31, 2011.  (It'll also be available in e-book form.)

Of Life, Death and Tattoos

Firstly, let me say that I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, full of family, food and fun. (And if you didn't, there's always next year!) :)

I had a really good holiday, with lots of diversity and new experiences. Instead of staying home and doing the cooking, I went to Atlanta to spend the holiday with extended family, and spent four days enjoying the break from my own routine.

I walked in some quiet woods, all by myself, just me, the falling leaves, and the faint strains of my brother-in-law playing his grand piano in the distance. I got soundly beaten at several games of pool, and kicked pinball machine butt (465, 500 points on a vintage machine!). I helped my sister (the florist) make and deliver last-minute flower arrangements for people who'd forgotten to send flowers to their family over the holiday (you know who you are!), and helped deliver arrangements to a grieving family at a funeral home. I enjoyed a chicken pesto panini in Little Five Points with my son, who in a case of "real-life-being-stranger-than-fiction", recently moved to the same neighborhood I chose to use as setting for the Nicki Styx books. (Needless to say, he loves it, and has become an L5 regular.)

I visited the tattoo parlor where my nephew (on the right) works, and made a new friend when he invited the guy who does the piercing to join us for dinner.  I visited with my one remaining uncle (still sharp at 83), got to know my pre-teen niece and nephew, and missed my mom the entire time. I laughed with my sisters over our lack of napkin-folding skills (among other things), and marveled at how my life has changed through the years: many of those I still love are gone, but there are new loved ones coming into my life all the time.

Diversity, my friends, is what life makes life interesting. :) I hope mine never stops being diverse.

Operation Christmas Child: Pack A Shoebox

This is National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child (Nov. 15-22nd), and if you do nothing else good for yourself the entire year, trust me when I say that you should at least do this.

Operation Christmas Child is a way to bring an incredible amount of joy into the life of an underprivileged child, by way of a very small investment in time and effort, and a way to make you (and maybe your own kids) feel good in a way that will last all year.

It's a super simple idea, really. You get a shoebox, and you fill it with stuff that kids like. Small stuff, simple things like Matchbox cars for boys, hair clips for girls, small toys, balls, stickers, crayons, bubble gum. Add in a few things that kids need: a toothbrush, toothpaste, socks, underwear. You'll be surprised by how much you can get into a shoebox, and you'll be surprised how inexpensive it can be, particularly if there's a dollar store in your area. You can wrap the box if you want, but you don't have to. (I buy clear plastic shoeboxes myself, and don't wrap them. After they've been opened, the kids can put the stickers on them and use them to store things. These kids don't have much, so even a plastic box can become a treasure.)

Once you've filled the box, you can go HERE, to Samaritan's Purse and make a donation of $7.00 for shipping and handling. The automated system will give you a label with a tracking number on it which you stick to the box, and help you find the nearest drop-off location in your area by using your zip code. Go ahead, do a quick check to look for drop-off locations in your area, just for grins.

And that's it! You've made some underprivileged child very, very happy, and sown the seeds of kindness. Why wouldn't you want to do it? Watch the video and see how easy it is: