AND THE WINNERS ARE....

I’ve just contacted the winners of my promotional contest for THE LOVESICK CURE.  I hope you were one of them.  If not, I know how you feel.  

At my grocery store, if you bring your own bags they put your name in a hat for a $100 worth of groceries.  They do this drawing every month.  I go to the grocery store at least a couple of times a week.  Sometimes every day!  I’ve been bringing my own bags for at least two years and I have never, ever won.  Not even once.   

Still, I do get my shopping done.  And I don’t have a million plastic bags anymore that I have to recycle.  Also, I comfort myself that at least I DON’T NEED the $100 worth of groceries.  I’m sure there are plenty of families in this town that do. 

So, if you didn’t win the book, you can always buy it.  Or maybe borrow it from a friend or the library.  Or you can read the free excerpt here on my website, imagine what the rest of it is about, and make up your own story.  I don’t actually recommend the latter, but I’m okay with it. 

The contest winners were chosen randomly.  Each entrant was numbered as they signed up.  Then Leila selected the winning numbers from a bowl in our kitchen.  There was no way we could play favorites.  I had never seen the list of entrants.  And Leila doesn’t recognize numbers well enough to pick out any specific one. 

The results surprised me.  Two winners from North Texas, one from Irving, one from Arlington.  These Dallas suburbs are right next to each other.  And the winner from Arlington is actually somebody I know.   Sure I have a lot of readers in this state, but when I ask for random, I expect really, really random.  Fortunately, the other winners' locations were places I’ve never visited in California, New Mexico and Illinois.

Everybody sounded very pleased to win.  And lots of nice things were said about Heifer, International.  Which is even better. 

I know how lucky I am to get to do this.  I guess I say this all the time, but it bears repeating.  Making up stories is a dream job for me.  And I am aware how many struggling writers there are out there, many with twice my talent, who can’t get a break.  The only thing that keeps my publisher interested and these books coming out, is that my readers (you guys) keep buying them.  So thank you for your support. 

Also, another thing that I tell myself when I don’t win at the grocery store, “I’m saving my luck for something really big.” 

May something really big come your way this week.