You Too, Can Make a Difference

This week's random stuff:

It's been a while since I gave something cool away. I recall promising to give away a gift certificate to a Utah restaurant a few weeks ago--however, said certificate has temporarily disappeared. (Hazard of owning more than one purse and having to swap contents regularly.) In any event, I still have other things to give away until that particular prize shows up again. So, keep reading to find out what I'm giving away this week and what you should do to enter.

Okay, next, I'm getting excited about the release of Mormon Mishaps and Mischief: Hilarious Stories for Saints. It doesn't hit shelves until December, but that'll be here before we know it. Come find us on Facebook, or read updates about our book at the Humor Blog. (Our being mine with my coauthor Cindy Beck.)

Also, today I blogged about making tough decisions over at LDS Writer's Blogck. Check it out and leave me lots of comments. (Because, all bloggers just love comments.)

And best of all, in honor of last night's wicked awesome Nickelback concert, I'm posting this video. I truly believe that we all have the power to change the world, so this is inspiring to me.







Now, about the contest. This week I've decided to give away a fun book of mazes called The A-MAZE-ing Book of Mormon by Arie Van DeGraaff. This book is super fun, and full of mind-bending mazes that will keep you / your child busy and quiet for hours. Plus, the illustrating is amazing. Oh, and it's autographed.

To win, you can do a few things:

1. Leave a comment here telling me what you can do to change the world--even if it's just for one person.

2. Check out Arie Van DeGraaff's website or blog and leave a comment telling him I sent you. (Following him is also a great idea.) Oh, and then make sure you tell me you visited--so I know.

3. Log onto Facebook and become a fan of Mormon Mishaps and Mischief. (That's my book that will be released in December!) We love fans! Ooh, and one extra entry for everyone that invites lots of their friends to become fans too. Yes, definitely.

Do one or all of these things by no later than midnight next Wednesday, September 3rd, and you'll be automatically entered to win.

Just in case lady luck is not with you this week, and you want to buy your very own copy of this awesome book for children, click here.

That's it. Good luck everyone!

Nichole

Songwriter on the Interstate

By Nichole Giles

The other day I got stuck in traffic. I’m not talking about a little bit of rush hour traffic in which you slow down to thirty or forty miles an hour, but good-old-fashioned-road-construction traffic in which you come to a complete stop and then inch forward slowly as traffic ten miles ahead of you bottlenecks into one lane. It’s a good thing I wasn’t in a hurry.

I was on my way to a conference, where I was staying the night—by myself so I could get some writing done—and the sun was out and my convertible top down, so I was in a pretty good mood. I popped in my Nickelback CD and cranked up the volume to deafening, hoping I wasn’t disturbing the people in the cars around me.

I was singing along, tapping to the beat on my steering wheel, and basically rocking out, when something ahead of me caught my eye. I couldn’t tell for sure at first glance, but it looked like someone had the neck of a guitar sticking out the driver’s window—which was down. I sped up, hoping to get closer because, well, I was curious. As I got closer, an arm came out, and fingers pressed the strings.

“Hm,” I said to myself. “Is that guy really playing the guitar while he’s driving?”

As luck would have it, the traffic in my lane moved forward at a little faster pace than the traffic in his lane, and eventually I caught up to the European compact with the guitar/hand sticking out. So, I turned off my music—for a minute—to see if I could hear.

Not only was the guy playing as he drove, but he was also singing at the top of his lungs. No exaggeration. He was two lanes over, and I could make out faint chords of an unfamiliar tune. It sounded sort of Vaudeville-ish, but I might have been partially deaf thanks to Nickelback. Anyway, being that I was on my way to a writer’s conference, I had writing at the front of my brain, so it occurred to me that the guy might be a songwriter. After all, I had a piece of paper anchored under my leg and a pen in my empty cup holder in case I needed to quickly jot down a great idea. So, I couldn’t fault him for writing a song as he was stuck in traffic.

But, just to be safe—knowing how involved writing can be when the mood is right—I sped ahead until I couldn’t see him in my rearview anymore. Because even though I understand how important it is to get that epiphany down on paper the moment it hits, I didn’t want to be in that guy’s path when he hit the gas to keep up with traffic.

I might have ended up Vaudeville toast, with a side of squished Mustang on the side.