We're not too weird...

I realize our family and friend photo album looks a little odd at Halloween. With masks and painted faces, costumes of all sorts, and shenanigans galore, we tend to act a bit out of character.  Isn’t that what Halloween costume parties are all about – a chance to become – for a few hours – a cherished dream, a haunting nightmare, or a mythical personage of ones’ imagination? Adults are supposed to stand aside, and watch their children participate in this fascinating and fantastical ritual, but I just can’t help myself! The temptation is too great! I want to be a princess, too! Or, possibly, a super star, or the queen of some magical land. I must admit that the older I get, the more enticing the inducement to venture into the play-land of Halloween imagination. It’s only for a few hours – a chance to be a child again, along with your own children. The memories of our own childhood Halloween’s come alive as we, once again, pretend. Sometimes it’s fun to be a little foolish, a little daring, and what better time than a Halloween party to become that famous race car driver you’ve always admired, or that big pink bunny rabbit that your kids love, or that astronaut, fireman, or ugly green creature…

The Denver layover surprise!

The most interesting thing happened last January when I elected to give up my seat on an overbooked plane in exchange for an overnight layover in Denver. All compliments of the airlines. Sounded like fun to me, so I opted to do it. A retired couple also chose to relinquish their seats, and the three of us banded together and became fast friends. In the course of our conversations, I shared the fact that I had written a series of books categorized as romantic suspense genre.  As avid readers, they admitted that reading together was their choice, and showed me the current book they were reading. It might take more time to complete a book, but the intimacy of sharing a book and discussing it afterward was their reward. They immediately showed interest in reading my books and wanted to purchase the three that had already been published, plus the last one in the series that was soon to be released. 

Nine months later, I received this touching contact on my webpage that I will share with you now: 

“We just finished reading the last book in the Winter Secret Series. Derek and Cynthia have been on our minds for the past nine months as we followed their lives from the Craters of the Moon to the end, at the castle. It has been a delightful, anxious, romantic, late-into-the-night reading because we couldn’t set the books down. All of the interesting turns and twists, characters and personalities and finally the answers to all our guesses answered as we finished Autumn Hush. It’s been a roller-coaster ride. Thank you for this wonderful ride! You have made our reading together a fun experience. Just as the book, Autumn Hush, fell off of the shelf just at the right time, the three of us giving up our airline seats, and bringing us together was no less of a miracle. Thank you, Linda, for giving us this adventure and bringing Derek and Cynthia safely home.”

I was fortunate to meet new friends, have an adventure, and in the end, discover readers who love my books!
 ©Linda Gatewood 2015