Literacy and Nora Roberts

What I'm reading: Shoot Don't Shoot by J.A. Jance

What I'm writing: Finished my draft of my mystery short; tentative title: Redshirted.

This morning, in my never ending quest to keep the pile of paperwork on my desk down to a manageable level, I picked up a renewal form from ProLiteracy. I've been an advocate of literacy for years--my whole live, actually. Where would we be if we couldn't read? I can't remember not reading, and I swear my kids popped out of the womb as bookworms.

I've taught school, I've volunteer tutored for our local Adult Literacy League, and I'm now involved with their program to train new tutors. The Laubach Way to Reading, which is one program used to teach adults reading says, "Each One Teach One" and it's something we should all strive for. There's nothing more rewarding than to see a learner's eyes light up as they discover how to make sense of those markings on a printed page.

The Romance Writers of America supports ProLiteracy Worldwide, donating the proceeds from their annual multi-author book signing at their national conference. So does the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, among many other groups.

Back to the renewal form. Normally, I just tick a box, fill it out (or go on line), but a name popped out at me. Nora Roberts. I read the paragraph. "I agree that literacy is a basic human right that should not be denied to anyone in today's world. I also understand that my renewal contribution will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, by a generous gift from author Nora Roberts. "

I will admit I doubled my normal contribution. I can't afford to match gifts the way Nora Roberts can, but I can certainly budget a little more to help the cause.

Even if you've never donated before, I urge you to visit the ProLiteracy Worldwide website
and make a contribution. Better yet, find a program in your community and sign up to teach someone to read. All you need is an hour or two a week.


(I haven't forgotten my cover contest -- check back Friday for the whole cover and a winner)

Dallas, Day 2

I explored the hotel today, met Suzanne Brockmann and chatted a bit, put my offerings in the goodie room (and was pleased that my efforts in creating the booklets with the first chapter of Finding Sarah and What's in a Name? paid off, as I had to replenish them a few times, and they're now gone. I still have bookmarks and postcards.

Lunch was a fun time--Raelene Gorlinsky of ECPI treated her authors to lunch. Meeting people you know only by name on emails was a delight. Most of my mental images were way off.

For me, the big event was the book signing. I think there were 450 authors present, and I was seated right in the middle of a row in the middle of the room next to Brenda Novak. Her charity auction raised over 140,000 for Juvenile Diabetes, and she has a huge support base.



But most of all, I got to see my books for the first time! I even sold some! And spelled my name right when I signed them, although on a couple I forgot to put on the "autograped copy" stickers I had actually remembered to bring. Ah, well.