​Every four years, we get a gift of time when February 29 rolls around: 24 WHOLE EXTRA HOURS!   Jumping up and down with joy here.  There’s never enough time in the day. 

But we'll have an entire EXTRA day to savor!
 
If money were no object and I had a magic wand to teleport people and compress time, here are the top ten things I’d do with my extra 24 hours.  

btw....Since reading and being with family are always factored into any wish list of mine, they’re not singled out in this list.  They're just givens in my life -:D.

​p.s....At the bottom of this post, you'll find more inspiration from some of my favorite bloggers about how they'll use their extra hours.

Leap Day Morning

1.  Sleep late  
That’s 7:30 am for me!  Too excited about what's ahead to snooze any longer.

2.  Bring out my magic wand  
Transport my cyberpals (that's YOU!) to  brunch served special for us at the Three Broomsticks restaurant in Harry Potter’s Wizarding World, Orlando, Fla.  

​Will you join me in a tasty Butterbeer while we check out wands at Ollivander's?  Or perhaps hop on Hogwarts Express for an after-lunch ride?

3.  Learn something new
Finish the online photography class I started at Christmas, and then head outside to practice shooting with my new camera.

4.  Crack an unfun task
​Spend no more than 30 minutes organizing my 10,000 photographs scattered in cyberspace.  This isn't fun, but I'll feel better knowing I cut down some chaos.

​Leap Day Afternoon

5.  More time with friends
​Invite pals to a potluck lunch on my back porch. It is warm enough in late-February to sit outside with just a sweater. I bring out Grandma Ethel’s delicate green glass luncheon plates.  The ones she collected from the 1920s that were handed down to me from Mama.  

​<Contented sigh here> This is the perfect union of time for me in this connection of my past with the present.

6.  Girlfriend time
After lunch, we continue laughing and talking while we pick our fave colors for a mani/pedi.

​7.  Me time:
​Enjoy a leisurely swim in the indoor pool.  No cause to   rush  back to the office.

8.   Magic wand, part 2
Put the final touches on our home renovations. 

​Really want this one to come true! We’ve been working on the renno since August.  We're sooooo close to finishing, and we'll be sooooo glad when when the mess is over.

​
Leap Day Evening

9.  More food and fun
Enjoy yumalicious wood-fired pizza, plus an amazing chocolate dessert with every calorie sucked out of it.   Then watch the last episode of Downton Abbey together.  Maybe Walking Dead once little ones snooze on the sleeping bags we provide, so grown-ups can have a 'late' night.

​10.  Leave memories
Bury a time capsule filled with photos and keepsakes of the day to discover next Leap Day.  And if time keeps passing so quickly, 2.29.2020 will be here before we know it. ​

More inspiration 
It's fun to see the unique ways people enjoy spending time. Please click over to these #Gr8Blogs and discover more inspiration for your Leap Day gift of time.

Carmela Dutra,
The Perfect Leap Day
A Blog for Your Thoughts

Julie Gorges,
Eight Fun Ways to Spend Leap Day​ 
Baby Boomer Bliss

Nelson Suit,
Five Fun Ways to Nourish Your Soul on Leap Day
WordCaper

Please join the conversation in the comment section.
What would YOU do with your extra gift of time on Leap Day?
 
 
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Driving Down to Dillon:
A Very Short Story of Love and New Beginnings.

Two New York Times best-selling southern women authors recently visited Quail Ridge Books, my local Indie bookstore. I high-tailed into town first to hear first Dorothea Benton Frank and then Margaret Maron a few weeks later.  Both women have tons of writing and publishing cred.

I wanted to enjoy them as a reader; however, I was also curious as an author, who wanted to learn firsthand about author events. Read on about my experience as a reader and the five elements of a successful author talk I discovered as a Kid Lit writer.

Dorothea Benton Frank
www.dotfrank.com

Dorothea Benton Frank (or Dottie, as she is introduced to us) first appeared on my radar in 2000.  Our lives intersected as I wandered through a bookstore in Charleston, SC, one steamy summer evening, seeking relief from the city's merciless heat and a good book to read on the flight home to North Carolina.  After facilitating a weeklong leadership team meeting, I needed something smart, frothy, and energizing.

Frank's then just-published debut novel, Sullivan's Island (the first of her Low Country Tales series), appealed to me when I spotted it on a display of books by local authors.   I felt a connection with its South Carolina setting in just coming off my stay in Charleston.  I purchased the book and devoured it during my flight.  For years, I kept Sullivan's Island in the guest bedroom for visitors to enjoy until the book was worn and beyond readable.

Fifteen books and as many years later, I bump into Dottie again, this time in person as she tours for her latest release, All the Single Ladies.

Frank does not wait for the scheduled start of her event.  She mingles with the crowd of a few hundred adoring fans for several minutes beforehand.  She's with her daughter, a professional chef and Benton's younger mirror image, who prompts us to hold up mom's book.  With Frank merrily positioned in the middle of eager readers clasping copies of her book, daughter fires off photos to post on social media.

Once the Indie bookshop owner introduces Dottie, the writer goes straight to Q and As.  She does not do a reading.  Her audience is already warmed up and eager.  She talks about starting her writing career as a single mother and preferring to write about smart, strong and sassy Southern women.  She has an easy manner.  "I love you, baby.  Keep buying my books! " she croons after one reader shouts how much she adores Frank's writing.  
 
I envy Dottie’s daily writing schedule that starts at 9am and ends at 1pm.  Good to leave time in the day to rejuvenate and do other things.  I was buoyed knowing that she, too, struggled as a new writer with book tours, wondering if anyone would show up. 

​On one of her first author outings, the bookstore didn't realize she was appearing because its events manager left and never posted publicity about her reading.  No one showed up.  Frank tried to convince an elderly couple hovering nearby to join her.  However, she could not even coax them to take a free copy of her book.  They were moving out of town and only came into the bookstore to wait for their movers to finish.  

​Even as an established writer today, Dottie still wrestles with marketing.  For instance, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, a southerner’s top sweet treat, figures prominently in her new book. 

Frank called the Krispy Kreme company to ask if it would donate  doughnuts for her current book tour.  The account manager she spoke with had no idea who she was and turned down the request.  A second call through her publisher brought results.  Frank served Krispy Kreme Doughnuts AND iced coffee for  guests at all her tour stops.

Margaret Maron
margaretmaron.com

Some weeks later, I hear Margaret Maron, author of the Judge Knott Series, gentle mysteries set in a fictional version of the real North Carolina county located just south of mine. 

​A true home-town author, I discovered Maron years earlier, when she was on our local library talk circuit and before becoming a best-selling author.  Her quick wit, charm and soft southern drawl is still reflected in her author talks and throughout the subsequent 20 books she penned.  And full disclosure: I am beyond tickled when Maron writes of places I actually know or have visited, especially when she mentions the community college where I worked as a writing coach.
 
Yes, Maron is definitely a local: she has known the bookstore owner forever and arrives with her posse, most of whom are friends still residing in the area.  They helped her over the years as beta readers for her books.  She is grateful to them and other local readers for providing the insider gossip and realistic details she incorporates into her fictional Colleton County to make its setting so authentic.

​Like Frank, Maron knows how to work a crowd.  After thanking the audience, she tells us this is her final installment in the Judge Knott Series.  She’s written all she could into the character, and it’s time to move on.  We sigh.  We love Judge Knott and hate to see her go.  She tells us not to fret.  She’ll write more of her Detective Sigrid Harald, NYPD, character next. 
 
Whereas Frank focuses on audience questions, Maron shares writing secrets and digs into her latest book, Long Upon the Land, a backstory for her Judge Knott Series.  The audience is grateful she ties up plot points and brings a satisfying conclusion to this beloved series.  

​Maron also lets us know how pleased she is to finally have convinced her publisher to narrate the audiobook edition herself.  A true insider’s secret! We clap in delight.  She’s letting us into the inner circle of her writing life! 

​Maron is a master facilitator.  I appreciate her repeating a reader’s question before responding.  So often, it’s hard to hear what is asked beyond the front row, and most in the audience have no idea what sparks the dialogue.

​Maron also brings treats: a yummy sheet cake with a sugared version of her new book cover revealed in the icing of the cake top.  Bit hit with the audience!

​Five Things I learned from Author Readings
I love being in the audience as a reader to learn more about these talented women and their writing.  But I also listen as an author. 

I discovered these five key points about successful author readings:

1. Bring your posse
   Be it family members, neighbors or friends, have someone you know travel with you.  It makes for good company, and they can help you set a positive tone for the audience.
   
   
2. Engage the crowd
   Whether working the crowd ahead of time or greeting them warmly, know your audience beforehand.  Insider jokes are great fun and slipping in a few geographical or regional idiosyncrasies work well
   
   
3. Let them eat cake (or donuts)
   Food is a great reader magnet.  Tailor treats to your audience.  For children, I’d try cupcakes or lollipops….sweets that are easy for little fingers to handle and less distracting than something crumbly.  Never nuts of any kind to keep kids safe from deadly food allergies.
   
   
4. Have fun
   Readers love warm, approachable authors who let them in on the secret writing life.  They want to hear the inside scoop on that book and your writing habits.  
   
   For me, remembering to have fun is also the best way to combat nerves.  Even though I love stepping up on that platform, I get an initial 60-seconds of jitters before starting.  A laugh and smile go a long way to lower anxiety.
   ​
5. Bring plenty of books
   You want people to buy your books, so have plenty on hand.  As a Kid Lit author, I’ll bring coloring sheets, bookmarks, kid-friendly signage or flyers, etc. 
   
   ​Oh, and don't forget a few ergonomic pens, so your hands won’t get tired from all the book-signings at your next successful author talk.

Please join the conversation in the comment section.
As a reader, what do you look for in an author talk for adults or children?
As a writer, how do you create a successful author appearance? 

​​Have a look around.  Like what you see?
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​for my monthly ​e-newsletter 
Subscribe and receive my free downloadable tale for the young at heart:
Driving Down to Dillon:
A Very Short Story of Love and New Beginnings.

This time of year, many of you living on top half of the globe are ready to heave your snow shovels and count down to spring.  Teachers think about making up snow days.  Kids can’t wait for more snow days.  And parents … well, parents are bedraggled from entertaining kids as weather delays and school closing take their toll. 

Living in the US southeast, I love our mild winters in Dixie.  We get one or two snowfalls each season, but the white stuff usually melts within 48 hours.  However, there’s always a chance of that one freak storm, when we we’re advised to stay off slick roads for days, or the power fails, and we shiver in the dark. 

​I remember one wretched storm when we were iced in for three days. We existed on peanut butter sandwiches and cold cereal.  We also developed a craving for chocolate because it was not stocked in our pre-storm pantry. 

So we don’t take chances with our Southern Snows.  
 
Without fail, as soon as forecasters predict winter weather, there’s a mad dash to the grocery stores and long waits at the check-out lines.

​Then we hunker down, one eye on school closings and the other on social media to see who and where in the county reports the first flake or ice pellet.

See for yourself.....Come crunch along with me as I head outside to fetch the morning newspaper at the top of a Carolina ice/sleet/freezing rain storm. Careful not to slip!
​

​
​Friends and family up north laugh at us, but we quite like our winters this way.  Everything slows down; comes to a standstill.  As long as we have power and food, it’s all good!

See how hardy Yankees living in the rural northern (US) deal with the cold stuff.  Today’s guest blogger, Leigh Shearin, has a different take on winter.  Having moved to a farm in upstate New York, she embraces her long season of winter.  Camera in hand and four-wheel drive engaged, Leigh's photographer’s eye and writer’s soul capture nature’s frozen beauty around her rural home.  Winter Blues, she calls it.
 
Come along to Leigh's winter world, and see her Instagram-winning photographs.   Visit Leigh's blog by clicking HERE. 

Hey, don’t forget to pack your woolies and boots!

Please join the conversation in the comment section.
How do you tackle winter in your part of the world?

Thanks for stopping by. Have a look around.  Like what you see? 
Click below to receive this blog by RSS feed or email.

Would love to have you to sign up for my newsletter.
New subscribers receive my free downloadable tale for the young at heart:  Driving Down to Dillon: A Very Short Story of Love and New Beginnings.