Spies Are Sometimes Blind

So, while waiting for my talented sister, the webmistress, to find time between the new baby, visiting in-laws, and day job to help me create a sub-site for characters profiles and time line, I decided to go ahead and be brave and get at least a visual Beta site done. Yes, yes, as if I have that much time in my day to do that too ;-). Of course, you notice I have been behind in updating this blog.

Since I don't really have the brains and inclination to do really serious programming stuff, I parked it into a blog for now. Hey, it's a CHEAT SHEET, so I cheated, okay? ;-) Here is the link, if you're interested in reading the overall arc of my books and looking at some photos of GLow operatives:

http://daglowworld.blogspot.com/

I'm still updating it, so check back a couple of times. I haven't decided whether I want to reveal what Jed or Alex look like. Their stories aren't really written yet and showing their faces doesn't seem right. What do you think? I'm just going to have to find a way to tease....

I received some wonderful emails from readers and friends telling me about how they and their communities (friends/family/cities/churches) have helped with raising funds for Katrina victims. One of them had me chuckling.

My friend and her sister went to a Trace Atkins concert and he offered his hat and shirt off his back for auction for the disaster victims fund. The women went crazy and in the end, the items were sold for $3000! Not bad for an hour and the half of singing, eh? Of course, I'd pay $$$ to see Trace onstage WITHOUT his hat and shirt, singing! Just in his jeans. Oh Yum...my brain just glazed over....

Anyway, there was a near riot among the female fans. My friend's sister got to meet T.A. at the end of the concert and she was so wired afterwards the security guard asked her whether she wanted a cigarette. LOL.

It's gestures like T.A.'s that warms the heart and make the difference. There are great people who run organizations and volunteers who give up part of their time to help out, but the life and blood of a relief organization is the people who find ways to send in monetary help. Without them, the agencies are nothing but good intentions.

Once upon a time, there was a fund set up by a writer for an unborned baby in Australia who needed a special type of heart surgery. The only doctor who could perform this was a resident in Orlando, Fl. He and the hospital offered their services for free but funds for travel and six to eight months accommodation were also needed.

I looked at the list of books so generously donated by authors and I decided to bid on Suzanne Brockmann's The Ladies Man. The book, at the time, was worth about $400 (very hard to find, never reprinted, readers forever pushing the price up). It had been a great year for me and I wanted to share my happiness and to thank God for being so good to me, so I put up part of my book advance money for this cause (actually, I feel guilty now because I was the reason why that book escalated to the sum it is right now...)

I won the bid, of course. The fundraiser ended and I didn't think further of it after the initial emails between me and the parents. I wished them luck and kept my fingers crossed that the baby will make it through this surgery.

But the story didn't end here. One day, I received a call. The parents were in town where I was! They had rented a car to drive out to especially thank me. I couldn't believe it...I mean, the woman was very, very pregnant! Yet they got a GPS unit, found where I was, and called me on the phone. And they got to see me in my roofing clothes ;-).

It was an awesome moment because I didn't think I would actually get to see the people I was helping out. We had a nice long chat and the couple drove off. The surgery went very well and after a year of being away from their country and family, this couple returned home with their baby.

I didn't put this in here to toot my horn. I just wanted to share an experience of how you can help someone out in his or her own time of need in some capacity. Again, as the years went by, I forgot about this one event as I drove myself crazy writing, roofing, and traveling.

One day, during a conversation, Ranger Buddy asked me what was the proudest moment in my life. I thought about it and my answer was when I bought my first house and walked through it after it was built." Then I said, "No, no, when I built my second house because I did so much with my own bare hands." Then I amended it with, "Okay, maybe it was when I received news that I was going to be published. That's when I felt really, really proud."

Ranger Buddy shook his head. "No, for me, the proudest moment for you is when that Australian couple drove all the way to personally thank you for what you've done."

I stared at him. "But it was really not that big a deal," I said. "I gave money."

Ranger Buddy looked at me in the eye. "Jenny, girl, you helped save a life. Those two young people knew it and they made it a point to come see you."

You know, I was flabbergasted. I never really thought of it that way before. I was just helping out however I could. But you never know how you touched people's lives, do you?

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