
I hope you won’t mind if I post a similar message to past years. It’s the message I want to share at this time every year … every day, really …
I just returned from another of my tours in the south of France a week ago and each year I am reminded of how fortunate I am to have that opportunity. Just one of many blessings for which I am grateful. Make a list of yours.

Thanksgiving. No shopping for anything but dinner ingredients. No lists of gifts. Bags of food being filled for the Food Banks. Volunteers serving turkey dinners at homeless shelters. Quality time spent as families and friends gather to share memories, love and laughter. An attitude of gratitude prevails. I am so thankful for the life I have. I hope you feel the same about yours.
As we consider our individual blessings, let’s remember those who struggle with hunger, illness, poverty, war and a multitude of other challenges in our own backyards and around the globe. The refugee crisis is heartbreaking. Let’s try to make the sentiments of Thanksgiving a part of every single day.
What a good feeling to see the food donation bins overflowing today. If you can’t get out to help, here’s a way you can play a part without leaving home! Click right here.

I’ve written about these sites before, but they are always worth mentioning from time to time. All you have to do is go to TheHungerSite.com once a day and click on the button — sponsors give free food. You are not put on any list or bombarded with spam. There are other links to click where sponsors donate for appropriate benefits: Breast Cancer ~ remember it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month; Child Health; Literacy; Rainforest; Animal Rescue and a few others. All of this has been verified as legit by Snopes years ago. I pop in every day. Why not?

While we are at it, have you ever played FREERICE.COM? ~ This is a unique way to increase your vocabulary and donate rice to needy countries. Play it with your children as there are 60 levels. It’s a great place to learn new words for Words With Friends … ahem, my addiction when I need a few minutes off from writing. It’s such a fun way to keep connected with friends too.
One big personal thank you to the readers who take the time to contact me. I love hearing from you and appreciate every single message. Thanks for subscribing to my newsletter (just click on the link in the column to the right) and for sharing my books with your friends. You light up my life!
This month the ebook of my new novel, THE SECRETS WE HIDE, is in a special October sale for just $.99. If you already have your copy, now is a great opportunity to pick up a few for friends. It’s easy to do on Amazon. The ebook is also available on Kobo and Barnes & Noble.

Also, a reminder that this giveaway below is still going for a few more days. Enter as often as you like! Good luck!

It seems like the giveaway season has begun! Be sure to let me know when you win something so we can all celebrate!
The more followers an author has on BookBub, the more often BookBub shares our work to readers all around the world. The beauty of subscribing to BookBub for readers is that this gives you access to information about great book sales. Think of it as an enormous library!
Just click here to enter to win 40 bestselling novels AND an eReader! How cool is that? Good luck to everyone who enters.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Patricia….our sentiments are the same. We try to live each day with an attitude of gratitude and pay forward all of our blessings. We too are enjoying the south of France. Thanksgiving in Antibes…how cool is that? So thankful for so much….almost beyond words.
Just finished reading the “Secrets we hide”. I cried a lot, which never happens.
For years, I have been attracted by Buddhism. Now, I want to go deeper in my studies.
Having read “Drawing lessons”; the 3 “Love in Provence” books as well as the 3 “Villa des Violettes” books, ( I can’t wait for book 4). I felt a little lost in Hawaii and Japan at first, but . . . what a wonderful twist meeting Celeste. I was back in Provence! (and Corsica)
This is really an amazing book where mental illness plays an important role. Living in the Independent living section of an adult retirement community, with Assisted Living and Memory Care, I am exposed daily to the sadness and problems the various degrees of dementia and Alzheimer creates for families.
I left Belgium, where I was born, when I was 49, immigrated to the United States and became an American citizen in my fifties. Your books keep my childhood memories alive. My grand-parents invited us each winter to spend weeks in Menton and St Jean Cap Ferrat.
Amicalement