Everybody’s Talking About…Surprises!!!

How do you feel about surprises? Do you get all tingly and excited when you hear the word or do you become concerned and fill with dread at the notion?

Surprises can be a double-edged sword. For the most part surprises are fun and happy. They bring good things and many wishes are granted when surprises are revealed. Surprises, I think, should bring unexpected pleasure and joy. An example of this type surprise can be seen in the face of a person when a loved one returns home from service unannounced. That’s a wonderful surprise.

But then, surprises can also bring heartache and pain. There’s that surprise when you find out the one you love really loves someone else. There’s that surprise pink slip you receive from work. What about the surprise Mother Nature can unleash at a moment’s notice?

When I think of surprises, I like to think about the envelopes that are delivered to my home containing books. Sometimes I know what the books will be. Other times, it’s a wonderful surprise because a publisher or an author has sent me a book unexpectedly.

As I noted, surprises can be good and bad. But today I want to pass along some information that hopefully will lead to a fun and happy surprise.

I wrote today's post as part of the WOW-Women on Writing Blanket Tour for LETTERS FROM HOME by Kristina McMorris (www.kristinamcmorris.com). This debut novel is the story of three young women during World War II and the identity misunderstandings they and the men in their lives have. Ask yourself: Can a soldier fall in love with a woman through letters? and What happens if the woman writing the letters is different from the woman he met the might before he shipped out, the woman he thought was writing the letters? Is it still love or just a lie?

Like many authors, Kristina has had a wild selection of "real jobs"
everything from wedding planner to actress to publicist. She finally added novelist to the list after  Kristina got a peek at the letters her grandfather wrote to his sweetheart (a.k.a. Grandma Jean) while he was serving in the Navy during World War II. That got her wondering how much two people could truly know each other just from letter writing and became the nugget of her novel.

In honor of her grandparents, and all the other families kept apart by
military service, Kristina is donating a portion of her book's profits to United Through Reading, a nonprofit organization that video records deployed U.S. military personnel reading bedtime stories to their children. You can learn more about the program at http://www.unitedthroughreading.org/

If you comment on today's post on this blog or any of the others
participating in “Everybody's Talking About Surprises,” you'll be entered to win a special surprise prize! It includes an personalized copy of LETTERS FROM HOME, a Big Band CD, Victory Garden seeds, and more. To read Kristina's post about surprises and a list of other blogs participating in “Everybody's Talking about Surprises,” visit The Muffin. 

What are your thoughts on surprises? Have you gotten a good surprise recently or have all your surprises been the bad kind? Do you enjoy surprising other people?