***UPDATED to announce winners: JANNA and BRITTANY L. Right on. Go, California!**
So a few weeks ago, a nice lady from town (one of the nice ladies I’d never met or heard of) called me up on the phone.
Her: Hello, Becca?
Me: Yes.
Her: This is Maxine from the Seniors’.
(I have lived here long enough to know that means Senior Citizens’ Center, the wild and crazy hub of adventure for local over-60s.)
Me: Hi. What can I do for you?
Her: ____ gave me your name and said that your family is incredibly talented.
(At this point I looked for cameras, bugs, and studio audiences.)
We’d like you to come perform for a Seniors’ Family Night.
(Family Night is a Mormon thing — Monday nights we pass on other obligations and spend the evening with our families. Unless the Seniors want us to come to them. We’re down with that. The Wilhites are all about taking Family Night on the road.)
Me: Love to.
So she gave me instructions (when, where, how long and not a minute shorter). We did a dry-run (to time everything and avoid falling short of our 55 minute mark) of piano pieces, violin pieces, dramatic recitations, and vocal solos. And Monday came and I realized that I hadn’t prepared anything. Which was fine and stuff, because this sort of thing should be all about the kids, but we were short by a few minutes.
Enter The Book.
A whole box full arrived Monday afternoon. (Coincidence, if you believe in such things…) And I was able to read a couple of my essays from the book as my “talent” for the Seniors. Mostly they liked it. But a few of them said to me afterward, “Hey, we thought you were going to sing for us.” I told them I’d do that next time. They acted pacified, but one never knows.
Anyway, the book. I’ve told you about it before, but I think I should tell you about it again, right now, because I’M GOING TO GIVE YOU TWO CHANCES TO WIN IT. (Did you hear me?)
It’s a book of essays. (I wrote about it HERE.) Kind of like following a string of blog posts without the sidebar advertisements. Or the needless clicking. There’s comedy and tragedy, and I’m not being flippant. There really is. There’s good stuff in here, and I want to share it with you. So here is a sitewhere you can run out and buy yourself a copy, or order one for your mom (hello, Mothers’ Day, right around the corner!) or your neighbor who wonders what in the world those Mormons are really all about. (Also on my sidebar, you can order through Amazon, if you’re into that sort of thing.)
Or, if you prefer your books to be free, we can arrange that, too. WAYS TO WIN: Leave me a comment. How bout this: Tell me one thing that makes you who you are. AND: Like my FaceBook Author page (I know. I’m giving in to the dark side. Sorry. But it’s easy for you. Right there on my lower left sidebar, there’s a little FB like-y thingie. Click it, and whoever is logged in to FB on your computer will automatically like me. Join the Revolution, or something. All the cool kids are doing it.)
Let’s be clear: You can win a free copy of TELL ME WHO I AM. ($15 value) Two people will win. You can enter twice (tell me you liked my author page = one, comment = two). I will mail a copy to you if you live in the US or in Canada. If you don’t, you’re already the Cool Kids, so no worries.
I’ll go first. Hi, my name is Becca, and I liked my FB Author Page (oh, yes, I did). And something that makes me who I am is that I love to have my family all home, as often as possible, and that’s because having them here is what makes it home in the first place.
See how easy?
(30) Comments for this blog
I am who I am because of the amazing people which have come in and out of my life and taught me about the person I should strive to be. Because of the mistakes I’ve made and the lessons I’ve learned from them and mostly because of my kids. I’ve learned more from them about how to love unconditionally and accept life as it comes them I ever thought possible.
I am who I am because of the amazing people which have come in and out of my life and taught me about the person I should strive to be. Because of the mistakes I’ve made and the lessons I’ve learned from them and mostly because of my kids. I’ve learned more from them about how to love unconditionally and accept life as it comes them I ever thought possible.
Hi, my name is Brittany and I liked your author page. Something that makes me who I am is that I am from Idaho. Which means I don’t like people telling me what to do or how to do it. I would rather make things more difficult than take directions from someone. I don’t live there anymore, but it is in my blood.
Hi, my name is Brittany and I liked your author page. Something that makes me who I am is that I am from Idaho. Which means I don’t like people telling me what to do or how to do it. I would rather make things more difficult than take directions from someone. I don’t live there anymore, but it is in my blood.
Oooooh! Pick me!!!
I like your Facebook page! 🙂
Oooooh! Pick me!!!
I like your Facebook page! 🙂
One thing that makes me who i am is creativity and general artsyness (is that a word?)…and also my over-use of ellipses…like that. 😉
One thing that makes me who i am is creativity and general artsyness (is that a word?)…and also my over-use of ellipses…like that. 😉
I like you so much it’s easy to like your FB page. And I don’t need the book cuz I have a few copies myself. And after hearing you sing in Nunsense I can see why the seniors were disappointed. But if you read your essays – oh, especially the one about family traditions, or ‘The Last Day’; they’re my favorites, except for maybe the one about guilt. Or the poem. Or the garden one. – then they got a treat anyway!
I like you so much it’s easy to like your FB page. And I don’t need the book cuz I have a few copies myself. And after hearing you sing in Nunsense I can see why the seniors were disappointed. But if you read your essays – oh, especially the one about family traditions, or ‘The Last Day’; they’re my favorites, except for maybe the one about guilt. Or the poem. Or the garden one. – then they got a treat anyway!
P.S. Hey, Becca’s fans: Does the print on her blog run off the right side of the background on your computers like it does on mine? How do you fix that? I keep having to make up the last words of sentences, which frankly is quite entertaining, but must surely be inferior to what is really written there.
P.S. Hey, Becca’s fans: Does the print on her blog run off the right side of the background on your computers like it does on mine? How do you fix that? I keep having to make up the last words of sentences, which frankly is quite entertaining, but must surely be inferior to what is really written there.
Ha ha ha ha!
Do you remember how I told you about a dream I had that involved violins and comedic monologues? Who knew I was prophetic! I can’t stop laughing…
What makes me who I am? A healthy dose of crazy, followed closely by a dash of crazy, and mix with very little sleep.
Ha ha ha ha!
Do you remember how I told you about a dream I had that involved violins and comedic monologues? Who knew I was prophetic! I can’t stop laughing…
What makes me who I am? A healthy dose of crazy, followed closely by a dash of crazy, and mix with very little sleep.
And I like your author page. 🙂
And I like your author page. 🙂
Becca,
I love your author page, and you. What makes me who I am is the experiences I have had in life. I had great examples to follow, some amazing experiences, and fabulous friends who loved me and made me part of their families. They serenaded me with their guitar and voice skills, they created snow walls with pantyhose, took fabulous road trips, and loved me for who I was. HAHA. Love ya.
Becca,
I love your author page, and you. What makes me who I am is the experiences I have had in life. I had great examples to follow, some amazing experiences, and fabulous friends who loved me and made me part of their families. They serenaded me with their guitar and voice skills, they created snow walls with pantyhose, took fabulous road trips, and loved me for who I was. HAHA. Love ya.
I liked you before there was Facebook or Author Pages, but I like those, too.
What makes me who I am are the people I’ve met and shared with in my life. So many profound influences and examples. They cross political, religious, ethnic, socio-economic, and ideological spectra. Their influeces have shaped and positioned me to address the challenges and opportunities of my life.
And Denae, dear Denae. My work computer apparently hates wordpress, at least the Becca version. I get the whole enchilada at home, but if I want to check on her while working (either from my office, or from any number of hotels where I find myself frequently), I too must imagine some words. Because, like you, I’ve determined that there’s something lacking in my version of the post, my “workaround”, as we in the biz say, is to copy the whole thing and paste it into a word document of some ilk. Problem solved.
I liked you before there was Facebook or Author Pages, but I like those, too.
What makes me who I am are the people I’ve met and shared with in my life. So many profound influences and examples. They cross political, religious, ethnic, socio-economic, and ideological spectra. Their influeces have shaped and positioned me to address the challenges and opportunities of my life.
And Denae, dear Denae. My work computer apparently hates wordpress, at least the Becca version. I get the whole enchilada at home, but if I want to check on her while working (either from my office, or from any number of hotels where I find myself frequently), I too must imagine some words. Because, like you, I’ve determined that there’s something lacking in my version of the post, my “workaround”, as we in the biz say, is to copy the whole thing and paste it into a word document of some ilk. Problem solved.
Why I am who I am? Hm, yeah, I can’t think of anything interesting, so I’ll just say it’s because of the people who raised me, the experiences I’ve had in my life, and my faith that, even when it doesn’t seem like it, there really is a God in Heaven and He really does love me.
Why I am who I am? Hm, yeah, I can’t think of anything interesting, so I’ll just say it’s because of the people who raised me, the experiences I’ve had in my life, and my faith that, even when it doesn’t seem like it, there really is a God in Heaven and He really does love me.
So, I liked your author page on FB, but in trying to locate it, I found your personal page and now I just have to ask, how do you know Jason Hales? He’s my neighbor! Small world.
So, I liked your author page on FB, but in trying to locate it, I found your personal page and now I just have to ask, how do you know Jason Hales? He’s my neighbor! Small world.
Don’t enter me because I already have my own copy and I’d love for other people to have this truly beautiful book. I’m glad you read some of your essays because they are GORGEOUS. The one about guilt totally saved my day. And you’re right about it being both deep and humorous. I laughed and cried and laughed and then cried more.
Don’t enter me because I already have my own copy and I’d love for other people to have this truly beautiful book. I’m glad you read some of your essays because they are GORGEOUS. The one about guilt totally saved my day. And you’re right about it being both deep and humorous. I laughed and cried and laughed and then cried more.
I liked your author page! And also, my answer for something that makes me who I am today is the fact that some of my hair is blue–ACCIDENTALLY blue. It was supposed to be purple.
I liked your author page! And also, my answer for something that makes me who I am today is the fact that some of my hair is blue–ACCIDENTALLY blue. It was supposed to be purple.
Enter for a chance to own yet another fantastic written piece by my favorite author? Count me in.
Enter for a chance to own yet another fantastic written piece by my favorite author? Count me in.