Happy New Year - Drive Safely!

Happy New Year! Please drive safely - not only this evening, but year-round.

I am a board member of the Missoula County DUI Task Force and chair of its Public Information & Education Committee. Each year at this time, we host a 3-hour live remote at a local bar, lounge, or tavern that hasn't received any violations from law enforcement. Our purpose is to prevent impaired driving, specifically drunk driving. Property damage, injuries, and fatalities resulting from drunk driving can be prevented. Our goal is to inform the public about just how to prevent drunk driving tragedies.

FYI, the city of Missoula has two programs that help impaired drivers get home safely: Home Free Missoula - participating bars provide free cab rides to patrons who shouldn't drive - and Designated Driver Missoula - which costs about $10-15 but their driver gets you home in your car when you shouldn't drive. There are also MANY folks, such as myself, who'd be more than happy to crawl into my car in my jammies to come retrieve your imparied self and drive you home rather than have you risk yourself and others by driving drunk.

I met many wonderful people at the live remote yesterday and reconnected with others I see each year. The event was held at the Brooks & Brown Lounge at the Holiday Inn/Downtown -- and I met another writer! Members of law enforcement and the county attorney's office were not only wonderfully supportive by airing their stories and advice on radio during the live remote, they volunteered themselves as writing resources. Many thanks to the following participants: Missoula County Sheriff's Department, Missoula City Police, Montana Highway Patrol, Missoula County Attorney's Office, St. Patrick Hospital, Turning Point, Missoula Forum for Children and Youth, Kinzie Kinziel/Farmers Insurance, and Missoula Underage Substance Abuse Program. Special thanks to Gapwest Broadcasting - and Peter Christian - for making all of us so comfortable spreading our messages via live radio.

Happy Writing, Happy New Year!

Check out what the NY Times has to say about eBooks

We're all familiar with print books: hardbacks, mass market paperbacks, and trade paperbacks. But what do you know about eBooks - books that can be purchased online and downloaded either onto your computer (PC or laptop) or a hand-held device like a Kindle?

The New York Times explains:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/technology/24kindle.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

Merry Christmas!

Best wishes for wonderful holiday.

Linda to be Guest Speaker at Missoula Businesswomen's Network Business Referral Networking Meeting

Linda will be the guest speaker at the February 5th meeting of the Business Referral Sub-network of the Missoula Businesswomen's Network. Her topic: Marketing Anything.

The meeting will be held at the offices of Lambert Family Chiropractic in Missoula from 5:30pm - 7:30pm and will be hosted by Steph Lambert and her husband, Dr. Anthony Lambert. (Steph, a graphic artist, designed the book cover for Linda's newest mystery Second Time Around.)

It is hoped that copies of Linda's book will be available for purchase at the meeting.

Second Time Around in Production

Second Time Around was placed in production earlier this week and we're expecting publication sometime between the middle and end of January. Keep checking back: as soon as we have the publication date (date the book will be available for purchase), that information will appear here.

Special thanks to my super-duper editor, Herb Holeman, and Judy Goldman for helping me get the book into tip-top shape.

More soon...