Hi, everyone!  Yep, I am continuing my adventures in blogland today. I’m guest posting over at the Maverick Authors. My topic? Writing a trilogy.  Have I mentioned that I love trilogies? I’m like that poor guy from the Scream movies.  I like to spout trilogy rules to anyone who will listen to me–so come by and give a listen, er, read.   🙂

And the Maverick Authors–Lauren Dane, Megan Hart, and Anya Bast–well, these are three awesomely talented authors and they happen to be incredibly nice ladies, too.  (Thanks for inviting me to guest post, ladies!)

* * *

Now, I’d like to talk a bit about giving. So, yes, this is an annual holiday giving post and yes, that does mean I may get a bit preachy–but I’ll try really hard not to go overboard. Promise.

Times are tough right now. No denying it. Every time I open the newspaper or turn on the TV, I hear about more foreclosures or job losses. Very tough times. So, when money is tight for people, that means this time of the year is even harder. Because although holidays are absolutely wonderful, if you don’t have money to buy a present for your child or if you don’t have money to put a Christmas meal (or any meal!) on the table, even the magic of the holidays will fall flat for you.

But because times are tough, people may not be able to give to charities as much as they have in past years. I know that I’ve seen an awful lot of empty Toys for Tots boxes this year.  When I see ’em, I think yeah, okay, maybe it’s just too early for donations. I hope I’m right about that. I hope it’s just too early and that those boxes will fill up. But like I said before, times are tough.

So, now we come to the giving part of my post. This is the part where I challenge you to give this year.  🙂  First, let’s start with some giving options that won’t cost you any out of pocket money:

1. Go through your closet.  If you’ve got clothes that you don’t wear, give them to the Salvation Army or Goodwill. If your kids’ clothes don’t fit, give some of them away.  No cost to you.  You’re cleaning up the clutter and helping someone else.

2. Check your cabinets. Do you have some canned goods that are just sitting there?  Something you bought but aren’t going to use? Donate ’em to the local food bank.

3. Don’t forget the animals. Want to feed a dog or cat? All you have to do is click this link.  Seriously, click it.  Free!

4. Do you have an elderly neighbor?  One who doesn’t get a lot of visitors but has a ton of leaves in her yard? Go by for a visit. Rake. Talk.

Now, yes, there are giving options that do require money, and I’m going to list just a few…

1. Those Toys for Tots boxes that I mentioned? If you can spare the money, why not pick up one present and drop it inside? The box won’t be empty then.

2. The Salvation Army Angel Tree program. I’ve been a long-time supporter of this program. When I was in college, I worked in the Angel distribution center and I got to see first hand the difference these gifts made. If you can afford it this holiday season, adopt a child.

3. Don’t forget the elderly.  My local Walgreen’s (I visit that store WAY too much) always has a tree up with names on it (very much like the Salvation Army Angel Tree but these names are for folks in the local nursing home).  These people don’t want expensive gifts. Usually they want socks or cookies–you can get these items in the store and turn them right back in at the register.  So easy and it makes such a difference. Because no one likes to be forgotten at Christmas.

Okay, there are many, many more ways to give. And if you’ve got a good one you want to share, please post it.

And that ends my annual giving rant.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 9:07 am and is filed under Romance. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.