Has it been only seven weeks since some wild and
crazy Noraholics descended on the sleepy little
town of Boonsboro, Maryland? In one heartbeat it
feels like yesterday, but in the next, it seems a
lifetime has passed. And though I'm sure Boonsboro
recovered from our visit, I am forever changed.
This is not a bad thing. In fact, it's a GREAT
THING (not to be confused with other, um, GREAT
THINGS, but this is not the place to discuss male
attributes!).
Over a short weekend, nine on-line buddies
(SueCBDR, Disambear, SnowBearDM, CarolynSB,
JacqueBook, HIPPOWEB, TraceyOD, ND4OLDIES,
JoanOver) transformed into NINE LIFELONG FRIENDS.
Not acquaintances, not
"hey-why-don't-you-call-me-sometime" pals ... I
made FRIENDS. Friends I don't have to call once a
week, or talk to on the phone (or the computer).
But Friends who know I'm there for them in whatever
possible, even if I never have the opportunity to
see them again (PERISH THE THOUGHT!).
Forty-eight hours and now those women are woven
threads in the tapestry of my life. ROFL. Oh my,
the purple prose that's spilling from these fingers
- I'm going to gag pretty soon - or should I change
that word to GUSH! Maybe I should try my hands at
writing a Gothic. Well, since I'm on a roll, I'll
continue.
What made the experience incredible for me, is that
we all bonded so quickly, with absolutely no
concrete reason why that should happen other than
the fact we love Nora's books. And we bonded in
spite of the fact that some of us (OKAY, ME!) was
premenstrual at the time, and not at her best (my
poor roomies, Sue and Debby, got the brunt of that.
And poor Tracey had to endure seven hours of
driving me from DC to New York - lol, we talked
about books ... A LOT).
Several weeks later, on a cross-country trip to
take my son back to the college, I met Sleeepey
(CeeCe) in Kansas, SnowBearDM (Debby) and
Anonym2857 (Diane) in Colorado, and Fairburnmm
(Mary) in Arizona. What fun!
So much fun in fact, I think ALL THE NORAHOLICS
should do it! I WANT YOU TO DO IT! (Stay focused,
ladies ... "do it" in this instance means to MEET
each other!) I've even picked a great weekend for
you: October 10th-13th. What better way to
celebrate NORA'S BIRTHDAY (10/10) than meeting
face-to-face with someone you already "know"?
Someone who loves Nora's books as much as you do.
Someone you've already talked to and shared
with.
Picture the headlines: BROADS ACROSS AMERICA. That
very weekend, I'll be at a writer's conference in
Seattle. I've got Friday afternoon free and
MelindaSt and I are meeting for lunch (along with
another friend I met on-line).
I know that many of you live close to each other.
Take a chance. Meet in person. "Are you crazy?" you
ask. "What if they don't like me? What if I can't
lose twenty (orthirtyorfortyorfiftyorsixty) pounds
before then? What if my haircut-from-hell hasn't
grown out by then? What if ... what if ... what
if?"
In answer to all those questions, I say -
BALDERDASH - JUST DO IT!!! ROFL, thanks Nike. If,
and that's a big IF, they don't like you -
sooooooooo what? Don't meet them again. On the
positive side, what IF they do? What if you find a
new best friend?
I can say (from experience - and Lord knows I have
lots, in many, many areas) that I met each
Noraholic with no expectations. I didn't CARE what
they looked like, or if their hair was long or
short or who they voted for in the last election. I
just wanted to touch base with people who enjoyed
NORA'S books. To put a face to a name.
Guess what? I found out that they read other
authors (<<<GASP>>>>) and can
speak intelligently about lots of other stuff! And
I found out what good human beings they are (well,
most of the time ... LOL ... We can be a catty lot
of females, too - meowmeowmeow).
DO IT, ladies (Focus now ... Focus). Plan to meet a
broad (or broads) of your choice during the weekend
of October 10TH. To borrow another advertising
slogan - "reach out and touch ..." Let BROADS
ACROSS AMERICA sweep the land.
Your heart will thank you.
Wyt &
Wyzdom is © 1997-2001 by Nina
Friedman &
ADWOFF (ADWOFF@adwoff.com) All Rights Reserved
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