Beginning a video series

This is the first of what I hope will be a series of videos (available here and on YouTube) explaining why 'a nice lady' would write novels set in Nazi Germany. Enjoy!

Taking a holiday break

As holiday prep cranks up, this blog will be on hiatus for a few weeks.

Blog readership has declined dramatically in the last couple of years. In January, I'll reexamine whether or not this one should return and in what capacity.

In the meantime, contact me: authorjeannemoran@gmail.com. Happy Holidays, everyone!

9-year-old convinces town council to lift an archaic law banning snowballs

For the last 98 years, Severance, Colorado has had an ordinance against throwing missiles of any type at trees, buildings, property, or people. According to Kyle Rietkerk, assistant to the Severance town administrator, snowballs qualify as missiles. Lots of kids have complained about the snowball ban over the years, and the town leaders have always told them the truth: the power to change the law is in your hands. No one has taken on the task.  

Until now. This winter, nine-year-old Dane Best learned about the ordinance when he threw snowballs at his little brother. He decided to do something about it. 

Dane gathered signatures from classmates and encouraged them to write letters to the city council. He and his family researched the laws in Severance, and learned how to go through the process of getting them changed. Then earlier this week, Dane made his presentation. After the board clarified some of their own questions with the young activist, the snowball ban was officially lifted.

Celebration broke out. With TV cameras rolling, Dane had the honor of throwing the first legal snowball in Severance in nearly a century. He also threw the second, at his younger brother Dax. 

First responders have each other's back

Troy Hill's place of employment was getting rid of a fully-stocked trailer that was no longer needed. The boss' wife had suggested the trailer be donated to someone who lost their home in California's recent Camp Fire, and the boss wanted Troy's help tracking down the right person.

Frustrated by his inability to tell a real need from a scam, Hill suggested they contact a first responder. He called the sheriff's department in Butte County, California, and within hours was connected with a young officer who had lost everything in the fire. Hill and his boss knew this officer, his wife, and their two children were indeed the family to receive this gift.

All they had to do now was transport the trailer 450 miles to the homeless family. Again within hours of Hill's plea for help, two off-duty officers volunteered to drive with him (900 round trip in one very long day.) A local business donated their heavy-duty truck to carry the load, and friends showed up with bags of toys for the family's children.

Stranded in an airport for 7 months, refugee finds a home thanks to a Canadian stranger

Hassan Al Kontar was stuck. A member of a targeted religious minority, the 37-year-old had fled his native Syria and worked in the United Arab Emirates for several years. When his work permit expired and Syria was still inhospitable to him, he scrambled to find a country that would issue him a visa.

As a Malaysian travel visa was about to expire in March, he readied to board a flight to Ecuador. The flight was delayed, and by the time it was ready, that travel visa had expired. There he was at the Kuala Lumpur airport, terrified to return to his native Syria, unable to find a country that would accept him.

He needed to do something. He created videos of his plight and tweeted them to thousands of followers. He washed in the airport bathrooms, slept under stairwells, and ate whatever leftover airline food generous employees offered him. He crocheted, watered airport plants, and hoped for a savior.

Thousands of miles away in Whistler in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Laurie Cooper was touched by Al Kontar's story. A media relations consultant living in a log cabin, Cooper volunteers with charitable nonprofits and rallied others to the man's cause. They raised over $20,000 to sponsor him, secured him a full-time job offer, and identified close relatives living in Canada. All that effort and leg work for a perfect stranger. 

Despite a number of complications, including Al Kontar's arrest and detention for loitering without a boarding pass, Cooper and friends persevered. Al Kontar was granted asylum in Canada. His saviors were present to greet the thin, unshaven, incredibly grateful man when he arrived in Vancouver this week.

A sixth-grader's thank you kept this serviceman going - and now they've met

During the Vietnam War, John Metzler was a 23-year-old helicopter gunner. He knew that the US was divided on our involvement in the war, and that each day might be his last. 

On Christmas Day 1970, Metzler got a card from a sixth-grader he didn't know. In part, it read, "Dear Serviceman, I want to give my sincere thanks for going over to war to fight for us. The class hopes you will be able to come home." It was signed "DonnaCaye." 

Even though the card wasn't addressed directly to him, Metzler took the girl's thanks personally. Knowing that someone had thanked him for what he was doing made a huge difference in his ability to cope with the stresses of his tour. He kept the note through his tour of duty and brought it home with him. 

For over 40 years, the young girl's words have lived behind a photo of Metzler as a young soldier. Recently, he asked family members to try to find DonnaCaye. They told him they tried, but were not successful.

In truth, they did find her. They flew her from Florida to meet the serviceman at a veteran's event near his Idaho home. You can watch their touching interaction as captured by CBS News. 

Finally!

With a good print copy of The Path Divided in my hands, I can now say - it's done! The kindle version debuted at the #1 spot in its category, which just blows me away. I know many readers waited for the print version to meet my approval, so hopefully they'll all get the word that it's good to go.

Now the marketing and search for reviewers begins in earnest. Fingers crossed, this blog will return to its standard format next week. In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving!

Lessons in patience

I can patiently wait for certain things to happen in their own time - plants to flower, children to grow, Christmas to come. Other things, not so much with the patience. Traffic gridlock. Injustice. Sweet-talking politicians.

And computers.

When the little spinning thing I call the wheel of death tells me to wait while something loads, I ask it - Now what are you doing? Why are you taking so long? Yes, I really say that as my husband will verify.

So imagine my frustration in trying to get the print version of The Path Divided uploaded and ready to go. Inconsistent directions, file errors, and worst of all, a beautiful cover which, when seen on Amazon's thumbnail, looks as if it was covered in fog.

I'm trying hard to be patient as I work to correct these problems and get this project out into the world. I want to share what I've learned with readers, to take their hearts away from people who did wrong and focus on those who try to do what's right. That's what I try to do with all my writing.

Here's hoping I have the patience to make this work!

New release!

The conclusion of the story I began in Risking Exposure will be released this Thursday, November 15th! Historical events included are the Nuremberg Rally, Kristallnacht, and the Kindertransport, all seen through the eyes of my teenage characters.


This amazing cover was created by Michael Rausch.

Have we forgotten?

Today marks the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass. It was the Nazi's first widespread pogrom of physical aggression against the Jewish people in Germany and its occupied lands. If you want details about how and why it happened, the USHMM website is a marvelous resource.

The government sanctioned the action. People were beaten, arrested, and killed. Synagogues were burned, Torahs were desecrated, businesses were destroyed. Lives were shattered. After Kristallnacht, no one could doubt the Nazi's intentions toward the Jewish people.

In researching my (soon-to-be-released, I promise!) novel, The Path Divided, I interviewed a Jewish woman who lived in Munich in 1938. Her memories of that day are so vivid, I'll just paste them here.

"It happened to be the Yahrzeit of my father’s Mum, I think, so he went to the synagogue that morning. It was actually a little prayer hall as the Nazis had previously destroyed our big synagogue.Someone phoned our flat early on 9 November and told my Mum (who never found out who it was that called) to get out of Munich - they were arresting all Jewish males. My mother told my brother and me not to go to school/college that day and we would find our Dad at the synagogue. But when we got there in our little Opel Olympia car, we saw an SS man standing guard.

"My mum had got out of the car well before we got there and my brother and I saw her talk to this SS chap and then walk away in the opposite direction of the car. My brother, aged 17 who’d never had a driving lesson, bravely drove slowly along the pavement till we caught up with my Mum who indicated that he should drive round the next corner. He did, my Mum got in and, just on the off-chance of finding my Dad in his office, we drove there.

"We saw the shattered glass of Jewish shop windows as we parked the car. My Mum went up and we waited, then my brother went up and after a while they came down. My brother went to his college, my Dad had a valid passport on him and went to his sister in Luxemburg and my Mum and I went to my grandmother’s house.

"My brother came there a bit later as he realised it wasn’t safe for him at his college.

"I never went back to school until I got to England in 1939."

I asked her about the mood in her neighborhood in the days after Kristallnacht. 

"Incredulity and embarrassment on the part of our non-Jewish friends and neighbours. But also a sort of passive acceptance of what the Nazis did."

As the recent shooting in Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue shows, antisemitism still exists. My prayer this day is that we NEVER passively accept aggression against ANY group of people.

We must stand against any government or ideology that tries to divide us into US vs THEM. 

WE MUST NEVER FORGET. 

Vote 2018

If you want to do One Right Thing today, Vote. Thousands of people have fought and many have died to give you this ability to voice your opinion. Thank them for their sacrifice by embracing this privilege.

If you think your vote doesn't matter because you're only one voice among millions, vote anyway. Elections are decided by those who show up, not by those who stay home.

Millions of people who live under oppressive regimes wish they could safely express their views on the ballot. They can't. You can. Do it.

Don't know where to vote? Enter your address, and the info is right there. Need a ride to your polling place? Uber and Lyft are offering discounts today and Carpool Vote will arrange a free ride.

Now step away from the computer, put down your phone, and get there.

Texas dad confronts his son's bully, and his heart turns compassionate

Aubrey Fontenot's 8-year-old son Jordan was being bullied at school. Fontenot spoke with school officials about it several times, and from them, got the feeling that the bully himself was in need of help. When the bully stole Jordan's phone, Fontenot had enough.

He contacted the bully's mother and learned the truth: the bully was himself being bullied by other children because he didn't have clean clothes or shoes. The family was homeless and struggling. 

Moved by the family's troubles, Fontenot decided to spend a day with the boy. He took him shopping, and bought him some clothes and shoes. They talked about morals and self-respect, and what it takes to transition from a troubled childhood into a man of character. Fontenot even set up a GoFundMe page to help the homeless family get back on their feet. 

Jordan and his bully met face-to-face at Fontenot's tattoo shop. The boys have reached an understanding, and have even played video games and gone to a Houston Texans game together. Fontenot wants more people to reach out to those who are struggling. As he said, "We all come from different backgrounds but we all share the same goal of success." 

Did you attend worship this weekend? Kudos!

Our country is proud of its freedoms. As every elementary student learns, freedom of religion was the very reason the Pilgrims fled England and came to live on these shores.

Yet here we are over 300 years later, and as the Pittsburgh synagogue shootings clearly show, some of our citizens are targeted for their religion. How do we move forward? 

Our reaction might be to hide our faith under a rock, to worship our God in the privacy of our own homes, and to keep the outward symbols of our faith hidden from public view. 

That would give evil power over us. We can't let that happen. We won't. 

As the synagogue's rabbi said, we move forward in love. We respect one another. We hold true to who we are. 

If you wear symbols of your faith, speak your faith, or in any other way live out your faith in God, well done. 

If you attended a worship service this weekend, you demonstrated courage in the face of evil. Well done. 

Every day, millions of Americans and billions of people around the world give thanks to the higher power that connects us all. May it continue to be so.

  

Misdialed number sends Jimmy John's driver to pick up a vet and deliver him to the ER

Lisa Nagengast calls it 'divine intervention.'

She was on the phone with her brother, Navy vet Greg Holeman of Columbus, Nebraska. He was home recovering from back surgery and told her about post-op complications he was having. She wanted him to call an ambulance, but he was worried about the expense. Unable to help in person from her home in Florida, Lisa dialed Greg's social worker at the Department of Veteran's Affairs in Nebraska.

At least she thought she did.

She actually reached Jimmy John's, the sandwich franchise, and told the story to Lupe Rodriguez, the woman who answered at the shop. Lupe handed the phone to the night manager, Jason Voss, and Voss listened to the panicked woman on the other end of the phone.

Within minutes, Voss had talked the situation over with one of his drivers, Zach Hillmer. A vet himself, Hillmer volunteered to help. With Voss' blessing, Hillmer called Lisa back to get Greg's address.

Lisa was confused and wondered why the social workers didn't have access to her brother’s information. That's when she learned she'd called a sandwich shop.

With details in hand, Hillmer picked Greg up and delivered him to the Emergency Room. 

Because a number of people responded to Greg's need with empathy, he is now back home and doing well. "It was meant to be," Lisa says.

With the wedding called off, she donated the venue to another couple

A couple weeks before her wedding, Kolbie Sanders of Tyler, Texas called off the wedding. Unable to give a refund on short notice, the venue offered to apply her funds to a later date.

Kolbie had another idea. She told the venue she planned to give it away to another couple ready to be married. A couple she didn't know.
She put her idea out there on Facebook. The post was shared thousands of times, and responses poured in. Not all the responses were of the 'pick me!' type, many were offers of support. Within days, a photographer, a florist, a bakery, and a restaurant all offered to donate to the chosen couple's wedding.

Just days before the October 20th wedding, Kolbie literally reached into a hat and chose Halie Hipsher and her fiance Matt Jones. Their wedding was planned for 2019, but Halie's grandfather has Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The quick wedding meant he could attend, which in turn, meant the world to Halie and Matt. 

The wedding went off without a hitch. Kolbie even dropped in for a quick photo with the happy couple.

Prepping The Path Divided

Sometime in the next few weeks, this blog will announce the release of my new title: The Path Divided. As the sequel (read: conclusion) to the story begun in Risking Exposure, I had my fair share of hurdles in the writing process. After all, the story must continue where the other story left off, all those familiar characters and settings, but it also must offer something different. I'm sure readers will tell me if I accomplished that.

My cover is currently under construction by the super-talented graphic artist Michael Rausch. A print proof was delivered today (sans cover) so I could check the physical layout of the pages. (Needs modification.) With any luck, the book will be ready for readers by early November. Stay tuned!

Combating loneliness with 'talking tables'

In recent weeks, signs appeared on some cafe tables in a British supermarket chain: "Reserved for customers in the mood for a chat."

Edward Collett works at the welcome desk as a London-area Sainsbury Supermarket. He notes that  customers come to him for company as much as for shopping questions, which has made him a keen observer of human behavior. A number of regular customers will wait on a longer line just to share a few words with a familiar check-out clerk. Some are elderly and living alone, and seem to use these small exchanges as a way of finding companionship. He sees the same trend in young mothers who spend their days caring for children's needs.

Collett is delighted Sainsbury is doing its part to support England's national Loneliness Initiative. He sees supermarkets and their cafes as the modern equivalent of the village green. He hopes customers take advantage of the opportunity to connect with others. After all, 'people fade away without human company.' 

Small pizzeria has given away over 140,000 slices to local homeless

Shortly after Mike and Jenny Stevens opened their Little Caesar's franchise in Fargo, North Dakota, they saw a homeless man sitting at a nearby gas station. Mike thought he looked hungry, so he brought him a pizza. A few days later, Mike saw someone rummaging through the restaurant's dumpster. He posted this sign in the window, and his mission was born. 

Over the next two years, the pizza giveaway grew. Mike started to deliver pizzas to local homeless shelters, three of which have adopted 'pizza night' as a regular part of their routine. When Mike died of leukemia last year, Jenny and her daughters continued his generous practice. 

 Local patrons wanted to help. Since a single slice costs the Stevens' 50 cents to make, Jenny has set up a box to accept 50 cent donations from customers. She also set up a GoFundMe account to offset the cost of continuing the program. 

With the help of volunteers, the Stevens' franchise has given away over $70,000 worth of pizza, 142,000 slices to date!  About the program, Jenny said, “It’s a small thing that we can do to bring a big difference in their day and it’s just kept going. You have to come together to help each other out. We just do it because it seems like the right thing to do.”

He's given away 1,000 motel nights to hurricane evacuees

While Hurricane Florence was bearing down on Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Jaret Huck put his mom's lessons into action. “Love thy neighbor, right? That’s what you’re supposed to do,” Hucks later told reporters. “My mama taught me that a long time ago.”

Hucks put out the word on Facebook: the motel he owns, Midtown Inn and Cottages, was open to hurricane evacuees. For free. Seriously. Not only that, he disregarded his own No Pets policy and allowed families to bring their dogs, cats, turtles, and even a pet squirrel. 

Local businesses and individuals got wind of Hucks' generosity. In the days after the storm, donations of food, ice, diapers, and toiletries rolled in, making Midtown an epicenter for relief efforts. To date, Hucks has given away over 1,000 free nights to the area's poorest and most vulnerable families. The local community has provided them three meals a day, plus shoes, clothes, and more.  

For his generosity, Hucks was given the national Jefferson Award. While honored by this, he insists his best reward is a more humble one: the crayon-scrawled thank you cards and pictures which now decorate his office.   

Customer complains about service given by employee with special needs. Owner says they 'hire ALL God's children'

A customer at the Pizza Inn in Greenville, South Carolina had a complaint - he asked an employee to refill a lettuce bowl and it wasn't done.  

The manager stepped in and privately explained to the customer that over half the kitchen staff have special needs. They are each trained to do a specific task. Refilling the lettuce bowl was not that particular employee's job. Dissatisfied with this explanation, the customer suggested potential diners be made aware of the circumstances. 

Owner Amanda Cartaigne responded by posting a sign on the door: "We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and hire ALL of God's children." Cartaigne later told reporters her employees "are like my kids. I wanted to do something that was not rude, but got my point across."

The employees and their family members appreciate Cartaigne's support and the opportunity the job provides. One employee's mother said, "He loved the fact that he has money in the bank and he can actually go buy his favorite video game." 

About her employees who have special needs, Cartaigne said, "If you have the patience to let them take their time and learn at their pace, when the light bulb comes on, they are unstoppable." 

This third-grader used his Make-A-Wish for a school pizza party

When the Make-A-Wish folks in South Dakota asked Javier Amos what he wanted, they might have expected the usual: a trip to Disney World, a meeting with a favorite celebrity. Instead, the 9-year-old gave a response they'd never gotten before. He wanted a gigantic pizza party for his school.

Javier is now in remission in his battle against leukemia, and he wanted to celebrate with all his friends. And did they ever celebrate!

Javier and his family arrived at the party in a police car, sirens wailing. With the entire student body chanting his name, Javier walked through a tunnel of friends and supporters who cheered and waved signs with congratulatory wishes. After the pizza, the kids partied for two hours with a bounce house, laser tag, an inflatable slide,
zoo animals, and games. 

Javier was definitely the teacher that day.

He hopes to plant one trillion trees to offset climate change

When Germany's Felix Finkbeiner was nine years old, his class assignment was a report on climate change. His research for the report uncovered the Nobel-prize winning work of Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan woman who had spearheaded programs to plant 30 million trees in Africa. Felix was inspired by her work and decided to plant a few trees himself. One million trees, to be exact.

He started talking about it, and with help started an organization called Plant the Planet. In its first year, children planted 100,000 trees in Germany. Word spread, and Felix's dream reached the United Nations. At the ripe old age of 14, he spoke to the UN's General Assembly, saying in part, “We children know adults know the challenges and they know the solutions. We don’t know why there is so little action.” 

Now 20, Felix continues to work with Plant the Planet, and in cooperation with the UN's Billion Tree Campaign, has helped plant 15 billion trees in 130 countries. The groups' efforts are on track to plant one trillion trees, or 150 trees for every person on earth. 

 A fascinating aspect of the Plant the Planet campaign is the 55,000 'climate-change ambassadors' they have trained for activism in their home communities. Their average age is nine to twelve years old. 

Wangari Maathai didn't live to see the seed she planted had taken root in Felix's heart. Now that seed has spread to another generation. Our world is more beautiful and sustainable because of their work.  

Elderly Portland man gives brooches to people who 'need a little sparkle'

Portland, Oregon's Myron Boyer is a familiar face at the local farmers market. For the last six years, he has ambled through the market with rhinestone and enamel brooches pinned to his T-shirt. When he sees someone who looks sad, distracted, or just plain busy, he stops to speak with them. While chatting, he offers them a brooch. According to the owner of a local coffee shop, folks "...kind of blush a little, look a little frazzled, but they're very accepting, because he's a very approachable man." 

Now fondly nicknamed 'The Bling Fairy,' Boyer started the giveaway after his friend Bob Lamberson died. Lamberson was a 'bigger than life' character and heavily involved in theater. While he was hospitalized, Boyer brought him brooches to cheer him in that sterile environment. After he died, Boyer gave the brooches to the nurses. A tradition was born. 

Boyer doesn't ask names, but folks who accept his gift tend to tell their stories: a woman struggling with depression, someone who just received a cancer diagnosis, a homeless couple who appreciated being noticed. Boyer listens, then watches the transformation as the brooch is fastened to a shirt or lapel. "Putting one smile a day on someone's face is making the world better," he told a local newspaper. "And that's basically where it's at."

Kids ask us all to #DoItForPeace

Today, September 21, has been set aside as the International Day of Peace. Two organizations, Peace One Day and Kids for Peace are teaming up with the Good News Network to launch a worldwide quest: to perform one billion acts of peace in ten days. 

One billion. 

Under the hashtag #DoItForPeace, 1000 'ignitors' hope to shift global consciousness toward kindness, generosity, and peace. They shared their act of peace, then invited five friends to do the same. If those five friends invite five more, well, you get the idea. In ten days, over one billion people, 10% of the world's population, will have deliberately taken action to recognize and promote peace in their own lives. What an amazing transformation that would be! 

Some planned activities include:
Kids forming peace signs in the USA, UK, Kenya, Pakistan, India, and Australia;
Skydivers performing the first-ever skydiving peace sign formation;
Professional surfers creating a peace sign on the waves.

We don't need to form peace signs to promote peace. We can start with a simple kindness to a neighbor or a stranger. 

All participants are encouraged to post photos and videos of their acts of peace under the hashtag #DoItForPeace. Whatever you do, do it for peace. Let's make this grand experiment a success! 

Tennessee man drives a school bus full of shelter animals out of Florence's path

To say Tony Alsup has a heart for animals is an understatement. The 51-year-old truck driver from Tennessee started rescuing shelter animals in the wake of Hurricane Harvey last year, and then did the same with Hurricane Irma. 

When he learned that Hurricane Florence was expected to bring flooding to the Carolinas, he contacted coastal shelters to offer help evacuating dogs and cats. Of course, the shelters accepted the offer. 

All across the region, animal lovers lined up to offer shelter to pets. Still, some animals were left behind.  

So Alsup took the seats out of a school bus and drove to the Carolina coast. He created his own version of Noah's Ark, rescuing what one shelter called "leftovers’ — the dogs with blocky heads, the ones with heartworm... the ones no one else will ever take. And he got them to safety. Not the most conventional evacuation, but surely the one with the most heart.” 

In all, Alsup rescued 53 dogs and 11 cats and drove them to safety in Alabama. There, his friend Angela Eib-Maddux, opened her privately run dog shelter for the animals and gave them baths and TLC. Between their established networks of animal lovers and other shelters, all the displaced refugees found safety within days. 

93-year-old is a real-life 'Candy Man'

Bob Williams of Long Grove, Iowa has developed quite a reputation. Fifteen years ago, he went to the local Dollar General for their weekly sale - $5 off any $25 purchase. He used that $5 to buy three large Hershey bars. He gave them away, two to store employees and one to the person behind him in line. When he saw the pleasure that small gift brought, he made the purchase and giveaway of Hershey bars a habit. 

He started buying Hershey bars by the box and would hand them out to folks in Long Grove who looked like they needed a pick-me-up. If they tried to refuse it, Bob would insist they take it and pass it on to someone who needed a smile. Over the years, Bob 'the Candy Man' has given away about 6000 Hershey bars. "You'd think I'd given them the keys to a new car," he later told reporters. 

Hershey's got wind of Bob's generosity. They boosted Bob's supply of Hershey bars and are using his story as part of their Heartwarming the World campaign. 

Better than that, Bob's sweet gift inspires other residents of Long Grove. “I don’t think he realizes the effect he has on people,” one local said. "He's teaching all of us how to pay it forward.”