I still like to color. I am waiting for grandchildren so I can have someone to color with. :)

What a lot of great news this morning on your blog, Barbara! Kudos to Sue Grimshaw on her award from RWA! It's greatly deserved. I'll be applauding wildly in the audience in San Francisco, too! A huge Way To Go! to JoAnn for adopting that sailor - it sounds like a wonderful program. (And congrats on her new 2-book contract with NAL for more High Risk romances! I can hardly wait!) And a gigantic thank you to Barbara for passing along the link to Christie's video essay at the Houston Chronicle. ~Faye

Ah, crayons...I think my obsession with office supplies began with one of those boxes of 64!!! :-) All wonderful and inspiring news on your blog this morning ~ thank you for sharing!! ~ Melissa

Ah, crayons...I think my obsession with office supplies began with one of those boxes of 64!!! :-) All wonderful and inspiring news on your blog this morning ~ thank you for sharing!! ~ Melissa

Barbara, Thank you so much for including me in your blog. This is just another highlight in my writing journey that I will cherish. I love crayons, too. Just seeing the image on your blog brings back the waxy scent. Nothing made me feel more powerful as a child as getting that big box of colors and if it had the sharpener in it, I thought I was so cool. Jo Ann, what a great program. I’m sure this sailor is over-the-moon at having you for a pen pal. I’m sure you have a fan for life. Congrats to Sue Grimshaw. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Sue at several conferences and she’s one great lady. Her love and respect for the romance novels has helped this genre. The award is well deserved. Thank you Sue.

Thanks for mentioning the soldiers angels program, Barb! I've already heard from two of my myspace friends who adopted their own soldiers after reading my blog about it. Maybe you'll round up a few more. Since I sent you that email, I've had many back and forth email chats with him and once I get Shattered finished, I'm seriously considering a second adoption.

I loved that video on Christie. I already knew she was a fabulous person, but had no idea how much she'd had to overcome to be an author.

As for the crayons, I always got a new 64 color box with the sharpener for the first day of school. It's funny you should mention them today; my sweetie and I were having a conversation about crayons just yesterday and he said he'd only ever had the 8 crayon box because he was poor (I still suspect he had at least the 16), and had always envied the kids with the big box. I'd assured him it came with a downside. When I was really young, sometimes all those colors to choose from was a bit overwhelming. LOL

I think my boxes were bigger than 8, but can't remember the exact size. I'll have to watch the Christie Craig video essay when I get the chance. Love stories like that. It was all great news this Monday on your blog. :)

Oh, those big boxes with 64 colors! They made the start of school almost okay. My first first stories were, um, heavily illustrated, so you might say my career began with crayons.

I still love to color. In fact, I buy several boxes of crayons every year when the back-to-school sales happen. I love to color with my nieces. It's funny that one only colors with new crayons, one likes to color with broken crayons, and one doesn't want any paper on her crayons.

I still have my box of 64, though my kids aren't allowed to play with it (yet). I'm not sure my first story was in crayon -- I seem to remember an old typewriter of my mom's -- but I'm pretty sure I've written out a few phone numbers and grocery lists in crayon recently! Crayons have evolved a lot, too -- I like the new twistable ones. They stay sharp forever!

Funny, but I can't remember ever coloring. I'm sure, however, that I must have.

I still use my son's Crayola crayons when he's not looking. lol. That was an inspiring video, too.

I know Christie and Faye and both are inspirational women. Thanks, Barbara, for sharing this with us.

I love Crayola crayons. When I was a kid and received the big 64 box as a gift, I thought I was special. I had more colors than the rainbow. Congrats Sue on the Vivian Stephens Award and for supporting romance. And JoAnn and Christie - what an inspiration you are to all of us.

Crayons, yes, they were a wonderful addition to my creative bent. I remember clearly how they smell: the waxiness of the scent when I lifted the lid of my metal can where I stashed my broken ones. My fave childhood stress reliever is blowing bubbles, though. I have a big bottle of soapy bubble solution and hit the deck in the sunshine and blow them out over the street. I love to see them drift away on the breeze. It's hard to be cranky while you're blowing bubbles, too! Congrats on all the great news here this morning. Christie's a champ...and an inspiration to anyone with challenges. Back to work for me, Bonnie

Hello Barb--I wish I still had the time & energy to draw, sketch & color! I had the 64-crayon box with the sharpener too! The Catholic nuns squelched some of my creativity (stay in the lines & no shading, they said), but I hope to recapture my desire!

Is there anything that smells better than a box of crayons? I puposely walk down the school supply aisle so I can smell them each fall.

I always read but this is my first post. I loved the video about Christie Craig; I'm sending a link to my friends right now.

WTG JoAnn and Christie. As far as coloring...I've always loved those large 64 pack of Crayola's that have all the fun shades!

I love crayons, and we still keep a box around here for visiting friends' kids. The freedom in that box of colors still impacts my life all these years later, after opening my first. (Was there anything better than getting mom to go for the bigger box than absolutely required by the school?) And Barbara, thanks for the story on both Christie Craig (I have several family members with dyslexia, so this is especially inspirational) as well as JoAnn's adopting of a sailor. This looks like something I'd like to be involved in.

Barbara, thank you for sharing these great stories with us. Kudos to JoAnn and Christie!

Barbara and Joann it was great to see Soldiers Angels plugged on your blog. I was involved with this organization for a number of years as a mentor and a state representative and found it to be one of the most inspiring thing to do for our troops. I had adopt Army, Navy and Marine as well as helped Coast Guard cutter crew and was even lucky enough to have adopted a Royal Marine who had heard about the program. The nice thing about the program is you get to shower them with news and goodies from home all year round or as long as their deployment, not just at holidays. I stepped away from the program about a year ago to help with a local cause, but I have met a lot of wonderful young men and women through this program and I can tell even a post card from someone from home is like a gift of gold to our troops. I more here will consider joining this group or the many groups who are helping our troops remember home.

Barbara- Thanks for sharing this bit about crayons. I love crayons! Always have and always will. Especially when they're new in the box. All those lovely, sharp points, arranged according to color and tone. I never did have the patience to maintain the order, though. Or keep the points sharp!

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