Scheming for a Better Year in 2025?

~ Midwest Storyteller ~ Leave a comment

I hope you’re enjoying your new year and that you are filled with a sense of hope and expectation of better days ahead.

It’s time for my First Friday Freebie and one of you will win if you are an email subscriber and you take the time to enter to win.

Let’s take a look  –

Weekly Schemes https://midweststoryteller.com/

For some reason, even if the flipping of the calendar doesn’t prompt us to lose weight, exercise, read more books or keep in closer contact with friends and loved ones, it seems to prompt at least some degree of resolve to get better organized.  I’ll do my ever-so-small part to help you.

This “Weekly Schemes” pad and pen set lets you lay out the work week ahead of you so that you can better plan the things you need to tackle, the places you need to be or maybe even the honey-do list you’d like to make out to motivate that special someone.

I fantasized for a brief moment that I might receive one of these from Smuffy with instructions for me to fill out a sheet and hand it to him every week.  Somehow, I think that’s going to remain a fantasy.  His own project list is already full.

The pad itself measures 8 1/2 ” X 5″. I expected it to offer 52 sheets to carry you through the year, but no!  There are 70 sheets.  That could carry you well into the next year, but I confess that my first thought upon discovering this was that it would allow me to deal with those times when “life happens” and I have to rip off my best laid schemes when they gang aft agley, send them through the shredder, and make out a whole new plan.

Don’t blame me for that last sentence.  Robert Burns owns part of it.  You can read, “To a Mouse” (1785) unless, of course, you’re a wee sleekit cowrin tim-rous beastie.  If that’s too much for you, read “Oh!  The Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Seuss and remember, “Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.”

To enter to win the “Weekly Schemes” pad and pen set, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying, “Oh! The Places I’ll Go!” You’ll need to leave your comment before midnight TONIGHT, January 3rd, 2025.

NOTE:  An occasional problem occurs with subscribers not receiving confirmation emails.  Should this happen, email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com so that I can report it and have the issue resolved.

If you are new to Midwest Storyteller and haven’t subscribed, you’ll need to do that before entering to win.  Head to the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page where you can fill in your email address and then watch for your confirmation email.  You’re not officially subscribed until you confirm by email.

Chase away the winter gloomies with my “Life with Smuffy” and “Laugh!” pages.  If you get snowed in, be sure to try out some great healthy recipes from my “Food Freedom” page.

Remember to be sure to share the content you enjoy here on your social media such as Facebook, Instagram and “X”.  If you save things on Pinterest like I do, hover over the photo and “pin it”.  Help me get the word out!

On the “Freebies” page, you can see what readers have been winning every month.

A winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight, January 3rd, by leaving a comment which says, “Oh! The Places I’ll Go!”    

For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, click here.

Enjoy the bright, new path ahead.  Happy New Year!

December’s Freebie Winner!

~ Midwest Storyteller ~ Leave a comment

Yes, it’s a whole new month and a whole new year, but illness and travel plans kept December’s First Friday Freebie winner from getting her photo to me in a timely manner. If you take a moment to check out the First Friday Freebie Rules at the link below, you’ll find out how simple it is to enter to win.  This is a special monthly gift for my email subscribers only.

Let’s meet –

December Freebie Winner https://midweststoryteller.com/

Ginger from Prairie Home, Missouri.

Ginger is a repeat winner because she enters often (and maybe because some of you aren’t entering often enough).  Here she is with her holiday kitchen set that I’m sure she’ll enjoy using when the 2025 holiday season rolls around.

As an email subscriber, Ginger has entered often ever since they debut of Midwest Storyteller.   She did have to comment as directed in the freebie post on the day it arrived in her inbox.  I require this tiny bit of effort each month in order to prevent spam and make sure you’re on your toes and paying attention. 

I send freebies anywhere in the continental U. S., so don’t think you’re too far away to enter.

If you’d like to see other past winners and their gifts check it out here on my Freebies! page.

You can see the original First Friday Freebie offer for the one Ginger won here. 

If you’re reading this and haven’t become an email subscriber yet, please do that today.  Hopefully, my freebies, not to mention the stories, recipes and other great content, have enticed you to do that.   

NOTE:  Subscribe with an email you intend to keep and check the week after the drawings.  This is my only means of notifying winners.  If it isn’t up to date, you may not get your gift!

We live in a life filled with gadgets and you’ll find that this blog can have a different appearance depending on whether you are on your computer, tablet or smartphone.  You can easily navigate in the menu under “CONTACT”, fill in your email and hit “SUBSCRIBE”.  Confirm your subscription when the email arrives.  If you’ve don’t receive a confirmation email, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com – it seems that from time to time, a subscription will get “stuck”. 

Subscribers get an email reminder each time there’s something new – like when there’s a FREEBIE on the First Friday of every month.  You’ll also receive encouragement, healthy recipes, short stories, lots of laughs and updates on the books I write.

Again, comment as directed on the post that offers the Freebie and you’ll be entered to win. 

Freebies enable me to reach more people.  I need you to help me share all the fun with your friends and family.  When you share on MeWe, Facebook, Instagram, X, Pinterest, you’ll give them the opportunity to subscribe and win also.  Subscribing is free.  Freebies are free. 

On January 3rd, you’ll see the new Freebie.  Enter to win that day.  A winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight.  Then, check your email in the days following. 

Smartphone reminders help.

Take a moment make yourself familiar with the complete Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.

Subscribers, be ready to enter to win on Friday, January 3rd, 2025.

What inspires you in the winter months?  Cleaning closets?  Delving into your family tree?  Snuggling up with cocoa, books and a warm kitty?  Or, are you like me and you are resolved to do a couple of hundred pages of editing.  Leave a comment.  I’m waiting to see your interesting answers to that! 

New Year’s Revolution

~ Midwest Storyteller ~ 1 Comment
Happy New Year Snow https://midweststoryteller.com/

Just a quick note today to speak a blessing on your year ahead. May you enjoy a loving family, devoted friends and may you prosper in everything you put your hand to. God longs to bless you in so many ways and I hope you realize them all.

Of course, as I have said before, I’m looking for a following of folks who will join me in a movement to have New Year’s Day shifted to the first day of spring. Who wants to lose weight, start new life journeys and re-create themselves when it’s really time to curl up with a good book and wait for the sun to come out and the snow to melt.

In the Spring, I’m ready for all those things, but not now – so that’s why I’m planting the seeds of a New Year’s Revolution. Resolutions can wait till March when I’m naturally invigorated and energized. Right now, I want to read, snack and work up my mental nerve to tackle something like cleaning closets. Soon, I’ll see Smuffy caressing his seed catalogs and dreaming of warm days.

Even though I think this photo of my back yard in winter is beautiful, it never takes me long to tire of it when the real thing hits, which it is supposed to do this weekend.

Happy New Year, Dear Readers! Blessings on all 365 days of it.

Wrap the Year in Gratitude

~ Midwest Storyteller ~ 1 Comment
Be Grateful www.midweststoryteller.com

I’m always seeking out ways to thrive, not just survive. I have to confess that it’s been a weird struggle lately. Just weird. Life this year has felt much like it might be to find yourself gripped to a pendulum that swings first one way and then the other.

This year seems to have had a few themes and some of them weren’t much fun. We called it the year of the breakdown. Things just kept quitting on us. At one point we had both our daily drivers, the work van and the classic Buick Super all undriveable and once. Then, we dealt with clogged sewer lines and a toilet that actually broke. I wish now that I’d kept track of all the small appliances, gadgets and the like that I had to drop into the trash can. The clothes dryer tried it’s best to leave us, but Smuffy got it fixed. This only angered the washer, which threw an apoplectic fit and never recovered. Smuffy needed a few repairs also. That wasn’t fun, but he’s recovered just fine.

But what did it all matter? We got our second grandbaby! Fruity Pebbles is a joyful handful. Lil’ Snookie has been a joy and he’s now just turned five years old. Things are going well with “Morgan’s Landing”, my novel series, and Book 1 is due to come out in early 2025. To top it all off, award-winning Hollywood screenwriter, Alan Roth, offered to write a screenplay for a series based on “Morgan’s Landing”! It’s now finished and on the market. Seven well-known producers are taking a look at it and as of right now, five have asked to review the entire book as well. The pendulum does swing, doesn’t it?

This also seemed to be the year of the funeral. We saw close friends lose parents. We lost cousins. We lost multiple folks that we’d shared community and church life with. Some of them seemed to mark the end of an era. You know what I mean – those rock solid old folks whom, despite their years, you half expected them to live forever. Smuffy lost one of his brothers who had suffered a lingering illness and we experienced the pain of losing our 27-year-old niece following an auto accident. We just hung on while the pendulum swung.

Yet, we laughed, we celebrated birthdays and holidays and gave thanks for every treasured face that remained. We prayed. We worked. We did all the mundane things that take up so much of life.

As I felt the pendulum swinging, I would pause at times and tell God how grateful I felt for everything I had been given – been allowed to keep – been blessed with unexpectedly. Still, I struggled. I felt my stress level rising. I felt there weren’t enough hours in the day and not enough of me to to around. I had multiple melt-downs and some of them weren’t pretty.

I do my best each week to listen or watch The Poddy (the podcast featuring Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison of Trim Healthy Mama). It has solid, balanced health information, but topics can vary. Last week, as I listened, they discussed how practicing gratitude can boost your physical and mental health. One particular thing Pearl shared was that, while listening to another podcast, she’d been stuck by the lady’s testimony that though she’d often stopped and made note of things she was grateful for, she felt the Lord asking her when she was going to start to walk in gratitude. There is a difference! I encourage you to watch this podcast. (You’ll have a few minutes of info on their new book and banter at the beginning amongst the two sisters and their announcer, Danny, before they get to the meat of the thing.)

I had been feeling for a week or so that God was giving me peace and lightening my stress load even though I still had just as much on my to-do list as ever. As I watched this Poddy, however, I really stepped into a new place of calm. Rather than nudging myself from time to time to stop and thank God for what I do have or reprimand myself with a “look at your life – you don’t have anything to complain about” or an “it could be a whole lot worse”, I felt a whole new sense of connecting with the Giver and walking through life as though I’m weaving my way through and around all the gifts – simply wading in them.

I suppose this includes this mess on my desk and this book edit I need to finalize. Yes!

If this year has been “one of those years”, I encourage you to round it out with gratitude before starting the new one. I saw a great idea on social media. Take a big jar and keep a stack of little notes nearby. Each day or each week, every family member makes a note with the date and writes down the most fabulous thing that happened that day or week. At the end of next year, dump them all out on the table and have a Gratitude Fest while you read them all. Is there a better way to party on New Year’s Eve?

I’m grateful for you, Dear Readers!

Have Yourself a Merry Little Freebie

~ Midwest Storyteller ~ 9 Comments

I shiver as I type this, for I’ve just driven home from coaching my weekly Trim Healthy group session and there is a Midwestern chill in my bones.  It may not be officially winter here yet, but my thermometer did not get the memo.  It sneers a nasty 23 at me and, as if to ask me if I’d like to see what else it’s capable of, dares me to take a look at my app and see that it’ll register an ugly 18 by morning. 

It is officially the First Friday, however, and that means there’s a Freebie.

Let’s take a look  –

Freebie Kitchen Set https://midweststoryteller.com/

This festive kitchen set will put you in a cheery mood as you prepare all those holiday goodies and with company coming, it’s always nice to have a fresh, clean set on display.  There are two “Joy” potholders, one oven mitt reminding you that “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and a matching drying mat.

To enter to win the holiday kitchen set, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!” You’ll need to leave your comment before midnight TONIGHT, December 6th, 2024.

NOTE:  An occasional problem occurs with subscribers not receiving confirmation emails.  Should this happen, email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com so that I can report it and have the issue resolved.

If you are new to Midwest Storyteller and haven’t subscribed, you’ll need to do that before entering to win.  Head to the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page where you can fill in your email address and then watch for your confirmation email.  You’re not officially subscribed until you confirm by email.

You’ll find plenty to smile about on my “Life with Smuffy” and “Laugh!” pages.  If you need to de-stress a little in the midst of all the hustle and bustle, take a short break and enjoy yourself there.  If guests are coming ahead of the big day and you need a super simple meal that will knock their red and green socks off, try out my great recipe for “Creamy Leek Soup with Chicken and Sweet Potatoes” on my “Food Freedom” page.

Remember to be sure to share the content you enjoy here on your social media such as Facebook, Instagram and “X”.  If you save things on Pinterest like I do, hover over the photo and “pin it”.  Help me get the word out!

On the “Freebies” page, you can see what readers have been winning every month.

A winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight, December 6th, by leaving a comment which says, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!”  

For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, click here.

As you celebrate the season ahead, have hope, take joy.  Be thankful for the loved ones you’ve been blessed to have in your life and hold them close.  Have a blessed December!

Giving Thanks in the Storm

~ Midwest Storyteller ~ 5 Comments

I know you may have wondered if the Storyteller had stopped telling stories altogether. Or, perhaps you assumed that I am overwhelmed by the all the last-minute edits and “stuff” that will, at last, get Book 1 of “Morgan’s Landing” into your hands.  The latter is true, but since I last posted, my family has experienced tragedy and loss that has kept my heart and mind elsewhere.

My apologies for there not being a First Friday Freebie in November.  Those days were filled with tears and prayers.

Now here we are, the day before Thanksgiving, when so many families will gather together for laughter and feasting and joy. I wanted to make a special effort to encourage you to treasure your Thanksgiving celebration and to take a good, hard look around that table and realize that in the blink of an eye any one of those chairs might be found empty.

Seven years ago (it lacked only about twelve hours, in fact, being on the exact same date) we experienced another great loss.  It is difficult enough to say goodbye to a parent or another loved one who has lived a long and full life, but the blunt trauma of having to release those who are young and vibrant into the arms of God is a different and terrible kind of pain.

I saw the quote in the above photo a few years ago and the truth of it really impacted me.  Grief is exactly that.  Every ounce of the love that you had within you for someone is still there and you have no place to pour it out, to lavish it, to say it, to express it with a kiss and a hug.  You can no longer place the bouquet into their arms and tell them that they are special – that they matter.

While Smuffy and I still have each other and Pookie and her family are still intact, we have all had our hearts torn at this loss. We realize that though we have our own grief, our greatest pain is the realization that the mother, siblings, grandparents and small children of the one who has left our family are suffering something that we cannot even imagine.

Yet, it is time to give thanks.

Laura Ingalls Wilder, in her book, “The Long Winter”, tells of her family’s struggle with isolation and near starvation for eight months in a house in which they would have frozen to death if they hadn’t spent their days binding slough grass into “logs” in order to make it burn in the wood stove for more than just a minute or two.  Their only food was a little grain that her mother managed to portion out in hopes that it would last until train tracks were cleared and supplies could be brought into the town.  When Laura complained one day about having nothing else to eat, Ma corrected her by saying, “We mustn’t complain about what we do have, Laura.”

There will be homes all across our country that will have a Thanksgiving with no turkey and all the trimmings.  There will be homes with lavish festivities where laughter abounds.  There will be homes of both types with an empty chair at the table. 

Yet, it is time to give thanks for what we do have.

Set aside all the family squabbles and, for a moment, look around at each family member and imagine them vanishing from their place at the table.  Give thanks to God for each one who is there. You can come back to Him with all your “whys” on a different day.

The book, “The Landing of the Pilgrims” is taken largely from the diaries of William Bradford, so it is a first-hand, on-the-spot account of what the Puritans of Plymouth colony experienced.  My heart was pierced over and over again by how many times he wrote that they considered themselves “a people blessed”.  Though half the colony died of cold, sickness and starvation during their first winter in their new world, they were still able to say, over and over again, that they considered themselves blessed.  They had survived with the hope that they would thrive again.

I appreciate this poem by Ruth Graham  –

I will lay my whys before Your cross and worship, kneeling,
My mind too numb for thought, my heart beyond all feeling,
And worshiping realize that I,
In knowing You, don’t need a why.

This passage from the Scriptures, written by the prophet Habakkuk, challenges me to reaffirm my faith  –

“Though the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails, and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

It is time to give thanks.  Take a precious inventory of what you do have!

May your family experience blessings, grace and safety during the entire holiday season.  Happy Thanksgiving!

October:  Color (and a Freebie) Everywhere!

~ Midwest Storyteller ~ 4 Comments

Here in the Midwest, we are in for a change.  October is the month of color.  While you’re waiting for all the beautiful colors outside, why not create your own colorful masterpieces inside?

Let’s take a look at today’s First Friday Freebie –

Amazing Grace Coloring Book https://midweststoryteller.com/

Several years ago a new trend took hold – adult (or advanced) coloring books.  Some doctors even started recommending them for people who needed to de-stress.  Rather than chunky drawings or cartoon-like pictures, these contained trailing florals, word art and any number of other intricate designs that adults could spend time relaxing with as they let their mind focus on the beauty and their creative choices rather than the cares of this world.  You can settle into cozy fall days with this “Amazing Grace” coloring book.  It’s full of beautiful pages meant to inspire such as the one at the right in the photo.  Grab some colored pencils or markers and create some art to frame, give away, or just keep in the book to admire.

To enter to win the “Amazing Grace” coloring book, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying, “Color my October!” You’ll need to leave your comment before midnight TONIGHT, October 4th, 2024.

NOTE:  An occasional problem occurs with subscribers not receiving confirmation emails.  Should this happen, email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com so that I can report it and have the issue resolved.

If you are new to Midwest Storyteller and haven’t subscribed, you’ll need to do that before entering to win.  Head to the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page where you can fill in your email address and then watch for your confirmation email.  You’re not officially subscribed until you confirm by email.

You’ll find plenty to smile about on my “Life with Smuffy” and “Laugh!” pages.  Fall is a great time to curl up with a good book, but since mine isn’t released yet, you might win this freebie and be able to color while you wait. Check out the latest updates on my “Morgan’s Landing” book series here.  Fall is also a great time to try a great recipe from my “Food Freedom” page.

Remember to be sure to share the content you enjoy here on your social media such as Facebook, Instagram and “X”.  If you save things on Pinterest like I do, hover over the photo and “pin it”.  Help me get the word out!

On the “Freebies” page, you can see what readers have been winning every month.

A winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight, October 4th, by leaving a comment which says, “Color my October!”  

For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, click here.

May your days ahead be filled with sunshine, rustling leaves and the laughter of children playing in them!

A Freebie in Blue Jeans

~ Midwest Storyteller ~ 4 Comments

We’re due for cooler temperatures starting tomorrow and you know what that means – It’ll be blue jeans weather.  You can inch toward that fashion statement with today’s First Friday Freebie. 

Let’s take a look –

Denim Cross Earrings. https://midweststoryteller.com/

These denim cross earrings feature are exactly that – made of denim.  They’re so lightweight, yet keep their shape.  That makes them so easy to wear.  I’m not sure why I’m on an earring kick lately as far as freebies go, but they just caught my eye.  The overall length is 3 ¼ inches from the top of the hook.  The cross itself measures 2 7/8 inches. They are by Accessory Connection and a great find from Factory Connection.

To enter to win the denim cross earrings, all you need to do is “Leave a Comment” on this post, saying, “I’m stepping into fall!” You’ll need to leave your comment before midnight TONIGHT, September 6th, 2024.

NOTE:  An occasional problem occurs with subscribers not receiving confirmation emails.  Should this happen, email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com so that I can report it and have the issue resolved.

If you are new to Midwest Storyteller and haven’t subscribed, you’ll need to do that before entering to win.  Head to the right sidebar or use the menu to navigate to the “Contact” page where you can fill in your email address and then watch for your confirmation email.  You’re not officially subscribed until you confirm by email.

You’ll find plenty to smile about on my “Life with Smuffy” and “Laugh!” pages.  Fall is a great time to curl up with a good book and my first novel is coming soon. Check out the latest updates on that here.  While you wait for the official release of the first book in the “Morgan’s Landing series, you can try a great recipe from my “Food Freedom” page.

Remember to be sure to share the content you enjoy here on your social media such as Facebook, Instagram and “X”.  If you save things on Pinterest like I do, hover over the photo and “pin it”.  Help me get the word out!

On the “Freebies” page, you can see what readers have been winning every month.

A winner will be chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight tonight, September 6th, by leaving a comment which says, “I’m stepping into fall!”  

For the complete First Friday Freebie rules, click here.

Enjoy these beautiful days ahead.  May your fall be colorful, peaceful and blessed!

Exciting Updates!

~ Midwest Storyteller ~ 5 Comments

I may have given my readers the impression that nothing much is happening, so I thought it might be time for an update.  It will be the first of many, because things are hopping in my publishing and production world.

Here we are in September, pretending it is fall while waiting for the real thing. I was so excited and relieved last week to send in to my publisher the painstaking edit I’ve been working on for the second book in my “Morgan’s Landing” historical fiction series.  That certainly lifted a load of stress from my shoulders.  It has been one of the big factors in my not providing you with more content here as it has been top priority other than taking care of Lil’ Snookie and Fruity Pebbles.

Meanwhile, the first book in the series is on its way to you!  Artists are working on the final cover as we speak and I am expecting an email with some line edits.  As soon as I approve those, the book goes to print with a projected release date in October.  The photo above does not reflect the eventual book cover in any way other than the fact that it was taken in the location and era that the fictional town of Morgan’s Landing is patterned after.

In related news, you may recall my earlier announcement concerning a screenplay for “Morgan’s Landing”.  If you missed it, you can click here to see the announcement and brief video. This has been quite the adventure for me and it isn’t over yet.  It’s a bit like a road trip – you just don’t know how long it will take or where you’ll end up.  I have learned so much during the process and thought you might want to join me on the journey.  We are now entering a new phase.

I continually see the fingerprints of God all over “Morgan’s Landing”.  In the first place, I literally went to bed one night and dreamed this story, so I can’t help but feel that it was gifted to me.  Writing and editing did take a long time, but there was something about this story that kept pushing me forward.  I knew that if a publisher took the time to read it that it would be published.  I determined to do what I could to make that happen and make it a success, but my dreams for the books hadn’t taken me further than that.

Then, several months ago, the Lord saw fit to take the book in an entirely new direction when I had an unexpected opportunity to sit down and discuss the story in person with award winning Hollywood screenwriter, Alan Roth.  To my delight, he asked to read the book which, of course, wasn’t even out yet.  After reviewing the manuscript, he told me that he felt it had merit as series and that he would like to write the screenplay.  We began working on the pilot episode in April and finished it in July.  I have truly enjoyed working with Alan as we met regularly via Zoom to go over each and every page of script.

Now, the finished pilot is on the market!  Seven or eight studios (ones you would be familiar with) have been approached and now we wait.  Some have already agreed to appointments to consider the project and one has already met in person with the screenwriter, responded favorably, and asked for the book in addition to the screenplay, which is a great step forward.

As I stated earlier – what an adventure!  The feeling I get when I think of my project going into the hands of a studio is somewhat like I imagine I might have if, having tossed my baby up in the air, I had to fold my arms and trust a total stranger to catch it before it hit the ground!

Keep an eye out for more updates.  Soon the publisher will release an author’s interview as well as sneak preview of the actual cover.  I’ll soon be a guest on the Inspired Writer Collective podcast and I’ll post links to that as well.  Of course, when I know the book’s official release date, you’ll be the first to know!  Following the release, there will be book signing events and I hope to see you there.

If you have a story in you, and I’m pretty sure you do, my best advice is DON’T WAIT!  The road ahead of you will be a long one and it is best to start now.

Leave a comment and tell me what is stirring in your heart and mind to write.  It may be fiction or it may be a true story that you can’t bear the thought of being lost to the ages.  I know I have one of those and I hope to have the time to start on it soon.

August’s Freebie Winner!

~ Midwest Storyteller

As we’re entering into September, it’s time to meet the winner of my First Friday Freebie for the month of August.  If you take a moment to check out the First Friday Freebie Rules at the link below, you’ll find out how simple it is to enter to win.  This is a special monthly gift for my email subscribers only.

Let’s meet –

August Freebie Winner Shirley https://midweststoryteller.com/

Shirley from Boonville, Missouri.

Shirley is modeling the sunflower earrings she just won and the more I see them on her the more I want a pair just like them.

Shirley was one of my very first email subscribers. She consistently enters to win and therefore she has had her name drawn more than once! She did have to comment as directed in the freebie post on the day it arrived in her inbox.  I require this tiny bit of effort each month in order to prevent spam and make sure you’re on your toes and paying attention. 

I send freebies anywhere in the continental U. S., so don’t think you’re too far away to enter.

If you’d like to see other past winners and their gifts check it out here on my Freebies! page.

You can see the original First Friday Freebie offer for the one Shirley won here. 

If you’re reading this and haven’t become an email subscriber yet, please do that today.  Hopefully, my freebies, not to mention the stories, recipes and other great content, have enticed you to do that.   

NOTE:  Subscribe with an email you intend to keep and check the week after the drawings.  This is my only means of notifying winners.  If it isn’t up to date, you may not get your gift!

We live in a life filled with gadgets and you’ll find that this blog can have a different appearance depending on whether you are on your computer, tablet or smartphone.  You can easily navigate in the menu under “CONTACT”, fill in your email and hit “SUBSCRIBE”.  Confirm your subscription when the email arrives.  If you’ve don’t receive a confirmation email, please email me at barb@midweststoryteller.com – it seems that from time to time, a subscription will get “stuck”. 

Subscribers get an email reminder each time there’s something new – like when there’s a FREEBIE on the First Friday of every month.  You’ll also receive encouragement, healthy recipes, short stories, lots of laughs and updates on the books I write.

Again, comment as directed on the post that offers the Freebie and you’ll be entered to win. 

Freebies enable me to reach more people.  I need you to help me share all the fun with your friends and family.  When you share on MeWe, Facebook, Instagram, X, Pinterest, you’ll give them the opportunity to subscribe and win also.  Subscribing is free.  Freebies are free. 

On September 6th, you’ll see the new Freebie.  Enter to win that day.  A winner is chosen at random from those subscribers who enter before midnight.  Then, check your email in the days following. 

Smartphone reminders help.

Take a moment make yourself familiar with the complete Freebie Rules by clicking HERE.

Subscribers, be ready to enter to win on Friday, September 6th, 2024.

Smuffy always says that this time of year brings him into a seasonal shift even if the weather doesn’t have that hint of autumn crispness quite yet.  Thoughts of his pioneer ancestors fill his mind and he gets the urge to meander through forests and read the diaries of Lewis and Clark.  I’m sure Lil’ Snookie will want to spend as many days playing at the park as he can possibly manage.  What thoughts inspire you in the month of September?  Leave a comment.  We might get some interesting answers to that!