Guest Blogger: Sheila Roberts

ANGEL PATROL by Sheila Roberts

The idea for Oprah’s Angel Network was positively inspired, and it’s a great way to connect with other people wanting to make a difference in the world. But even if you haven’t joined in on that particular movement, you can still make a difference in the world.

At least that’s my opinion, and I wrote an entire novel based on it. The premise of my new book, Angel Lane, is that we can all make the world a better place if we each cover our own little corner of it.

Yes, I’d love to go on Oprah’s show and hand her a big, fat check but I’m not holding my breath (either for the big, fat check or an invitation to go on the show). That won’t happen for most of us, which is why, if you visit the website (check out http://oprahsangelnetwork.org/how-to-help/overview) you’ll find lots of great suggestions for creative and practical things you can do to improve life for others. Sometimes it’s as simple as poking our noses out our own front doors and taking a moment to look beyond our own busy lives.

I’m starting in my own community by trying to be a good neighbor and sharing goodies from my garden and my oven. (Fortunately, I don’t have any resident lounge lizard to contend with like my poor character, Sarah Goodwin.) Sharing food is a great way to make friends and get some of that baked temptation out of the house! Anyway, it works for me. So does giving my neighbor a ride to church, having the girls over for coffee, and picking up discarded pop cans when I walk around our little lake. None of that is exactly on a par with achieving world peace, but you know, I’m convinced that the best place to start fixing the world is in your own back yard.

Being a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on, donating money to a worthy cause (get in the habit of taking that money right off the top when you get your paycheck and it will be easier to pry your fingers off of it), visiting someone in a nursing home, giving to the local food bank – these are the kinds of activities that help others and make us feel good about ourselves. Talk about a win-win! And when enough people do them, they add up.

Angels have a lot of territory to cover. What if we all said, “Hey, I’ll cover my block”? I think we could make a difference. By the way, could you use some zucchini?

Sheila Roberts lives in the Pacific Northwest. She's happily married and has three children. Writing since 1989, she has had 24 books published, both in fiction and nonfiction under different names and in different languages. However before she settled into her writing career, she did lots of other things, including owning a singing telegram company and playing in a band. But writing and helping others to find ways to make their lives better are her greatest passions.

Her down-to-earth wisdom and quirky upbeat sense of humor make Sheila a popular speaker to groups large and small. Her books are becoming perennial hot sellers. Her book Bikini Season was a Bookscan top 50, a Target Breakout Novel pick and an Amazon Beach Read pick. On Strike for Christmas will be released this year for the third year in the row and has been optioned for film. Her new release Love in Bloom has been chosen as a Reader’s Digest Condensed Book. Now… if she could just get on “Dancing with the Stars”!

You can visit her website at www.sheilasplace.com.

A note from Jen... We have an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of Angel Lane up for grabs. Just leave a question or comment on this post or my review (found here) and be sure to leave an email address (or send a message to contests.bookblog@gmail.com). The winner will be chosen on Thursday, October 29.