Me And Groucho

There are more groups on Facebook dedicated to all kinds of special interests than there are fleas on a dog. More than there are fleas on a pack of dogs. I belong to and help moderate a few, including three or four authors’ groups and John Huggins’ Living the RV Dream group, and I occasionally check in on a couple of kayak fishing groups and groups for places I’ve lived in the past. But I’m too busy to spend a lot of time in any one group, and there are probably some I belong to that I haven’t visited in well over a year.

One of those groups is a private group for mystery writers, and a year ago, when the person who runs it asked me to join, I had first declined, saying that I just did not have time to participate. She asked me two more times, and then pretty much begged me to join, saying that having a New York Times bestselling author among their group would be a real feather in their cap. I told her to add me to the group but to please understand that I probably would not be an active participant. And I haven’t been. There are only so many hours in a day and so many things I can do. But I don’t have to worry about being in that group any longer. Yesterday I received a message from her telling me I had been removed due to inactivity, explaining that they only wanted people who were going to engage with other members. She did tell me that I would be considered for re-admission if I promised to actually take part and be active. I was reminded of the old Groucho Marx quote, “I wouldn’t want to belong to a club that would have me as a member.” People mystify me sometimes.

Someone else who mystified me was the person who sent me an e-mail asking how he could enter my weekly blog drawings without using his e-mail address and if I could enter for him using my e-mail. He said that with all of the internet scams and phishing schemes out there, he guards his e-mail address like his bank account pin number, and the only people who have it are his immediate family members and a few lifelong friends. He assured me that it was nothing personal and it wasn’t that he didn’t trust me, he doesn’t trust anybody with such valuable information. Now, re-read that paragraph and think about it. He sent me an e-mail asking how to enter a contest without revealing his e-mail address because he doesn’t want anyone to have it. Read it again if you still don’t understand.

Congratulations Marlene M Tillery, winner of our drawing for an audiobook of The Ghost Who Wanted Revenge, Book 4 in my friend Bobbi Holmes excellent Haunting Danielle mystery series about an Oregon seaside bed and breakfast with a resident ghost of a previous owner who has been dead for almost ninety years. We had 36 entries this time around. Stay tuned, a new contest starts soon.  Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books to foreign countries, only entries with U.S. addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.

Thought For The Day – Yesterday I tried to pull my sleeve up and accidentally punched myself it the nose. It’s okay, I’ve had it coming for a long time now.