Category: Coronavirus

Great Book News: An Award & #1 in Three Categories!
Christmas · Christmas · Coronavirus · My Thoughts

Great Book News: An Award & #1 in Three Categories!

Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment
News - Great Book News

I’ve had great book news recently. This week, two of my books have received critical acclaim. All my hard work pays off.

Great Book News #1

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? won the 2023 New Mexico/Arizona book award in the category of Self Help/Guide. This book was also a finalist in the health category. Last year, it also won the 2022 New Mexico/Arizona book award in the category of Body, Mind & Spirit (health/humor).

This blog became the foundation for that book—the inspiration because I wrote the core in this blog during the pandemic. It saved my sanity as I processed what I went through during the pandemic. I wrote in poetry and prose format. The reader has a choice: read it from cover-to-cover, or the chapters stand independently. Each chapter begins with a thought-provoking photo and quote. Then the chapter ends with a reflection question to ponder. Read, reflect and respond—so we can move on to better, not bitter.

For those interested in buying this award-winning book, choose of one the links below:

You can also buy it from me and get your own autographed copy. Contact me at Larada@LaradasBooks.com for the details.

More Book News

My newest book, Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir, hit #1 on Amazon in three e-book categories:

  • Christmas (Kindle Store)
  • US Historical Biographies
  • Christian Inspiration

Again, some of my blog posts make up a foundational part of the book with many additional snippets of my Christmas memories.

I love Christmas and this seemed like the next nature book for me to write. The hard part—editing, revising and creating it in July! I put on Christmas music and enjoyed the season out of the season!

My E-book of Hair on Fire

Yes, I got the e-book published before we went to Germany and Austria—Bavaria (more about Germany starting next week). Being super-organized, I had to set up all the promotions before we left, so I had busy days ahead of that trip. 2916 readers from nine countries downloaded my new e-book from: USA, UK, Canada, Australia, India, Germany, Mexico, France, and Italy. Those numbers pushed it to #1 in the three categories.

My Paperback of Hair on Fire

So, while we were in Germany, I finally got the final cover, so I uploaded it one night. I proofed the book online, but there was an issue. It said that the trim size (size of the book) didn’t match something, so they adjusted it by resizing it. I knew the trim size of the interior of the book and the cover matched so it could have been an international issue. That night I order a “proof” copy and it arrived on Thursday, the day after we got home.

Oh, no! The text was like shrunk to the center of the page, leaving a large margin all the way around. I spent several hours proofreading it that day, and I realized the “proof” didn’t have the Table of Contents! Oh, no, again! In my rush before we left, I had not selected the Table of Contents to be printed in the print copy of my book. I fixed that easily.

But I had another issue—the cover fit a book of 230 pages. After adding the Table of Contents and fixing a layout problem, I had 224—fewer pages! Now, how did that happen? So, I spent several hours going through and enlarging pictures and doing what I could to rearrange parts! Finally, I ended up with 230 pages, so I uploaded the revision, ran it through the Previewer online and published it.

The print copies will be here on Tuesday, October 2, so I’m excited.

On Thursday, when I opened the package with the “proof” copy, I got all choked up! The first time I see my book in print seems surreal! My words, my stories, my poems! What an emotional experience.

So, I will spend the next two months promoting it before Christmas and I will have a book launch sometime soon. Listen for the details.

Finally,

My seventh book published! Great book news this week about two of my books! Life is good!

If you’re interested, catch the e-book at this discounted price of $1.99 for a limited time at:

You have a choice for the paperback: either buy an autographed copy from me at Larada@LaradasBooks.com

Or

Go to Amazon. The price is the same: $15.00.

Because this book would make a great Christmas gift for everyone in your family, keep tuned in. I’m going to have some great prices for the purchase of three books or five books. Buying five copies will be the best price!

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COVID-19 Pandemic: Tough Topic #2—Denial?
Coronavirus · My Books · My Thoughts

COVID-19 Pandemic: Tough Topic #2—Denial?

Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment
Stop COVID-19

Has the COVID-19 pandemic faded from our memories? Have we faced all of its losses and grieved? Or have we denied its impact and moved on? If I move on from a tragedy and haven’t dealt with it, I may carry some of it with me.

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? book cover-COVID-19

My book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? offers the possibility of facing what this horrible pandemic was to you by reading my experience, reflecting on what you dealt with, and responding to some probing questions to put it all to rest.

NEWS UPDATE: I won the 2022 New Mexico/Arizona Book Award for the Body, Mind & Spirit category!

As we look back, we all lost two years of our lives—for me, it was dancing, traveling and seeing my family. Many suffered severe anxiety and depression.

Statistics about anxiety or depressive disorder. COVID-19
https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/the-implications-of-covid-19-for-mental-health-and-substance-use/

These charts show the mental effect COVID-19 pandemic had on many people.

Statistics about anxiety or depressive disorder. COVID-19
https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/the-implications-of-covid-19-for-mental-health-and-substance-use/

I structured my book in small chapters. Each begins with a captivating picture and quote. Then I share my thoughts and experience on that topic. Afterwards, I end each chapter with a reflection question. So, the reader has choices in how to use it: read it from cover to cover, peruse the Table of Contents and select a topic that jumps out at you, and/or use it as a journal.

Excerpt from Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? Addressing COVID-19

An excerpt from my book might whet your appetite. I titled chapter twelve, “I’m Suffering.” The quote by Nichiren starts the chapter: “If you light a lantern for another, it will also brighten your own way…”

“The isolation of sheltering-in-place has begun to take its toll on me—basically interacting personally with no one except my husband since March 8th. As an extrovert, I relish social interaction. Yes, I get ample hugs from my dear husband daily, but I’m accustomed to hugs from a variety of people. We hug when we square dance, we hug at recovery meetings, and we hug at church. My family hugs a lot, also. I heard someone say this week, “I’m suffering from hug deprivation!” Me, too! That describes it perfectly.

I’m used to an abundance of hugs, so the social distancing has been a real trigger for me. Yes, I agree the restrictions are a necessity, but my spirit and soul thirst for a hug, and this lack of a normal staple has zapped me.

On top of the restrictions, I filled my March and April with the final production of my book project, Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo, and though I was able to add some special features I wouldn’t have been able to do if I had rushed the production, it drained me. Hugs from a variety of people and interaction with dear friends are how I would normally replenish myself after a grueling workday, but there was no safe way to do that.

Come Back Tomorrow and I’ll Have More

April 17, 2020 

I’ve run out, 
Empty, 
No More,
Barely running on fumes. 

But come back 
Tomorrow. 
There will be more! 

More of me 
My humor 
My expertise 
My talents. 

I’ve used up
Everything today,
Ran desperately scarce! 

I spilled me 
Wide-open, 
Nothing left.
 
But daily I rejuvenate 
Refresh 
In my Quiet Time 
With God 
And start again 
With a full tank! 

So, don’t ask me
When I’m on empty 
To give more! 
That’s selfish! 

Ask me about
My availability. 
Ask me if I’m full 
Or empty. 
Don’t assume! 

I know me! 
I can tell 
The meter’s hanging 
Dangerously low, 
Near empty. 

I’m zapped, 
Nothing now, 
Today! 

But come back tomorrow, 
And I’ll have more! 

More of me 
More joy 
More compassion 
More energy! 
Totally more!

Larada Horner-Miller, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better?, (2021): 95-99.

Finally,

When you finish, I hope you have reconciled the lost years and feel deeply better about how you handled it. In recovery, we say, “Denial is not a river in Egypt!” Face it, feel it and heal it!

Do you have a residual effects from the COVID-19 pandemic? If so, how have you dealt with them?

News, News, News!

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? COVID-19
Read, reflect and respond!

~My new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? is a finalist in the 2022 New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards in the Body, Mind & Spirit Category. Winners will be announced in a couple of weeks.

~Wish You Were Here: A Novel by Jodi Picoult, one of my favorite authors, deals with the COVID pandemic in fiction as opposed to my nonfiction book. Check it out! Interesting story!

~MY FIRST AUDIOBOOK IS AVAILABLE: Go to Audible to buy my first audiobook, Let Me Tell You a Story. I’m working on Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? but have gotten stalled with shingles.

~Do you listen to podcasts? Here are three podcasts with interviews about my new book & some Flippo stories:

Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo. COVID-19
Grab your SmatPhone & read this hilarious book!

~Have you bought a copy of Flippo’s biography yet? Believe it or not—it’s been two years. Go here for your hardback or paperback: https://www.laradasbooks.com or at Amazon.

~For me, it’s Christmas all year long! Here’s a variety of Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When It’s Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A

A Reality Check, Two Years Later!
Coronavirus · My Thoughts

A Reality Check, Two Years Later!

Larada Horner-Miller1 Comment
Globe with mask - reality check

A reality check: two years later, the coronavirus death count just reached one million, and I had to look back. So many lives lost and so many families have changed forever—a favorite aunt, a precious grandma, an inspiring mother, taken from this earth too early. And yes, reality continues to be questioned today with Congress stalling for two months on future COVID funding. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/covid-19-funding-and-congress-no-clear-path-forward.html

So has our reality changed that much in two years?

Here’s an excerpt from my book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? to see where we were in 2020 and let’s step back in time.

Chapter Nine

WHOSE REALITY TODAY IS REAL?

“Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly.”

Leo Tolstoy

Finger pointing on globe - reality check

May 24, 2020

What does the future hold for us? It’s the end of May 2020, and not a lot has changed—the coronavirus rages. The death count continues to increase daily, with it nearing 100,000 in the United States.

Amid this pandemic, people’s reactions shock me! One person posted on my Facebook page that this virus isn’t dangerous. Tell that to the families mourning 99,031 deaths. Tell that to the world whose losses stand today at 345,554 at 2:00 p.m. this sunny Sunday after‐ noon. I shudder at this callous response to this tragedy—it is dangerous and heartbreaking! Today, I choose empathy and compassion for the losses, for the pain, for the struggle, and I continue to wonder about our collective future.

In my circle of family and friends, I know someone who was diagnosed with COVID-19 in mid-March and is still experiencing symptoms ten weeks later. Some say it’s just like the flu. I’ve never had a flu that lasted that long.

Masked group - reality check

What Do We Face?

April 1, 2020

The future always felt

Predictable.

Not now!


Not post-coronavirus pandemic,

Not after the deaths,

The insanity,

The world in turmoil!

What’s coming?

Social distancing

’til April 30,


The whole month.

More cases

More deaths!

100,000s dead?

1,000,000s sick?

The uncertainty

No one knows

For sure,

But why?

Our tech age believed

We could control,

Order,


Orchestrate the world.

But no!


Here we stand frozen

Paralyzed

Isolated.

2020—


with all its advances

can’t contain

this small

tiny

Enemy.

It controls us!

The USA

Ill-prepared

So sad,


But so true!

World leaders, a part of the problem,

Yes,

But China lied!

Would the authorities have acted differently

If they knew the truth?

Not 81,000 deaths in China


But possibly forty times that amount!

3,240,000


Oh my God!

We will never know.

Where are we headed?

Done and recovered

And back to normal


At the end of April?

May?


September?

I haven’t even a thought

About our financial losses

Not in the wake of the deaths,

The sickness and trauma,

The despair!

We’re all in the same boat

Headed somewhere,

Destination unknown

God, help us!

The coronavirus catapulted me farther into a stark face-to-face confrontation with reality. Reality—different to different people? I thought I knew what reality was. I’m an intelligent human being, but the polarization of our country over wearing masks and the coronavirus has me reeling. Who do I believe? Is it a hoax?

I find myself defending my stance of believing in the severity of the coronavirus and adhering to the mandates set in place nationally by the CDC and locally by our state government. Depending on which news source you subscribe to, friends and family members appear to me to be out of touch. Or is it me?

I’ve struggled with reality my whole life, wanting to live in a LaLa Land of my own making, but adulthood and recovery forced me to grow up, move out of that imaginary land into the territory of the REAL.

Woman floating under the moon - reality check

Reality Check

April 2, 2020

The sun keeps shining.

The world spins.

Night follows day.

On the surface,

Normal is constant.

Yet the massive choirs


Of heartbroken cries resound

Across the dusty plains


Down through the fertile valleys

Atop the snow-topped mountains

Through the quiet deserts.

Human kind is under attack

A virus war zone!

People die;


The number mounts!

Doesn’t matter his color

Her Ethnicity

His Religion

No immunity!

The coronavirus kills,

Has no prejudices,

Is not judicious in its target.

The massive grief grows.


The weight of the pain stresses

This world to its limit.

A mother

A father

A daughter

Die alone

Not a hand to hold


No last kiss and hug!

And it’s not just the virus’s victims,

But anyone unlucky enough

To die now


Like my dear friend, Jan.

Her two daughters and grandson stood vigilant

Outside her door

No kiss


No touch

No hug


Only death!

And FaceTime

On an iPhone!

Such sterile technology

At a time

When she needed familiar touch.

Hearts break in unison,

Too many to count—

Exponential pain multiplied

By this devastation!

Yet the sun rises.


Days melt into weeks.

Pain from this horror lingers

Forever

An acrid taste in my mouth

And

Heart.

I know our realities might differ. Hopefully, somehow, some way, our realities meet and merge.

You may wonder why I keep posting my poems of struggle and uncertainty. I grappled so through this pandemic and recorded it. It certainly helped me; I hope it helps you.

YOUR REFLECTIONS:

At the end of May 2020, how did you handle all the conflicting information thrown at us?

Looking back after two years, my heart aches for where we were and all the losses in between. And reality still is questionable, so we needed another reality check now.

Dare you look back to 2020 and what you were feeling in mid-May 2020? Do a reality check today and think about how you have grown better, not bitter over the last two years.

~NEWEST PODCAST to be released Thursday, March 17, 2022, discussing my new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? : Live on Purpose Podcast at https://liveonpurposeradio.com/category/podcast/

~MY FIRST AUDIOBOOK IS AVAILABLE: Go to Audible to buy my first audiobook, Let Me Tell You a Story. I’m working on Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? but have gotten stalled with shingles.

~Do you listen to podcasts? Here are three podcasts with interviews about my new book & some Flippo stories:

Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo meme

~Have you bought a copy of Flippo’s biography yet? Believe it or not—it’s been two years. Go here for your hardback or paperback: https://www.laradasbooks.com or at Amazon.

~For me, it’s Christmas all year long! Here’s a variety of Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When It’s Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A

Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? meme

~What happened to you in 2020-2021 during the coronavirus pandemic? Do you care? Are you on a spiritual path? Do you want to heal from the horrible effects of the pandemic of 2020? Visit my website to find out about my new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? and my other five books and three cookbooks: https://laradasbooks.com

2022, Hello!
Coronavirus · Dancing · Goals · My Thoughts

2022, Hello!

Larada Horner-MillerLeave a comment
2022

2022 is here, and I’m ready! Each year arrives with new hope, new possibilities! Because of the last couple of years, I have mixed feelings. What does 2022 hold for us? With everything still on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, join me in my wondering!

My Book Business in 2022

Four of my books - 2022
3 of my books - 2022

I now have six books and three cookbooks in my stable. I plan on focusing on my book business and becoming more proficient in the administering of it. My mission statement is “a baby-boomer with a purpose.”

I have five areas of focus this year:

  1. Writing
  2. Recording audiobooks of my books
  3. Online Memoir workshop
  4. Promoting
  5. Continued training

Today I wrote a plan for each area so I use my time more efficiently. Obviously, writing is my major focus. I have two books in the works: a description of my experience of writing Flippo’s biography and what I learned and the first book in a poetry series. Before the pandemic, I had a successful Memoir Workshop I presented at various libraries in the area. Now, I plan to host it online through Zoom.

Audiobooks are another major focus of this year. I will record, Let Me Tell You a Story, first. After that, I plan to record my newest book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better?. Then, I will tackle This Tumbleweed Landed and then When Will Papa Get Home? Sounds ambitious, maybe, but I’ll let you know my progress.

Promoting takes so much of my time. I hope to be more systematic at my promotions this year. And last, I have bought some great training packages over the years, so I plan to incorporate training in my weekly schedule.

2022 Goals

My Personal Life This Year

Dancing

I want to dance! I’m getting cabin-fever and want my old life back. As I look at 2022, I see annual festivals we normally attended and yearn to go. Normally we’re in Arizona at the end of January at Hummingbird Hoedown, so I’m hoping we can make that this year.

Because we have a mask mandate, here in New Mexico, we haven’t danced since August—Lin can’t dance with a mask, so I’ve stayed home. But I’m going to go to a weekly Advance dance with a girlfriend because I can dance the guy’s part.

Hopefully, the three local festivals I’m involved in will not be canceled again this year: Duke City Singles and Doubles’ Spring Fling, New Mexico State Square and Round Dance Festival and 16th Annual Hot August Nights.

Dancing is my passion and I just have to dance!

Our Ranch

Recently, I went to our family ranch in Colorado, but I want to go monthly and spend more time there.

Our Response to the coronavirus

As a couple, Lin and I have been super conservative, staying home mostly for the last two years. We will continue being cautious, but hopefully activities will open up more this year.

My Spiritual Life in 2022

Because of such major changes in our lifestyle, we stayed home these last two years, providing me an opportunity to go deeper spiritually. I plan to continue the habits I’ve honed over these couple years of dedicating time to a Quiet Time in the morning to read devotionals and study Scriptures and write. I also plan to add more meditation to my daily habit.

Finally,

I always anticipate the best for each new year: a blank page where I get to decide how to fill it. What do you feel at the beginning of a new year?

~Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A

~Visit my website to find out about my new book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? and my other five books and three cookbooks: https://laradasbooks.com

~Check out a Gigantic End of Year Sale at my Etsy Shop, Larada’s Reading Loft. 25% off almost all bundles!