My guest today is Cherish D’Angelo (aka Cheryl Kaye Tardif), a Canadian writer of great kindness and wonderfulness of all kinds. Cherish/Cheryl, tell us about this Divineness, please!

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Many people have done Random Acts of Kindness, bestowing some kind of gift on a stranger, but only I do what I call my Random Acts of Divineness. There are global movements and Facebook groups that embrace doing something spontaneous or unexpected for a complete stranger and anyone who has been on either the giving or receiving end can tell you it’s a wonderful experience.

I love giving gifts. Even to complete strangers. Sometimes I do this anonymously. Sometimes I am inspired by meeting someone for the first time. The Divineness comes into play when I decide to give them one of my novels―and I know instinctively which one they need to read. That’s often what it’s about for me. What someone else needs to read or learn or think about. Random Acts of Divineness is what I think of when synchronicity and serendipity come calling and put me in a particular situation with someone special.

In Mexico a few years ago, while relaxing on a lounger on the beach and working on my freckles, I noticed two couples a row in front and a few seats down. I saw books in their hands. Immediately, I plotted how I could anonymously leave them one of my books. When they disappeared into the beach restaurant for lunch, I strode toward their loungers and left a copy of The River on one seat and Divine Intervention on the other.

Inside each book, I wrote a special message–something like this:

If you found this book, it is yours. This is a Random Act of Kindness from the author.

Cheryl Kaye Tardif, Riu Vallarta – Feb. 22 – Mar. 1st, 2008

When the two couples returned, I shamelessly spied on them and watched their puzzled looks. Okay, I admit, it was fun to do this unexpected thing, even though my husband Marc was worried they’d just throw the books away. But Mischief Me got a big kick out of watching them covertly from my wrap-around sunglasses, while I tried hard not to smile.

I saw them look around, perplexed by the books on their loungers. Finally one of the men opened a book and saw my message. I was torn between wanting to go over and say “Hi” and just wanting to revel in doing this random act. So I remained in my seat. The reward came first when I saw one of the men open up my book and start reading.

Even more ironic was the fact that on the day we left Mexico, we came across the same couple at the beach. As we drew closer, I realized that one of the men was holding Divine Intervention. He was halfway through it. Then I saw the other man with The River, also halfway finished. I couldn’t resist asking, “Are you enjoying your book?”

It didn’t take them long to figure out who I was and I was rewarded with smiles and thank yous. But it’s the words of the one fellow I won’t soon forget. “Your style is similar to Michael Connelly’s,” said the man reading Divine Intervention. WOW! That is high praise! Random Acts of Divineness, indeed!

~Cherish D’Angelo

Lancelot’s Lady ~ A Bahamas holiday from dying billionaire JT Lance, a man with a dark secret, leads palliative nurse Rhianna McLeod to Jonathan, a man with his own troubled past, and Rhianna finds herself drawn to the handsome recluse, while unbeknownst to her, someone with a horrific plan is hunting her down.

Lancelot’s Lady is available in ebook edition at KoboBooks, Amazon’s Kindle Store, Smashwords and other ebook retailers. Help me celebrate by picking up a copy today and “Cherish the romance…”

You can learn more about Lancelot’s Lady and Cherish D’Angelo (aka Cheryl Kaye Tardif) at http://www.cherishdangelo.com and http://www.cherylktardif.blogspot.com. Follow Cherish from September 27 to October 10 on her Cherish the Romance Virtual Book Tour and win prizes.

CHERISH’S WRITING PROMPT: What would you do if an author gave you a book out of the blue? Authors: do this today for just one stranger and see how it makes you feel.

Leave a comment here, with email address, to be entered into the prize draws. You’re guaranteed to receive at least 1 free ebook just for doing so. Plus you’ll be entered to win a Kobo ereader. Winners will be announced after October 10th.

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Thanks for the visit, and for the wonderful story! Best of luck with the rest of your book tour. 🙂

WRITING PROMPT: Imagine both sides of a random act of kindness–the giver and the receiver. Then go do a random act of kindness and write about how it gets passed on. It’ll be fun! (If you want to imagine that it Goes Terribly Wrong, that’s okay, too. It’s your plot!)

MA