The winner of the bonus entry for November is #12 - lilkoala3!
On August 12, 2022, as Salman Rushdie was preparing to give a speech in Chautauqua, NY on the importance of the United States being a safe haven for writers, a man burst forth from the audience and rushed the stage, brutally attacking Rushdie with a knife. The attack, which lasted mere seconds, changed Rushdie’s life forever, blinding him in one eye and leaving him with both physical and emotional scars from the 15 stab wounds he suffered. Though the attack was a surprise, for Rushdie, it was not entirely unexpected – his first thought was “So it’s you. Here you are.”
However, thirty years had passed since the fatwa (assassination decree) that had been ordered against him by the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, in response to the publication of Rushdie’s book, The Satanic Verses. In that time, Rushdie had let his guard down, long since having stopped traveling with security detail. He was leading what he described as a “normal life” with a wife he loved and two grown children he adored. It would be these loved ones he would lean on in the coming weeks and months as he underwent the greatest challenges of his life: struggling to survive and coming to terms with what happened to him as he allowed both his body, and his mind, to heal.
OPTION 1: THE POWER OF BOOKS
The Satanic Verses, the book that put Rushdie on Ayatollah Khomeini’s hit list, is based on the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and uses magical realism to explore the lives of two Indian expatriates in England. It was considered blasphemous and its sale was banned in India, which just goes to show the immense power that books can have. To that end, make a page about something having to do with books in your life. It can be really anything – reading books to your kids/grandkids, attending book club, a list of your favorite books, meeting a favorite author, etc. Truly, anything goes, as long as the focus is BOOKS!
Several years ago when my daughter met her (then) favorite author, Jeff Kinney, and presented him with some fan fiction she'd written.
OPTION 2: SILVER LININGS
In any tragedy, our greatest hope is that there are some positives that can come out of it. Rushdie describes being surprised and overwhelmed by all the fellow authors and fans who came to his defense and held vigils for him in the days immediately following his attack. He also discusses the ability to reconnect with his children and the importance of having them by his side during his recovery. Despite the intense lows of his experience, Rushdie is able to find many reasons to be thankful. So, for Option 2, make a page about something that didn’t go quite right and, on the surface, seems like a negative experience. However, find the silver lining in it and include both the negative and positive on the page. This means you will have to do some journaling!
When I got into a very bad car accident and, though I was mostly ok, my car and everything in it was not. For Christmas, my husband made me a recreation of a bumper sticker I'd lost which didn't hold a lot of monetary value, but did have a lot of sentimental value.
The Fine Print:
1. HAVE FUN MAKING YOUR PROJECT!
2. Entries open to new projects - paper, digital, & card making.
3. May be combined with one other challenge that allows it.
4. Due October 31st, at 11:59 PM.
5. One lucky winner, chosen at random, will receive a $5 ACOT gift card from me!
6. Up to 3 entries permitted per month.
7. If there are more than 15 unique entries (not including bonuses) during the month, a second name will be drawn and that person will get an automatic entry for the following month.
Participants:
1. joannie
2. Karyn_Sue
3. Kelly R.
4. aheatfan
5. wendycrowe
6. ScrappyRN74
7. shoorn
8. PEIhaven
9. lisn2cats
10. hsblair
11. njr007
12. Amy Jo
13. lilkoala3
14. lilkoala3
15. lilkoala3
Kelly 
Kristin 
