The Still Summer contest is over; and some lucky winners will have prizes headed their way once they learn who they are.

I intend to quote in full some of the best entries in this space in the next few days -- because a bad vacation can make a great story. It's just too bad we have to live through them. However, I want to share some stories about vacations you'll be glad you never had.

For all of you who wrote, whether or not you read Still Summer or are hoping to see the movie, thanks for sharing your tales of woe, comic or otherwise (I won't be quoting the "otherwise" kind, although some were indeed heartfelt. Enjoy the cologne and wear the earrings on your next vacation... here's hoping it will be a great one.

And look for my Young Adult novel, All We Know of Heaven -- set to appear in February from HarperCollins. It's a story of tragedy and love lost and found, but also a story of the care we need to take when we get behind the wheel of a car. What happens to one person affects a family, a peer group, an extended peer group -- and ultimately, all of us. What happens to Bridget and Maureen in All We Know of Heaven could happen to any of us, or any of our children. It's an absorbing story, but also (I hope) a point for discussion in families in which the parents read the book with their young teens or older teens.

Be safe as this holiday season begins. Remember, we don't live only for ourselves, but for others.