Sometimes it’s bit too easy, isn’t it, to focus on things that are annoying or things that have gone wrong. Or that might go wrong in the future, come to think of it.
This is just as true for book- and writing-related things as for general life. So it’s nice to take a moment and appreciate the writerly things that are excellent.
Top Ten for a Writer’s Thanksgiving.
1. I’m grateful for the bookish section of the blogosphere. I would miss so many ultra-fantastic books if it weren’t for Chachic and Heidi and Kristen and Maureen and Liz Bourke and Thea and Ana and all the rest of you, seriously, because I know I check in on a lot more blogs than this.
2. I’m grateful there are way, way, way too many fantastic books out there for me ever to read. It would be horrible to think there was a chance of running out. I’m grateful (really!) for my overflowing TBR pile!
3. I’m grateful for my Kindle, I guess, even though it lets me hide half my TBR pile, which is a bit dangerous. But so good for when you’re traveling! And comfortable to hold! And you can get a book instantly, which is so cool.
4. I’m grateful for Twitter. Not only does Twitter constantly point me toward great posts I would otherwise miss, but it is a wonderful way to connect with readers or other writers. These days I feel bad if I read a book I just love and can’t send the author a tweet to say so. Not to mention that getting a tweet like that from a reader provides a great lift to my day.
5. I’m grateful for Goodreads. When I am thinking of getting a book from Audible but it’s a new-to-me author, I head right for Goodreads reviews to check out the title. Plus, hey! Naturally I appreciate having a zillion good reviews for my books.
6. I’m grateful for Caitlin Blasdell, my agent, who was instrumental in giving me a chance to build the life I wanted. And my first editors, Michelle Frey at Random House and Devi Pillai at Orbit who gave me a huge ego boost by supporting my earlier books. And my newest editor, Amanda Rutter at Strange Chemistry, for giving me a way to go forward with a book I love in a subgenre that has become increasingly hard to break into.
7. I’m grateful for the way the publishing world is opening up with so many options for self-publishing, so that now writers, including me, can decide to write exactly what we want even if we’re pretty sure editors won’t be interested. I swear I will indeed try self-publishing in the next year or two.
8. I’m grateful that it looks like I will probably have contracts and deadlines that will keep me busy next year and possibly the year after that, because even though I do want to try self-publishing, I don’t want to depend on self-publishing. I am pretty sure I can work on both contracted and independent books in the same year, even though I bet that will keep me pretty busy.
9. I’m grateful my current revision is going well — so well that I’m actually enjoying the revision process. That’s not a first for me, but it’s close. I’m grateful that I’m truly looking forward to getting back to my next WIP, which is waiting for me to pick it up as soon as Christmas break arrives. I’m grateful that I have no dearth of ideas for what to work on next and can see myself getting excited about working on any of them.
10. And most of all — I’m sure you could see this coming — but seriously, people, I’m grateful to each and every one one of my readers. Thank you all for devoting a few hours of your lives to MY books. It means a lot.
Please Feel Free to Share:
And thank you, very much, for writing your books!!!
I’m grateful for the publishing world for publishing great writers like our hostess! And the guy who suggested several years ago that I’d like CITY.
and for modern medicine for both humans and animals (been on a lot of vet visits lately).
Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for the mention with all the other wonderful bloggers!
I am very grateful for #1 and #2. It may sound like I’m not sometimes when I talk about having too many books I want to read RIGHT NOW, but I’d much rather have the problem of too many books I want to read than too few! I am also grateful for authors like yourself who write great books that I enjoy reading. :)
Charlotte, you are very welcome and I would paper my walls with copies of your reviews if I were only a little less inhibited.
Elaine, thanks, and OH MY GOSH YES for modern medicine.
Kristen, I know, right? I probably have enough books right now to keep me going for two years without buying a single new title, yet there are new books all the time that we just MUST HAVE.