Giving Thanks

So many things that I'm grateful for...

Always first, my husband and daughters. Without them, my world would be a colder and darker place, even on the brightest days of summer. I am thankful for the continued health and safety of those I love most in the world, as well as my own.

And I give thanks for the rest of my family -- my parents and my stepmother, my sisters and stepsister, and my in-laws -- and for the collective kinks in our brains, limps in our gaits and general dysfunctions that keep us arguing and laughing together. (Always remember, right in the middle of dysfunction you find FUN!)

I have been blessed with a multitude of friends, the people you find in life who feed your soul and love you even after they discover that you hate dusting and secretly love to listen to disco and Bananarama's version of 'Venus'.

Thinking of friends moves into my writer's gratitude list: Sally, Johnnye & Kim are friends and fellow writers, and I have benefited immensely from their guidance and honesty. (Or in Johnnye's case from her whining and nagging.)

Not only are these three terrific women friends, we all belong to a critique group that includes writers of fiction, screenplays and stage plays, and poetry. Genres from romance to horror movies are represented, as are both genders. (For a romance writer, getting the viewpoint of males, especially when writing your hero, is invaluable!!) My family loves me and is proud of me (mostly), but they don't get my struggles and triumphs with the written word like other writers do.

I am profoundly thankful for everyone at Kensington Publishing who have put time and effort in the belief that I can write books that will sell. Yes, it is a business and I am a minnow in a pond with some very talented fish, but my emails and calls are returned promptly and they answer my newbie questions with great patience. Peter Senftleben, my editor, is wonderful! I was delighted when he told me he will be my editor for my second book.

And during these tough economic times, I am humbly thankful for material blessings. Not just the necessities of food, shelter and clothing, but for having enough to help our hard-working college student pay her expenses, and to cover our (mercifully small) medical expenses.

What do you give thanks for?