Here in the United States it’s Thanksgiving season. And there is so much I’m thankful for in 2015. Particularly with respect to this website I’d like to give a heartfelt thanks to all of the people who have shown an interest in my work or even just the things I’ve shared here. Writing is a solitary affair, but art doesn’t live in a vacuum. All of you who have bought a book, left a comment on a post, or shared your thoughts in a review have helped make my stories grow.
And while my career up to this point may not be exactly flourishing or yielding a bumper crop, the seeds are out there and I’m thankful for that. I’m thankful that I live in a time and a place where creative expression is so accessible possible. It is such a privilege to be able to bring things that exist only in my head out onto paper and connect with far flung readers or those right next door. And it’s a privilege that I don’t take for granted.
A grab bag of gratitude
Apart from being thankful for authorial things, here are a few others I’m thankful for.
- My family (okay, kind of obvious, but it needs to be said). They are the quiet in the storm of life, even though sometimes I don’t appreciate them the way I should.
- Misty mountains. No, I don’t live in Middle Earth, but I do live in a part of the country in which I regularly get to drive through enchanted landscapes goblins and fairies lurk just beyond my field of vision.
- Laptop computers. Ok, this is probably a writing thing again, but seriously. I can write novels in bed! Or at a gas station! Or a cafe! Or at the parking lot of a soccer practice! (and yes, I have done all of the above and more). What a blessing.
- Music. Oh, how I love music. This year has been a bit of a renaissance for me musically discovering some wonderful new artists and songs. I use music for my writing, when I play games, while I’m driving. It’s so wonderful to be able to let rhythms and melodies take me soaring.
- God. His truth is so deep, his grace so unfathomable, and his holiness so overwhelming that I cannot help but be thankful to know the most fascinating, wonderful, awe-inspiring person in the universe.
Well, those are just a few of the things I’m thankful for. I could list a hundred more, but I think it’s time I go and enjoy some of these blessings. What about you? What will you be thankful for during this Thanksgiving season?
