Thirteen Things I’m Thankful For

1. My husband. He’s good, kind, compassionate, strong, smart, passionate about things, handsome, very muscly, a fabulous father, supportive of my writing, brings me chocolate and he’s my number one fan. I’m so incredibly blessed to have a partner like him.

2. My kids. I may joke about them being monsters and so, okay I’m not joking, they are, but they’re the best part of me and my husband. They’re beautiful, horrible creatures and there’s nothing in the world better than their snuggles and smooches.

3. My mom and dad – they’re the best. They taught me about compassion and caring, they taught me to pursue the things that mean something in life. They’ve been tirelessly supportive of everything I’ve ever done and I can only hope to be half as good a parent as they are.

4. My friends. Jordan wrote about support yesterday and there’s a fabulous video up at Alison’s blog that touches on women’s relatinonships and for me – I know without a doubt I get through each day because of my friends’ support and love. From doing crit at the drop of the hat to sending me chocolate when I made my first NY sale – my friends are an integral part of my life and I’m grateful for them.

5. My readers (and many are friends too so I’m doubly lucky). You’re all amazing and I would not be here without you. Thank you. Seriously and most truly, thank you for supporting me and sending me notes and taking the time out of your busy lives to comment here, come to chats, to say hello on the loops, to read my books – you rock and it humbles me that you’re out there.

6 and 7. My editors – most notably Angie James and Ann Leveille. Ann has edited all my EC books and has taken me from something like 8 rounds of edits on Triad to two on books now. She’s taught me how to be a better writer. The thing about Ann I’ll always be most thankful for? When she sent my first round of edits on Triad she said, “make sure you make the threesome realistic.” And quite honestly, IMO, it’s the key to writing a good menage book. Make your characters human, there will be moments of jealousy, etc (well, even my non human characters can have jealous moments or at the very least a reason that three would work). She’s a good person and I love working with her.

And Angie – since Ann spoiled me and in the interim before I sold to Samhain I’d had other editor experiences, one was so awful I lost hair over it – I was wary but Angie is a fabulous editor. I remember asking one of her authors about her before I submitted and that author said she was hard core but a really good editor who didn’t mess with author voice. And that author was right. I love working with her, I love her sense of humor, I love the way she pushes me to write a better book. I never get the sense she’s just going through the motions or that she doesn’t care about anything other than finishing up and getting to the next person on her list. I always feel like she cares about me as a person, as a writer and that she wants me to do the best job I can.

8. My agent, Laura Bradford. She’s a wonderful person. Supportive. Tireless (and I mean tireless, the woman never takes time off). When I’m all mopey she sends me these great doubled edged emails that are supportive and then tell me to knock it off. I love that.

9. My laptop – oh how I love my laptop. Every book but Triad and A Touch of Fae has been written on it. It weighs next to nothing and has a nice, wide screen.

10. Music – I love music and I don’t know that I could write without it. Currently I’m loving TV On The Radio, Ministry, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Sleater-Kinney and The Good, The Bad and The Queen. Next week the list will be different.

11. Books – I started reading pretty early and I’ve been a book junkie ever since. There are books I read over and over because they’re like comfort objects or they inspire me. The book from my childhood I remember most? The Dark is Rising – I still read it from time to time. There are many others (god knows I’ve written about them a lot, books always kept me company) and every week I read something else that brings me enjoyment, joy, anger, inspiration, etc.

12. My house. It’s not big. It’s not grand. Most of the time it’s a chaotic mess filled with noise and clutter but it’s mine and it’s where my family lives. It makes me happy every time I come around the corner and see it there.

13. Inspiration. Each time I finish a book there’s always a bittersweet feeling. I’m glad I was able to finish and find the end for my story and characters, I’ll miss them and a tiny question about whether or not I’ll be able to do it again. And each time I start a new book, each time a new idea comes and I start to give it life, the wonderment that I’m living this cool as hell dream of writing settles in and I hope I never become so jaded it doesn’t fill me me with awe.

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