As we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving here in the US, I'm wondering what you writers are feeling thankful for in your writing life these days!

Share below, and happy Thanksgiving to all!

What I'm thankful for at the moment is suddenly identifying a path forward for 'Home Is The Sailor'. I never really know how these things will unfold. I feel my way, no solid goal in terms of a plot. 

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Sly's first voyage was a bust. Battered by a storm, he was forced to turn back. He still yearns to lay eyes on those Dodos he's read about. Herk wants to see them too. Sly gives his friend a challenge. He demands Hog stand up to the barnyard chickens. If he can't stand his ground with small birds, how is he going to deal with huge Dodos?  

--edited by Mimi Speike on 11/23/2015, 9:13 PM--

Hmmm, nice question, Lucy

What am I thankful for in my writing? Well, I guess it'd have to be the support and mentorship of other talented writers on both this site and others. I've grown a lot in the past couple years, and it's thanks to the continued friendship of other writers, who took their valuable time to help me on my path. I'm still a newbie, but at least I'm not as hopeless as I was in the beginning (at least, I hope I'm not).

I've hit a writing slump, though. I go through Destiny's Bond and feel it's not the best it can be. I get this itch--I hate it when I get itches--and now I'm contemplating a complete rewrite of the story . . . Again. I've tested a new beginning for the story, and so far the plot is coming at a better clip, in my opinion. Another writer on a different site is critiquing each chapter as I upload, and she likes them so far--I've only got 3 chapters done so far. When I have maybe ten, I'll upload them to Book Country for review. I'd love my Book Country pals opinions on the new Destiny's Bond. I think my writing style is much improved in this one than the last, and I hope I'm not wasting time on this. I'm having a different approach to this rewrite than my other--I'm introducing characters much like Anne Bishop does in her own Black Jewels Trilogy. Absolutely love that woman's writing! I think a bit of her style might have kinda marginally leaked into my own. That'd be awesome.

Anyway, so that's what I'm thankful for--my fellow writers who've been cheering me on these past two years. It's appreciated, guys!

I'm thankful that Motauqwa Means Mountain was just selected as an "editor's pick" on Book Country. Whoo-hoo! Validation.

I'm thankful that I'm not dead yet. (In case there are publishing contracts, wider recognition and royalties to come.)

I'm thankful for every writer, anywhere—intrigued by a vague idea, a passing fancy, a niggling itch—who set down to shape such hypnagogic mist and dream-smoke—word-after-word, sentence-after-sentence, page-after-page—into the books of poetry, short stories and novels that now stand on our bookshelves, seemingly foreordained to exist. (In fact, they have been willed to exist.)

I'm thankful for the good and kind and decent people of this world who still manage to practice an "attitude of gratitude" despite the horrors, hard setbacks, bitter disappointments and knee-unhinging grief common to us all. Because such calamities are only half the story. (Meister Eckhart: "If the only prayer you ever said in your lifetime was 'thank you'—it would be enough.")  

--edited by Carl E. Reed on 11/24/2015, 12:14 AM--

In my day job I write position papers, reports, labor contracts, letters of agreement, and procedure manuals, and I edit the same for my colleagues, my boss, and sometimes his boss. The ability to write is important to my success at work.

Writing fiction is a temporary retreat from the rest of the week. I enjoy every bit of the process of writing fiction. I am thankful for the support I’ve received from friends and editors and publishers who have seen value in my stories. I have a small but appreciative audience, and my audience offers rewards beyond the modest amount of money I earn from this.

Last weekend we had our granddaughter with us. She is six years old. She is learning to read. Last weekend, with a little coaxing and editorial and production assistance from me, she wrote a book about her equestrian pursuits at Camp Grandpa, our little farm. She drew several images, she chose a dozen photographs, and she composed a narrative that described each picture and carried a story through the book. She is proud of her book, and I am thankful for the chance to coach her in the beginnings of a craft that will serve her well. 

And I am very grateful for my husband's encouragement, emotional, financial (allowing me to go down to one job from the two I worked for twenty years), contributing endless good ideas, doing research for me on early science and math, (he'll be a real help when I get to where Sly formulates his own theory of gravity). I am going to concentrate on that as I recover from the tantrum he threw over my new iPod. Nothing to do with money, not that. I had a hell of a time getting it going. He tried also, no luck. Well, he threw a huge fit while I was on the phone with a poor lady at AppleCare. She must have thought she was talking to lunatics. OK, it's working now, I'm (almost) smiling again.

--edited by Mimi Speike on 11/24/2015, 10:18 AM--

These are awesome, people!

I'm thankful that one of my WIPs picked up some momentum this year. Thankful also for the Friday Accountability Group, which helps me keep the momentum going.

I'm very thankful to our developers and designers who work behind the scenes to keep improving Book Country. We had some awesome new features come out this year, and it's been so fun to watch members use those.

Especially thankful for our old members and our new members. I love getting to know all of you and your writing! I've spent quality time IRL with a few of you this year and that was a real highlight, too.

Will you be celebrating the holiday by going around and saying what you are thankful for aloud? My family usually does that. Will you mention your writing?

I'm also very thankful for where my hubby works and the support of the people he works with. His co-workers are generous in sharing information and sharing that view behind the curtain.  They are like a second adopted family sometimes.  It's humbling and inspiring to be around people who work so hard and hold up these extreme levels of perfection and it drives me to work harder every day on my writing like these  people do for cooking.  

- To have come across Book Country when I did. Actually I didn't just 'come across' it - I looked at many and thought about it long and hard before joining. So what I mean is I'm thankful I did. It's the first place I ever put my writing out to a wider public, and I'm thankful for the support and feedback. It's good to be part of a community.

- That I started blogging at about the same time. It's obviously very different, and a much wider community, but it provides a similar boost through simply establishing a presence and having to add content on a regular basis.

- Like Carl, to have just been selected as one of the editor's picks. It actually means more to me this time round than before, because it came quicker and has done a great job in diminishing the doubts I continue to have (and always will).

- To have published One Green Bottle. To be confronted with the challenge of promoting and marketing. To be slowly, laboriously finding my way around that. Still with very little to show for it, but there's the impression that if you just keep putting one foot in front of the other, you eventually get to the top of the mountain.

- To have the opportunity in terms of time, money and health to continue an activity I'd have trouble living without, even if I'm well aware it's a luxury. 

Obviously, we don't do thanksgiving in this neck of the woods, but I'm thankful for the thread Lucy started and I wish you all the best for the festivities!

I'm thankful for my family who willingly read my works even before they're good enough for public consumption, LOL. And I'm thankful for this site for connecting me with other writers and for the Buddy Program here.

Happy Holidays to all!