A Few Things to Be Thankful For

As a child in Vermont, the only things good about November were my birthday and Thanksgiving.  Past that, it meant winter was coming and I absolutely hated winter.  My dad would go deer hunting but always made it home in time for my birthday.  Now that I'm in southern California, winter doesn't hold the dread and fear that it once did so now I actually enjoy November.

I read recently that we're the only country in the world that sets aside a day to be thankful for the blessings we have.  Isn't that heart-warming?  We may grumble about the economy, the price of gas, and the politicians, but I would rather live here and grumble than live in any other country in the world.  I have a feeling our problems would seem minor compared to what residents of other countries go through.

I, for one, am thankful that I have fingers that still work a keyboard, a mind that can still think rationally, and an office in a warm house in which to work.  I can write what I want and no one is going to censor me.  I have the latest technology at my fingertips to produce books or communicate with people around the globe.  This is a wonderful time to be living!

I have a family I love and who loves me.  My deepest thanks this year is that my daughter and her husband are around to enjoy Thanksgiving, after surviving a horrific motorcycle crash in June.  Every week that goes by, we're now at week 21, is one more week I've been able to talk and Skype with my daughter.  The situation could have been so different!  My children, my two daughters and my son, mean the world to me.

I have friends, near and far, that are dear to my heart.  My friends out here are my support since my family is all back East.  My writing friends and my church friends are more like close family than friends.  I have been truly blessed.

My husband is a love who is planning something special for my birthday.  I did right when I married him because he likes to cook more than I do and he does the dishes!

As you celebrate on Thursday, remember all you have to be thankful for--from the incredible country you live in to the fact that your eyes work and you can read this.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thought for the Day:  I Pray Heaven to Bestow The Best of Blessing on THIS HOUSE, and on ALL that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof! John Adams

Three Words a Minute = One Novel

Here we are in November already.  As I mentioned in my last post, November 1st was National Author's Day.  Did you hug your favorite author?  

Besides being a time when you  prepare your Christmas lists while you're deciding what to buy for Thanksgiving dinner, November is also NaNoWriMo, or, National Novel Writing Month.  The object, for those of you who have ever thought about writing a novel, is to start on November 1st and write a fifty thousand page novel by 11:59 pm on November 30.  Okay, I realize we're already a day late getting started so you'd better write in double time today!

And here's a blatant plug for my book, Twelve Steps to Becoming an Author.  If you are interested in writing, this book will help you all along the way from start to finish, and even after you write THE END.  Because, once you write THE END, your work is just beginning, that of marketing your book. 

Fifty thousand words in a month comes out to 1,667 words a day.  Or, 208 words an hour.  Or, 3 words a minute.  ANYBODY can write 3 words a minute.  Right?

So if you have an idea that's been niggling in the back of your mind for a few years, give it a whirl! And don't worry about editing and perfection at this stage of the game.  For this month, just get everything out of your head and on paper, or on the screen.  Next month, between wrapping presents and making cookies, you can fine tune your story.  

The main thing is, HAVE FUN!

Today's Quote: There are more experiences in life than you’d think for which there are no words.

Anita Shreve