Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your day is filled with love and gratitude.

I spent much of yesterday working on my hard drive, which corrupted. Again. It’s basically a delicate Victorian lady, likely to swoon if anyone fiddles with its plugs or if it experiences sudden shutdowns, or anything else that might interrupt its smooth operation. I’ve fixed it for now, which I’m thankful for. That took some time from my writing.

Let me tell you what else I’m thankful for:

• Friends and family. Max, Jenny, and JLo in particular buoyed me up when I thought I would sink below rough NaNoWriMo waves. Steve, my constant and most faithful friend and lover supports me beyond love, and I’m grateful.
• My Superstars tribe, my Memphis writers groups, and the people in Mary Robinette’s writing group keep me grounded in the writing world. I rejoice and am inspired by their many accomplishments and I empathize when life happens to them, as it does to all of us.
• My writing teachers: Mary Robinette Kowal and Dean Wesley Smith who have both connected to me and offered wisdom I sorely needed. Two years ago I was a mess. I didn’t know how to start writing. Now I’m producing finished stories each week and have received two Honorable Mentions from Writers of the Future. The difference is education.
• The many opportunities that have come my way this year from the Micronomicon and other gaming projects to opportunities to submit to contests and publications. Special thanks to John David Payne.
• My amazing editors, Mia Kleve and Jennifer Lopez.
• Anthony Cournoyer, the artist who did such a great job illustrating “Thule” and “Lightning Scarred.”
• I attended Superstars this year and it transformed my life. I am so grateful that I was able to go. Thank you to Steve who agreed and made it possible. And much thanks to the Tribe there. (If you want to go, you can use my alumni code for $100 off the price: CSTEIN100.)
• We are living in the best of all possible times for writers. The availability of education, software and other writing tools, and the ability to connect with each other is amazing. I’m grateful to have lived long enough to participate in it.

May you find much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving and may words fill the sails of your fantasy frigates.

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