For Our Many Blessings

God our Father

God our Father

We thank You

We thank You

For our many blessings

For our many blessings

Amen

Amen

That’s the simple prayer my brothers and sisters and I sang along with our parents before every meal growing up. Perhaps it was originally intended to be sung as a round, but we just sang every verse twice. In retrospect, even though that might’ve been silly, it’s kind of nice to realize we were giving thanks twice in our childlike, singsong voices.

This month, there’s a wonderful trend on Facebook of posting one person/place/thing you’re thankful for every day during the month of November. Filling Facebook with words of gratitude for family members and pets, new babies and babies to be, coworkers, homes, food on the table, and the beauty of fall is a welcome change from the typical scuttlebutt of political jabs, infectious and overhyped videos, and misleading ads. I wish we did this year round!

 

giving thanks

I am thankful for each of YOU for reading this blog, irregularly as I keep it up! I’m glad to share with you a few exciting updates in my tiny writer’s world:

1. Only seven days remain in this year’s National Novel Writing Month! I’m a mere 10,000 words away from completing the current manuscript about a college baseball player named Michael who, after losing a bet and having to shave his head, discovers to his amazement that he has a mysterious tattoo on his head! What does it mean? (Don’t ask me, I’m just the writer!) Many thanks go to my husband David for asking every day, “Have you done your writing yet?” as I inevitably am doing something else to procrastinate.
2. Second, the novel I wrote for last year’s NaNoWriMo is a scant FIFTY pages away from being fully edited by the talented, supportive group of ladies in my monthly Greensboro writers’ group! Thank you each for the time and attention you’ve given this fledgling book; the ending is going to be thrilling!
3. Third, TREMENDOUS thanks goes to my friend Nadia Hassan, who is a fountain of artistic talent as well as generosity. She has designed this beautiful logo for me with my new married name:

Designed by Nadia Hassan

 

May you each enjoy this blissful Thanksgiving time of food, family and fellowship.

 

books for christmas!

If you’ve already begun your Christmas shopping, think of what a wonderful gift books make! Audiobooks, paperbacks, hardcover – what matters is sharing a story with someone! My writers’ group has produced some incredible, hilarious, beautiful and exciting stories recently. Check these out for yourself or a friend or family member; having read them myself, I can tell you they are superb!

 

The Circle (Love faeries? This story, great for middle-schoolers, is beautifully described and filled with excitement and mystery) – Cindy Cipriano

Sifting Through Mud (Fab fiction, guilty girls’ read, hilarious and saucy) – Demetria Gray

Wink of an Eye (Newly published! Winner of 2014 PWA First Private Eye Novel Competition!) – Lynn Willis

The Rising (I read this earlier this year and published a review of it; terrific mystery) – Lynn Willis

Love this image from the UNC Press Blog. It’s books for Christmas this year!

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