Giving thanks

by: Joelle Charbonneau

Happy Thanksgiving week!  (And for you who do not live in America – happy two weeks until December!)

Here at Do Some Damage we talk about all things criminal and writing related.  Our themes are occasionally dark.  Rejection discussions and thoughts on the state of publishing can be disheartening.  As in all jobs, writing has its ups and its downs.  It isn’t always easy.  It isn’t consistently fun. 

However, today, as we in America start this week of Thanksgiving, I want to say how thankful I am for the chance to do what I do.  No matter how frustrated I get or overwhelmed I feel when I am not sure I can do justice to the story I am telling, I am grateful I am a writer.  I am thrilled I get to do a job that I love and that readers are willing to spend time with the characters I create.

More…I am thankful for everyone who has supported my wild notion to follow this career path…my mother, my husband, my father and father-in-law (whom I miss this week and every week), the rest of my family as well as all my friends who have stuck with me throughout the years.  I don’t know what I would do without you.  And you have no idea how grateful I am for the writing community for the support you give me every day.  My fellow Do Some Damage bloggers humble me with their insight, their passion and their commitment to their craft.  Truly, I am blessed.

No one ever knows where life will take them.  You can plan and plot all you like, but life never goes as expected.  If it did, I would not be writing books.  I would not be blogging with this great group of writers.  I would not be who I am today.

So today, to celebrate this week of Thanksgiving, I ask you to share what you are thankful for.  And I want you to know that last, but not least, I am very thankful for all of you.