November is here. The days are getting shorter while your list of To-Dos is getting progressively longer: book the tickets, file the end-of-the-year reports, plan the meals, tests and midterms, scout the sales, do the shopping, send the cards. How is it the holiday season is already upon us?
That's when Thanksgiving arrives. In between cooking dinner, entertaining the kids home from school, and watching football games, it's time to pause, reflect and give thanks.
A few authors have taken the time to do just that with thoughts what they are most thankful for this year. A big "Thanks!" to all those who took the time to share.
THERESA SCHWEGEL
This year, I am thankful that both my parents are once again healthy, and that they are able (and thrilled) to care for my daughter while I write. They have always supported me, but this year I wouldn't have finished my novel without them.
Theresa Schwegel's latest is The Good Boy (Minotaur Books, November 2013). theresaschwegel.com
KYLE MILLS
I’ve led a pretty lucky life but this year that luck ran out during a mountain bike race: I lost control and crashed at a speed that I honestly thought would kill me. In the end, I escaped with only a separated collarbone and a bunch of broken ribs but it got me to thinking about all the things in life I take for granted—a wife that after 20 years I still think is amazing, a job I love and that puts a little cash in my pocket to boot, parents who are still healthy and having fun... Sometimes it’s easy to dwell on the little annoyances of life or on what you don’t have, but then something kicks you in the tail and reminds you that none of those things really matter.
Kyle Mills' latest books are Robert Ludlam's The Utopia Experiment (Grand Central, March 2013), and his own The Immortalists (Thomas & Mercer, December 2011). kylemills.com
MARGARET MARON
Margaret Maron's new Deborah Knott series book is The Buzzard Table (Grand Central, November 2013). margaretmaron.com
JULIE MOFFETT
I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. So, it was hard for me to narrow it down, but here is my top-five list.
5. I'm thankful I no longer have to change diapers, but very grateful for my kids, craziness and all.
4. I'm thankful for yoga pants and ponytail scrunchies. Yes, it's awesome working from home.
3. I'm thankful to overhear my six year old tell his friends, "My mommy makes up stuff for a living."
2. I'm VERY thankful for the bouncer at a nightclub who recently said to me, "I'm sorry, you have to be 21 to enter this club."
1. (Drumroll) I'm thankful for my awesome, amazing family, my witty and superlative friends, and the coolest fans on the planet (you know who you are!).
Julie Moffett's latest Lexi Carmichael mystery is No Place Like Rome (Carine Press, November 2013). juliemoffett.com
ELAINE VIETS
I'm thankful that the St. Louis Post-Dispatch fired me for insubordination after more than 20 years as a columnist and that I started writing mysteries. It was easier to start a career in publishing in the mid-90s. I've been making a killing ever since.
Elaine Viets is the author of Fixing to Die: A Josie Marcus Mystery Shopper mystery. elaineviets.com
LOREN D. ESTLEMAN
I have a great deal to be thankful for; including the ability to end an independent clause with a preposition, as I just did. After a wife and family whom I love and who love me, I count among them a happy childhood, dogs I've owned (and some cats), good cigars, single-malt Scotch, red wine, well-prepared steaks, cooking, Michigan summers, a comfortable home, books, and the wonder of being able to watch any movie I want anytime I want to, preferably with Debi. Finally, I'm grateful to have been allowed to do something I enjoy and to make a living doing it. In this world of terrorists, climate-change paranoia, and Judd Apatow films, we'd all be happier if we took five minutes each day to count our blessings.
Loren D. Estleman's latest is The Confessions of Al Capone (Forge, June 2013), and The Son's of Moriarty and More Stories of Sherlock Holmes (Tyrus Books, November 2013), which he edited. www.lorenestleman.com
