And Today I Give Thanks

I thank SO, who endured a late-night, last-minute phone call when I rattled off an outline of the chapters that were troubling me and helped me pinpoint what was off, so I could work until midnight and fix it.

I thank Cat Connor, a friend in New Zealand whom I know through blogs and email and Twitter, who dropped her own manuscript and shuffled the demands of life with seven children on a day that included a long trip to the ER, to read my manuscript and give valuable feedback. (You can buy her recently released thriller Killerbyte on Mobipocket or on Amazon, for the Kindle. Please do.)

I thank Carole, whose full name I won't give until she finishes her own incredible work-of-genius book, who responded to my panicky CAN YOU POSSIBLY READ NOW email and leapt on my manuscript Monday as soon as she met her own deadline, finishing late yesterday morning, giving me stupendous feedback along the way, and ending with a wonderful, delirious phone call.

I thank my dear friend Story, who, when I was felled by nasty flu/cold/allergy, fetched a Priority Mail envelope from the post office and waited while I stuffed the envelope and attached postage, because I was too sick to navigate the very steep driveway to the mailbox.

And I thank my host here, who has provided me time and space to write - my own little writer's retreat.

Things happen that you don't plan. I didn't expect to get sick and get stranded out of town. I didn't expect to have manuscript requests arrive as quickly as they did (hey, agents, didn't you know you are supposed to take weeks to respond?). But what a wonderful feeling to have these people in my life, here for me when I need them.

And, last but not least, I thank the ancient Epson EPL-5700i laser printer that somehow produced 400 crisply legible pages yesterday without blowing up despite having a cartridge very nearly out of laser dust. And for the post office, for having flat rate Priority Mail mailing boxes large enough to stuff an entire manuscript inside. And stamps.com, for having a program that lets me print postage wherever I am in the States.

And now we rest.

No, oops, now we load up the four dogs and drive 1,000 miles home.