(Mike Brotherton is thankful for being an awesomely creative person. Photo by Jeremy Tolbert.)
We’re taking a break here at Booklifenow, returning with new content next week. But since it is Thanksgiving week here in the United States, we’d like to know what you’re thankful for in your writing and your career. Also feel free to tell us about your upcoming books or other creative projects.
Me, I’m thankful that I have such amazing and creative friends–like my partner in crime here, Matt Staggs–that I am able to do this five-week book tour, and that I’ve had the opportunity to write, edit, and create so many different types of books. I’m also deeply thankful for your patronage of Booklifenow.com, and your acceptance of my book.
I'm thankful for my first (well) paying writing gig. I'm thankful that my first comic book is nearly done being produced, and should be released in early January. I'm thankful for having many days off in the near future to focus on writing, and for having a partner who lets me have the time that I need. I couldn't do it without his support.
I'm thankful for the people who read my work, and a little more so for the people who pay for it. Not much more so, though.
I'm thankful for the writers who came before me, and can give me a good clue to how it's done.
I'm thankful for every book I've read, and thankful that there are so many more for me to read in the future..
I'm thankful that my Thanksgiving was last month, so I got my turkey early.
Also thankful that people read and like my work, and keep pushing me to finish the second.
And thankful that some small progress has been made on getting a movie version started.
I am thankful for the Internet and all the great publications it houses. Without it and them, I would not have achieved my goals as fast as I have, or found the people and friends and ideas that keep me charged to continue.
I am also grateful for my partner, who takes the time out of his day to listen to me think out loud and be my first and most critical reader.
Probably sounds a bit daft, but today I'm thankful for fingers. I would accomplish so much less without them. I saw a photo of a teenage girl who had hers all burnt off last month because she put her hands in a bucket of plaster of paris in school and they got stuck, and it just made me think… thank God for fingers, and for all the other things that make it easier to flow with creativity.
Libraries. Now and as a kid, I have access to more books through them than I ever would otherwise. Likewise, I can browse through the catalog and the stacks and finds writers cheek-by-jowl who have no logical relationship to each other… and see what I can learn from them. How far would I have strayed from the steadfastly f/sf/h reading habits of my youth without libraries? Dunno, but probably not as far as I have. Every time I sit down to a mass-market SF epic, it's like going back to the well and getting a cool drink of water, but I wouldn't know the value of it with having seen all the rest of the land and its crops and trees and animals.
Writing compadres. Having people to talk to about writing makes the loneliness of it easier to bear. It doesn't always make the writing per se easier, but knowing that one is not alone is invaluable.
Totems, talismans, and the other little spirits that help me along in my writing. While I can write anywhere with most any tool, I have a preferred place and state of mind. Whatever tools help get me there are useful, be they special pens or helpful friends.
I'm thankful for the patience of my friends and family who take time out of their busy days to encourage and support me in various ways. I'm thankful for the people I've met who've given me a chance to utilize my skill set in the industry I hope to remain a part of for the rest of my life. I'm thankful for word processing software so I can edit as I write. And I'm thankful for the people up at the coffee shop who occasionally comp me a drink or a slice of lemon poppyseed cake since I'm "a regular" now.
Friends, old and new. Much as my angst-ridden, crybaby high school self might have preferred to do all this by myself, in spite of not getting outside help, I see now that I wouldn't have accomplished anything without my friends. My first published short story was, frankly, terrible until my friend Travis went at with a red pen, and I certainly never would have enjoyed the current success I've had with my novel without friends taking an interest, or strangers becoming friends. The people I nominally work for and who nominally work for me are all friends–or extremely good fakes–and so, to reiterate, I'm most thankful for my friends. This goes double for the baristas of All Saints Cafe in Tally who nursed me through the Bros. G and the people of Folsom Street Coffee in Boulder who have me on a "morning thunder" blend drip to finish my new novel. Thanks all!
I am thankful for World Fantasy Con, 2008, for reminding me what I love about books and writers, and expressing myself through writing, and also for WFC 2009 for helping me meet so many fantastic people. There is still a little place in me that thinks you have to be miserable to be a real artist, and it is wonderful to see so many people who are happy, thriving writers. I am grateful for The Artist's Way, which taught me years ago how to find little ways to live a creative life, and yes, I am grateful for Booklife, which I just bought this week. It's like having a friend take you by the hand and say, "No, really, you can do this."