I’ve mentioned several of these before. But nearing Thanksgiving, I’m reminded of how grateful I am for the following:

Technology

• Online submissions. Dangerous if you hit “send” too quickly, but mostly a huge advantage over the old days. And hey, a lot of snail mail submissions also went out with panic inducing errors. This benefit also often includes online submssion tracking.
• Online thesauri and dictionaries.
• Word processing software.
• Editing software.
• Writer’s guidelines and other information on markets’ websites. No more sending off SASEs for printed guidelines.

People

• My writing critique partner, Stephanie
• All the wonderful writing friends I’ve met online through forums and groups.
• Writer’s conferences, like Bouchercon, where I can meet some of these people in person and also make new acquaintences.
• All the established writers out there who are unfailingly generous with their expertise and encouragement.
• Every one of you, my followers, readers, commenters and “likers.” You bring me joy. I wish the same for everyone during the holiday season and in all the days to come.