Veterans' Day

I wanted to say a special thank you to our men and women in uniform on Veterans' Day, including those in my family. It's a sacrifice and service that I don't take lightly and appreciate in the most sincere way. Thank you to my Granddaddy and his brother Ted, my Uncle Kendall, Uncle Hugh and my cousin Ashley and her husband Ryan. I'm certainly not brave enough to do what you all have done!

It's good for the soul - especially on a blustery and bleak November afternoon - to set aside stress and think about the people in my life for whom I'm grateful. Writing is a private, lonely thing at times; I spend so much time in my own head, taking characters out of my imagination and shaping them into "real" people on paper. As much as I enjoy the process, it starts to feel heavy at times. And I'm so thankful to have the encouragement and support of my family when I say such crazy things as, "I want to be a novelist."

My mom reads all my books before anyone else does. She listens to countless rambled monologues as I try to talk myself into and out of ideas, and she tells me when one of my characters doesn't quite feel in character - because she gets to know them and cares about them and humors my worries about them. I owe her a lot! And to my dad and grandparents, my aunts and uncles - those of you who believe, even if what I'm doing isn't your thing - I thank you for believing. Even if I'm a starving artist right now, even if I stare in frustration at my computer screen at times, I'm a lucky gal.