Shout Outs!

Every writer, whether just starting out or a veteran of many years, has people to thank along the way. My own list is approximately ten feet long, unfurled along the ground and loaded with praise.

For instance.

Jennifer Brown-Banks – Without this incredible woman you would not be reading this. She designed this blog for me, helped me to understand how it works, and regularly comments on it so I don’t feel like I’m writing in a vacuum. A treasure.

Christine – A soul mate writer if there ever was one. We’re about the same age, each have three children, began writing about the same time and have shared so much. Like our high hopes for publication, our prayers for our children, manuscript critiques, and even pictures of family and projects. Without her encouragement and friendship you wouldn’t be reading this either.

The “Muskies” – My online writing group calls themselves The Musketeers or “Muskies”. Over the years we’ve grown to five of us who bolster each other’s efforts. Besides Christine and me there are Marion, Pam, Marilyn, and Christy, the newest. I met everyone except Christy through Dolly’s (Marilyn) newsletter to which I contributed for  a couple of years when I first began writing children’s stories. That newsletter gave me an idea of what other writers were like, offered critiques for subscribers, and noted markets where we could submit our work. Many of you have writer buds like this, but if you don’t go get some!

Karen – This woman is as much a sister to me as any of my blood relatives. We’ve known each other for over 30 years and have been through thick and thin together. I’m thick, she’s thin. She once spent a whole day critiquing my second Minnie manuscript and handed me pages and pages of notes. She’s the most detail oriented person I know and doesn’t let me get away with anything. I think she might be an angel in disguise.

Okay, that’s just the beginning of my list and not in any particular order. If you've read this, you know of at least one other to whom I am especially grateful. All have been put into my life by Someone who loves me like a Rock. There are dozens of others, like Cindy, Rhonda, Linda, Steve, and (another) Karen, who come here, read, comment, and regularly lift me up. "Thank you" seems so inadequate.

God bless you all.

Image: digitalart                                                                               Free Digital Photos