Talkin' Turkey

It's a little-known secret in my family, but not online, that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday ever. Of course as a kid Christmas was #1 but in my years since growing up, it's turned to Thanksgiving. Aside from an enormous amount of food, my love of the day comes from the fact that everyone (in America at least) celebrates it. Your family origin, religion, race, or anything else does not matter come the last Thursday of November. If you're in America, you're celebrating. I like all-inclusive holidays like that. Then we get into the fact that we're taking a minute in our overly-connected world to give thanks and reflect on how lucky we are to have what we have.

Every year I think what I am thankful for and most of the time the usual things are on the list: health, family, love and happiness. This year I am also thankful for something that I never thought would be integral to my life: the Internet.

Now this may sound silly but when you put it into the perspective of being an aspiring writer, the Internet has literally changed the entire game. No more are we stuck in a solitary place with our words and nothing else. Today we're a strong group of people who've found each other via message boards, Twitter, Facebook and the web. I cannot recall a time where I felt more connected to people who are trying to 'make it' out there in the writing world.

My circle of writer-friends had stayed pretty small in the past few years: Melanie, Stacey, Janna, Colby, Wendy, Jen C, Sara and Jenn P. I've been thankful for the past few years that I've gotten to know these wonderful writers and that we're both friends on Facebook and Twitter. We root each other on when we're struggling and also cheering when someone gets a partial request.

Somehow or another, my writing circle expanded this year to include some other awesome people. I think it's from the #1K1HR (see this post) twitter hashtag I used, but however it happened I have gotten to know some more awesome people. My new writer circle includes my original buddies but I'm so happy to now know: Michele, Shannon, Justine, Casey, Tina, Grace, Becca, Gwen, and Rhonda. It's a lot of people to link to, so to see all these wonderful people just check out my 'Writers' Twitter list and get to know these writers.

I do want to single out Michele Lang since her and I have become fast friends due to us living very close to one another and she's been gracious enough to be a guest on my podcast twice this year. She's provided some advise and guidance that is valuable and treasured. I also love knowing a published writer in person. :-)

So with that said, I want to give thanks to the Internet for bringing together writers from all across the world who would otherwise never know each other. I've made friends, gained beta readers and most importantly shared in everyone's experiences while talking about mine.

So grab a plate, chow down with some football and listen to Alice's Restaurant.

Thank you.