The Blessings of the Season

I'm not sure how it can be Thanksgiving already. I haven't even changed my closet from summer to winter, so how can it be time to roast a turkey?

Time flies when you're having fun and actually the last few months have indeed been fun. I like what the collective Evelyn David is writing…actually I like that we're writing at all. It seemed like we hit the pause button over the summer, but then took off at lightspeed with the dawn of Labor Day. Writing the Brianna Sullivan e-books has been, quite simply, a hoot. The Southern half of this writing duo asked me the other day if it was bad form to be laughing uproariously at your own jokes. She had just re-read I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries, originally penned four years ago, and said she laughed long and loud. I know it's good when you like what you are writing – or for that matter, enjoy whatever your job may be. So I'm truly thankful for this partnership that is also a wonderful friendship.

Oh, what the heck, let me keep on this thankful post, and talk about how lucky I am, blessed indeed, that The Stiletto Gang are my "peeps." We are a disparate group of women of all ages, sizes, geographic locations, and points in our lives – and yet there is a sense of solidarity and support that is incredibly empowering. I have met in person only one of the Gang, and oddly enough it's not the woman with whom I write books. Maggie Barbieri lives about a half hour away. But I often get just the email I need from someone in the group who might literally live across the country, but knows I need a pick-me-up. Sometimes, it's to reassure me that "yes, you will write again," when I am convinced that my writing career is over (if it should ever have begun). Sometimes, it's when there's a personal crisis, and someone has "been there, done that" and knows just will make the difference to get me out of the funk. These women I've never met are more than colleagues, they're friends.

Writing, even with a partner, can be a lonely profession. I'm not sure how Hemingway and Fitzgerald managed to make it through the day without the reassurance I get from knowing that there is a group of writers out there who are no more than a click of a computer screen away. Of course, Ernest and Scott drank a lot so maybe that's how they managed.

I don't need turkey and stuffing to know that I have been blessed, in my personal life and professional one too. Before we eat our Thanksgiving feast, we always recite a Shehecheyanu prayer. It's a Jewish blessing of thanksgiving. I offer it for you.

Blessed are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion. Amen.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Marian, the Northern half of Evelyn David

Note to Readers: To celebrate the publication of the Wolfmont edition of Murder Takes the Cake, we're having a drawing each Friday for an autographed copy of Murder Off the Books or Murder Takes the Cake (winner's choice). To enter the drawing, leave a comment on our website - http://www.evelyndavid.com/

The Sullivan Investigation Series
Murder Drops the Ball (Spring 2011)
Murder Takes the Cake - Paperback - Kindle
Murder Off the Books - Paperback - Kindle
Riley Come Home - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords