Thoughts and a Reflection on Thanksgiving
In my humble opinion, the best four days of the year have just passed. The four days of Thanksgiving weekend are always my favorite time of the year. We are permitted to just stop and reflect for a few days, spend time with family, and in our home, begin the Christmas traditions we set forth when the kids were babies of cutting down our Christmas tree and decorating for the holidays. For the last several years, I’ve cooked the Thanksgiving dinner, with sides provided by my mother and mother-in-law. This year, the pumpkin pie and apple crumb pie were ordered from Kirsten’s Cakery by my parents where my daughter works. Guess what we said about these two pies? “We will never need to bake a pie again.” They were amazing.
Between heading to Pine Valley Farms to cut down our tree, to eating dinner out at Lures on Friday night, to helping my parents a little bit with their Christmas decorations, it was a lovely weekend.
There’s a sense of decompression that happens, at least for me. I try not to think about work or book promotion or what my next piece of writing may be. I just take it in and enjoy it.
With two weeks remaining of the semester, Thanksgiving weekend is just what the doctor ordered. With some very sad losses this year that we endured of losing some people we loved, along with my husband losing a job earlier this year and my nagging health issues, it really was time to give thanks, be thankful, and put things into perspective.
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Thankful for Friends in St. Michaels
When a former student of mine who works at the Star-Democrat Newspaper on the Eastern Shore reached out to me and asked if she could interview me about Little Milestones and my life as an indie author, how could I say no? Reporter Bri Green, a Stevenson alum who graduated in 2017, reminded me of how things can come full circle. As a student of mine, she told me she wanted to be a writer, that she wanted to get into journalism to tell stories, and that she aspires to be an author, too. I had no idea how I had nudged her in this direction through our professor-student relationship at Stevenson. When I left the interview, I marveled at the power of relationships we foster along the way, and that you never know whose life you may impact or how your relationship may connect you in the future. It was a pretty powerful moment. And, I’m excited to read the article Bri puts together!
As well, Anna Beard, owner of Skipjack’s in St. Michaels, is another new friend I’m thankful for this year. She and I became acquainted after meeting in St. Michaels at her coffee/dessert/gift store that she recently opened. She reached out to me and asked if anyone in St. Michaels was carrying my book and invited me to a book signing. So, the week before Thanksgiving, I set out for St. Michaels with my friend Elizabeth, and again, we took the opportunity to mingle with people in St. Michaels, sell some books (quite a few, actually, so thank you!). Afterwards, we had lunch with my parents at Limoncello. The kindness of others is so powerful at this time of year.
THANKFUL FOR MY READERS
To those of you who have reached out to tell me how much you loved Little Milestones, I am so incredibly touched. It means so much to me to hear your thoughts about the novel, how it made you reflect on your own life, and how it entertained you and made you happy. I write for you all, and I’m so happy to hear these comments. Thank you for taking the time to call, email, text, or message me on social media.
Thankful for Two Things that Influenced Little Milestones
When people ask me what influences my writing, it’s typically people or experiences I’ve had or can imagine having. However, two specific things influenced Little Milestones:
1- Call the Midwife—Call the Midwife is a program on PBS that is in its 8th season (with a 9th on the way, I believe). It’s the story of midwives in London that begins in the 1950s and continues through to the 1960s. Some of the midwives are nuns, while others are not. They live in the same house, and ultimately, the story centers around these women and their friendships and jobs. I was heavily influenced by that program as I wrote Little Milestones, as I wanted to touch on the importance of strong female friendships.
2-The Bridges of Madison County—Who didn’t cry at the end of the book when Francesca almost leaves her husband for Robert, the photographer who is documenting the covered bridges in the county. While that book did not have a joyous reconnection for the two main characters, it is still powerful. In my novel, I wanted to reunite my characters with a happier ending, and I worked to put that into place.
To read more about the plot of my novels or to order my books, click here to go to that page.
