I am a very thankful writer this year. It would take forever to list all the reasons, but I’ll post a short list. Thankful to have wonderful editors and publishers. Thankful to have readers. Thankful to have the flexibility to work at home and be there to see it the first time my baby learned to climb on and off the couch by herself. Thankful that copyedits are incoming but they’re light. (Woot! Light copyedits!) Thankful, thankful, thankful.

I hope everybody out there is having a wonderful Thanksgiving. I re-read this post this morning and realized what a mistake a short list is because it doesn’t include so many things, like how thankful I am for the people I’m sharing this day with. My husband is stoking up the woodstove, the baby is cuddling in my lap and the toddler isn’t up yet but I can’t wait to see her. I am very thankful for my family.

And all through the casa, the cranberries were quaking at becoming sauce-a. Yeah, it’s a lame rhyme but the baby was up off and on all night long. I will be so glad when that molar comes through.

Today I’m doing laundry, getting various things made for tomorrow (apple cranberry crisp, sweet potato soufle, more cranberry bread) and writing writing writing. And being really thankful that yesterday’s 50 mph wind with sideways rain and hail is over with. Beginnings if off and running! Let me know if you see it in a store near you.

Congrats to Lauren Dane, Jodi Lynn Copeland, Anya Bast and Kit Tunstall for their anthology sale to Harlequin Spice. *flings confetti in the air*

Hey, Beginnings hasn’t officially released yet and we’re #65 in the bestseller list at Amazon in Canada! Pretty cool.

Tomorrow is the “official” print release of the Beginnings anthology. Beginnings anthology authors will be at Novelspotters, chatting, posting excerpts and giving away copies from 1-4 EST, so come visit.

We’ve been waiting for this to come out on DVD and finally got to see it. (Why DVD? Side effect of A. life with two small children and B. no movie theatre close enough. Kids are the wrong age to take to a movie and even if they were a little older, by the time you add a 2 hour round trip drive to the movie time, trust me, it’s better for everybody to wait for the DVD.)

Anyway, I’ve been waiting for this and not just because I love Owen Wilson. OK, maybe that’s part of it. But this movie is one instance of having all expectations totally surpassed. It’s better than I expected in every way. Funnier. More touching. Intelligent. Very accurate - the gearhead husband could not get over how accurate the cars were, down to why the Hudson Hornet was unbeatable in its day. This is a movie to enjoy again and again, for all ages. And the sound track rocks. The special features are terrific, too. Mater and the Ghostlight is a classic. Well worth buying this DVD even if you’ve already seen it in theatres.

Just a little catchup on what I’ve read lately. I bought the Santa Baby anthology for Hot Toy, Jennifer Crusie’s novella. I’d read the Lori Foster novella (and own it in another anthology) so it was really all about Hot Toy. Which I enjoyed thoroughly. Fun and action-packed and the hero did come through with the hot toy in the end, so he really was a hero. (Er, that was a spoiler, sorry.)

Valley of Silence; excellent ending to the trilogy that starts with Morrigan’s Cross. Nora Roberts will still be going strong when she writes her 500th book, I do believe. I really liked how this ended and I’m afraid to say more because it’s all spoiler territory, but just go read it. I will say that reading this by candlelight in the middle of a massive storm and power outage really amplifies the creepy valley atmosphere.
I have ebooks on my must-read list but I’m still reading a lot of the PBW ebook challenge contributions. That’s gonna keep me busy for a while.

I’ve also been re-reading my own stuff. I can’t be the only author who does that, can I? But sometimes I want to laugh with Dylan and Lou, or lust over having a Hal of my own, or survive the holidays with Luke and Jordan, or visit the medieval age with Rorik, the Viking age with Erik and Lorelei, return to a small town in New England in Catalyst, or discover true magic with Lucy, experience love from a past life with Valentine or…yeah, it goes on and on.

Maybe I should have a Thanksgiving backlist giveaway. Because I’m thankful to have 15 sales in two years with so many more stories to come.

Okay, I know that’s not how the poem goes, but geez. The big storm isn’t supposed to hit until Sunday and already lights are flickering. Good thing we started getting ready for the next storm as soon as the last one cleared. And some people got their power back on only today.

Not only do we have record rainfall, but the winds threw trees around like God’s own caber toss. Olympic National Park and surrounding area has been hit hard.

Sorry to be all the all weather blog lately, but Mother Nature is making her presence felt in a big way. We are prepared for a longer power outage on this round, fingers crossed it turns out to be unneeded.