Weekly highlights from the Community Blog.
We're loving all the holiday writing that's going on. So we've selected some writerly treats for you to enjoy, along with your turkeys or tofurkey, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. Happy Thanksgiving, She Writers! May your food be tasty and not overly salted, your loved ones close, and your pen never far.
(Special gratitude to She Writes Editorial Analyst Mary Keating for helping us identify today's picks!)
10 Reasons Writers Can Be Thankful, by Randy Susan MeyersLibraries: Librarians recommend our books, buy our books, shelve our books, and provide forums for us to discuss our books. Now we can support the libraries by joining Authors for Libraries, a program of the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends, and Foundation.
Social Media for Readers: The explosion of sites where readers can gather, share information, reviews, thoughts and recommendations is tremendous. Even when we wince at reviews, we should cheer at the sheer number of people out there talking books—like Goodreads, Shelfari, Library Thing and so much more. Jefferson County Library in Colorado has a great list of links for readers . . . which leads to another reason to be thankful:...Keep readingSpirit of the Season(ing), by Anastasia AshmanBlood and marriage draw families together but often whole worlds continue to separate us as individuals. Lifestyle choices. Generations. In-laws. Siblings. Achieving – and maintaining -- harmony is a challenge we all seem to face....Keep readingwanted: a full table at Thanksgiving, by Ellen SussmanThis year, my family Thanksgiving plans imploded. One family member was feuding with another and someone else was taking sides and pretty soon everyone cancelled their plans to come to our house. I was furious. I told my husband that I didn’t want a lonely Thanksgiving with our daughters, the four of us glumly sitting around a very empty table. Besides, three out of four of us are vegetarians – with turkey for one, the whole endeavor felt kind of pitiful...Keep reading(Un)American Activities, by Deborah BattermanA good friend of mine tells me she makes a point of going out for Indian food on Thanksgiving. It isn’t that she doesn’t like turkey (what’s there not to like?) or that Martha Stewart didn’t invite her; it’s all the fuss, the gathering, the food overload, with the underlying assumption that there’s something un-American about not partaking in the ordained celebration...Keep readingImproving Connection When it Counts - using the PEN Method, by Elaine ShpunginIf your family is like mine, the holidays are a time for stretching our capacities: for eating, of course, but also for patience, love, and harmonious co-existence. That's because, from politics to sports to child-rearing, there is so much potential for both disagreement and discovery - for both gaining and losing connection...Keep readingMonday Wonder: Gratitude, by Cyndi BriggsIt's Thanksgiving this week, my favorite holiday. I love Thanksgiving for what it's not about: It's not about over-consumption or buying gifts I can't really afford; it's not about getting stuff; it's not about dressing up or showing off...Keep readingCan You Be Thankful for What You Don't Have? by Kathy BrunnerThanksgiving always brings thoughts of blessings too numerous to count. Easily, I can identify what I have been so graciously given often without truly deserving these blessings. But it is what I did not get or what did not happen that perhaps makes me even more grateful. So this Thanksgiving, I want to remember to thank God for the times He has spared me what could have been tragic news; for the illnesses that I didn't have, the financial ruin that did not come my way, the losses I have not experienced. I am grateful I have not lost a loved one in combat or a child before they were born...Keep reading
Photo: vistamommy/flickr
I love the image here, so colorful. I'm thankful for color