In the Gratitude Latitude

I've been inspired this month, by friends who post something they're grateful for, every day on Facebook, commercials on the radio, etc.


So. I can definitely name some things I'm grateful for (in no particular order of importance):

• I'm grateful for my 2 goofy, healthy, well-behaved, smarty-pants teenagers and all the things they do to make me proud.
• I'm grateful for my hard working, tenacious husband, who's managed to make his business a success and provide for us all, despite the tanked economy.
• I'm grateful the aforementioned husband dogs me nightly to go walking with him, even when I piss and whine about the cold or being tired or how hard it is to lose weight or the wind or whatever myriad complaints I come up with.
• I'm grateful for the 16 fantabulous authors currently on my roster, who trust me with their literary "babies".
• I'm also grateful to Renee Rocco, for trusting me to help her run her "baby", Lyrical Press. Seems like I learn something every week at this job... ;)
• I'm grateful for my job as a teacher stunt double, where I get to hang with the future grown-ups of the world...and I'm thankful at the end of each day at that job, that the kiddos are cool to me.
• Every month when I get my royalty statements, I'm grateful for each and every reader who decides to buy one or more of my books, out of all the bajillions of novels out there.
• I'm still grateful for my group of critique partners, who may all be many states or countries away, but can still brighten my day just by checking in or sharing a snarky thought. Many people scoff at the idea of internet friendships, but they really can be fulfilling.
• I'm grateful for my forever writing companion, Red Bull. My winged beverage friend can't beta read or critique, but sure keeps me inspired and alert.

That'll do for today. More tomorrow...

Autumn Piper

Got romance?

Good Things

Before I get all caught up in this week's holiday riff-raff, thought I'd take a few minutes to think about what I'm thankful for. So here they are, some silly, some... not:

• First, a biggie -- I'm thankful my husband and I both still have jobs.
• I'm thankful for a woodburning stove and the big pile of firewood we gathered this year.
• I'm thankful for over-the-counter hair color.
• Almost daily, I'm thankful I have two healthy, well-behaved kids. (will have to tell them later)
• SO thankful women's eyebrows don't become what mens' do when we age. :)
• Superduper thankful today, because my pal just alerted me that Garfield County Library NOW HAS EBOOKS!!!!
• I'm thankful for marvelous book covers from my publisher and cover artist extraordinaire, Renee Rocco.
• Most days I'm pretty thankful for our DVR. I do still roll my eyes a bit when I see 75 episodes of Wizards of Waverly Place or Zach & Cody, or the ongoing hundreds of episodes of Modern Marvels and This Old House saved there, but hey: I'm totally OK with my son saving 25 Jay Leno Shows... perspective is important here.
• I'm thankful for every new episode of Bones, House, and Glee.
• I'm extra thankful nobody in my family has food allergies.
• Today I'm thankful the RE-2 School District decided to take a full week off for Thanksgiving this year.

That's enough for now. We'll take a short YouTube break tomorrow, and maybe I'll have some more for Wednesday. Hopefully by then I'll be thankful for all the stuff I've crossed off my Too Done list, and still think my kids are well behaved...

Autumn Piper

Got romance?