Today Is Thank You Day! Yes, Today.

Tip of the Day: Having trouble staying positive? I find that scratching a cat under the chin turns my attitude around very quickly. Take regular "pet your pet" breaks from writing! 

I was going to write today about cats and dogs and writing. My cat and dog keep me company while I write, so for me, cats and dogs and writing go together. But someone got to me first today and asked me how I keep going with my writing. And I admit that my pets help keep my spirits up, but they're not the major way I get recharged and excited about my writing.

The number one way I keep excited about writing is through the support of my awesome critique partners.

Now, I've realized this before, but today it occurred to me that maybe I haven't said thank you enough. Maybe I'm waiting for my first dedication page in my first published novel. I've mentally composed that page many, many times. It goes something like this:

This novel did not write itself. If it wasn't for my wonderful, intelligent, and talented critique partners, I never would've been encouraged to keep writing. Their ideas and inspiration kept me going, and I learned a lot from the privilege of reading their writing. Thank you so much, MiGWriters Christina Farley (who pushed me to add more romance and tension), Susan Laidlaw (whose main characters have the best sense of humor), Andrea Mack (who has one of the smartest writing blogs I've ever read), Debbie Ridpath Ohi (who keeps me working on perfecting point of view), and Carmella Van Vleet (we may have been separated at birth).


Thank you also to my Rochester writer friends. This book would not exist without you. Thank you Kelley Allen and Maureen Chu for reading so much of my writing, Vicki Schultz for some fantastic ideas and solutions, and the absolutely brilliant Lisa Tiffin, who has been incredibly supportive and keeps my fingers on the keyboard. And I never would've started submitting my writing at all if it wasn't for my mentor, Deena Lipomi. Deena, my writing buddy for so many years now, taught me everything from double spacing my work to what an agent is. I can't thank her enough.


Also thank you to my loving kids and to my dog and cat for keeping me company when writing got lonely. Most of all thank you to my husband, who knows how to shore up the tides of self-doubt and keep the spark of confidence alive.

I still fully expect to get a dedication page in a book, but I was tired of waiting to say thank you!

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages