The I'm Thankful For My Readers Bloghop

Today I'm participating in the I'm Thankful for . . . My Readers Bloghop which is hosted by Tara Tyler and Vikki and takes place between 11/5 and 11/8/12.

To find out all the details, go here.

Basically this is my chance to say thank you to some very important people.

But before I do that, although I'm quite late, I want to send a big CONGRATULATIONS out to Julie Flanders at What Else is Possible? whose novel, Polar Night was picked up by Ink Smith Publishing and is due out in 2013.  YAY!  I'd also like to thank Julie for her willingness to receive and review an ARC of my first novel!  Much appreciated.

Also, big CONGRATULATIONS to the ridiculously talented Libby Heily whose novel, Tough Girl will be out in January 14, 2013.  I'd like to thank her as well for receiving and reviewing and ARC of my first novel.  I'd also like to thank her for inspiring the hell out of me.  You'll want to read Tough Girl.  It will blow your mind.

I'd also like to thank J.C. Martin and David Kessler for the wonderful blurbs they provided for my debut novel.

Now I'd like to thank two very talented writers who also happen to be amazing people whose support and encouragement kept me going through the submissions process.  Literally it was their words at critical times that kept me from throwing in the towel altogether.  They were there for me on a daily basis--as fellow writers, critique partners, beta readers and friends.  They picked me up, held me together, lent me their virtual shoulders to cry on and pushed me across the finish line. Also, they are both hugely talented.

Nancy S. Thompson and Michael Infinito, Jr.

Nancy's thriller, The Mistaken is out now.  Michael's first novel, In Blog We Trust comes out in January and his second novel, 12:19 comes out in March.  Support these writers.  They deserve it.

Next I'd like to thank the fabulous Carrie A. Butler over at So You're a Writer.  She too, is amazingly talented and she is my go-to person whenever I have some sort of idea (usually revolving around technical stuff) and can't get from idea to execution.  She helped me with my trailer for Finding Claire Fletcher (will be released on 11/16/12).  She also handles all things that revolve around me venting and ranting.  Carrie's first novel, Strength is due out 3/7/13 and it is crazy good.

I'd also like to thank Jeff O at the Doubting Writer for all of his encouragement and for checking in with me now and then.  When I'm getting totally overwhelmed, a hey-how's-it-going email from another writer goes a long way.  Jeff, I promise to finish my WIP so you can finish critiquing it!  Also Jeff is such an incredible writer, he inspires me and makes me want to get better.

I'd also like to thank my main readers-who-are-not writers, my close friends: Melissia McKittrick, who has read every word I've ever written since I was 11 years old and Laura Aiello who introduced me to my husband.

And while I'm at it . . . finally, I'd like to thank all the wonderful writers/bloggers who have agreed to host me for my Finding Claire Fletcher blog tour.  I've created a separate tab for it here on my blog so you can see all their names.  Thank you so much for volunteering your time and your internet space to help me get my book off the ground!

Also stay tuned . . . on 11/9/12 the cover for my second novel, Aberration will be revealed!