Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Our Books & Such offices close after today for the Thanksgiving holiday so I am going to close out our blog for the week by talking about some of the things for which we at Books & Such are grateful. And because others have said it so much better, I’m adding a few of my favorite quotes.
We are grateful for our friends. Those friends include our clients, our blog community, the editors with whom we work, publishing professionals and marketing friends. Perhaps E. B. White said it best when he wrote the following words: “She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.” (From Charlotte’s Web)
We are thankful for the stories we get to read as part of our job. They’ve taken us to places and introduced us to characters that have enriched our lives. As Isaac Bashevis Singer said, “I am thankful. . . to God for each story, each idea, each word and each day.”
We are thankful for the wise and wonderful nonfiction books that come through our hands. We learn at your feet and are proud to partner with you. “Every scribe who is instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings forth from his treasure things new and old” (Matthew 13:52)
We rejoice each time a writer has a breakthrough and we are ever grateful to be part of that process. I love how Mark Twain described it: “When the [Tom Sawyer] manuscript had lain in a pigeonhole two years I took it out one day and read the last chapter that I had written. It was then that I made the great discovery that when the tank runs dry you’ve only to leave it alone and it will fill up again in time, while you are asleep—also while you are at work at other things and are quite unaware that this unconscious and profitable cerebration is going on. There was plenty of material now and the book went on and finished itself without any trouble.”—Mark Twain, Autobiography, posthumous
We are grateful for the writers we work with–writers who know that the act of writing is a form of worship, not just a way of expressing themselves. Ingmar Bergman said it far better than I ever could: “It is my opinion that art lost its basic creative drive the moment it was separated from worship. It severed an umbilical cord… In former days the artist remained unknown and his work was to the glory of God… Today the individual has become the highest form and the greatest bane of artistic creation.”
We thank God for our team at Books & Such. Our relationship with each other– our respect, deep friendship and willingness to hash things out together– is what makes us a force with which to be reckoned. “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17).
We’ll be back blogging next Monday but in the meantime please comment and share those things about this writing life for which you are thankful.
TWEETABLES:
Though the writing life can be a challenge there’s much to be thankful for. Click to Tweet
Take a moment to give thanks for your calling as a writer. Click to Tweet
I’m thankful for the sharpened observation and care for people, and life, that writing has brought.
It’s not always comfortable, but it seems to have been necessary.
Best wishes to everyone out there for a lovely Thanksgiving!
Dear Wendy: Thank you for your blog. I feel as though your advice and words of encouragement come from a friend…a friend with experience in all the right places. Have a blessed thanksgiving. Jacqueline Gillam Fairchild
Best wishes for a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving to you, Wendy, and the entire staff at Books & Such. Being able to offer Thanks for family, friends and love in our life is a special gift. Writing allows us to spread that love in the world. Happy Thanksgiving.
On my first book, the first time someone repeated my words revealing God was working in their lives … I wanted to go straight to my knees with gratitude. I never thought I’d write another book (busy interviewing missionaries and writing their stories) … and today my daughter and I are working on one together. Making memories. For that, I am thankful. Have a lovely Thanksgiving, everyone.
I hope everyone at Books & Such and of course this blog community has a Happy Thanksgiving!
I thankful for this blog which I know is a labor of love for all of you. I’ve learn so much!
I am also thankful that I got to meet you in person (Hartville, Ohio) this year along with Lauraine Snelling. (P.S. you still owe me the picture you had taken of the two of us together.)
I’m so incredibly grateful for this blog community, my critique partners, and friends who support me.
I’m also incredibly grateful to now be a Bookie! I can’t wait to work with Rachelle and learn from her wisdom. 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Congrats Lindsay! Such great news.
Eeee! Lindsay! Definitely a big thing for which to be grateful! Celebrating with you and Rachelle today!
Congratulations, Lindsay!
I’m thankful for you, dear Wendy. 🙂
I am incredibly thankful for the efforts of the entire Books & Such team, your time spent here on the blog – both imparting wisdom and participating in conversations, your friendliness and easy smiles when meeting in person. I have gained quite an education just by checking in here every day (as well as a terrific critique partner), and I’m eager to see what the Lord has prepared for the future. Have a terrific Thanksgiving!
Meghan, I wholeheartedly concur with what you said. 😉
Yes, yes, yes. I agree too, Meghan!
I am thankful for you, Wendy, and grateful for this blessed journey the Lord is traveling with us.
To all the Books and Such family, have a joyous Thanksgiving with your family and friends. May you share a bounty of blessings that flows out to others.
I am thankful for writer friends who encourage me each day to be better than I was yesterday. I’m also thankful for my agent, Rachel! She is such a blessing in my life and always full of grace and wisdom.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
Wonderful list and quotes, Wendy. I pray all of the Books & Such clan has a Happy Thanksgiving!
Have a scrumptious Thanksgiving Wendy!
I’m thankful for the community of writers from this blog, as well as my local ACFW chapter, who’ve become friends.
I’m also immensely grateful for the interest of an agent in my manuscript. It’s given me incentive to remain teachable, improve, and persevere.
I agree, Jenni. That interest provides incredible encouragement.
Loved this, Wendy. Those quotes truly encourage.
I am thankful for much, but I’ll keep my list short. I’m thankful my husband is home after a month overseas for work. I’m thankful for the friends who encourage and spur me forward. I’m thankful for you ladies here at Books and Such. I have learned so much from you.
I’m thankful God has given me a love for story.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Jeanne, so thankful your husband is home. I KNOW what that is like. Happy Thanksgiving!
One of my favorite speaking topics is about King David–Writer/Worshiper/Warrior. When he let any of the three lapse in his life, he fell over like a two-legged stool. LOVE the quote about writing and worship being inextricably entwined.
Great Bergman quote. Living at the intersection of faith and creativity is the challenge, letting one inspire the other, a high calling.
I love that Ingmar Bergman quote–wow. I’m thankful for a Source of creativity who never runs dry and for sharing with fellow Bookies this crazy, blessed passion for writing.
I LOVE the Mark Twain quote. Oh, how I can relate!!
As to thankful…how long do you have??!! There’s just so much to thank God for that it humbles me to consider it.
Like so many others, I’m thankful for all the great advice and information you share on this blog, and for the fellowship of writers who are Christians. We all share two of the most important things in our lives.
Thank you for all you do.
May you have a wonderful thanksgiving!
I thank God for this wonderful world of writing, unknown to me before he took my hand and walked me into it. Thank you, Lord, for giving me friends I cannot now think of living without, words for stories and articles and books you want me to write, and for always going before me and guiding me on the way.
Thank you for all your hard work, Wendy, and for loving your writers like you do. I really appreciate it.
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
I’m most thankful for my husband and our son. Happy Thanksgiving to all!!
So thankful for all of you at Books & Such, and for the wonderful community of writers you have created. Wishing you all a very blessed Thanksgiving. 🙂