Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. The gathering of family and friends as autumn draws to a close, chilly nights and overcast skies promising snowfall and magic in the month ahead. It brings back fond memories of childhood, watching Charlie Brown cartoons and football games as the aroma of roasting turkey and boiling potatoes filled the house. We always put up our first Christmas decoration on Thanksgiving morning: an old ceramic Christmas tree, with little colorful pieces of plastic lit up by a bulb in the base. Then mom would dress the turkey while we all huddled around the kitchen TV to watch the Macy’s parade. Standing or leaning or sitting on stools at the island between the kitchen and dining room. But together, nonetheless.

In the past five years, a change I’d long expected finally came to pass: Thanksgiving became my responsibility. Now I’m the one who dresses the turkey, while my partner helps with the sides. My turkey, and our meal on the whole, are very different from the Thanksgiving dinners I grew up with. But that is for the best. I had my time as the kid in front of the television. Now I have kids of my own in front of the TV. The roles have changed, the meal has changed. But the sense of togetherness remains. And that is what truly matters.

Every year since I began this site, Thanksgiving Day has been the one day of the year when I allow myself to get personal. Through my Thanksgiving posts, readers can track the twists and turns my adult life has taken. From yearning for my childhood home in Pennsylvania, the red brick colonial covered in snow, plucked from a holiday fairytale. To reflections on how Cincinnati gradually became my new home, as trips to and from Sharon went from “Going home, then going back to Cincinnati,” to “Visiting mom and dad, then going home.” And now, to staying home, and making Thanksgiving with my new family the same as it was back in Pennsylvania. Only different.

But over the years, while I’ve focused on the aspects of home and family and togetherness, there’s one key feature of Thanksgiving I’ve often neglected:

Gratitude.

Well this year, as I prepare to carve the turkey and pass the cranberry sauce, I have a lot to be grateful for. Even more than usual. My writing career, after fits and starts, has finally taken off thanks to my renewed focus. The coming year will feature my publishing debut, as well as furious rounds of querying and (hopefully) an agent, and the chance to make Seven Days on Samarkand my debut novel. But I didn’t get here on my own. So today, on this day of thanks, I’d like to take a moment to recognize some of the amazing people who helped to make my dreams a reality.

Jen

I mention my partner a lot, but I don’t often mention her name, or the names of our children. I do this for the same reason many writers do: because the fact is, while I put myself out in the world seeking recognition, they didn’t make that decision. But today, I believe my beloved partner deserves to have her name seen.

I began dating Jen shortly after finishing my first novel. That book was, to be kind, a hot mess. But when I told her I’d written a novel, she asked to read it, and read all 200k words of rambling, melodramatic tripe in a day. I later learned she reads almost no fiction (she has read very little of what I’ve written since). But she read that book because she’d heard that, to understand a writer, you must read his work. And that was deeply touching: she read a book because she wanted to know me better.

In the years since, she’d been patient and supportive. Though she has little experience in writing, she’s great with web design, and has played a pivotal role in multiple redesigns of this site. And she still listens patiently as I prattle on about solar sail equations and other such silliness. Because she knows it’s important to me.

Melissa

I actually met Melissa through National Novel Writing Month, years ago. And though I say “met”, technically we have never actually seen one another in person. But she has been one of my strongest sources of inspiration and support. In the time I’ve known her, Melissa has been the first person to read many of my best stories. That includes “Casual Brutality”, which will be appearing in Analog Science Fiction & Fact next year.

Several years ago, I asked Melissa to beta read an earlier draft of Seven Days on Samarkand. To my surprise, that process ended up becoming a full line edit. The experience went incredibly well, and was invaluable. Thanks to Melissa, I found myself better prepared for my recent experiences with editing for the upcoming Writers of the Future anthology.

Sara

My best friend Sara has been so crucial to my writing that longtime readers may actually recognize her name. For years now, Sara has been my best beta reader and biggest fan. She has read the vast majority of my work, and loved every bit of it. Her role in my journey has been reinforced by her voracious reading habits, which make her a discerning consumer of fiction. But it’s more than that.

Any writer will tell you that fatigue and impostor syndrome are constant problems. Being an aspiring writer is arguably the hardest, most labor-intensive job for which one goes unpaid. For most writers, the early years are filled with furious work and burnout, coupled with waves of rejection that can crush the soul. More than once, I’ve honestly considered giving up. But every time I have, Sara was the one who pulled me back from the edge. Who reminded me that she believed in me.

She’s been not only my friend and creative partner but my source of strength. She’s believed in me even when I have not. And anyone who reads and enjoys the stories I’ll have in print next year needs to thank her for keeping me going. Otherwise, those pieces may never even have been written.

Harlow

“Harlow Hughes” is actually a penname, which I used partly to differentiate her from my friend Sara (Harlow’s real given name is Sarah). Several years into my writing career, a mutual friend I’d met through Pitch Wars put me in touch with her friend who was trying to get started as a writer. Thus, after several years being mentored by fellow writers, I became a mentor to Harlow.

She’s a wonderful person, and ultimately we came to be good personal friends. But my experience working with her helped me to realize how far I’d come: I’d gotten to the point where I actually had advice to give to others. Where other writers just starting out looked up to me, admired me. And that was a real shot in the arm at a time when I feared I’d plateaued.

My Critique Group

I’ve said many times that one of the best things about pitch events on Twitter is meeting great writers. And over a series of events this past summer and earl autumn, I met the amazing people who formed my first critique group. Serin, Alicia, Mark, and Gemma have since become invaluable members of my writing support structure.

Over the past several months, they’ve helped me refine several short fiction manuscripts I’d honestly thought were…well, fine, at least. Now I’m convinced they represent some of my absolute best work. Through it all, I’ve found not only a group of peers to bounce ideas off of, but also new friends. And just this past week, we welcomed our first new member since our group incorporated: Melissa, my longtime critique partner.

My Beta Reading Group

Earlier this month, the success of my critique group inspired me to create my own beta reading group. Over the years, I’ve met several wonderful people who’ve become my core beta readers: people who aren’t necessarily writers themselves, but who thoroughly enjoy reading and love my work. Sending my work to them gives me the first impressions of actual readers. They focus less on the nitty-gritty of writing craft, and more on just how enjoyable my work is to read.

After years of firing off pieces to each of them in turn, I decided to put them all together in one group. This not only allows me to keep track of what I’ve sent where, but also gives me the chance to see actual readers discuss my work. Sara and Harlow, who I mentioned above, are part of it, joined by longtime beta readers Krisi, Nate, and Deb. They’ve become part of what I consider my “writing pipeline”: after passing a manuscript through my critique group to refine my editing, I turn it over to my beta reading group for first reader impressions. It’s been a wonderful experience so far, and I can’t wait to see how things go in the year to come.

Writing can, at times, feel like a lonely profession. But gone are the days of writers working in silent seclusion. I would never have made it this far without all the people listed above. And they’re not alone; the list of people I could thank for helping me make it from “I have an idea for a story” to actually being published is long enough for a hundred of these posts and more.

So in closing, let me simply say that as I’ve reflected on the journey thus far, I’ve found gratitude is the overriding feeling. Accomplishment, yes. Excitement for the future (and also fear), absolutely. But getting here was no accident. It wasn’t luck. It took years of hard work. And it all started with an upbringing filled with love, even on all the days that didn’t involve turkey dinners or parades. My families, the one I was born into and all the others I’ve found along the way, landed me here, looking forward. And no matter how far this whole writing business takes me, I’ll find myself standing on a firm foundation built from all the love and support I’ve received.

To my family, and yours, happy Thanksgiving. – MK