When 3 Pages of Acknowledgments Are Not Enough

Somehow I went from “let’s see if I can write a book” to a full-time author whose debut is publishing in 10 short weeks. I’m insanely grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime adventure. In fact, I wrote 800 words’ worth of acknowledgments for Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes. I’m pretty sure three pages is longer than standard for an acknowledgments section, but it turns out, I still haven’t exhausted my thank-yous. Here are some more:

• I’m grateful for Twitter’s #5amwritersclub, a group of in-the-early-dark writers who post funny GIFs and make me feel less alone. And also who indulge my basic and slapstick sense of humor.
• I’m grateful for the matcha lattés I drink during #5amwritersclub. I make ‘em with plant-based milk loaded with pea protein. (Not “pee” protein, as my boys call it.)
• Speaking of, I’m grateful for my boys, ages 15 and 11, who make me laugh incessantly. I mention them in the official acknowledgments too, but kids are worth repeating, right? 
• I’m grateful for running. I usually go out for a few miles after my morning writing session, and it feels so good to move. And, it feels so good to listen to “The Glory of Love” by Peter Cetera, the jewel of the Mom on the Run playlist, otherwise known as, the best frickin’ playlist of all frickin’ time. (Ok, I’ll admit it’s probably only “the best” for the 40+ set, and it’s also “the best” as punishment for when the aforementioned boys play too many songs with swears.)
• I’m grateful for my new writing friends, including Nicole Kronzer who lets me write in her backyard Burrow most mornings. She named her studio after the Weasleys’ home, and if her love of Harry Potter doesn’t prove our perfect writing compatibility, our shared affinity for stroopwafels definitely will.

• 

  Stroopwafels.

• Also fun-sized Snickers and also Keebler cookies, most especially E.L. Fudges. 
• Who wouldn’t be grateful for the internet, including Wikipedia, which tells me that the E.L. in E.L. Fudge stands for “Everybody Loves”?
• Which reminds me of “Ladies Love Cool James,” and I’m as grateful for LL Cool J as the next person. “Mama Said Knock You Out” was all the rage at my middle school dances.
• I’m grateful for humor, the funny books and movies that helped me realize I should try to write funny stuff myself. 
• Specifically, I’m grateful for “Bueller. Bueller. Bueller.” I’ve had the movie pretty much memorized since 1989. I’ve also had “A Few Good Men” memorized, but Jack Nicholson nearing apoplexy isn’t as funny as Alan Ruck going ape shit on a car. I thought I was grateful for “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” but I rewatched that recently, and it didn’t quite hold up to time and logic.
• Finally, I’m grateful for the #writerscommunity, including The Debutante Ball. What a stroke of absolute luck to be where I am right/write now.

Happy Thanksgiving! Happy gratitude!