I wish all of you who celebrate the holiday a happy Thanksgiving.

Years ago I would cook the full holiday spread on my own. The in-laws would fly over from Honolulu and spend a couple of weeks with us, giving them time with the grandchildren. But kids grow up and our elders become more frail. Eventually, the migration reversed, and Ron and I started to fly over to Honolulu for Thanksgiving, where we would celebrate with the extended family at a restaurant.

This year, for the first time in many years, we’re staying home and no one’s coming to visit. Still, I’m thankful for all our good fortune. Our family is small, but we keep in close touch, and we all continue to take precautions during the pandemic. I’m thankful for that, and for our good fortune to live in a community where a great majority of the people are willing to work together to stay safe.

Please take care. And let’s hope that by Thanksgiving 2021, we’ll be free to move around the country (and the world!) again.

It’s Thanksgiving here in America. I hope everyone celebrating today enjoys a pleasant holiday, and if you have to work today, I hope the world treats you well and that you enjoy Thanksgiving whenever you get a chance to celebrate it.

I’d like to take advantage of today to say an extra thank you to all my readers. You give me a reason to keep plugging away at this writing gig. I’m well along with the newest novel and I’ve got a lot of plans for more to come. I just need to keep my focus and my confidence and keep the work flowing!

More soon!

Xena Rose is thankful for squeaky tennis balls.

Someone out there in twitter-land has declared this the 2nd Annual #ReaderThanks Day, with the theme “What are you thankful for as a writer, a reader, or someone who works with books?”

So, each in 140 characters or less, here are my highlights:

#ReaderThanks For the husband who keeps a roof over my head while I take this 2nd shot @ writing. Married 30yrs in May. How awesome is that?

#ReaderThanks For the readers on FB, twitter, G+, my blog, via email, &via reviews who let me know they like what I’m doing. You’re awesome.

#ReaderThanks For readers who don’t bother w/FB, twitter,G+, etc but read my books anyway. You might never see this, but you’re awesome too!

#ReaderThanks For those readers who take a chance on a writer you’ve never heard of. Even if it doesn’t work out, I’m grateful you tried!

#ReaderThanks For those writers who share their experience, thoughts, and opinions on the writing business, so I’m not fumbling in the dark.

#ReaderThanks For those writers whose work still captures my imagination despite the stress & time-crunch of these modern days.

I could go on and on, but instead I’ll just say Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!