Hello Readers,

Recently I heard a sermon about giving thanks to those people in our lives who have mentored us, encouraged us, prayed for us, loved us, or otherwise improved our lives in some tangible way.

The apostle Paul did this in a letter to Timothy and named several people who have ministered to him in some way. He also named those not so helpful, knowing that God would deal with them as he saw fit. (see II Timothy 4:9-22)

So, today I’m giving a shout out to those who have helped me along my writing journey over the years.

First, I would like to thank my parents for taking me to the library so I could feed my mind and imagination. And for making sure I had enough notebooks and pens to write down stories of my own.

They also let me write lots of letters to relatives, Santa !, and to whoever I felt a need to express myself to. Back then, stamps were a whopping .13!

In high school, I had a couple of classes taught by teachers who encouraged me in my writing. One was composition taught by Mr. Hunter-Pyrtle. Another was creative writing lab taught by Dr. Beall and a student teacher, Mr. Gibbens. In that class we wrote essays, poetry, short stories, etc. I was probably the only one in that class who really wanted to write. I think the others took it for an easy grade. I don’t know for sure though. I still have some of those assignments in my files.

In Dr. Beall’s class, she sometimes used articles from Writer’s Digest Magazine. I later became a subscriber and still am today. (I even met my late husband through an ad in the magazine!)

my oldest copy of Writer’s Digest

I have attended writer’s conferences, including Write-to-Publish near Chicago. Many teachers have taught there including Jack Cavanaugh, Rene Gutteridge, Travis Thrasher, Lynn Austin, James Scott Bell, Steven James, Susan May Warren and many more.

There are countless editors, critiquers, writers and others in my life who have helped me along my journey as well. And a variety of writing books, magazines and workshops or classes.

I couldn’t forget my writing group friends! Current members of our Paddle Creek Writers are Bev, Pat and Susan. I love you all. Other writers that I’ve written with over the years are Laurie, Leesa and Rhonda.

I can’t forget Amy, my accountability partner in Wisconsin, who I’ve never met. We share weekly goals, prayer requests and homeschool ups and downs.

And to my newest group of encouragers: readers and reviewers of Cookie Encounter. I have been touched by the favorable comments regarding my first novel. You encourage me to keep the keyboard clicking.

Thank you all and God bless!

Forever thankful,

~~Michelle