I've been thinking lately about all the people who have helped me get where I am as a writer. It's made me curious. If you could thank someone publicly, who would it be? I'll chime in too.
Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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| "We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master." - Ernest Hemingway |
Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
I also invite you to use this image any way you like online. Post it to your blog, share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, anywhere you'd like. All I ask is that you keep it intact, with my website watermark visible.
Don't forget to join the conversation!
Blessings,
Edie
My list would be very long and would begin with Jesus, without whom I would have nothing to write about! Next would be my husband, who has encouraged me every step of the way. Then there is Frank Ramirez, Dean Drawbaugh, Gladys Taber, Virginia Jelinek, Dawn Hamsher, Brianna Renshaw, Cheryl Andreus, Rick Bates, and the list just goes on and on. Each of these people have believed in me and has stood in the gap for me when I thought I was just deluding myself about being a writer.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a question. If I could only thank one person, well, I couldn't just thank one person any more than I could write one word and call it a book. There are so many people whose encouragement and mentoring are interwoven into my life and writing journey. Thank you for this thought provoking question on Saturday morning.
ReplyDeleteYes, it "takes a village" to raise a writer. Consequently, there are many I could thank, but won't list because I'm sure I'd leave someone out. But Edie, you are one of the ones at the very top of the list. Our God-ordained meeting at Blue Ridge back in 2001 when we were both unpublished writers is one of my primary writing-journey praises. Without those years of our mutual disappointments and encouragement and challenges around the critique table, I don't think either of us would have made it to this point. Thank you, Lord! Thank you Edie!
ReplyDeleteThere are three names early in my writing: Christ Egbert who took me under her wing and taught me so much, then Yvonne Anderson and Eunice Matchett, who drilled into me GWS and RUE. :) Then came my special crit partners Gina Holmes, Jessica Dotta, Elizabeth Ludwig and Michelle Griep, God gave me the gift of storytelling, but these gals helped me with the assembly.
ReplyDeleteSusan May Warren changed my writing life. Without her and Rachel Hauck and the My Book Therapy website, I believe I would still be searching for a publisher. Then there are my crit partners, Johnnie Alexander, Robert McClain (Where are you Rob?), Rene Osborn, and Chandra Smith! And friends like Dee Topliff and Patricia Preston...And the One I write for--Jesus.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say my mother, Leanne Dotson, who bought me my first thesaurus at age 9 and has always encouraged my efforts.
ReplyDeleteNo hesitation here. It was and still is Lyn Riddle. At the time she mentored and published me, she was the editor of the Greenville Journal, as well as two other papers in Upstate S.C. She was nurturing, but also honest to the point that I left more than one of her critiques in tears. I wouldn't be the writer I am today without both. I recently took another class from her and her guidance continues to help me turn corner in my writing career. Of course, there are many people who have also been instrumental along the way. Edie, you and your blog are one of them. I appreciate you and all the others. Thanks for a reflective question that's left me gushing with gratitude.
ReplyDeleteGod used all these people to influence me. My mother instilled a love for books in me. My sister inspired me to write stories with her when we were little girls. Others who have encouraged me and taught me great things: Linda Tomlin, Cathy Biggerstaff, Mary Jane Downs, Kim Peterson, Joanna Echols, Vonda Skelton, Samantha Bell, Kristi Butler, Cindy Sproles, and so many others. All the writers I have met at conferences and all the authors and editors I've interviewed have influenced me in some way. God has used them all. My husband and children are also supportive.God continues to guide me and teach me through his people and I'm thankful beyond words. As far as getting my words of encouragement out to the world--my gratitude goes to you, Edie. I was totally illiterate in social media. Not only did you teach me volumes but you did it the best way possible--with a Christian worldview. Thank you.
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