Happy Thanksgiving

Every story has as many versions as it has characters. I don't usually like to say much on here with too strong of political bent, but as you celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow I would like you to challenge the myth of the cozy pilgrims and "Indians" working together in harmony.

Some of them might have. I am sure there were friendships as well as violence because people are complex individuals and not the blanket societies we learn about in history books. But don't forget that the pilgrims were invaders. They may have been more peaceful than some of the other settles but they were still fighting a kind of war over the land. Some of the natives may have genuinely wished them well but just as many were afraid of them. And regardless of what the feelings were at the time, the supposed harmony of that harvest celebration we colored so many pictures of in the class room didn't last very long. We have the rest of history to prove that.

Myths have power. Most of them come from a grain of truth but they can control the way we think about things if we let them. I could never object to a holiday that celebrates food, family, and thankfulness (especially the food), but I don't think we should be unaware of the stories we tell about it. Please don't forget. Not everyone in that story had a happy ending.

And have a very happy Thanksgiving

After Yule

On Christmas we have


Pudding that needs editing

+

Character (me) who needs rounding out

=

Perfect combination



But after boxing day we have



Over edited pudding

+

Far too rounded character

=

The New Years resolution



I've learned to be careful with resolutions. "This year I will get my book published" is a bad resolution. So are "This year I will lose weight", or "This year I will get a better job".

Good resolutions look more like "This year I will mail out a hundred queries", "This year I will work out three times a week" or "This year I will turn in a job application every day".

There are too many things in the publishing world, your metabolism and the job market that you will have no controll over and if you fail to meet your goals because of those obsticles you will feel like you haven't done what you set out to do even though you have. A new year is the perfect time to rethink goals and set up challenges but be careful about what you promise yourself. Focus your resolution on your own actions not the end results.