Erika Dreifus

Yes, it’s Thanksgiving, but a day off from the “day job” means, hopefully, that I just may make a little more progress on the writing that I am not always and/or steadily paid to do. Tops on my agenda for the long holiday weekend is reading a book that I won’t name here and drafting an accompanying review that is due next week.

I will, of course, take some time for celebrating and giving thanks. I have so much to be thankful for. I do try to count my blessings on all the other days of the year, but today I’ll take some extra time to reflect on them. Foremost: my family, my friends, my health, the health of aforementioned family and friends, and a job where I am appreciated and believe that I am making a contribution.

I’ve always been grateful for words and books–as a reader. This year, my writing life has been extra-special, and I want to say a few public thank-yous to those who have supported it (and, by extension, me).

• Thank you to my publisher, for releasing Quiet Americans, and to my fellow LLS authors for their support and friendship.
• Thank you to my excellent freelance copy editors/proofreaders, and to the behind-the-scenes folks who designed and prepared the book’s print and e-book editions.
• Thank you to Andrew Furman and Margot Singer for their advance praise.
• Thank you to the hosts of my fabulous book parties in Boston, Washington, and New York (and thank you to everyone who took the time to show up and celebrate with us).
• Thank you to the bloggers who so generously hosted the stops along my virtual book tour.
• Thank you to the reviewers and feature writers who have read and written about Quiet Americans so thoughtfully. (Special thanks to those whose interpretations illuminated aspects of the work that even I hadn’t seen.)
• Thank you to Shelf Unbound, for naming Quiet Americans a Top 10 Book of 2011.
• Thank you to the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP), for hosting one of the best AWP conferences ever in Washington (and for selling Quiet Americans at the Bookfair), and thank you to all of my 2011 co-panelists (Andrew Furman, Kevin Haworth, Margot Singer, Anna Solomon; Sage Cohen, Andrew Gray, Chloé Yelena Miller, Michael Morse, and Scott Warnock) for their exceptionally smart presentations.
• Thank you to the National Museum of American Jewish Military History, Girl Talk, the Sunday Salon series, Grub Street, Inc., Baruch College & the Leo Baeck Institute, the Manhattanville College Summer Writers’ Week, the Jewish Historical Society of New York, Temple B’nai Jeshurun, and all of the book groups and clubs that have invited me to visit/speak this year.
• Thank you to The Blue Card, for allowing me to share my book profits in such a meaningful way (and a very special thank you to the many readers who have made additional donations to The Blue Card in my honor).
• Thank you to my always-reliable editors at Fiction Writers Review, Jewish Book World, the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, and The Writer magazine, for being such wonderful, supportive colleagues and such a pleasure to write for.
• Thank you to all of the other editors and publications who featured my work this year for Adanna, Berg Gasse 19, CenterforFiction.org, Literary Mama, New Vilna Review, Numéro Cinq, Poetry24, and Your Daily Poem.
• Thank you to a marvelous team that shall remain anonymous until my much-mentioned commissioned story is released.
• Thank you to all of you who visit this site, subscribe to The Practicing Writer, and interact on Facebook/Twitter/Goodreads. (Who said that the writing life is lonely?)
• Thanks to readers and writers everywhere. Just because.

Apologies for any omissions (which are truly inadvertent). And Happy Thanksgiving to you all!