Good morning, happy weekend, and for all those American readers out there, hope you’re gearing up for a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday next week! I’m thrilled to be hanging out here with so many other authors for The Romance Studio’s Thanksgiving Party, and over the next few days I’m going to share with you some thoughts, some excerpts, some tips, and some things for which I am thankful this year.

So…to start, I am thankful to live in a place where so many people are willing to help others in times of need. I live about an hour north of NYC, which means many of my friends and neighbors in New York and New Jersey suffered great loss during the recent Hurricane Sandy. What I have seen in the aftermath is amazing. People reaching out to others in any and every way they know how. I have friends who had up to 10 people staying with them for days - in a house without power. Facebook posts encouraging donations reached far and wide, from animal shelters needing generators to radio stations packing trucks with coats and blankets to friends waiting in line at gas stations for hours to fill up cans for others who couldn’t get there. And for a few days before the bitter presidential election, it didn’t make one bit of difference which candidate you supported, because there were bigger things to think about.

I am so thankful for my loved ones being spared, my home remaining intact, and for being able to witness (and be part of) an immense rescue effort. I hope that, if you were in the path of Sandy, you too are safe and recovering and rebuilding with the help of others.

Excerpts and more thankful thoughts to follow in the days to come……….hope you’ll pop in to join me and say hello!