Giving Thanks—For Writing

Here we are, the day after Thanksgiving, when people are either recovering from the holiday just past or madly shopping for the celebrations ahead—or perhaps relaxing in front of the TV or streaming service, where there’s sure to be a football game underway. I, however, am writing—as has become my habit every day, except at those times when editing projects or family responsibilities and the like get in the way. And since it’s common on this long weekend to tally the many things most of us have to be grateful for, I’m expressing my gratitude for the gift of time to write.

Not that I haven’t been writing for years. I started the very first draft of my very first (and, it can now be said, quite dreadful) novel back in 1994. Even before then, I had produced a doctoral dissertation and a couple of academic articles based on that dissertation, which would eventually become a book—coincidentally, published in 1994 and still in print. And the world that I explored in my academic life also, in time, gave rise to the (if I do say so myself) much better novels in the Legends of the Five Directions and Songs of Steppe & Forest series. Even that dreadful original eventually found its way into print as two much improved variants.

But from 1994 to 2024, I juggled many professional and family responsibilities, and that often left little time for plotting the lives of imaginary people. This last year and a half have been much more relaxed. I still edit, and I still enjoy spending time with friends and family, as well as managing all the inescapable needs of everyday life (bills, cooking, shopping, you name it). But there’s a huge difference between having two days a week to write (even if I can manage 4-6 hours on those days) and having 2-3 hours every day. As any writer of fiction knows, characters go to sleep when not set in motion each day, and getting them going again takes time. Especially for a writer who finds her inspiration on the page, as I do, that daily contact with the characters, even if it’s just a few paragraphs, is precious.

As a result, I finished Song of the Steadfast, which took two years, last June. I’ve already got a near-final version of the next book in the series, Song of the Silk Weaver, and I’ve begun work on the first mad draft of book 8, Song of the Sleuth. The two are closely connected, so I want to be sure I know where the next one is going before I release Silk Weaver, just in case I need to change something, but with luck I will have reached that point by early spring 2026. Check back for more information as the weeks go by.

So, in short, I rejoice in friends and family, food on the table, health and comfort and all those good things, interview guests who share their thoughts with me, and much more besides. But I also revel in the world of my imagination and the characters it brings to fictional life. To all my Tatar nomads, Italian merchants, Russian nobles and peasants, and—as of book 8—English travelers, thank you! May we continue to explore many adventures together in the years ahead.