When I was a kiddo, I never read the acknowledgments. I thought they were boring because so often they were a long list of names, but as my love of books, publishing, and the writing process grew, I started to read the acknowledgments. As a kid, I always thought authors did the story writing completely on their own. I had that romantic isolated image of a writer, sitting alone in a dark room with a beer glass and a cigarette.
Wasn’t that where the magic happened? Alone. Dark. Solitude.
And while yes, the writing process often comes down to the writer sitting alone for hours on end. The fact is that this romantic image of the isolated writer misses the people (and pets) just outside of that frame.
If you were to zoom out from the image of me writing alone at my laptop, you’d maybe first see my dog lying at my feet, then you may notice my sister behind the camera. A hand-reach away is my phone with friends and family on speed-text to help me sort out different frustrating story plot and character development. Then there are the friends that live in my email list, where we share our writing and goals. Don’t forget the people in my social media who tirelessly liked, commented, and replied to my news and panics.
Now, when I particularly love a book, I absolutely read the acknowledgment. I want to know how the writer did it. I want to know the people the writer turned to. I want to know how they didn’t write this story alone. I want to know who fed them as they got lost writing or editing.
While I know not everyone reads the acknowledgments, it’s a beautiful space for book authors to point to the people who were the ones who helped line them up for a successful shot with their story.
I love stories because of the people within the story. The main character never does it alone. Even when it’s one person against the world, in a survivalist type book, that human still rarely makes it alone because he or she will flashback to their personal stories of other people in their lives. You can do MANY things alone. Absolutely. And sometimes you need to or have to.
But, it is not a weakness to need people, to invite people into your journey.
While I, at first, was very embarrassed for writing such a lengthy acknowledgments section for my short novella, I no longer feel that way. Actually, I’m surprised I kept it that short! I could easily list many more people who have been a part of my writing journey from my first writing teacher to my favorite hummus guy.
I wanted to share my acknowledgments from Take a Right at the Mistletoe here.
Acknowledgments: Take a Right at the Mistletoe
Ever since I lived in Vienna and wandered the Christmas markets, I have longed to write a Christmas novella that would unfurl into a cobblestoned winter wonderland. In June 2020, Dawn Carrington of Vinspire Publishing handed me that dream in the form of a contract for a Christmas novella. My heart flew into my throat, and I signed.
By the end of July, I had written Take a Right at the Mistletoe from scratch. While I wrote the 23,000 words in three days, it was my friends and family that carried me: my neighbors, Marcus and Michael, cheered me on and brainstormed plots and characters; my native German-speaking friend Julia responded to all my questions and checked my German use; my friend Erin championed the story from brainstorming to beta reading to graphic design for my social media; my fake sister empress, Katie, explained the different job roles in television production; my sister Deborah whisked me and my dog Fiona to the wilds of New York for a writing retreat; my boyfriend Robert anchored me during a harrowing weekend of edits; my brother Jonathan and his wife Karen forgave me for arriving an hour late to their baby shower; my friend Allie fielded a very panicked phone call to dissect and improve a troubling character; and my parents believed in me. Thank you!
Many thanks to my crowd of beta readers who jumped in with a tight timeline to offer perspective, feedback, and encouragement: Erin Heizelman, Nancy Brutt, Jaci Miller, Karen Pearson, Josh Mann, Robert Kasper, Julia Meyer, Deborah Brutt, Jonathan Brutt, Morgan Gray, Marcus Vahle, Michael Makin, Sophie Moser, Allie Myers, Deidre Stevens.
And to WAN, the Writers Accountability Network, that continues to make me feel like a writer when I’m just not sure if I am. Thank you for offering me wisdom, perspective, and years of knowledge as I navigated this novella. A big thank you to my Iron City Circus Arts family and my CrossFit South Hills crew for providing physical distraction when my brain was tapped out.
Once again, thank you to Dawn Carrington and the Vinspire Publishing team for sprinkling sparkle dust to make my Vienna Christmas novella a dream come true.
Friends, new and old, who have celebrated this Christmas novella with me, taking time to be curious about the process, feeding me when I forgot, and scooting me away from the edge when I got scared—thank you. And also to you, the reader, who chose this Christmas story as one to heighten your holiday cheer—thank you for reading, and I hope you love the beauty of Vienna as much as I do!
To all the custard-filled, chocolate-topped doughnuts that were my chosen reward at every juncture, you made every week sweeter.
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