Thanksgiving Appetizers

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Thanksgiving is next week. I thought about saving this topic until next Friday, but then a more appropriate topic would have been Post-Turkey Tryptophan Stupor.

Canada celebrates Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October (10-9-23). So, if you are Canadian, you can title this post “Thanksgiving After-Dinner Toasts.”

Our family celebrates Thanksgiving by gathering in a big circle to ask the blessing on the meal. Before the prayer, we go around the circle and each person tells something s/he is thankful for.

So, today, in this time of tumult, chaos, and conflict, I thought it would be a good idea to gather the Kill Zone family in a big cyber circle and ask each of us to:

  1. Reflect on something good in our reading/writing/publishing/marketing life. If you see fit, please share it with the rest of us so we can celebrate with you.
  2. Or, if you prefer to share a recipe for your favorite Thanksgiving appetizer, that would be great, too.

May your Thanksgiving be filled with family, gratitude, and joy!

28 thoughts on “Thanksgiving Appetizers”

  1. Good morning, Steve, and Happy Thanksgiving.

    Something good? TKZ! First among equals.

    Thanks for everything, Steve.

    • Thanks, Joe. Yes, TKZ is a great community in which to hang out and learn. And thank you, everyone, for your contributions in making this site a place to start your day.

      Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

  2. Started using Autocrit. Nice to have that initial pass. Has there been a comparison article of the different AI softwares?

    Also Thankful for the local library. Have a good Holiday, everyone.

    • Good things to be thankful for, Warren.

      I don’t recall an article here on TKZ comparing the different AI programs. Maybe someone will take that as a suggestion for a future post. It sounds like something Garry would do. There are plenty of comparisons out there if you do a Google search.

      The local library. Ours had a fire and water damage and has been closed for the past year. I certainly realize how much I appreciated it when we don’t have it.

      Happy Thanksgiving to you, Warren.

  3. Coffee and TKZ every morning. Friendships with TKZers whom I haven’t yet met in person who grace me with their generosity, kindness, assistance, wise advice, and encouragement.

    Happy Thanksgiving, Steve, to you and your family!

    • Good morning, Debbie. When I wrote this post I asked myself what I was most thankful for, and my answer was the same as yours – coffee and TKZ every morning, and TKZ friendships.

      Happy Thanksgiving, Debbie, to you and your family!

  4. Thankful that I get to do what I love, Steve.

    We’ll be having Thanksgiving with son, DIL and grandboys, and Mrs. B will make her absolutely killer cranberry sauce. She has a way of getting just the right balance of sweet and tart…like Barbara Stanwyck.

    • Life is great, Jim, when you can do what you want. I’m still looking for that balance, but I agree 100%.

      We have a grandson who loves the cranberry sauce. One of us has to follow him through the food line to make certain he leaves some for everyone else.

      Thanks for all your teaching and leadership here at TKZ. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

    • Thanks, Terry. That Curried Fruit Bread Dressing sounds good. I’m printing it out for my wife.

      Even with much of our family in the same community, there are different gatherings depending on the in-laws. So, many of our family will not be at our family gathering. Just an excuse to get together with them at another time.

      Thanks for the recipe, and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

  7. I’m thankful for discovering Substack. I’m not on any social media, but I downloaded Substack to follow authors Harvey Stanbrough and Vincent Zandri. Once on board, I discovered a great, broader community of writers sharing both fiction and non-fiction. It also gave me the opportunity to engage indie icons I’d followed for years, including Kevin Tumlinson and Johnny B. Truant. Finally, I decided to post some fiction as well to keep myself on track and honest.

    • Thanks for mentioning Substack, Philip. That sounds like a great group of writers to follow, and worth looking into.

      To be able to interact with other authors/writers seems to be a recurring blessing mentioned this morning.

      Best of luck with your fiction on Substack.

  8. Good morning, Steve. I’m thankful for now being able to devote myself to writing and publishing, for the opportunities to reach readers, and our wonderful TKZ community.

    Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

    • Good morning, Dale. The time to devote ourselves to fulltime writing is truly a blessing. And that connection to readers, other writers, and TKZ is the icing on the cake.

      Thanks, Dale, for your wonderful searching through the archives for topics of interest for our TKZ community.

      I hope your weekend is wonderful, as well.

  10. Thankful for TKZ, indeed!

    Also, thankful for each individual reader who has paused to thank me for writing the story they are reading/have read.

    I recently was asked to write a short newsletter piece for an ophthalmology nurse’s association, from the POV of a family member of a patient. (My dad, who has AMD and is quickly losing vision in his one good eye.)

    I heard back from the nurse who asked me if I’d do it; she said my piece brought her to tears, and the docs wanted to post it on their website. It was barely a page long, but evidently connected with them.

    Nothing like hearing how my words impact readers. Can’t beat that gratitude with a stick, eh?

    Happy GiveThanks Day to all!

    • Congratulations, Deb, on getting your work into a newsletter and on a website. I agree; there is nothing like readers’ appreciation to make us feel fulfilled.

      Thanks for being part of the KZ family!

  11. I am grateful for the deep friendships I’ve made in the writing community, especially here at TKZ. I’m honored to be a part of it.

    We travel to Austin every year to spend Thanksgiving week with our son, and we usually eat Thanksgiving dinner out. Years ago I discovered my favorite dessert at one of these meals: Sticky Toffee Pudding. Although I’ve tried making it myself, I’ve never been able to reproduce the taste and texture that they make at the Sticky Toffee Pudding Company in Austin.
    https://stickytoffeepuddingcompany.com

    • Good morning, Kay. I agree with the friendships and the writing community here at TKZ.

      Wow, those Sticky Toffee Puddings, look delicious. I’m a choco-carboholic. If it’s sweet and it has any chocolate, I love it. My wife spoils me with the desserts she makes already, but I’m going to ask her to look into the toffee pudding. I noticed the restaurant/company didn’t give their secret recipe. Thanks for the link.

      Have safe travels and a relaxed Thanksgiving!

  12. I’ll mention 2 writing related things I’m thankful for:
    1) Back in the day when blogs first emerged, I was trying to keep up with umpteen writing-related blogs but it just wasn’t sustainable to keep up with them all. Now I have whittled it down to one that I stick with every day — TKZ. Very thankful for all the TKZ contributors and commenters and the writing wisdom that the TKZ community continues to pour into us.
    2) I have multiple creative interests, all of which are hard to fit into a busy life. But I’m thankful that writing is my primary creative interest and also thankful that despite all the ups and downs with periods of high creativity and periods where it feels creativity has fled every cell of my body, I NEVER give up on my writing and I continue to make steady progress, even when the progress seems slow at times.

    Thanks TKZ!

    • Wonderful, BK. Thanks for being part of the KZ community, and your faithfulness in participating.

      It’s good to hear that all the creative interests enrich your life, but are not taking away from your writing. That can be a challenge for some.

      Best wishes for continued creativity in your writing.

  13. Great idea, Steve! Merciless Mayhem just won the International Impact Award for the environment. Does that count? I’m also thankful for all the friends I have in the writing community and here on TKZ. You guys never fail to inspire me. xo

    And… your post just reminded me to write what I’m grateful for on WHW. Thank you!

    • Way to go, SUE. Congratulations on the International Impact Award for the environment! You deserve it!

      Thanks for being part of the KZ community. Your posts on neuro-science are always interesting and helpful for our writing.

      Thanks for your support!

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