tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post6221784314050062415..comments2024-03-28T10:41:26.999-06:00Comments on Blood-Red Pencil: Who would you thank?Danihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471919576687777886noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-3269501137699021592011-06-21T15:20:11.033-06:002011-06-21T15:20:11.033-06:00Lauren: Love the line "no matter how much I r...Lauren: Love the line "no matter how much I resist them at first." Sometimes the depth of that resistance can indicate advice that is hitting our own slightly bruised "flinch" button.Kathryn Crafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08371458857187160425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-55511708671069451122011-06-21T15:17:30.388-06:002011-06-21T15:17:30.388-06:00Julee: Awesome answer. Thanks!Julee: Awesome answer. Thanks!Kathryn Crafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08371458857187160425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-56873174017542775542011-06-19T18:31:31.064-06:002011-06-19T18:31:31.064-06:00Great article.
I'd thank my lover for, first...Great article. <br /><br />I'd thank my lover for, first of all, being interested in my work and for offering me a different perspectives that always help me out--no matter how much I resist them at first.Lauren @ Pure Texthttp://www.pure-text.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-655748600762363322011-06-18T13:03:07.860-06:002011-06-18T13:03:07.860-06:00I'd like to thank the State of Indiana for the...I'd like to thank the State of Indiana for their decision to downsize me from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and pay my unemployment for the past year and few months that allowed me to complete my first manuscript, write on several others and beguin to "build my brand" on Facebook and by blogging. While my husband suffers the bitterness, as he did 20+ years ago when I was let go from B. Dalton/Barnes & Noble, I think it's one of the best things that happened to me. I logged 3500 miles on travel vouchers in one quarter, so my car thanks the state too, especially with gas prices so high. <br />And thanks to you for your interesting articles.Julee J. Adamshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06074318571722993020noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-31513529847956001712011-06-18T09:37:59.547-06:002011-06-18T09:37:59.547-06:00Lisa, what a wonderful gift to find this comment. ...Lisa, what a wonderful gift to find this comment. (I feel I want to thank you for thanking me, but this has to come to rest somewhere.) You bring warmth to my heart, a smile to my lips, and a tear to my eye. It is not hard to encourage someone with your strength of spirit—it's more like watching you fly past, leaving the fading echo of my voice in your wake: "You go, girl..."Kathryn Crafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08371458857187160425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-54829019818029484912011-06-18T09:28:27.759-06:002011-06-18T09:28:27.759-06:00Who would I thank? YOU, for starters! :) I know I...Who would I thank? YOU, for starters! :) I know I know it's boring to listen to those lists with the Oscar winners, but I have a gratitude list miles long. It includes the encouragers, the discouragers, and all those in between. Mostly, though, I am humbled every time I see God use all those people just for me to move forward, one more step, towards my life's dreams.Lisa Tomarellihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15387353577959237975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-20652687244844879572011-06-18T08:58:50.234-06:002011-06-18T08:58:50.234-06:00Good for you, Kay. How many of us go to our graves...Good for you, Kay. How many of us go to our graves with those thanks still on our tongues? Maybe we don't need to wait for an acceptance speech after all.<br /><br />And thanks for reading, Heidi!Kathryn Crafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08371458857187160425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-24998874066629774402011-06-17T20:44:41.585-06:002011-06-17T20:44:41.585-06:00Very entertaining food for thought!Very entertaining food for thought!Heidiwriterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02593338979995203659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-2951533557391921322011-06-17T14:54:48.514-06:002011-06-17T14:54:48.514-06:00I already thanked the ladies who motivated me to s...I already thanked the ladies who motivated me to stay in school rather than drop out already. Too bad it wasn't a novel from a major publisher.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14115085533635353291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-67220521650260492162011-06-17T14:37:17.132-06:002011-06-17T14:37:17.132-06:00Dani: So right, we need these details. Perp-turned...Dani: So right, we need these details. Perp-turned-victim--love it!Kathryn Crafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08371458857187160425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-35450151588318149822011-06-17T14:35:44.492-06:002011-06-17T14:35:44.492-06:00William: I'd like to thank the people who try ...William: I'd like to thank the people who try to make sense of the world with words!Kathryn Crafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08371458857187160425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-81608327419316285752011-06-17T14:25:33.872-06:002011-06-17T14:25:33.872-06:00You know really, thanking the creeps in our lives ...You know really, thanking the creeps in our lives is important because they make the best models for fiction perps. Like the sociopathic town manager who does just what he wants no matter who he offends. Perp in some novel of the future, right? Or victim. Even better. :)Danihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14471919576687777886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-88470699312221519412011-06-17T14:02:03.847-06:002011-06-17T14:02:03.847-06:00Kathryn Craft: ‘So in answer to the question &quo...Kathryn Craft: ‘So in answer to the question "Who would you thank," you'd say, "I'd thank you not to say anything?"’<br /><br />No, I wouldn’t say that. I’m grateful for every kind person who encouraged me in my writing and made me a better writer because of that encouragement. Still, I’m haunted by the thought that I could be out in the garage right now, rebuilding a car engine, and drinking beer instead of sitting in this stuffy little office, pounding on a laptop computer keyboard, and trying to make sense of the world with words.William Wood Fieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07275295611002986353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-15710452469999769002011-06-17T13:36:50.580-06:002011-06-17T13:36:50.580-06:00Bob: Now that's the spirit! Thanks so much for...Bob: Now that's the spirit! Thanks so much for playing. My husband served in Korea--also during the Vietnam War, and for that he too is thankful!Kathryn Crafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08371458857187160425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-2311834689938110462011-06-17T13:36:05.499-06:002011-06-17T13:36:05.499-06:00Maryann: Perseverance and tenacity, you bet!
Jen...Maryann: Perseverance and tenacity, you bet! <br /><br />Jennifer: I keep waffling on the dedication to mine. As you can see from this post, my definition of whom to thank is pretty inclusive!<br /><br />Sheila: Any ideas?Kathryn Crafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08371458857187160425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-61983870248468549932011-06-17T13:30:39.640-06:002011-06-17T13:30:39.640-06:00Thanks to Airman Suk at the Air Force Personnel of...Thanks to Airman Suk at the Air Force Personnel office in Colorado Springs for cutting orders for me to serve a tour in Alaska instead of Vietnam in 1968.<br /><br />Thanks to the real estate agent whose offhand comment annoyed my father and kept us from moving to a certain town. If we'd gone there, I never would have met my wife.<br /><br />Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg, whose creation helped me reunite with an old friend.<br /><br />Thanks to my dad, who could be a terror at times. But he read to me, and that made up for a lot.<br /><br />Thanks to my wife's high school friend Doris, who introduced us to New Mexico.Bob Sanchezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08350825385315155962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-64136429539596612442011-06-17T10:25:46.716-06:002011-06-17T10:25:46.716-06:00Interesting. I've just signed a contract for a...Interesting. I've just signed a contract for a third ebook and was actually wondering, who should I thank this time.Sheila Deethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13465615546936319164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-1167690851822701422011-06-17T09:57:16.030-06:002011-06-17T09:57:16.030-06:00I don't have a speech planned, but I figured o...I don't have a speech planned, but I figured out the dedication for my first book (to my mom and dad) years ago.Jennifer Hoffinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07616744694563644199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-71113259407735827262011-06-17T09:54:00.320-06:002011-06-17T09:54:00.320-06:00What a wonderful post. Thank you so much, Kathryn....What a wonderful post. Thank you so much, Kathryn. <br /><br />I would have to thank my mother for teaching me how to stick by - people and things. It was not easy for her to raise my sister and I alone with little money, but somehow she did it. I think that taught me about perseverance and tenacity, which we need as much as talent in this writing game.Maryannwriteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09479027709233807149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-57315816403002322702011-06-17T09:16:45.494-06:002011-06-17T09:16:45.494-06:00William: What a story! So in answer to the questio...William: What a story! So in answer to the question "Who would you thank," you'd say, "I'd thank you not to say anything?" ;)Kathryn Crafthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08371458857187160425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-78614817951084767782011-06-17T09:12:02.942-06:002011-06-17T09:12:02.942-06:00I won first place in an essay contest for the seve...I won first place in an essay contest for the seventh grade. They sent a really elegant certificate through the mail - the kind of certificate that people frame and save. My parents were very pleased, especially my mother, who suddenly began calling me The Big Writer. My three brothers countered her beaming face with, "Yeah, right," and other expressions of revulsion and disgust at their “little twerp” brother who was attracting all that attention. Imagine, if you will, the heady experience of a thirteen year old kid suddenly weighted with the lofty title of The Essayist and lumped in with Thomas Carlisle, Matthew Arnold and other high worthies of English Literature. It's not good, friends. You see, my mom and others were encouragers. And encouragers can be bad. Very bad.<br /><br />It all starts out so innocently. A kind person here or there offers you some encouragement about your writing. At first you show a modest bit of denial. "Naw, not me." But then later you begin to believe them. "Hey, what if it's actually true? Me: The Essayist!" Yes, it's so easy to forget the disguised sarcasm that got you there in the first place. And when you forget the underlying dishonesty that propelled you to the heights, then you begin to believe almost anything the encourager says. What they say isn't true, but you believe it. And because of that you end up out there on the front porch on those lazy summer afternoons staring at a blank piece of paper in the typewriter because you are, essentially, a fraud with a swelled head. Believe me, encouragers are bad.<br /><br />And there's another problem with them. They won't go away. They keep bobbing back up. Just when you have finally figured out that you are not the person they think you are, they shovel another batch of encouragement into your boiler. And, "like the dog that returns to its vomit," you head back out to the porch to give it another try. It's maddening!<br /><br />Sometimes I wish that they hadn’t sent that certificate.William Wood Fieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07275295611002986353noreply@blogger.com