To all my invisible readers out there, I hope everyone has enjoyed this wonderful holiday season! I feel so blessed and overwhelmed with gratitude for my family and friends and the magical memories we've made the past few days. I suppose you know you're a writer when almost all of the gifts you give and receive have something to do with words and stories.
I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned it here but I am a total potterhead and will be one forever and always. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that this year was a Potter Christmas. I received the redesigned paperback set of the books to add to my collection, plus a limited edition Dobby ornament, a Marauder's Map iPhone case, and two framed posters for my apartment. My family knows me all to well.
After all, it was Harry's adventures that turned me into a voracious reader at the age of 8. But more importantly, it was Jo's words that taught me about life and love and friendship and the importance of an imagination. I think this series, more than anything, is what made me want to start writing in the first place. And now, all these years later, I can't believe that I can put my Harry Potter books next to my own finished manuscript. I long for the day when my book can snuggle beside all of my favorite stories as a real, published novel. But until then, I'm just as happy having them all live together on my bookshelf.
I also got a great ceramic tile for my bedroom that has a vintage Remington typewriter printed on the surface. It's really beautiful and continues to make me yearn for a typewriter of my own. (Maybe next year for Christmas!). The final item I received that shows my writer self is an amazing Grammar Police shirt. I have to say this made me laugh because I'm constantly correcting my sister's grammar as well as silently correcting other people's grammar in my head. I guess, as a writer, it just comes with the territory.
But the best part of the holiday season is not the gifts we receive but rather, the gifts we give. For my second cousins, who also happen to be my most favorite little girls in the whole wide world, I gave books because I want them to love reading just as much as I always have. The oldest of the two already loves her books. And every year for her birthday, I write a book just for her that features her as a character! I've even given both of them Harry Potter outfits in the hopes I'll rub off on them a little. For their mom, my cousin, I had a picture of each of them printed and framed with a short piece of writing in the middle all about little girls. Most of it had to do with my own experience growing up and the other parts are what I envision the two girls will be like growing up. Their mama loved it and cried a little which made me oh so happy! For my best friend, who I've mentioned several times on this blog, I've purchased books that I know he'll love. But I think the gift I'm most excited to give him is the hand-painted map of the world I created in my book. He has been on this journey with me for the past four years so I thought he deserved something no one else will ever have. He's the one who gave me that first seedling of an idea, who read the book first, who talks through the tough writing days and the even tougher scenes, the one who believes in me 110% and who believes this book will be published. And for that, I don't think I could ever give enough gifts because he's given me the greatest one by simply believing in me. That's not something you can bottle or tie up with ribbons and bows. So if you have friends or family who are writers, take notes because I LOVED everything I received this year for Christmas! And for those of you who are writers yourself, remember that your words make you special and unique and that sharing them, in one form or another, is one of the greatest gifts you can give your friends and family and hopefully, someday, a world full of readers. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of this holiday season and is ready to make 2014 the best it can possibly be!
xoxo
K.K.