It's Jungle Red Thank You Day!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Susan Elia MacNeal inspired me to this, she doesn’t know it, but she did. We were talking about the breathtakingly terrible events of last week—yes, other of the seemingly unending list of terrible events—but because it was journalists, it was…well, home.

Susan quoted Winston Churchill.  “These are stern times,” he said. And yes, they are.

And it made me wonder about legacy, and the tiny spit of time we each get, and  making sure we let people know things. I know Jungle Red is supposed to be fun and upbeat, and we are, so let’s...do this. 

Thomas Thornburg/Pike HIgh School 1967 

Tell us someone you want to make sure you thank.  Mom, of course, and Dad, goes without saying. But Mr. Thornburg, for instance, my high school English teacher who taught me about Shakespeare. And Alice Blitch, a college professor who took me aside and told me I was talented. She didn’t have to, you know? She just did.

Fred Heckman, the brusque-but-patient news director who hired 20 year old me, with zero experience, as a newbie radio reporter.

This is me on my very first day of work as a radio reporter at WIBC, circa 1971. You  can imagine how Fred felt about me, the very first female reporter at this station! But he taught me how to ask questions. 

My sister Nancy, who is always there. Red Hallie, who swooped me up in mystery world ten years ago, treated me like a real writer. And editor/author Paula Munier, do you know her? Nothing that’s happened to me would have happened without her. 

AnnLeslie Tuttle, editor at MIRA, who in 2005, said—can you rewrite your submission, same story but different sensibility? If you can, I’d love to publish PRIME TIME. And I did, and they did.

Oh, gosh, I could go on. My now-editor at Forge, Kristin Sevick, and agent Lisa Gallagher, and…Jonathan. SO patient! I wouldn’t put up with me, is all I can say.

Thank you thank you.

And here’s your bully pulpit. In these times of trouble, who deserves your thanks?

Julia's mom with Youngest and The Smithie

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: It sounds like an Academy Award speech, but first I need to thank my mother, Lois Fleming, who always made books more-than-plentiful for me, even when the money wasn't, and who taught me much of what I know about composition, and who thought I should be a writer before anyone else did, including myself.

All the SF fans at the long-defunct B5 Unrest who first got me interested in playing around with fiction, Lucy Zahray, aka "The Poison Lady, who recommended my manuscript to the legendary Ruth Cavin when I entered it into the Malice Domestic contest.

Meg Ruley! Love her. 

I'm incredibly grateful to my agent, Meg Ruley, who took me on when I was still in the middle of a three-book deal my first agent had negotiated! For those of you not in the publishing business, that meant she was supporting and advocating for me for several YEARS before she saw any income from my writing. Lots of want-to-be-writers ask, "Why should I give away 15% of my booksales?" The answer is: because an agent like Meg is worth a lot more than that.

And thanks also to Hank! We had a great time hanging around at the San Francisco Bouchercon, and after I got home to Maine, she sent me an email asking if I'd like to consider joining this blog group she was a part of... I said yes and have never regretted it!

HANK: Aw, I remember that! oxoo

HALLIE EPHRON: Hank, you are so generous giving credit. Thanks. And now turnabout is fair play and I thank the generous writers, especially Hank and Lucy and Paula Munier, who are there for me when I’ve written myself into another cul de sac or just feel mopey.

And thanks to… family.

For giving me my first break, my sister Nora who connected me with an editor at the Boston Globe when I’d written an op ed piece about leaving teaching. And my sister Delia who read my first attempts at storytelling and told me the bad news (it needed soooo much work) and the good (I had talent.) And my younger sister Amy who started writing long before I did and so I had to race to keep up. And my mother who blazed the trail for us all as women slash writers and in the process, exposed its pitfalls.

And my husband who rarely uttered the word *but* when I told him what I wanted to do next. And my fantastic daughters who are proof positive that I can do some things really really right, or at least be trusted not to gum up the works.

Hallie is second from right

Teachers: Mr. Gelms who taught journalism at Beverly High. And Barbara Ann Schenkel my 6th grade teacher. Both of them died before I got the chance to thank them properly. If there's a someone you want to thank, DO IT NOW!

HANK: Hallie, who's the guy on the right?? He was..framed.

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Wow, I had no idea an email would turn into a post! Churchill actually edited "dark times" into "stern times." I do believe his word choice is important.

People to thank in my life? Mrs. Elizabeth Lewin, at the North Tonawanda Public Library, Iris Skoog of Nardin Academy, Father P.S. Naumann, SJ at Canisius High School, Susan Meyer of Wellesley College, Caitlin Sims, formerly of Dance Magazine. Idria Barone Knecht. 

Noel and Bear, circa 1998

My husband, Noel MacNeal, who didn't laugh when I said I wanted to write a novel and in fact supported me through all kinds of craziness and gifted me all of his Bear in the Big Blue House and Sesame International airline points to travel....

RHYS BOWEN: I'd like to thank all the little people......wait! I don't know any little people.  The ones to whom  I owe a lot are no longer with us. My grandmother and great aunt Min who raised me in my early years, surrounded me with love and taught me the art of story telling. My aunt Gwladys who whisked me away to strange and exotic places and gave me my love of travel.

Best photo EVER! Where is this, Rhys?

Then there are my college friends who have remained close until today. The many wonderful friends I have made in the mystery writing world. Dorothy Cannell who introduced me to my agent (also Meg Ruley) and the fantastic Meg herself. Having an agent and editor who wholeheartedly believe in me-i couldn't ask for more. 

John is seated, right, with adorable child on lap

And of course John who is my first, and most critical reader, who drove me coast to coast three times before any publisher sent me on a book tour, and my kids who keep my life sane and grounded , as in "can you watch the dog and do you have a sleeping bag we can borrow?" and my grandkids. There is no better feeling than having a small child running toward you, arms outstretched and face alight with joy.  I feel truly blessed.

LUCY BURDETTE: My family of course. My poor old dad supported everything I did, even though he could not fathom why in the world I was throwing away all those years of training as a psychologist for...writing mysteries. (I wasn't throwing them away, it turns out. The two careers dovetail brilliantly!) My sister Susan, who was the first writer in the family but consistently supports me nudging in alongside her. John, the best husband ever. How much harder it must be to be married to someone who pushes you away from your dreams instead of toward them!

Roberta and Mr. Dorhout

Mrs. Covey, my fifth grade teacher. Albert Dorhout, high school music teacher and Mr. Schneider, drama teacher, who both encouraged my enthusiasm for the subjects, in spite of a lack of native talent:). And Gabriel Asfar, my adviser in college, who was probably the first person to tell me I was a good writer.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Oh, Hank, this was hard. My first thought was, "How can I choose?" But here's a stab at it: First, always, my maternal grandmother, Lillian Dozier, who taught me to read and to love reading, who shared my dreams and nurtured tiny sparks of ambition, and who told me many times that I could do whatever I set my sights on. My 3rd and 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Schwann, who was the truly inspirational teacher that every child should have (and who read us A Wrinkle in Time, chapter by chapter, when we were in 6th grade. If I hadn't already been hooked on books that would have done the trick.) My writer uncle, A.C. Greene, who

A.C. Greene

told an awkward fifteen-year-old that her poetry was not too bad, and who supported my writing wholeheartedly from then on. Howard McCarley, my biology professor and my mentor in college, who encouraged me despite my obvious mathematical defiencencies. Warren Norwood, writing teacher, friend, mentor, who gave me the confidence to finish that first novel and send it out into the world. Nancy Yost, my incomparable agent of more than twenty years!

And so many more! My parents, of course. Writing friends, family, husband who puts up with me--and my daughter, who shares with me every day the great gift of loving books.

HANK PHILLIPI RYAN: I love seeing all these names. They’re people most of us will never meet, or know, and yet, kind of like the Bridge of San Luis Rey, you know, at some place and time they crossed our lives and made a difference, and it’s good that we simply state their names. Our own “Honored” Roll! And it seems to be about giving confidence, right? And encouragement?

So, reds and readers, who are you thankful for? And has anyone—anyone special and life-changing—ever surprised you with their thanks? (Lucy, music? Susan, and Hallie specifics! Julia, what’s B5 Unrest?)