Countdown to Turkey Day with The Knight Agency: Diana Pharaoh Francis

UPDATE: The winner of a surprise book by Diana Pharoah Francis is Zombie Joe! Please send your address to Contests(AT)KnightAgency.net.

From today until Tuesday, November 23rd, Knight Agency authors are counting down to Turkey Day with special guest blogs and giveaways every day. Contributors will include Diana Pharoah Francis, Maria Geraci, Marjorie M. Liu, David Mack, Renee Bernard, Jenna Kernan and Knight agent Pamela Harty.

Diana is starting us off below. To win a suprise book from her backlist, leave a comment. The winner will be randomly drawn and announced in this post tomorrow morning.

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Diana Pharoah Francis:

I’ve been through a lot of interesting (in the Chinese curse sense of the word) health issues in my life, particularly over the last ten years or so. Odd health issues, like scar tissue in one artery, plaque in other arteries (nowhere near my heart), three back surgeries, chicken pox, and whooping cough. Oh stop looking at me like that. Yeah, I’m a walking disaster. But I believe I understand the why behind it all.

The universe is testing my sense of humor about life. It’s determined to find out if I can laugh in the face of whatever it decides to throw at me. And this year was a doozy.

In short, since last Thanksgiving I had a fusion in my neck, my father nearly died, my puppy had a second femoral head osteotomy (they removed the femoral head to help with hip displasia), my mother-in-law had some terrible episodes with her diabetes and also nearly died, and now my dad is back in the hospital.

But.

I still have a sense of humor and a lot to be thankful for. My dad and mother-in-law are recovering well. My back is doing really good for now. The whooping cough is passed (oh, yeah, that was a couple of months ago).

And, to make the cup runneth over, my books are pretty successful, my fans are terrific, my kids are amazing and lovely, my husband is also amazing and lovely and I’m as much in love with him now as I was almost twenty four years ago when we met. I have wonderful friends, I love to write, I have a house and a day job and insurance, and my bed is awesomely comfortable. (We got the bed this year too and if you knew how uncomfortable and small the old one was, you’d really get why this hits high on my list.)

But here is my top ten list for day-to-day things that I’m grateful for that aren’t mentioned above:

#10.)  Flannel sheets

#9.)  The ocean. We go camping out on the Oregon coast each year and it is always so fun and I adore the cold waves, the sand, the tidepools, the fog and the tang of the salt.
#8.)  Music. I tend to take it for granted, but it is so important in my life and in my writing.
#7.)  My new kitchen. It’s so functional and pretty! I love cooking in it.
#6.)  Wide open spaces with wildlife everywhere and air so clean you can see forever. The smell of sage and irrigated pasture and pine—there’s nothing like it.
#5.)  The puppies that follow me everywhere no matter where I go and always want to sit on my lap. I can’t ever feel down with them around.
#4.)  Awesome fans who want to keep me warm with soft, cozy knitted things. You know who you are.
#3.)  Books. Oh, how I love that they never run out and every day brings another book I want to read.
#2.)  Being easily amused. I am so easily amused and it’s a good thing. I laugh a lot.

And the number one thing I am grateful for:

#1.)  Snuggles and kisses from the kids who still are willing to be cuddle up with their dorky parents.

I may face more trouble in the future, and I may have to climb up a lot of tough hills, but I try to always remember that there are a lot of things in my life that are wonderful and amazing and no matter how bad things might seem, I still have a lot to be grateful for.
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Diana Pharaoh Francis

dpf@dianapfrancis.com
www.myspace.com/difrancis
www.dianapfrancis.com
Mad Libs, my blog: http://difrancis.livejournal.com
Twitter: dianapfrancis

Coming December 2010: CRIMSON WIND: A Horngate Witches book

Also Available at Most Bookstores:

Horngate Witches:
BITTER NIGHT


The Crosspointe Chronicles:
THE CIPHER
THE BLACK SHIP
THE TURNING TIDE
THE HOLLOW CROWN


The Path Novels

PATH OF FATE

PATH OF HONOR
PATH OF BLOOD