“Rest and be thankful.”
~~ William Wordsworth
Hi all,

I hope this finds you well and, for those of you in and from the States, looking forward to a bountiful Thanksgiving.  I'm still struggling to finish my story, unfortunately.  Leo (my new dog) is quite the attention hog!  However, I have some time off this week so am hoping to use it to finish that up.  Until then... enjoy this glimpse into what the Dyelanders/Friends and myself are thankful for.

God bless,
Jenni


So last year, since it was JABB's 17th Thanksgiving, I presented 17 things *I* was grateful for.  This year, I thought I'd turn it over and let it become...
Eighteen Things for Which the Friends and Dyelanders are Thankful!

1.  "I am very grateful that I have my family near me, safe and happy."  ~~Behnam

2.  "I am thankful for all of my family and friends and, mostly remarkably, for my children and grandchildren.  I truly feel like Abraham with each of them as a precious star."  ~Vincent

3.  "I'm thankful for my new baby sister, Aurora!  And for Omar, too."  ~Aiyla

4.  "Father, Joshua... thank you for that sweet, little baby in Kylie's belly.  Uncle Adam can't wait to properly meet her!" ~Adam

5.  "Thank You for my wonderful Arthur and our beautiful boy and his Conan." ~Monica

6.  "Joshua, thank You and Your Dad for being with us on our first married Thanksgiving!!!"  ~Emma and Peter

7.  "Oh Joshua...  Thank You for changing my life and making it so absolutely beautiful." ~Amber-Marie  (AN: It'll make sense once I finish *that* story.)

8.  "I'm thankful that there's only a month before Nico and I take our Christmas break and get to see all our beautiful grandbabies!  And everyone else, too, of course!" ~Raquel

9.  "Last week, little Belle asked me if she looked like her Mama.  I was taken aback for a moment because, of course, she doesn't look like JenniAnn.  Then I thought of her smile.  They smile the same, Belle and JenniAnn.  And they both smile like Sophia.  I'm grateful for that smile." ~Eli

10.  "We're so grateful that our children will be able to grow up surrounded by family and friends in a safe, accepting environment."  ~Kemara and Sean

11.  "I'm thankful that I live among such a supportive group that sees so much value in creativity and encourages it in each other."  ~Owen

12.  "Max and I are thankful that it's only a month until we can come home!  Germany is great but we miss everyone so much!" ~ Mrs. Rose Remus

13.  "I thankful for everyting!" ~Belle

14.  "I'm thankful that the cure's coming!  When Joshua cures me, I'm eating pizza and doughnuts by the dozens.  And now Beth's giving me a disagreeable look..." ~Mick

15.  "I forgot to say I'm grateful for coffee!  Thank You for coffee... especially mochas." ~Monica (again)

16.  "I'm thankful that even though Joshua said angels are neither married nor given in marriage, He lets the whole anam cara thing happen!  I'd be way screwed up otherwise."  ~JenniAnn

17.  "Thank You, Dad, for being with me.  Always."  ~Joshua

18.  "I'm very grateful for the amazing blessings that come with being a part of such a wonderful group of friends and family.  And the pets.  Gotta be grateful for the pets even when they steal your food and chew up a shoe or two...  Although I'm not entirely convinced that Fawn found my loafer on her own and wasn't given it by someone who shall remain nameless but may share children with me..."  ~Andrew


So, just by chance, my sister and I found ourselves talking about writing.  That prompted some questions for me so I thought I'd turn it into a self-interview edition of...
Ask a JABB Co-Founder

Question: Is there any point at which you felt you misstepped with a Dyeland plot line?

Answer: There are some minor things that I've had to retcon.  Obviously, it would be easier if I'd thought things out a little bit more but there were also assorted life and current events things that I couldn't possibly have foreseen.  Both definitely shape the stories.  There have also been a few cases where my poor math skills have caused issues.  I think there may be some siblings who come all too close to defying biology as far as how close together they are in age!  Probably the biggest "mistake" hanging over me now is the ending to "Make This Go On Forever" which doesn't really flow with the plot line as I see it now.  I'll have to get really creative.

While I in no way consider this a misstep, I do sometimes get a tad concerned about how prevalent Joshua is now.  Every so often, we have JABB members from the early days resurface, seemingly just wanting to be in touch with a part of the past... sometimes even with Dyeland itself.  With the addition of Joshua, I departed a lot from the early stories and from TBAA itself.  On the show, we saw God once and once only.  Then it ended.  Joshua is a regular presence and not even a "generic" God.  He's clearly the Son and thus Jesus of Nazareth.  I hope no one finds that off-putting but, at the same time, I had reached a place where I had run out of ideas that strictly adhered to TBAA.  It was a "change or die" moment.  I chose change.

Of course, in answering this question, I only thought of the "canonical" Dyeland stories.  There was loads of crazy stuff in the very early stories that make me cringe so badly that I can't even reread them!

And at some point between chasing Leo down after he stole a framed photo of my aunt and uncle and informing him that junk mail was not food, I forgot what the other question we discussed was!  So I'll just end this here and hopefully by next time it'll have returned to me.  I've heard of "baby brain" and I think I have "puppy brain"...


This newsletter is dedicated to John Dye for bringing together a group of people that I'm thankful for!  Whether you lurk and read, offer feedback, or join me in writing; I'm glad you're here!

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(Photo Credits: The photographs used on this page are from Touched by an Angel and owned by CBS Productions, Caroline Productions, and Moon Water Productions. They are not being used to seek profit.)