Research shows that practicing gratitude brings deeper and more lasting happiness than, well, just about anything else. Among the many things, people, and experiences for which I am grateful this year, a few strike me as worth sharing.

• Terrific local, independent bookstores like Jerrol’s and A Book for All Seasons, whose support for local, independent authors and their own communities knows no bounds.
• The Ellensburg Public Library – in 2014 they provided me with inspiration galore. I’m certain I borrowed at least thirty videos over the year, filled with drama, comedy, history, mystery, and alien conspiracies. Not to mention the delightful words of authors like Spencer Quinn and Alexander McCall Smith, Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. And they host the Yarn Spinners Storytelling Club every month, where we swap tales both true and tall. Without libraries like the EPL, our lives would be significantly poorer.
• Fellow authors who give of their time, energy, and wisdom to help us newbies along.
• Everyone I meet and observe who lends a scene, character quirk, or line of dialogue to one of my books.

And of course, readers – for aren’t we all readers at heart? In that spirit, I’ll let Carl Sagan have the final words of 2014: