Something to be Thankful For

When I was a kid in preschool and daycare, I liked to draw. I wasn’t particularly good at it, but who is at that age? I never kept anything I drew, and never really wanted to. That wasn’t the point. It was a form of play. While I got along with other kids, I was always more than happy to sit at a table and draw.

Mostly, I drew Star Wars spaceship fights or World War II fights and made explodey noises. It was a way to play in my own imagination. It was a way to tell a story, if only to amuse myself.

As I got a little older, going into elementary school, I picked up on comics and at first had aspirations of becoming a comic book artist. The more I drew, though, the more I realized I really wasn’t getting it. My hands aren’t that steady. I’m not great at drawing straight lines or even remotely serviceable circles. I tried a couple of “how to draw” books, but eventually I figured I didn’t have the talent for it. Since then, I’ve met professional artists who’ve impressed upon me how anyone can get better, and how it just takes practice, but that doesn’t change my past. I gave up on drawing. I didn’t give up on playing in my imagination or wanting to tell stories. I only shifted methods.

I have much to be thankful for: a wonderful girlfriend, a good family, health, awesome friends, a great city to live in, two freakin’ amazing cats. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank you, my readers, for giving my work a chance and then supporting it as you have. I’m making a better, happier living as a writer than I have at any other profession in my life, and that means the world to me.

Because of you, I basically get to make a living doing the same exact thing I did as a kid. Maybe I use a keyboard rather than crayons or pencils, but I’m still sitting at a desk, telling a story, and making explodey noises to amuse myself.

Thank you.

 

Pew pew!!

13 thoughts on “Something to be Thankful For

  1. McDiel

    I forego all rambling and say only this:

    Cheers to you, Mr. Kay.
    May you stay healthy for a long time.
    May you be happy with your family – to which I count the cats, too.
    May you keep drawing pictures with words, rather than pencils, making us stare at the written art.
    And may you have the strength and wisdom to weather every storm, make it through every up and down and pass every stone life decides to put in your way.

    Thank you.

  2. ChaosDancer

    Keep up the Pew pew mate 🙂 You are good at it and its nice to see people not stuck in this existence were the only thing we have to wait is another tomorrow.

  3. Xe

    Can you please put trigger warnings in your next book? They have very triggering concepts and ideas and since you have virtue signalled enough on your blog so far that I know for certain that you care deeply about peoples feelings. I like how you tie your ‘progressive’ ideology into your books but they still need trigger warnings for concepts that challenge my pre-conceptions and alarm me. Please, care about your audience enough to do this for us.

    1. Ben

      If one reads science fiction or fantasy, then ideas, thought, and concepts that challenge one’s view of the universe ane one’s beliefs are a given. Asking for “trigger warnings” is announcing you do not understand the concept of “speculative” fiction! And you have no business reading it…

      1. Rehcra

        I find this sentiment funny. 🙂 You’re implying that people shouldn’t read something because they don’t understand that it is suppose to be written so it challenges what people understand. This is probably funnier then the fact that Elliott’s famous opening warnings in the Alex and Company books already fits the purpose of trigger warnings. Not that anything is wrong with any of it, I just find it funny.

        Ps Merry Christmas and a Happy Hollidays to Elliott Kay and all his fans

  4. Ryan Tyler

    Merry Christmas and thank you for writing! I am a new reader to your series’s and I greatly enjoy them! Please keep writing and I am sure the support will keep coming. My only real question is, when will book 4 of Good Intentions appear?! The hype is real.

  5. Ben

    Mr. Kay, you “draw” brillianty with words, creating worlds that entertain and challenge. Keep going – I’m looking forward to where you take us, the journey being as interesting as the final destination.

  6. Kris Brown

    I love all of your work. Thank you for sharing your talent with the world, and I look forward to many more adventures with Tanner, Alex, Amanda and Eric. I hope you have Happy Holidays and with any luck at all 2017 will be a better year for everyone.

  7. John Goss

    Many thanks for your great work Elliott. The more light that creative people like you put into the world, the less influence will the darkness typified by Trump and company have. One of the silver linings in the Trump cloud is that people might stop expecting that the next President will be their saviour. People need to get out and work for the good in their local area and State rather than worrying too much who the President is and what s/he does. We are inclined in our gut to believe the Great Man of history myth, but we should leave those myths for the fantasy we read/write.

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