grateful--Peter S. Beagle, A Fine and Private Place
It's SF&F Writer's Day, I am told.
So I've been reading SFF since I was this tall, and I've been fortunate enough to meet (or at least speak to) and thank some of the authors whose work meant so much to me when I was younger and which continues to delight me now--Hal Clement, Emma Bull, Steven Brust, Peter Beagle, Caroline Stevermer, Patricia Wrede, Suzy McKee Charnas, Pamela Dean, Harry Harrison, Will Shetterly, Nalo Hopkinson, Neil Gaiman, Diane Duane, Geoff Ryman, Samuel Delany, Ursula K. Le Guin, Barry N. Malzberg... well, I could be here for a while, couldn't I?--and I was once privileged to hear Isaac Asimov speak at Trinity College on the robot revolution.
I've also been privileged to meet many of my peers among the wee baby untested newbie SFF writers, and a whole bunch of apprentice writers who are working their way up the publication ladder, and in general I have to say it is a privilege.
Thank you all, every one of you, for giving your art, for giving your passion, for taking chances and allowing yourselves to be vulnerable. Thank you for being people who create, and making my world the richer for it.