When I go up to visit Alex at Middlebury, it’s about a five-hour trip to Vermont. On the way up, I made a little driving blooper and had to ask for directions. This isn’t unusual for me — let’s just say that I’m directionally challenged. I used to get flustered when I took a wrong turn, but I’ve gotten much calmer about it. Now, I just get off whatever wrong road I’m on and find someone who’ll help me out by pointing me in the right direction.

I call these helpers, “road angels.” And I’ve met quite a few, since I tend to get lost a lot. On my Vermont trip, I met a lovely lady who took a few minutes to give me an easy way to get back to where I needed to go. And once a fellow hopped in his car and actually led me to the right road even though it took him out of his own way because he could see I was confused and thought I might get lost again – what a prince. I love my road angels!

And you know what? I love my author angels, too. These are the people in my life who are always ready to give me, not just encouragement, but practical help, when I get stuck in my writing. My mom Dorothy was a author angel supremo — she was always so incredibly supportive of my work. She often helped me transcribe tapes for my interviews and she had an eagle eye when it came to editing.

My beloved sister Judy was another wonderful author angel. She was always coming up with great ideas to help me get my books out into the world — she was amazingly creative and innovative. She and I were working on a couple of projects together and I miss talking to her about my writing so much.

And then there is my darling sister Stephanie, whose enthusiasm and inspired editing have made such a huge difference to me. Whenever I got stuck on a thorny plot point, I would call Steph. She and I would have hot chocolate and come up with a plan.

My wonderful friend Linda is another author angel. She’s a real fan of my little knight-in-training and full of great ideas. She’s also an amazing reader and she’s caught a lot of errors for me, thank goodness! And then there’s my writing group — what fantastic help my writing buddies have given me! Nancy, Donna, Priscilla, David P. and David H. have all added so much to my novel and their encouraging words and suggestions have made a huge difference to me.

Aren’t we lucky to have such inspired and inspiring helpers in our lives? Write on!