Fellow Tenner Christina Diaz Gonzalez, brilliant author of The Red Umbrella and my release-date-sistah, has challenged me to post a list of ten things that make me happy. So here goes!

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

1. Finishing a novel – I’ll admit I’ve got finishing on my mind as I’m mired down in the middle of two novels and haven’t finished anything in a while, but nothing beats that feeling of getting to the end of a project. It’s not just the feeling of accomplishment, but also of opportunity and potential. When I finish a book, I’m free to dream about what great things might happen to it, before the rejections and reality start rolling in. Anything could happen. It’s an awesome feeling.

2. Word flow – I can’t finish a novel every day, but meeting my daily writing goals without wanting to bang my head against the wall is the next best thing. Even better is when the words just flow and I can’t wait to write scene after scene and get frustrated when I need to stop to do stupid things, like eat or sleep.

3. Reading a foreign language – Reading foreign words and knowing what they mean will NEVER cease to amaze me. Sometimes I still can’t believe I majored in a language. Not that I’m fluent or anything, but my reading levels in Latin and French ain’t bad, and it’s enough to keep me happy. Reading Latin is still as thrilling today as it was the first day I was introduced to it and learned you could have a whole sentence with just a word. (No, like, seriously, how cool is that? Your first day of Latin, and you can say whole thoughts. Simple ones, but still. AMAZING.)

4. Taking a walk on a nice spring day – I don’t think this one needs much explanation. It just feels good.

5. Knitting – Not to say that knitting comes after taking walks, because they aren’t exactly comparable (and sometimes I walk to the knitting store, you know?). It’s a creative pastime, but one where I don’t have to think too hard. I can follow a pattern and watch TV like a mindless drone, and yet at the same time I’m making something. (I love making things, but sometimes after putting so much effort into novels, it’s nice to just follow someone else’s pattern and not have to do too much thinking.)

6. Watching shows – Again, after spending so much time working on my own stories, it’s very relaxing to get to sit back and just watch other people’s stories unfold. I love the feeling of finishing an episode of something and wanting nothing more than to click next and watch another one. Pure bliss.

7. A happy dog licking my face – I get the feeling most people don’t like this. And I’m not saying all dogs, because some dogs are all slobbery and gross, but SOME dogs I’ve met are not too slimy and are very enthusiastic about showing their love through licking my face. And I’m okay with that.

8. A cat kneading me – Preferably through a layer or two of blankets to avoid getting clawed, but otherwise great.

9. Unexpected days off – This doesn’t happen so much as a full time writer (and any interruption in my work schedule is annoying), but when I had a day job or was in school? Getting out a few hours early or waking up to a snow day was HEAVEN.

10. Books that won’t let me put them down – When I was younger, I had immense patience for books. I would read very long books that today would bore the hell out of me, and I loved them. Nowadays, though, I don’t read as much or as quickly and my patience for slow or boring books is very low. But when a book really grabs me and I can’t put it down and HAVE to know what happens next the whole way through, it makes me feel like I used to when I was a kid, devouring any and all books I could get my hands on.