You Are A Gift: 5 Things You Did To Inspire Hope

Penda James
Nov 26
3 min read

As I reflect on Thanksgiving, I want to highlight five things you did to inspire me this year:

You chose InSCRIBEd Inspiration as a partner. Thank you for allowing us to help you. You may not have finished yet, but your trust on any level is deeply appreciated.
You supported others. I saw partnerships and collaborations arise within The Ink Spill writers' accountability group. As a community, you made genuine connections.
You persisted. Journals, podcasts, audiobooks, novels, and coloring books/workbooks were created this year. Your vision has reached many people.
You persevered. When challenges arose, when your book topic changed, when your vision shifted, you pivoted. I saw you rethinking strategies and recalibrating.
You tried again. Some of you came to us after years of working on a project. I honor you for picking it up again, for trusting yourself and the process of starting again.

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday because I love being around family. Mommy would cook, or Daddy would be on the grill. Family would be in and out of our house all day. We'd watch football, play cards, listen to music, and bond over good food.

I live hours away from my family, and my parents are deceased. I chose the day after Thanksgiving to celebrate my novel! They call it Black Friday; for me, it's black because I spilled the ink into something meaningful. I FINISHED IT. I'm celebrating, and I hope you join me.

Nneka Carter Young is going to ask me some questions. Treisha Parker-Combo is the host, and my new friend, Corinna Young, is will share insight from a therapist's perspective on some of the themes from the book.

I’ve shared updates, delays, breakthroughs, and pieces of the journey on Facebook. Writing this book stretched me, strengthened me, and reminded me to make wishes on dandelions and find my safe spaces. Some days, I cried out of frustration. Other days, I lamented if I’d ever finish. The edits alone felt endless. But here we are…I have my first novel in my hands.

I want to take a moment to say thank you. If you’ve encouraged me, checked in on the process, prayed for me, shared a post, and believed in what I’m doing. Your support fortifies me in ways I cannot fathom. None of this has been easy, but it’s been worth it, and I didn’t walk the road alone.

As part of my five-day Thanksgiving countdown, I’m inviting you to several events with me. If you haven’t purchased your copy yet, I’d love for you to consider doing so. And I’d be honored to have you join me on Zoom for my virtual book launch party. I want to celebrate this moment with the people who have walked with me, cheered for me, and helped make this dream real. You must register to get the link: www.pendaljames.com/rbd