Over 28 years have passed since I began writing my first novel. I have experienced plenty of highs and lows in this business. One of the good parts has been getting to know so many other writers and discovering that I am not the only person who sometimes lives in a fantasy world of her own making. I'm not the only person who hears invisible characters whispering lines of dialogue in her ear.
But as much fun as that sounds (and is), I've also learned that we creative sorts have rather fragile natures. At times we are strong and courageous. If not, we would never send our books out into the world to see what others think of them. But at other times the littlest thing can shake us to the core.
I have a new book out in the world right now (Fit To Be Tied), and I've been a bit nervous. I came to love Cleo so much and want others to love her too. Will they? Will readers take to Cleo and root for Sherwood to win her heart? Have I written a story worthy of these two special characters? (I'm quite sure other writers can relate to those questions. If not, don't tell me. I don't want to learn that I'm the only one.)
"I always read the books before my husband does because I go through them quicker. So he had to hear me keep saying, 'No Cleo! No Cleo!' when I came to the part where she was [Robin here: I'm snipping so as not to give anything away]. Usually I quickly flip to the back pages to find out what happens, but this time I didn't want to ruin the book so I made myself wait until I got to the end to find out. But I gave lots of advice to Cleo while reading it! Your book definitely made the people come alive and kept me captivated."
"[Fit to be Tied] was WONDERFUL! I liked A Vote of Confidence, but this one blew it out of the water… I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed it. You had my heart going out for Sherwood from page 2. It was fantastic."
I wonder if readers know how much emails like the above mean to writers. I wonder if they know how much we appreciate when they take the time to post a review to CBD and/or Amazon and/or other on-line retailers. Even more, I wonder if they understand how grateful authors are when readers spend their hard-earned dollars to purchase our books new so that our publishers will continue to contract and publish our books.
I hope they do. I hope you do. Without you readers, we novelists would only be able to play with our characters in our heads instead of sharing them with others. As Cleo would say, folks'd think we were as crazy as popcorn on a hot skillet. {{grin}}
