How Readers Bless Authors Part 2
This is part 2 of How Readers Bless Authors found here. Thanks to the authors who took the time to comment for us. This is to encourage readers who may think the little things they do go unnoticed.
1. How have readers blessed you?
I am always touched when a reader takes the time to write a letter and send it. Or to go to my website and send me an email from there. Writers work in a void much of the time. We pour ourselves into our stories and then send them off to our publishers. If we don’t hear anything from readers, we tend to question ourselves. “Was my work not good? Was the story not engaging? Didn’t they like my character as much as I do?” So that validation is a blessing.
By sending me encouraging notes, handwritten letters and Facebook posts. By faithfully praying for my grandson after he was critically injured a few years ago and almost died and lost his leg.
Every time a reader has written me a letter or email saying how they’ve loved a character or plot I’ve dreamed up, I’ve been richly blessed. Also every time I’ve been asked to sign a book for somebody’s friend.
2. What is something unexpected a reader has done to bless you?
At a book signing once a young woman came up to me to buy the second book in my Unforgettable Mayla Strong series. She told me she’d bought a copy of Just As I Am from me the year before for her mother, who was an alcoholic. After her mom read the book, she joined AA, quit drinking, and became a Christian. I cried. That’s an amazing validation that God uses my humble talent to make a difference. And having a reader come back to tell me in person that my book had an impact doesn’t happen very often.
A reader from Eastern Europe who won one of my books sent me a selection of chocolate bars from her country as a thank you. Although they were brand names such as Cadbury that we have here, the flavours were not like anything I’d ever seen. It was really cool, yummy and such a sweet surprise. Although . . . being a suspense writer, it did cross my mind that I might be crazy to eat something a total stranger mailed me from a foreign country. Happily, as you can see, I lived to write about it. 🙂
A teacher from a private school way out in the country once read a book of mine and tailored it as a main curriculum book for her senior students. She wrote study questions and essay topics based on the story. And later, the school contacted me and asked me to come and speak to the Year 11 and 12 students in the auditorium. I was amazed by the work she’d put in to the curriculum, and very touched.
3. What is the most original or unusual thing a reader has done for you?
Last fall I posted a picture in my newsletter of my dragon display. I love dragons, and have a shelf with dragons on it. One of them is reading a book to the others – and the book is one of my books in miniature. A month later I got a hand-drawn Christmas card from a reader with a beautiful dragon on the front! I was so touched I have that card sitting in the midst of my dragon display.
My answer to number 2 fits here. And although it may not be unusual I’m also always so touched when readers make a special trip to surprise me at a book signing or special event.
Once a lady wrote a blog post about a book of mine, and then spent lots of time responding to her friends who had commented about her strong recommendation, trying hard to convince them to read it very soon. Being a complete stranger to me, it was clearly out of her genuine enjoyment and the goodness of her heart.
What would you like readers to know about how they have encouraged or blessed you and what it means to you.
Thank you with all my heart. Your encouragement and prayers have carried me through tumultuous times and your enthusiasm for my stories and characters have encouraged me to continue writing.
If you’ve enjoyed a book, and the characters and plot stay on your mind long after you’ve finished, please don’t keep it to yourself. Authors can be fragile people, especially after putting in the time and effort it takes to write a novel. After so many hours, weeks, even years at work on one single project, we tend to lose touch of whether or not our ideas were even good in the first place. Whenever you give us honest feedback about what the books have meant to you, you reinforce that it absolutely was.
I read your article from a hospital bed as I’m recovering from surgery. Encouragement is a bit like an IV drip – you can feel the liquid rehydrating you! (Not thinking about the pain part!). While here I received an email encouragement that made me cry: a one line question from a lady in the US asking, “Where can I purchase this wonderful book?” She was asking about a devotional I’ve put up on the YouVersion Bible app. When I told her I was in hospital, she said, “….No hurry. I am just thankful to know that I will be able to own a copy of the devotions, although they’re already in my heart….I will enjoy rereading them and holding the book as I read.” This Christian sister and total stranger also said she’d pray for me! I once read a quote, “many people die on the vine through lack of encouragement”. It’s a life-giving gift to both give and receive.
Wow thanks for sharing Linda. I hope you recover quickly and well. We as readers don’t often realise how just a little word can often come at just the right time for an author.