Today, I received a nice email from a reader who had purchased a copy of The Other Side of What for a friend of his as a Xmas gift. The friend enjoyed it because my vivid detail of Memphis and the small town areas reminded him of his hometown and places he knew. The friend gave the book back for him to read as well, and so he emailed me to let me know how much he enjoyed it too and related to the characters.
It’s been years since anyone wrote me in regards to the book, so this email was a pleasant surprise this morning amongst the spam and bill-pay reminders. I read it over and over again at least two or three times before I replied.
It’s a personal email like this that makes the struggle of being a writer a little bit easier. It puts me back on the page and reminds me why I really keep doing this. I want to touch others with my words. It doesn’t get any easier than that, and yet it’s very hard to accomplish. There are so many books out there that writers often go unnoticed, and some never get to know what a book meant to its readers outside close friends and family. And they don’t count. After all, they are there to offer love and support no matter how good or bad your book may be. So, for a perfect stranger to sit down and write an email to me after reading my book makes all of this worth it.
So, thank you to Gary in Nashville, Tennessee, for letting me know I accomplished something. It’s been five years since I wrote that book, and it’s good to know that someone is still reading it. It’s good to know the book still resonates the meaning I wanted it to. It was the spark I needed to keep writing right now.
