I have to admit, there are many difficult things about making your living as an author (sporadic pay, less-than-stellar reviews, long, solitary hours, etc.). But thankfully, all of these are mostly offset by all the incredible bonuses this career has to offer (creating work you love and are proud of, not-so-bad reviews, long, solitary hours, etc.).
But probably one of my absolute favourite things about being an author is getting mail from readers. Knowing that one of my books has moved a young person to the point where they’ve made the effort to get in touch is definitely made of awesome.
Last week, I got a big package of fan mail from a book club near Ottawa called ‘Tween the Lines’. This group of kids had read LURE as their fall book pick and they’d sent me some great letters, questions and artwork. My own children and I sat together on the couch, opened the package and poured through all of it. At ages 9 and 6, my little ones are book-lovers too and watching their faces light up as we looked over the fan mail was incredible — seeing how proud they were of their mom and watching the spark of inspiration flickering in their eyes. Yeah, it sure makes all the difficult parts of this job worthwhile.
No — thank you, dear readers! Please keep those wonderful letters coming!