Oh, What A Feeling

Hello everybody! Today, something very strange happened. I was recognized. My daughter and I were at my local library, where the book will soon be available, to drop off some The Deliverers: Sharky and the Jewel bookmarks. There was a Girl Scout meeting going on in the community room.

Suddenly, one of the mothers comes up to me and tells me she bought my book for her daughter for Christmas. She knows a friend of mine whose daughter loves the book. Then, she went back into the meeting. A little while later, three Girl Scouts came down to the children's library with another mother.

The girls were kind of excited. One said that she was getting the book. I gave them some bookmarks and had a nice chat with them. The mother said that when she told her daughter I was there, she couldn't believe it and wanted to come down.

That was really cool. Not so much the recognition. That was a little surreal. What was actually cool was the fact that here were the people I was writing for, kids 9-13, who were actually looking forward to reading the book. One of their friends had read it and must have talked it up to them. I know her mother had talked it up to the other mothers (thanks, Christine!).

To me, that was the greatest feeling. It means that maybe I did it right. I wrote a book that kids will like. It's stuff like that, that makes everything--all the time and effort and doubt--worth it. I shouldn't worry about how many books I sell. Seeing the excitement on that girl's face when I handed her a bookmark and she told me she's getting the book, I know I've already succeeded.