Full Circle
Received a call on Thursday night.
It’s weird to get calls now. I actually don’t care to talk on the phone. It’s so much easier to text, but I took the call because it was from an old friend who I don’t speak to very often.
“I got the book yesterday,” she said. “I finished it today!”
“That’s good, right?” I asked.
“It’s amazing!” She said. “I’ve never read a book that fast. It usually takes me a month.”
I laughed.
“Well, it took me longer than that to write it,” I said.
“When I started it, I wondered what is “The big D” and I was going to wonder if I liked it, but I ended up writing down some phrases that I really liked!”
She read some of the phrases back to me.
Then we started talking about the characters. She asked me who I had based one of the lead characters on.
“No one, actually,” I said. “He was completely made up.”
We talked about the plot and the fact that the book is set in Iowa.
I mentioned that most of the story popped into my head in about three hours.
“I had a notebook with me on a long drive. By the time the drive was over I knew what I wanted to do.”
That made her laugh.
“That’s so weird,” she said.
And it IS weird, but what can I say? It’s all part of the writing gig.
Yet I wanted to keep the conversation going.
I truly enjoy hearing from all of the readers.
“What did you think of this?”
“What did you think of that?”
And it’s not about fishing for compliments. You just really want to hear if the reader got the trick that you were trying to play.
Did they see behind the curtain?
And the neat part is often times what I thought about it when I was writing it isn’t what they were thinking as they read it.
That’s really awesome!
“Well, I thought that Angela was really important to what Aaron was doing.”
“I never thought about that,” I said.
“Oh come on! It was as plain as day!!”
And then I laugh...
...and think about it some more.
“You should write more about them.”
I get that a lot.
That’s the greatest of all compliments because that particular reader wants more.
I was actually back in Iowa last week.
“I’m looking for Angela,” I texted to one friend who’d also read the book.
“I’d know her if I saw her!” My friend texted back. “I’d love to meet her!!”
That made me smile.
Angela isn’t really alive.
Or is she?
She’s alive in my mind...
...and in the mind of the reader.
How cool is that?
All from a three-hour car ride.
It’s weird to get calls now. I actually don’t care to talk on the phone. It’s so much easier to text, but I took the call because it was from an old friend who I don’t speak to very often.
“I got the book yesterday,” she said. “I finished it today!”
“That’s good, right?” I asked.
“It’s amazing!” She said. “I’ve never read a book that fast. It usually takes me a month.”
I laughed.
“Well, it took me longer than that to write it,” I said.
“When I started it, I wondered what is “The big D” and I was going to wonder if I liked it, but I ended up writing down some phrases that I really liked!”
She read some of the phrases back to me.
Then we started talking about the characters. She asked me who I had based one of the lead characters on.
“No one, actually,” I said. “He was completely made up.”
We talked about the plot and the fact that the book is set in Iowa.
I mentioned that most of the story popped into my head in about three hours.
“I had a notebook with me on a long drive. By the time the drive was over I knew what I wanted to do.”
That made her laugh.
“That’s so weird,” she said.
And it IS weird, but what can I say? It’s all part of the writing gig.
Yet I wanted to keep the conversation going.
I truly enjoy hearing from all of the readers.
“What did you think of this?”
“What did you think of that?”
And it’s not about fishing for compliments. You just really want to hear if the reader got the trick that you were trying to play.
Did they see behind the curtain?
And the neat part is often times what I thought about it when I was writing it isn’t what they were thinking as they read it.
That’s really awesome!
“Well, I thought that Angela was really important to what Aaron was doing.”
“I never thought about that,” I said.
“Oh come on! It was as plain as day!!”
And then I laugh...
...and think about it some more.
“You should write more about them.”
I get that a lot.
That’s the greatest of all compliments because that particular reader wants more.
I was actually back in Iowa last week.
“I’m looking for Angela,” I texted to one friend who’d also read the book.
“I’d know her if I saw her!” My friend texted back. “I’d love to meet her!!”
That made me smile.
Angela isn’t really alive.
Or is she?
She’s alive in my mind...
...and in the mind of the reader.
How cool is that?
All from a three-hour car ride.
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