A Little Shout-Out to the Readers Who Make This All Possible

I get many emails from readers who write to tell me they enjoyed one or both of my books, or sometimes to ask a question about something, the most popular being "Did __ actually do it?" (I won't fill in the blank because I don't want to spoil things if you haven't yet read Tell No Lies.) Next to the actual writing, those emails are the best part of being an author. They are like food for my soul, and I save every one of them. Every single one. I'm still amazed that someone chooses to read my book over the many others available at any point in time, so when a reader goes the extra mile to let me know he/she loved my work, I'm incredibly thrilled.

Every once in a while, though, I receive an email from a reader that truly blows me away. An email that makes me sit back and think, "Wow, someone took the time to do all this to help me succeed as an author, simply because she loved my book."

Today I sat down at my computer to find just that sort of note from Debbie Haupt, a reader who lives near my hometown of St. Louis. Debbie had recently won a signed copy of Rescuing Olivia from an online contest. Not only did Debbie tell me how much she loved the book and that it would receive a "place of honor" in her library, she also told me she planned to pick up my first novel, Tell No Lies, on her way home from work that day, and that she would spread the word about me "to who ever will listen." And she wasn't kidding! She posted a review on her blog, The Reading Frenzy, on the Barnes & Noble site, and on Facebook and Twitter.

An author can't ask for more than that from a fan. :-)

Thank you, Debbie – you really made my day!