Got a fan email last week. Imma write that again so it feels real. I got fan mail. Someone bought Rough Passages at Cleveland Concoction & loved it enough to reach out personally. Yeah.I am still processing the euphoria.This isn't the first vote of confidence I've received, far from it. That's why I'm surprised by how much it's affecting me. I've never been someone whose creative endeavors have faced massive disapproval. I've been tremendously lucky in my support circle.I'm grateful for that support. That is a thing I often forget to mention because it's so fundamental, so necessary, it's like gravity or air to me. But I am grateful. This feels like a good time to spend a moment or three expressing that appreciation.Some of my friends online and off have always been encouraging and supportive, and many have delivered more than their share of compliments. Thank you all! You've kept me going during many bleak creative droughts.I'm even more grateful for all the friends who have taken the huge leap from telling me,  "Yeah, I liked it"  to saying "I recommend this." I've made a lot of great new friends through other friends sharing their enthusiasm, and that's a special happiness to be cherished too.Two even call me their favorite living author  (as far as I know, I am the only living author they know personally, so take that with a grain of salt or three)  and my library asked me to get them copies to review & buy, and to keep them updated on new releases.All big boosts. All hugely encouraging. All immensely important to me.But an email from a total stranger, connected to me only my words alone? It deserves special mention too. I mean, I publish to reach readers, but to be gifted with PROOF that my words made someone--someone with absolutely no connection to me--laugh, cry, think?  That's boggling.  Humbling. Exhilarating, too.So it's getting its own line on my list of Authorial Achievements.

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**why is there a chicken in the post image? The idea of a hen mothering kittens made me smile. No other reason.