A Pretty Cool Thing

There is a lot that is thankless about this gig we call writing. There are the weeks/months of waiting to hear from that first editor, there are the critiques that come back from our CPs with more red than black ink. There are scary edits that make us question whether we actually *are* writers or if we've just been pretending all along.

There are bad reviews or - sometimes worse - no reviews. There are late nights with no sleep, there is time away from our family when we're on deadline. There are the people we have to say 'no' to - the ones who call in the middle of the day (writing time, people!) just to talk.

Yeah, there is pressure and stress and thanklessness.

This is not a post about overcoming those things. Its a post about the awesomeness of being a writer, because even with all those pressures and stresses, writing is a really cool job.

There are the moments when a story is flowing. When the words just pour out. There are *those* comments from an editor - the ones that say, 'you made me cry' or even 'you can do better than this'. And then doing it. There are the good reviews and the CPs who hold us up when we're in the middle of the muck.

And there are readers. Oh, there are readers.

Last week, I was chatting with my brother who lives several hundred miles away from me. On his way to lunch, he stopped to talk with a co-worker, who was enjoying the sun, a sandwich and her Kindle. They started talking about what she was reading. It was romance and she appeared ready to defend her reading but my brother stopped her, telling her that I write romance and he thinks it's great (the romance genre in general, not just me...although, you know, brother. Bias). So they talked some more and she asked who I was.

And she knew my name. She had read my books. She *liked* my books. A totally new to me reader, several hundred miles away from me likes my books. Wanted to know more about my books. That is a huge positive on the side of writing, that ability to touch people we don't even know. To tell stories that make them laugh or cry or just think about things differently.

A lot of pressure on our little books.

But it's the good kind of pressure.

So, today I am thankful that I am a writer. That I have this wonderful opportunity, these wonderful friends who have made the journal fun and exciting. And I am thankful for readers who have picked up my books, who have let me into their lives for a few hours. I am incredibly thankful for them. To all readers, everywhere, we writers thank you. For reading, for enjoying and for coming in to our little worlds.