As you have probably noticed, updating the blog was more complicated than we thought. It is now here, hopefully for good this time.
Meanwhile, I just want to say Merry Christmas to all the readers out there, the ones who read this blog, the ones who read my books, the ones who read other people’s books.
Having intelligent, articulate readers is one of the biggest blessings a writer can have. It is extremely satisfying to finally get a scene down and know that it is right, but it is even more satisfying when a reader says something that tells you they really understood what you were doing with that subtle bit of character development, or that they got the point you were making underneath all the complicated plot twists.
It’s not so much the appreciation (though I don’t know any writer who is tired of hearing people say “I love your book”) as it is the comprehension. It’s why “Your book made me think” is up there with “Your book kept me up til 3 a.m.” and “Your characters are so real” and “Your book made me laugh/cry” on the list of the top things writers want to have said about their work. (Yes, those are examples from a panel; the question was “What was the best complement you ever got about your work?” And as usual, I was the outlier – the best complement I ever got was when my mother put down Snow White and Rose Red and said to me, in a tone indicative of rather more than mild astonishment, “Pat, this book is well written.”)
So Merry Christmas, and thank you all.