Once as I was lifting weights at the gym, a man I had never spoken to before strode in. “Hey, True Believer!” he hollered. I am still not sure what he meant. Was I a believer in fitness? In dragging myself to the gym when I really wanted to lie on the couch? Who knows. I was reminded of this last night when I went to a local book club. They had picked The Geography of Water as their November book and wanted me to come talk about it.
As I stuffed my face ate delicious food, it dawned on me that what an author really needs is a group of True Believers. People who are champions of your book, who will bring it to other towns, write reviews on Amazon, ask local bookstores to carry it. As an author, who labors in isolation, talking about my book with people who love it is the best thing ever. You also learn surprising things, like they loved one specific character (Birdman) and everyone wants to know what happened to Alethea, and one woman even guessed what Winnie stumbled over at the Lake of the Fallen Moon well before the book reveals what it was. I LOVE THIS! I can’t even describe how it feels to walk on clouds after a meeting like this.
I am so grateful.